May 19th, 2012 – Surprise, Arizona
Hart and Huntington Off Road’s newest driver on the roster, Robert Naughton made a significant appearance during Friday’s practice and qualifying sessions in preparation for Round 5. The Phoenix local has turned many laps at the Speedworld Track, and his speeds showed the #54 Lunarpages.com PRO-2 as the second fastest during the practice heat and fourth fastest during PRO-2 Qualifying. After the Lucas Oil Off Road Inversion, Naughton will start from the pole in front of his home town crowd.
18 of the top off road driver will begin Round-5 of the PRO-2 Division. Robert Naughton will have to contend with the likes of Rob MacCachren, Carl Renezeder, Marty Hart and Jeff Geiser. These off road driving aces will stop at nothing to put their vehicle up front in order to claim victory. Other than his competitors, Naughton’s biggest challenge to overcome is the limited seat time in his new ride. For Robert it is a personal mission to prove he can drive any machine and win.
“Last time I started on the pole, I went on to win the race. I intend to do it again here with my new team in the Lunarpages PRO-2,” affirmed Robert. “The General Tires are hooking up great and I am going to drive the fastest line as fast as I can. It is important that we put on a good show for all the friends family and sponsors. If we do it correctly and no one crashes us out, I will stay out front and from there, it should be mine. I am here to win and if anyone else wants it, they will have to out drive me.”
Premiere Motorsports Group also has three other opportunities to obtain podium finishes with Josh Merrell in the #22 MAVTV PRO-4, Ryan Beat in the #46 eBay Motors PRO-4, and Beat is also campaigning the #51 Premiere Motorsports Group / Black Rhino ProLite.
Merrell is coming off back to back 3rd place podiums in Rounds 3 & 4. “We are feeling pretty confident out here for Speedworld. I had a fluke with the motor blowing 3 laps into qualifying today. I still was able to nail down the 5th fastest time on lap 3 and each lap was within an eighth of a second of each other. I was only going to get faster. To get to the front tomorrow, I will have to run clean with no problems. I am looking forward to getting up on the box here real soon.”
Ryan Beat is showing great promise and is enjoying his second race weekend in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series top division. “Driving this eBay Motors Truck is a real treat. I am learning a lot about the PRO-4 and what it takes to move it around the track quickly. We qualified inside the top 10 and are aiming for a top 5 finish. My ProLite is now repaired after the damage from careless wrecking ball drivers during the Lake Elsinore event. So far this weekend, the PMG ProLite is working awesome and we qualified 7th. I am pleased to be near the front in a field this big and competitive. It is on for tomorrow!”
