Costa Mesa, California (September 19, 2015) – On a night when 10 Stadium Super Truck (SST) drivers returned to the series’ roots in Southern California, it was the massive cross over jumps and high speeds the race track produced that stole the show at the OC Fair and Event Center Friday night.
Scottsdale, Ariz., driver P.J. Jones took advantage of the rough driving and tight racing the twisting track produced and captured victory in the first of three races to be held at the Sand Sports Super Show. The second race of the triple-header weekend for the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS series is tonight at the OC Fair and Event Center. Gates open at 5 p.m. with racing starting at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at the gate for $25 for adults and children 12 and under and military tickets $15. Race No. 3 of the weekend will be held on Sunday afternoon at the OC Fair and Event Center with gates opening at 10:30 am and racing beginning at 11:30.
After a series of single truck qualifying and heat races, Friday’s race– which featured the entire field on DOT approved Toyo A/T tires – SST new comer New Zealand’s Mad Mike Whiddett sprinted out to the early lead for much of the first half of the race before Orange, California’s Robby Gordon muscled past. Gordon, got bottled up in lap traffic in the CBS Sports Network cork screw allowing TRAXXAS-driver PJ Jones to overtake the lead after taking the joker lane. The race was red flagged and cut short at Lap-9 after TRAXXAS-driver Sheldon Creed battling with Gordon got pushed into the wall damaging the front stretch catch fence. Jones was deemed the victor followed by Gordon, and first time competitor and open wheel standout Augie Lerch.
Pennsylvania’s Bill Hynes was fifth followed by teammate Scotty Steele in the Live / UFD TRAXXAS truck. Charles Dorrance from Texas in the Sportsman’s Guide truck, X Games Gold Medal winner Sheldon Creed in his TRAXXAS entry, Burt Jenner in Gladiator truck, and the field was rounded out by Aaron Kauffman in his first start in the Toyo Tires SST.
The race track the SST staff built features sweeping high-speed turns, a difficult sand pit section on the front stretch in front of the grandstands and two massive cross-over jump’s that take trucks over another section of the race track with trucks passing underneath. The track was built adjacent to the Sand Sports Super Show which bills itself as the “world’s biggest sand sports expo.”
SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS Fact Sheet
– 2015 is the third season of SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks by TRAXXAS.
– The first SST race was held at University of Phoenix Stadium on April 6, 2013 and was won by off-road racing veteran Rob MacCachren.
– The first event of the 2015 SST season featured three races in Adelaide, Australia with E.J. Viso, Sheldon Creed and Keegan Kincaid taking victories.
– Rounds 4 and 5 of the 2015 season took place at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix in Florida and were won by Sheldon Creed and Burt Jenner.
– Round 6 of 2015 was raced at the Long Beach Grand Prix and won by E.J. Viso
– Round 7 at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix was won by Robby Gordon. Round 8 was won by E.J. Viso, while Burt Jenner won the final round and was crowned the overall weekend champion.
– The SST by Traxxas series will race with the Verizon IndyCar series four times in 2015 – the St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Belle Isle Detroit and Toronto Grand Prixs.
– The SST by Traxxas series also races at venues including sites along the Las Vegas Strip, in stadiums and at purpose-built courses held in conjunction with large festival-style activities.
– The Stadium Super Trucks raced in Barbados in December 2014 as part of the International Race of Champions.
– The Stadium Super Trucks made their X Games debut with overwhelming popularity in 2014 and were featured live on ESPN and ABC.
– Sheldon Creed won Gold at X Games Austin in Round 10 on June 7, 2015
– Scotty Steele captured his first SST victory in Round 11 at the Indy Toronto
-Keegan Kincaid earned his third victory of the season in Round 12 in Toronto
– PJ Jones Claimed his third SST Victory in three years with Round 13 at Costa Mesa, Calif.
– The SSTs are identically prepared 600 horsepower purpose-built race vehicles, modeled after their Traxxas radio control namesake.
– At every SST event, fans can test and purchase Traxxas RC cars and trucks at the Traxxas display. At OC Fair & Event Center display and “Try Me Track” is located in the paddock which like the SST paddock is open to general admission ticket holders.
– Every SST truck competes on unmodified DOT-approved Toyo Tires. A fan can purchase the same Toyo A/T Open Country 35×12.5xR17 tires for their truck or SUV.
– Various SST by Traxxas videos, which have generated more than 10 million views since Dec. 1, 2014, can be seen at www.facebook.com/
SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by Traxxas
Round 13 Results: Costa Mesa, Calif.
1. PJ Jones Scottsdale, Ariz TRAXXAS
2. Robby Gordon Orange Calif. Arctic Cat/ Toyo Tires/ Traxxas
3. Augie Lerch Tucson, Ariz. SPEED High Performance Accessories
4. Mike Whiddett Aukland, New Zealand LIVE/ Think Loud Recordings
5. Bill Hynes Nazareth, Penn. LIVE/ Think Loud Recordings
6. Scotty Steele Peoria, Ariz. LIVE / UFD/ ThinkLoud Recordings
7. Charles Dorrance Austin, Texas Sportsman’s Finest
8. Sheldon Creed Alpine, Calif. TRAXXAS
9. Burt Jenner Los Angeles, Calif. Gladiator
10. Aaron Kaufman Dallas, Texas Toyo Tires
2015 SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS
2015 Season Winners
Round No. Race Location Race Date Winner
1 Adelaide, Australia Feb. 27, 2015 E.J. Viso
2 Adelaide, Australia Feb. 28, 2015 Sheldon Creed
3 Adelaide, Australia March 1, 2015 Keegan Kincaid
4 St. Petersburg, Fla. March 28, 2015 Sheldon Creed
5 St. Petersburg, Fla. March 29, 2015 Burt Jenner
6 Long Beach, Calif. April 19, 2015 E.J. Viso
7 Detroit, Mich. May 29, 2015 Robby Gordon
8 Detroit, Mich. May 30, 2015 E.J. Viso
9 Detroit, Mich. May 31, 2015 Burt Jenner
10 Austin, Texas June 7, 2015 Sheldon Creed
11 Toronto, Ont., Canada June 13, 2015 Scotty Steele
12 Toronto, Ont., Canada June 14, 2015 Keegan Kincaid
13 Costa Mesa, Calif. Sept. 18, 2015 PJ Jones
About SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by Traxxas
Influenced by the former Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road Racing Series, where drivers such as Gordon, Casey Mears and six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson got their start, Gordon created SST in response to the public’s overwhelming interest in trucks and off-road racing. His plan to re-launch the former stadium series has led to exciting racing on both asphalt and dirt, while producing one of the most extreme forms of action sports today.Other than the trucks launching 20 feet in the air covering distances more than 150 feet, what sets the SST program apart from other series is the fact that all the SST trucks are identically prepared and delivered to drivers in race-ready condition. Race winners are decided by driver skill rather than individual team engineering and budgets. Drivers and their personal mechanics are assigned specific SST mechanics who together tune and make minor adjustments to the 600-horsepower trucks.