Radar Tires gets two top-10 finishes at Crandon

Following a complete wash-out on Saturday, Radar Tires teams took to Crandon International Off-Road Raceway on Sunday for two TORC: The Off Road Championship PRO Light races during the season finale Keys to the Big House event.
 
Following continuous rain late Friday afternoon, evening and most of the day on Saturday, the track was completely soaked. TORC series officials closely watched the track conditions all day and determined it was too wet to compete and postponed all professional races until Sunday.
 
For the final race of the season, Radar Tires used the LT265/75R16 and 32X11.50R15 Renegade R5 tires. The tires were used by season-long racers Luke Johnson in the No. 14 Project648 Motorsports truck, and Cam Reimers Motorsports co-drivers Cam Reimers and Ian Harris, in the No. 21 and No. 22 SSi Decals trucks, all in the PRO Light class.
 
Once officials deemed the racing surface safe, the PRO Light teams were called to the starting line. It would be the first time the PRO Light trucks would hit the dirt this weekend aside from a brief three lap practice on Friday. There was no practice or qualifying sessions Saturday or Sunday due to the rain.
 
The field was set based on points for Sunday’s first race. Reimers started in seventh, Johnson in ninth and Harris in 20th, in the slightly modified two-row land rush start. The race ran on the one-mile, six-turn circuit for eight laps, instead of the nine scheduled.
 
The first race was unkind to the Radar Tires racers. Johnson lost a plug wire on Lap 4. Johnson parked his truck because he was fearful that he damaged the engine; he was awarded 26th place. Reimers dropped in the field while he was attempting to avoid a spinning truck in front of him and battled back to eighth place. Harris had a brake issue at the race midway and finished in 20th place.
 
Following a quick turnaround, the PRO Light field was competing for the second time in less than six hours. The field was set based on finishing positions in the first race.
 
Johnson passed 19 PRO Light trucks en route to a seventh-place finish. During the end of the second race, Johnson’s transmission started to leak fluid due to a damaged cooler, but he battled the competition to earn Radar Tires’ second top-10 finish of the weekend.
 
Reimers was a victim of the Lap 1, Turn 1 wreck that collected several PRO Light competitors. Upon inspection, Reimers’ team found a small puncture in the right rear Radar Renegade tire. The tire was slowly leaking throughout the race resulting in Reimers dropping in the field. He was awarded a 12th-place finish.
 
Harris completed the second race after struggling with visibility issues. The track was dry near the end of the race and kicked-up an excessive amount of dust causing a reduction in visibility. Harris finished in the 20th position.
 
“I’m proud of all three of our Radar Tires short-course off-road racers this year,” said Gary Blalock, Radar Tires Motorsports Manager. “They worked hard, persevered and conquered quite a few gremlins this season. The drivers and crews never gave up and fought for every position. We had great performance from our Radar Renegade R5 tires and proved the Radar Tires brand is one of the most competitive tires in the TORC series. We’ve gained some attention and notoriety for the brand through our efforts this year. Although we didn’t reach our goal of consistent podium finishes this year, we were successful in our promotions and creating greater brand awareness. Our competitiveness was noticed by the competition and the off-road racing community alike.”
 
The Keys to the Big House will air on NBC Sports at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sept 6.