Casey Currie Battles Through Adversity to Leave LOORS
Lake Elsinore Round Second in Pro Lite Championship
CORONA, Calif. (May 22, 2013) – Despite
its toughest weekend to date in the 2013 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series
(LOORS) season, the Monster Energy/General Tire squad led by Casey Currie overcame
adversity during both days of competition from Lake Elsinore, Calif., to leave
his hometown race second in the Pro Lite championship.
The speed
was definitely there for Currie and it showed immediately with impressive lap
times during Friday practice on the 1.1-mile circuit. Currie piloted his
Monster Energy/General Tire truck to top three times in each of his two group
sessions. On Saturday morning, Currie laid down a hot lap in qualifying that
landed him inside the top five on the starting grid for the first race of the
weekend.
As the
green flag waved to get Round 5 underway on Saturday afternoon, Currie put
himself in position to battle at the front of the field until his first
encounter with bad luck occurred early on. After the pole sitter spun just
after the finish, Currie was collected in the ensuing chaos and fell to 16th
in the running order, forcing him to battle his way back through the field.
Currie’s exceptional abilities behind the wheel were on display through to the
caution flag at the halfway point, passing seven trucks in just a handful of
laps. After restarting in ninth, Currie kept the charge going through the finish.
The speed was there in the Monster Energy/General Tire machine, but Currie
simply ran out of laps and ultimately claimed eighth spot at the checkered
flag.
“That’s
not the way you want things to go, but sometimes that’s just how things work
out in this sport,” said Currie. “The Monster Energy/General Tire truck was
driving really well and it made for some easy work to get back inside the top
10. I would have liked to be further towards the front and I think we had the
truck to do it with, but we ran out of laps there at the end.”
Round 6
kicked off on Sunday morning with qualifying to set the grid for the final Main
of the weekend. Currie once again was on point and laid down a solid time that lined
him up inside the top five for the final race of the weekend.
As the
race got underway, Currie made quick moves to be a part of the lead pack, but
was again hit with misfortune when another spin from a competitor collected the
Monster Energy/General Tire truck. This time, Currie wasn’t fortunate enough to
come away unscathed and a broken front suspension dropped him to the tail end
of the field in 28th spot. Despite losing the ability to make
another charge through the field, Currie refused to give up and soldiered on
through the remainder of the race to post a 20th-place finish,
earning highly valuable championship points as a result.
“This
just wasn’t our weekend,” said Currie. “Sometimes racing is harsh like that.
All we can do is take our lumps, finish strong, and look forward to the next
round. Hopefully we got the bad luck out of the way this weekend and will get
back into this championship fight in Utah next month.”
Currie’s
mixed results and hard luck unfortunately forced him to drop out of the Pro
Lite points lead and into second place. Despite the adversity in Lake Elsinore,
Currie still sits within striking distance at such an early point in the
season, 39 points out of first.
Prior to
the on-track action for the weekend, Currie spent Thursday morning with local
KTLA 5 reporter Gayle Anderson on the KTLA Morning News. Currie gave Anderson a
taste of what the Monster Energy/General Tire Pro Lite is capable of with his
popular two-seater truck. The chance to be a co-pilot alongside Currie has
become a favorite for the media and the sport’s sponsors.
Currie
and the Monster Energy/General Tire team will set their sights on reclaiming
the Pro Lite points lead at Rounds 7 & 8 of the 2013 LOORS season from Miller
Motorsports Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, on June 21-23. Currie will debut
a sharp-looking new truck for the event that is sure to turn some heads with
its aggressive-yet-nostalgic design.
To keep up with all of Casey’s racing visit www.caseycurrie.com.