What began as a strong seven-truck field beneath sunny skies quickly dwindled amid the weight of a competitive class of front runners.

The blunt force of three wide into turn one set the tempo of the heat race. Taking the authoritative command up front, Metal Mulisha's Ryan Hagy and Superchips-backed UTV transplant Cody Rahders skipped through the deeply-rutted track relentless on their throttles. Although merely a heat race in the first round of action, the pack remained in hot pursuit, as if a last chance charging toward the 2012 championship.

Veteran Garrett Poelman, piloting the Supercross.com / Angry Bikes machine, took the green flag up front beside Briley in the second row. And with that, the two jockeyed back and forth, trading paint and looking to overcome the roost shoveled down from up front.

Back around several laps in, the field of SuperLites began to tighten up. Anxiety was on the rev limiter. And by turn two, the pack stacked together into the apex with a wall of roost to their wake. The chase through the rhythm section ensued with trucks trouncing over the tops with unwavering pace.

The speed and timing caught Poelman's truck by surprise, landing him into the infamous turn three like a lawn dart. This stunt ended his day and served as a foreshadow to the day's main event. Taking the checkered with an authoritative performance, Hagy delivered the Metal Mulisha machine to victory by a second and a half over Rahders in second and Briley in third.

Leading into the green flag that would launch the main event into action, the heightened level of competition was apparent. The field was packed tight and chomping on the RPMs during the warm up lap.

Upon the start, Rahders and Hagy ripped into turn one with blistering momentum. Once again, neither was letting up, as Briley edged into the tail end of the action. The battle was a close quarters pursuit over the table top. The landing into turn two was a nail biter. Then they lit off into the rhythm section two wide. Evenly matched in the pursuit, acceleration was like that of a sling shot, dancing over the perilous rough as if turn three had it in for them.

But they survived.

They rocketed out of turn three still fighting for the pride of the first lap hole shot. It was then, though, that excitement turned interesting. In the proverbial blink of an eye, the race came to an abrupt halt. Hagy was on his side. And Rahders was a truck-length ahead of him straddling the k-rail with the hole shot and in need of help. 

Like prize fighters, the two narrowly touched fenders and assumed their position in row one for the restart of what was thus far an endless lap one. Without hesitation, they were back at it, brawling for the hole shot. This time, as before, Briley was digging deeper to squeeze into the action, landing three wide into turn one, bouncing over the ruts and shoveling rocks and fresh dirt from their turn one lines.

Sailing over the table top to funnel into turn two, the pace was impressive. This time, veteran Brent Fouch, piloting the BionicCigs.com truck and looking to take it four-wide into turn two, lost control upon takeoff from the deeply-rutted course and took a dramatic tumble that tangled him and John Gable. Captured on Gable's GoPro, Fouch rolled violently in front of Gable's bumper. Gable shot inside to steer clear of the wreckage. His race ended upon impact into the k-rail. Both trucks were lead away from the course on the hook of the tow truck.

The carnage at the start of turn two was matched by a crash at the end of turn two. In a separate incident, after clearing the turn and taking a half truck lead over Rahders and Briley, Hagy crossed it up on the slick surface and slid into a roll over. Landing on his wheels, he quickly jumped back into the fight. With yet another yellow flag on the first lap of the race, the pack was left with yet another restart.

There were only four trucks standing in contention upon restart. Once again, the two standout contenders, Hagy and Rahders, were up front to deliver a show for the Glen Helen Raceway grandstands. And Briley was just shy of their lead to bank upon the first opportunity.

After more mayhem riddled the race course, it would seem that Briley might serve as the only finisher of the 12-lap race. He racked up the win in 11 minutes and 24.792 seconds. But 2009 season champ, John Harrah, managed to overcome the enduring obstacles of the race to take the checkered for a second place finish on the lead lap. Rahders, who earned the race's fast lap at 51.021 seconds in lap five, snagged third at a lap down off the lead lap. In each of the three SuperLite appearances on the track, Rahders dominated by earning the fast lap.

2012 SuperLite Lucas Oil Regional SoCal Race Results

FAST LAP: Cody Rahders earned fast lap during lap five at 51.021 seconds.

2012 SuperLite Lucas Oil Regional SoCal Heat Results

FAST LAP: Cody Rhaders during lap three at 50.544 seconds.