The confusing part to me was the interaction between the selected drivers and the Audio Prefs setup area AND the track type.
For example, if you select L&R in the prefs and then select a MOONO track to record to, it will record the L channel to that track and the R channel to the next available blank track (and if multiple inputs are selected they go to the next available blank tracks one after the other).

But if the selected track is Stereo Audio, it will record both L&R as a stereo track to the one track ..
A common mistake is to have the L&R setting assigned to only L or R, which causes missed audio recording.

To get things just how you want you need to look at all 3 settings.
Safest is to (always) set it to the L&R setting in audio prefs, and then record to a MONO audio track. Worst case scenario is you end up with a stereo track on two separate channels (which you can then pan to the desired L/R mix or use the 'merge tracks' function to make them a regular stereo track).

To me this is actually sometimes preferred and done intentionally. I like having individual control over the left/right signal sometimes.

I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!