Area race shops like DeJong Sand Cars in Murrieta and Mafia Industries in San Marcos are super busy preparing vehicles for the Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) series West Coast season opener at Pomona Fairplex this weekend.

Their list of clients is quite impressive, like Perris Raceway co-owner Ricky Johnson, a seven-time AMA national champion and the 1999 American Speed Association Stock Car series Rookie of the Year.

"My son Luke will be racing in the UTV [Utility Vehicle] class," said Johnson, "and my daughter Kassidy will be racing in the Jr. 2 class for the first time in Austin Reed’s Trophykart. We have that vehicle in at DeJong’s getting a new body with pink and paisley graphics. I’ll be racing in the Pro 2 division."

Dave Reed, a regular at Lake Elsinore MX Park, is teaming up with the Johnson clan.

"Ricky will be training my son Austin to drive his new Elite class 250cc Trophykart," said Reed. "We easily spent $700 last weekend feeding our team and buying gas in Lake Elsinore, but it’s worth every penny."

I discovered several Temecula men ready to battle it out on the track in the CORR series UTV-style, thanks to the help from Deanne Vernengo, CORR’s director of broadcast and communications.

One such competitor is Chad Mittag, who will be in the Pro Modified class.

I interviewed Mittag’s crew chief, Jeff Smith, to ask, "Why does Chad’s profile on the CORR Web site list his favorite movie as ‘Dirty Dancing?’ And which hobby does Chad prefer most, sewing or baking? Can he make good brownies? Will there be a bake sale in pit #651? Does Chad do needlepoint, too?"

Smith responded, "Oh, you read that? Well, the boys on our team left it to me to fill out their driver’s profiles instead of doing it Advertisement

[ Chatton and Associates ] themselves. That’s what they get for not doing their job."

Mittag admitted that he has probably flipped his UTV more than any racer so far since the debut of UTV racing in August of 2006.

"To take good care of our sponsors, we’ll also be advertising [their] logos under our race vehicle this season to give them extra coverage," he laughed.

Mittag’s son Doug will also be racing in the UTV Pro Modified class.

Tommy "Rock Star" LaHood will be hands on his Rhino. "I started messing around with the UTVs back in 2004 after I was hit by an off-road car in Ocotillo Wells while I was riding my dirt bike in 2003. I was laid up for six months with a shattered leg," he said.

Jeff Carpenter races with his son, Heath.

"We have our own race shop and it’s fun building everything ourselves as a family," said Carpenter. "We enjoy being apart and being involved with our kids. It’s not about the money; it’s about the relationships we have with them."

"The only reason that we don’t advance to faster forms of racing is because we build these cars ourselves," commented Smith. "Now, I do hear guys at the track saying that the rookies should not be out there. I just turn and say to them, "Look, I remember your first day on the track; you were all over the place too, buddy. UTV is grassroots racing. It took you six to eight races to get your groove in. Now knock it off.’"

Everyone I interviewed offered the same comments about the CORR series: "CORR is really well organized and very smoothly run. It does cost a bit more, but it’s worth it – and we get on TV."

"CORR is taking this sport to a new level," Reed enthused.