CORONA, Calif. (August 29, 2013) – Casey Currie and the Monster Energy/General Tire team knew the intensity in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORS) Pro Lite division would pick up as the 2013 season headed to Reno’s Wild West Motorsports Park. As a result, Currie did all he could to put the Monster Energy/General Tire Jeep JK in the mix at 11th and 12th rounds of the championship, ultimately capturing a pair of top-10 efforts.
Currie began his weekend with some momentum by posting top-three times in the initial Friday practice sessions. He carried that over into Saturday by posting the second-fastest lap in qualifying and giving himself prime track position for the 12-lap race.
At the drop of the green, the Pro Lite field scattered throughout the first turn at Wild West Motorsports Park. While jockeying for position Currie was hit by another truck, which forced him to lose some spots and also did damage to the Monster Energy/General Tire Jeep JK. Despite that, the veteran driver gave it his all to maintain a podium position for the bulk of the race, but settled for an eighth-place result in the end.
“It’s frustrating to start on the pole and get taken out in the first turn,” explained Currie. “My truck was damaged with a slow leak in my front left tire and right side suspension damage. I tried holding on as long as I could, but every restart made it tough to hold position. We did what we could and still grabbed a top-10 finish.”
On Sunday Currie landed seventh on the qualifying charts, but when the green flag waved that afternoon for the final Pro Lite main of the weekend he wasted little time in making a charge towards the front. Despite starting outside the top 10, Currie skyrocketed into the top five by Lap 2 and was in search for more. Currie encountered some misfortune in the middle of the 12-lap race when a competitor once again made contact with the Monster Energy/General Tire Jeep JK and forced Currie to fall outside the top 10. In the face of adversity, Currie rebounded to make a late charge and climb up to seventh by the time the checkers flew.
“We really had to work for that one,” said Currie. “We had a top five in the truck today, but circumstances forced us to fight a little harder for our finish. We were able to come back well which makes me happy because all the hard work my team has been putting in is paying off with a really quick Jeep JK. We just didn’t have the best racing luck this weekend.”
With a pair of hard-fought top 10 finishes under their belt, Currie and his Monster Energy/General Tire team now have their sights set on the 13th and 14th rounds of the LOORS Pro Lite season. Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be the host site of the penultimate weekend of the championship, featuring the second night races of the season on September 20th and 21st.
Currie was dominant in Sin City one year ago, posting 1-2 results over two nights of action. He also scored a pair of runner-up efforts in April at Las Vegas during the third and fourth rounds of the 2013 season.