Sometimes a race car or super bike will “catch air” over the pavement during action at Miller Motorsports Park, and that’s not a good thing. “Catching air,” however, will be a common occurrence this weekend and a good thing for spectators when the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series hits Tooele Valley.

“Fans will see a lot of air time plus side-by-side action with a lot of contact,” said the series’ competition director Tony Vanillo.

The series includes 11 classes of trucks, buggies, karts and utility terrain vehicles racing for prize money on a dirt track built on the infield of the main east track at MMP. The track will include plenty of jumps to give the machines extra lift and will also feature rhythm sections which consist of several smaller jumps which can be difficult for racers to negotiate.

About 100 vehicles are expected to compete in the event which runs Thursday through Sunday.

After inspections on Thursday, practicing will start at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and continue until 7 p.m. Racing will start on Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m. each day with the main races starting both days at 4 p.m. and running until about 7 p.m.

“The action is fast and furious with all the races lasting about 15 minutes,” Vanillo said.

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series is in its second season and holds an event twice a year at a permanent off-road track built at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The series also races at permanent off-road tracks in Suprize, Ariz., San Bernardino, Calif., and Gila Reservation, Ariz. The stop at MMP this weekend is the fourth stop of an eight-stop season for 2010.

“This will be the first time this series has been in Utah,” said MMP general manager John Larson. “Soon after I became the general manager here, Lucas Oil contacted us and wanted to rent our track for an event. But we wanted to make this a partnership because off-road racing is a new and exciting form of motorsports. We have signed a multi-year agreement with them and most likely will hold two of these events in 2011 — maybe one in the early spring and another in the fall.”

Drivers pay big money to compete in the races with a $1,500 entry fee to compete in the Pro 2 Unlimited Class and $1,500 fee to compete in the Pro 4 Unlimited Class. It costs $1,000 to enter the Pro Light Unlimited Class.

The payouts are good going as far as 10-places deep with The Pro 2 Unlimited Class race winners earning $2,100 for each race won and the Pro 4 Unlimited Class winners earning $1,900 for each race won. Each classification will race once on Saturday and again on Sunday.

The big payoff comes at the end of the season when the total points winner in the Pro 2 Unlimited Class pockets $47,000 with the Pro 4 champ earning $28,000 and the Pro Lite champ winning $30,000.

The Pro 2 Unlimited class consists of 2-wheel drive full-size racing trucks with V8 engines and 800-plus horse power. The Pro 4 Unlimited Class are 4-wheel drive full-size racing trucks with V8 engines and 800-plus horse power. The Pro Light Unlimited Class are compact/mid-sized 2-wheel drive 300 horse power trucks.

Other racing classes include Super Lite, Pro Buggy Unlimited, Limited Buggy, Kart classes, Unlimited Utility Terrain Vehicles and SR1 UTVs.

About 2,000 tickets had been sold for the event on Wednesday, but organizers said most patrons buy tickets the day of the races. “We expect a huge walk-up crowd and anticipate a crowd of about 10,000,” Larson said.

Leading the charge this weekend is multi-time off-road champion Rob MacCachren in his 900-hp Pro 2 Unlimited truck. MacCachren will be performing double duty this weekend, also racing the Pro 4 Unlimited. MacCachren holds a slim lead over motocross legend Ricky Johnson in the Pro 2 class championship standings. Though Johnson and MacCachren have diced throughout the opening rounds of the 2010 season for supremacy, emerging stars Bryce Menzies and Rodrigo Ampudia are also making their presence felt with speed and consistency.

Thus far in the 2010 season, Rick Huseman has been the class of the Pro 4 Unlimited field.

Throughout the entire event team pit areas in the paddock can be viewed by the public for spectators to have an up-close-and-personal look at the teams and vehicle preparation.

As part of Saturday’s festivities, motorsports legend Mario Andretti will be appearing courtesy of Magnaflow Exhaust. Andretti will be available at 1 p.m. at the Magnaflow Exhaust semi-trailer in the paddock to meet with fans and sign autographs.

Tickets are available at MMP box office or at SmithTix.com. Ticket prices for adults are $30 per day for Saturday or Sunday or $50 for both days. Prices for kids ages 4-12 are $10 per day or $15 for the weekend.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com