ADELAIDE, South Australia (February 26, 2015) – Rounds 1 through 3 of the third season of SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas begins Friday when 10 identically prepared Stadium Super Trucks hit the track in Victoria Park in their first trip to Australia.
The SSTs will race the same 14-turn 2.012-mile (3.219 km) street circuit built for their much different counterparts from the V8 SuperCars, however, unlike the SuperCars the trucks will navigate over five 30-inch-tall specially designed ramps located in prime fan-viewing locations throughout the circuit. The crowd-pleasing ramps will launch the trucks and their drivers nearly 20 feet (six meters) in the air and as much as 150 feet (45 meters) down course.
The starting lineup for Friday’s race was determined from lap times in Thursday’s two practice sessions. Following the practice sessions, a blind draw was held which determined that the full field would be inverted, meaning Bill Hynes, from Nazareth, Pa., will start from pole alongside Australian driver Nathan Pretty from Melbourne, Australia.
Row two will consist of Charles Dorrance from Austin, Texas and Brad Gallard from Renmark, Australia. Row three will feature Toby Price from Aberglasslyn, Australia Toby Price and E.J. Viso from Caracas, Venezuela. Row four will be Matt Mingay of Gold Coast, Australia and Robby Gordon from Orange, Calif. The final row will be the Traxxas teammates of Sheldon Creed from Alpine, Calif. and Keegan Kincaid of Crandon, Wisc.
Creed is the series’ most-recent winner, having fought off Gordon in a thriller at the Las Vegas season finale in 2014. The series features identically prepared trucks, which are made to resemble their scaled-down Traxxas radio-control-car counterparts. Like their Traxxas namesake the trucks are designed to take flight. However, unlike RC trucks, they produce 600 horsepower generating speeds upwards of 130 miles per hour.
Round 1 Driver Roster
No. 2 Matt Mingay Gold Coast, Queensland, Aus. Hot Wheels/ Castrol Edge / Harley Davidson
No. 3 Charles Dorrance Austin, Texas Light Force Performance Lighting
No. 5 E.J. Viso Caracas, Venezuela Live/ United Fiber & Data / Think Loud Development / SBA Airlines
No. 7 Robby Gordon Orange, Calif. SPEED Energy / Traxxas / Toyo Tires
No. 47 Keegan Kincaid Crandon, Wisc. Traxxas
No. 56 Nathan Pretty Melbourne, Victoria, Aus. Toyo Tires / Go Pro / Gear Wrench, Toll
No. 57 Bill Hynes Nazareth, Penn. Live/ United Fiber & Data / Think Loud Development
No. 74 Sheldon Creed Alpine, Calif. Traxxas
No. 87 Toby Price Aberglasslyn, New South Whales, Aus. TCQ Quarry CQ / Toby Price.com / KTM Australia / Doonside.com Cattle / Lancaster
No. 454 Brad Gallard Renmark, South Australia, Aus. Peter Kittle Motor Company / Toyo Tires
About SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas
Stadium SUPER Trucks
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.
The post SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas Set to Kick off 2015 Season appeared first on RockCrawler 4x4 and Offroad Magazine.
Continue reading...
The SSTs will race the same 14-turn 2.012-mile (3.219 km) street circuit built for their much different counterparts from the V8 SuperCars, however, unlike the SuperCars the trucks will navigate over five 30-inch-tall specially designed ramps located in prime fan-viewing locations throughout the circuit. The crowd-pleasing ramps will launch the trucks and their drivers nearly 20 feet (six meters) in the air and as much as 150 feet (45 meters) down course.
The starting lineup for Friday’s race was determined from lap times in Thursday’s two practice sessions. Following the practice sessions, a blind draw was held which determined that the full field would be inverted, meaning Bill Hynes, from Nazareth, Pa., will start from pole alongside Australian driver Nathan Pretty from Melbourne, Australia.
Row two will consist of Charles Dorrance from Austin, Texas and Brad Gallard from Renmark, Australia. Row three will feature Toby Price from Aberglasslyn, Australia Toby Price and E.J. Viso from Caracas, Venezuela. Row four will be Matt Mingay of Gold Coast, Australia and Robby Gordon from Orange, Calif. The final row will be the Traxxas teammates of Sheldon Creed from Alpine, Calif. and Keegan Kincaid of Crandon, Wisc.
Creed is the series’ most-recent winner, having fought off Gordon in a thriller at the Las Vegas season finale in 2014. The series features identically prepared trucks, which are made to resemble their scaled-down Traxxas radio-control-car counterparts. Like their Traxxas namesake the trucks are designed to take flight. However, unlike RC trucks, they produce 600 horsepower generating speeds upwards of 130 miles per hour.
Round 1 Driver Roster
No. 2 Matt Mingay Gold Coast, Queensland, Aus. Hot Wheels/ Castrol Edge / Harley Davidson
No. 3 Charles Dorrance Austin, Texas Light Force Performance Lighting
No. 5 E.J. Viso Caracas, Venezuela Live/ United Fiber & Data / Think Loud Development / SBA Airlines
No. 7 Robby Gordon Orange, Calif. SPEED Energy / Traxxas / Toyo Tires
No. 47 Keegan Kincaid Crandon, Wisc. Traxxas
No. 56 Nathan Pretty Melbourne, Victoria, Aus. Toyo Tires / Go Pro / Gear Wrench, Toll
No. 57 Bill Hynes Nazareth, Penn. Live/ United Fiber & Data / Think Loud Development
No. 74 Sheldon Creed Alpine, Calif. Traxxas
No. 87 Toby Price Aberglasslyn, New South Whales, Aus. TCQ Quarry CQ / Toby Price.com / KTM Australia / Doonside.com Cattle / Lancaster
No. 454 Brad Gallard Renmark, South Australia, Aus. Peter Kittle Motor Company / Toyo Tires
About SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas
Stadium SUPER Trucks
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.
The post SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas Set to Kick off 2015 Season appeared first on RockCrawler 4x4 and Offroad Magazine.
Continue reading...