Jeff Kincaid Regains Points Lead, despite Crandon's Bad Luck...

          Jeff Kincaid Motorsports packed up its top notch Pro-Lite team, and made the very short drive to Crandon International Off-Road Raceway this past weekend, with intentions of winning in front of all of Jeff’s family and hometown fans.  The team arrived at the Off-Road Big House Thursday to get teched and prepped for a Friday practice, which would give Jeff a chance for a quick shake-down of the truck and the new changes to the world famous track.  Setting the fastest lap in the practice session, Kincaid was sure the truck had the right setup to put him in the winner’s circle.

          Late Saturday afternoon the 10 truckfield lined up at the start of Crandon’s famous staggered land-rush start, ready for Round 5 action.  With Kincaid tied for first in points, he was slated to start 5th with the 6 position inversion.  But with 3rd place Kyle Leduc not racing Rounds 5 & 6, Kincaid was moved to 4th.   Once the Green Flag dropped, Jeff got a great jump on the field, and was side by side with Randy Eller in turn one. Kincaid held his momentum on the outside and edged in front of Eller as they flew over the jumps in the front stretch entering turn 2.  Kincaid lead the field across the finish line for the start of lap one as Marty Hart settled into 2nd.  As the race went on, Jeff continued to lead, and separated himself from the field by about 7 seconds. 

           With one lap to go until the mandatory caution flag, Jeff began to lose power-steering and his lead started to diminish.  One corner to go before the caution flag, Hart was able to pass Kincaid to take over 1st place.  The field bunched back up going down the back stretch, and took the green again, as Kincaid pulled into the hot-pits.  The crew checked the truck over and found there was nothing they could do to quickly fix the problem, so Jeff finished the remainder of the race with no power steering.  Marty Hart Went on to win, with Chad Hord taking 2nd, and Kincaid taking home the 8th position. Once the truck got back to the pit, the crew dissected the power steering system, and found a blown power steering hose. 

            After the hose was fixed, and the truck prepped for another round of racing, Jeff was confident he could go for a win.  The 10 truck field again took to the land-rush starting line for Round 6.  Kincaid now sat 2nd in points, 7 behind Hord, again lining him up in the 4th starting position.  The Green flag dropped and Kincaid again got a good jump, but Marty Hart’s pole starting position gave him the advantage as he made it to turn 1 before Kincaid.  Jeff followed Hart through turn one, towards the first jump.  With the field funneling into the first jumps, Kincaid and Hord made contact mid-air, and Hord was unable to correct it, and went tumbling down the front stretch.  Jeff recovered, hanging on to the 2nd position, and followed Hart through the finish line, starting lap 1.

            Hart continued to lead the race, as Kincaid started to pressure him.  Kincaid tried different lines all over the 1.75 mile track, tucking inside on turns, but couldn’t make it stick.  With 2 laps remaining before the mandatory caution, Jeff radioed to his crew that his brakes were starting fade as he started to fall back from Hart.  Hart took the yellow flag on lap 5 as Kincaid remained in 2nd.  The field bunched up, and took the green for the second half of the race.  Casey Currie challenged Kincaid for the second position, but Jeff eventually separated himself from the rest of the field, but still struggled with no brakes.  Hart added to his lead on Kincaid and went on to win his second race of the weekend. Jeff crossed the line in second, and Mark Oberg got around Currie for 3rd.  Once Jeff got the truck back to the pit, the crew found that a rock had wedged in-between the wheel and caliper, puncturing a hole in the caliper, allowing all the brake fluid to leak out.

          Kincaid’s 2nd place finish and Hord finishing a lap down in 7th, Jeff now sits with a one point lead, edging out Hord, heading into Rounds 7 & 8. 

          Bark River International Off-Road Raceway will play host to the Traxxas TORC Series on July 11th and 12th where Jeff Kincaid continues to hunt for his 7th Pro-Lite Championship as he plans to win in Bark River and add to his points lead.

          Be sure to tune in as Round 6 from Crandon will air this Sunday, June 28th on ESPN2 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.