(Jeff Kincaid beats Scott Douglas at the line for the win at Sunday's Crandon Cup Challenge. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)
The Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL PRO 2WD rookie driver made all the right moves Sunday at Crandon International Off Road Raceway. He started his day with a class win over Rob MacCachren and finished it in the “Big House” Winner’s Circle after edging Scott Douglas at the finish line for the 17th Annual Crandon Cup Challenge.
The Crandon Cup race combines racers from the PRO 4WD and PRO 2WD classes with the PRO 2s getting a 12-second headstart. Kincaid, a seven-time PRO Light champion racing at Crandon for the first time in his new class, led the field to the green flag. He was challenged by 2009 Cup winner Ricky Johnson and Johnson, who won the PRO 2 race on Saturday, briefly took the lead before falling out of the race with mechanical issues and finished seventh, four laps down.
“This is my first Crandon Cup ever that I’ve run,” Kincaid said afterwards. “It was a great race! I knew Scott was coming and was pushing me. I couldn’t slow down because I knew the pressure was coming from the four-wheel drives and I was driving my rear end off…we’re going to have a good time tonight!”
In what was the battle of the weekend, Scott Douglas caught up with Kincaid in the closing laps. In the final turn before the finish line, the two were neck-and-neck, but Kincaid was able to edge Douglas by .259 seconds. Douglas raced Kincaid clean, but joked in the Winner’s Circle that had he seen the trophy and the $15,000 check before the race, he may have changed his plans.
“Jeff’s a fierce competitor and I was picking him off little by little and on that last corner, I got inside of him and, boy, the thought really crossed my mind to just drift out a little bit and that’s all it would’ve took,” Douglas said. “But Jeff’s a good guy, but now that I see his (trophy), I guess I should have!”
Kincaid’s PRO 2 win over MacCachren was more dominant as he beat the five-time Crandon winner by more than two seconds.
He leaves Crandon only two points behind Johnson in the season points’ standings.
Rick Huseman improved his PRO 4 runner-up finish Saturday with a victory Sunday over runner-up Steve Barlow and Douglas, who finished third in both rounds this weekend.
Huseman and Kincaid both earned Oakley Bomb Awards Presented by Oakley Watches for their fast laps of 1:19.838 and 1:22.224, respectively. Kincaid’s time was a new track record and Huseman swept the category both days, earning the PRO 4 track record on Saturday. He is also the current points leader, six points over Douglas.
It was an emotional victory for Casey Currie in PRO Lights as he beat Saturday’s winner, Andrew Caddell, to the line for the win. Randy Eller rounded out the podium in an event that saw Marty Hart make a strong run for the win and then earn a DNF after mechanical issues and a scary barrel roll that took Ross Hoek out of second place with two laps to go.
“This win means the world! I’m gonna get all choked up,” he said with tears of happiness in the Winner’s Circle. “We’ve got a good team and Traxxas gave us a new carburetor this morning and I’ve got to give it up to those guys; we would not be here without Traxxas! My guys did not sleep last night. We were up all night getting this thing to be faster…I’m excited to be up here!”
Caddell did, however, earn his second Traxxas Maxx Cash Award of the weekend with a fast lap of 1:30.414 and the points lead. He leads Currie by five points after two rounds.
In the Sportsman classes, CJ Greaves took the weekend sweep in Super Buggy and his third win in four rounds of the young TORC Series season. Starting the race in eighth, he methodically worked his way through the field and, by the halfway point, took the lead and never looked back. He has a 23-point lead over Scott Schwalbe. Other Sportsman winners were: Rob Weiland (Classix), Dan Koehler (Formula 4x4), Larry Manske (Enduro), Rhonda Konitzer (Limited 2WD), Greg Stingel (1600 Light Buggy), Mark Steinhardt (1600 Buggy), and Mitch Dorr (Super Stock).
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