ADELAIDE, South Australia (February 27, 2015) – E.J. Viso won the first SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas race of 2015 in convincing fashion as 10 SST Traxxas trucks took the green flag at the Clipsal 500 in Victoria Park on Friday morning.Veteran Off-Road competitor Robby Gordon from Orange, Calif. finished second while SST newcomer Matt Mingay of Gold Coast, Queensland completed the podium.
Viso, of Caracas, Venezuela, was aggressive from the start and moved past truck after truck from his sixth-place starting position on the first lap, and then capitalized on a mistake by early leader and former V8 Supercar driver Nathan Pretty of Melbourne on lap two of the shorted five-lap event and never looked back.
With most drivers struggling to hit their marks on the fast and technical temporary circuit that makes up the 14-turn 2.012-mile (3.219 km) course built for the V8 SuperCars, Viso and Gordon raced flawlessly as they pulled away from the hornet’s nest of trucks battling for position behind them.
Mingay, who raced with a conservative style from his seventh starting position, stayed close to the charging Traxxas teammates of Crandon, Wisc. native Keegan Kincaid and Alpine, Calif. young gun Sheldon Creed who both started on the last row and made their way through the field with an aggressive attack. The white flag lap would see Kincaid and Creed make contact in turn 13 allowing Mingay to capitalize on the mistake and nab his first SST podium.
Traxxas teammates Kincaid and Creed finished fourth and fifth respectively ahead of Australian first time SST racers Toby Price of Aberglasslyn, New South Wales and Brad Gallard of Renmark, South Australia. Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Penn. took the eighth spot ahead of Pretty who experienced mechanical failure on lap three. Austin, Texas driver Charles Dorrance had an early race accident and was credited with 10th.
The SST trucks will race a second round Saturday in front of an anticipated sell out crowd, immediately preceding the second of two V8 SuperCar Twin 125k races.
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.
RACE No. 1 RESULTS:
1. E.J. Viso No. 5 Caracas, Venezuela LIVE/United Fiber & Data/Think Loud Development/SBA Airlines
2. Robby Gordon No. 7 Orange, California SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires/Traxxas
3. Matt Mingay No. 2 Gold Coast, Queensland. Hot Wheels/Castrol Edge/Go Pro
4. Keegan Kincaid No. 47 Crandon, Wisc. Traxxas
5. Sheldon Creed No. 74 Alpine, Calif. Traxxas
6. Toby Price No. 87 Aberglasslyn, New South Wales. TCQ Quarry Co./KTM Australia/ Doonside.com Cattle/Lancaster/TobyPrice.com
7. Brad Gallard No. 454 Renmark, South Australia. Peter Kittle Motor Company/Toyo Tires
8. Bill Hynes No. 57 Nazareth, Penn. LIVE/United Fiber & Data/Think Loud Development
DNF Nathan Pretty No. 56 Melbourne, Victoria. Toyo Tires/Go Pro/Gear Wrench
DNF Charles Dorrance No. 3 Austin, Texas Light Force Performance Lighting
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