Minneapolis - For the first time in Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORRS) history, the league headed south of the border to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico for Rounds 11 and 12 of the 2015 race season.
It has been more than a decade since short course-style racing was hosted in Estero Beach and the newly-designed Baja International Short Course track hosted the series’ biggest names and drew thousands of fans from all over Mexico and the United States.
RJ Anderson and the RJ37 team came into Round 11 sitting in a respectable sixth in points in the Pro-2 class. Even though Anderson has run up front for much of the year, the season has been filled with highs and lows for the team. Despite only one podium appearance, Anderson has led multiple races and has showed tremendous speed, consistently qualifying in the top 5 in the No. 37 Polaris RZR Pro-2. Coming into the weekend, the team hoped for a little bit of luck to help Anderson capture his first win of his career in the sport’s premier class.
Track conditions were anything but ideal at Estero Beach Baja International Race Track. The sand-filled dirt of Estero Beach presented a challenge for track officials to keep prepped between races. The RJ37 team struggled to find the right set up for Estero Beach, and after qualifying ninth in Pro-2, the team went to work on gearing and suspension prior to the afternoons race.
When the race started, Anderson took his time and fought his way through the rough course and ferocious field of the sport’s best off-road racers. He finished the race in fifth place and headed into Sunday’s round 12 confident his team had found the setup needed to compete for a win.
Qualifying in Pro-2 went much better on Sunday for Anderson as he had the fifth fastest time on track and drew a No. 6 inversion putting him on the front row next to racing legend Rob MacCachren. This was exactly the type of lucky break the team had hoped for. At the start, Anderson rocketed off the start and pulled ahead of MacCachren in turn two.
Anderson and MacCachren battled furiously back and forth for several laps, but eventually Anderson pulled away and never looked back. After a late race yellow flag restart, he fought off Pro-2 Champion Bryce Menzies and soared to his first Pro-2 victory.
Anderson said, "A lot of hard work and dedication has gone into achieving my first Pro-2 win. I'll hang onto this memory for the rest of my life. I am really stoked I got to share the victory with my family, friends, sponsors and team. Without them none of this would be possible."
Anderson also would take the Pro-Lite points by taking a first and third in the class to add to his successful weekend.
LOORRS Rounds 13 and 14 will be held in Sparks, NV, at Wild West Motorsports Park, on Aug. 22-23.
