Lovell Claims XRRA Season Opener

Lovell Racing continued their two truck effort this past weekend at the XRRA Rock Race in Moab, Utah. Roger Lovell debuted his revamped #32 DirtLogic/AMSOIL Ranger alongside Brad Lovell’s recently constructed #232 Fabtech/AMSOIL Ford. The brothers went up against 40 of the nations top rock racers to see who would rise to the top.

Brad drew poorly and was forced to face the toughest course without the benefit of watching others. The course had the usual jumps and rock climbs but also featured a massive boulder lined trench.

“We flew through the jumps and rock climb then tried to straddle the trench,” recalls Brad, “In retrospect that was a bad idea. We got a tire caught, tried to back up, and rolled. It cost us six minutes and was a horrible start to the season.”

Roger, however, had different luck. He made short work of lane number one setting the fastest time.

"Doing 50 miles of this at King of the Hammers really gave me the seat time to feel confident behind the wheel," said Roger. "We spent a day tuning the air shocks in the dunes and the truck felt great.”

Roger then marked another respectable time by raking the truck through the rock trench that claimed his teammate and was sitting fifth as the afternoon came to a close. During the final race of the day, however, bad luck struck. The bell housing fractured, wedged itself against the flywheel, and immediately disabled the truck. “

Back in #232, Brad and co-driver Mark Hayward were tearing up the track with the 400 HP Pro-Formance Unlimited Ford motor.

“We figured we were out of the running and decided to go for experience and season points,” said Brad.

The formula worked and the #232 was shaving full minutes off of the competition. At the end of regular racing, Roger’s misfortune made room for Brad in the finals as the Fabtech Ford slid into sixth place with less than a 10 second margin.

With no time to develop strategy, Brad and Mark suited up for 2 more rounds of racing. In the first lane, Brad was fast but overshot a double jump that cost precious time. This effort was only a second faster than his previous time. He would fair well in lane 2 with a well paced clean run. Brad finished the day with a total time of 15:52, over 40 seconds faster than second place.

“We came from last place to first place,” adds Brad, “I am amazed by what this truck can do, it is blistering fast. I am exceptionally proud of our team, sponsors, and family for building this vehicle and getting a win our second time out.”

The next competition is only three weeks away at the first round of the WE-Rock series in Perris, Calif. on April 10-12.

Until then, we'll see you at the races.

Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL racing and AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants.