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Bradley Morris Races in all Four Pro Classes at Lucas Oil Off Road Season Finale
Bradley Morris Races in all Four Pro Classes at Lucas Oil Off Road Season Finale
27 Nov 2017
K&N sponsored driver Bradley Morris races in all four Pro classes in the same weekend
Arizona turned out to be a weekend of non-stop racing for Bradley Morris and the BME Motorsports team. Bradley was going to be competing in all four pro classes at the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona. It is the final rounds of the 2017 season and Bradley wanted to make history and be the first person to do this. This would consist of racing his Pro 4 and Pro 2 like usual but adding the two classes of Prolite and Pro Buggy. He wouldn’t race in the points race in these two classes, allowing him to focus on his main classes where he is battling for Pro 2 Rookie of the Year. He would be racing these additional two classes in the final races which are the Challenge Cups and they are non-point races.
Bradley Morris practicing in his K&N sponsored Prolite for the Challenge Cup
The weekend started with practice where Bradley drove all the vehicles to get practice and additional seat time. All of the classes go one after another, so Bradley had to drive one truck and then hop out and rush over to the next truck to get buckled in. The officials would hold all the trucks in the class till Bradley was safely in the truck, and at the moment he was good they would start to head out on to the track for the next practice. There were three sessions of practice for every class with only a small break in between, creating an extremely exhausting day of driving and adjusting the trucks for the team.
Flying through the air in front of the huge crowd while leading the Pro4 race
In the final points race in the Pro 4, Bradley would start in the middle of the field. Bradley got a clean start and would start battling his way towards the front. He was able to get to the front and take the lead around the fourth lap, and after a caution, he would have Kyle LeDuc right behind him. Bradley was able to stay in front of Kyle but also put a gap between them when Bradley would get a flat from some previous contact with someone hitting him in the rear bedside, gouging the tire. Bradley was able to go to the hot pit and get it fixed but lost the lead and a lap. He was able to get back out on track just to get another flat when landing sideways off of the large jump and knocking the tire off of the wheel.
Bradley Morris racing his Pro2 to a strong finish, awarding him with 2017 Rookie of the Year in Pro2
The Pro 2 race was action packed with Bradley starting towards the rear. This race was very important because Bradley was battling Jerett Brooks for Rookie of the Year, and Jerett was ahead by five points. The race started with the two of them battling for several laps until Bradley was able to break away and start working his way forward. Bradley would start to battle with Jeremy McGrath for most of the race, but Bradley kept moving forward, passing Jeremy and then putting a large gap between the two of them. Bradley was in fourth place and knew he had to do his best to try and catch third and stay as far ahead of Jerett as he could. With the laps getting close to the end, Bradley was able to catch up to third place but ran out of laps before he could make a pass. Fourth place finish was good enough to pass Jerett in the points by one point, earning himself the “2017 Pro 2 Rookie of the Year” award and fifth place in the points.
K&N backed driver Bradley Morris racing hard during the 2017 Prolite Challenge Cup
The last races of the year are the Challenge Cups, and there is one for Pro Buggy’s, Prolites, and a Pro2 vs Pro4. Bradley raced in all three races using his old Prolite and his old Pro Buggy that the new owner allowed him to drive. The first race was the Prolites that had almost twenty trucks in the race. Bradley qualified around the middle, giving him a great shot to get to the front. There was a large prize fund for these races, making everyone charge harder than they really should be. In the beginning of the race, Bradley would battle trying to get to the front when a truck behind him slammed into the side of him entering the turn taking him out and popping his rear tire. The team got it fixed and got him back out on the track allowing him to continue but a lap down. This wasn’t the way he wanted to start the day.
Leading the race Bradley Morris suffers a flat tire while sliding through the turn
Next was the Pro Buggy, and this race went even worse than the Prolite for Bradley and the BME team. The race started and Bradley had a great start coming from the rear. He was able to pass several people and get almost to the lead with some cars tangling on the first lap. The officials stopped the race and wanted a complete restart since they didn’t get a full lap in. On this restart, Bradley was not that lucky, and going into turn one Bradley was on the inside when the car on the outside over rotated in front of him coming down and clipping Bradley’s front suspension damaging it to end the race for Bradley.
Bradley Morris battling his way through the Pro2 traffic while leading the Pro4 in the Challenge Cup
For the final race of the Pro 2 vs Pro 4, Bradley had a hard decision to make. After qualifying and the inversion, Bradley would be on the pole for both the Pro 2 and Pro 4. The team debated back and forth about what truck he should drive. The final decision was for him to race the Pro 4 because if a caution came out after four laps the advantage that the Pro 2’s had would be gone. With the start of the race, Bradley would lead the Pro 4 trucks and try to close the gap between them and the Pro 2s. Bradley would hold the lead and battle with Kyle LeDuc and RJ Anderson up to the fifth lap when the caution came out because of the Pro 2s, so it was a great decision to drive the Pro 4. With the green flag waving, they were all bunched up and now in traffic with the Pro 2s who didn’t want to get passed. The Pro 2s were not giving up and started slamming into the faster Pro 4s when they came through. Bradley would end up getting hit in turn two and up on two wheels while two other Pro 2s were on two wheels. Then in the next turn, those trucks would drive hard into the turn on the inside knowing they couldn’t stop and would use the trucks as a cushion, and unfortunately Bradley was the one they plowed into, breaking his suspension and ending his day.
All of Bradley Morris's K&N Filters sponsored trucks ready to do battle in Arizona
Bradley said, “Being able to race all four Pro classes on the same weekend was challenging, it was mentally and physically exhausting. Before each time out on the track I had to remind myself which car I was in and what driving style was needed for that vehicle. It is always fun to do something that hasn’t been done before and if it has it is very uncommon. I was able to race in all Challenge Cups in the same day before when I first started getting into Pro 4 with Curt LeDuc a few years back, but now being able to do all four classes in a weekend is another accomplishment. I want to thank my team for working so hard to make it possible for me to race all four, I know it wasn’t easy for them.”
Not the way the Bradley and the team wanted the weekend to go, but also a good weekend with Bradley being very fast and able to show people the front is where he is comfortable. So watch for the 2018 season to be fast and consistently battling for the lead.
