Charlotte, North Carolina – Returning back to the dirt for the first time in the 2016 SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks World Championship schedule, 10 identically prepared SST trucks took to The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina for the first of two recently added rounds.
Stadium SUPER Trucks World Championship point’s leader Sheldon Creed would continue his domination of SST capturing his eighth victory of the 2016 season in convincing fashion.
As a consistent drizzle throughout the race would truly test the grip of the DOT approved Toyo Open Country AT II Tires on the tacky red clay circuit constructed inside the The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
However Creed, a resident of Alpine, California did not let the slick surface phase him one bit driving his No. 74 TRAXXAS sponsored truck from the ninth starting position to the front of the field by Lap-4.
Substitute driving for Dustin Scott whom injured himself during qualification runs earlier in the afternoon.
Early race leader Arie Luyendyk Jr. would bicycle the SPEED Energy/ Cobra Transportation Services No. 20 onto two wheels in the corner to the cross over jump forcing him to slam on the brakes, and turn around and loosing valuable track position. Creed would take advantage of the mistake to overtake the lead and not look back.
Creed’s TRAXXAS teammate Matt Brabham of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia would practically latch onto the rear bumper of Creed going to the front of the field working his way into good battle with Luyendyk for the second spot by Lap-7.
After the competition caution no one would have anything for the two TRAXXAS drivers as they both would run one-two the rest of the event unchallenged.
Eighth starting Robby Gordon of Orange, Calif. would remain stuck mid-pack until Lap-10 when Gordon put an aggressive move on Luyendyk Jr. with a nasty slide job in the corner allowing him to move his Toyo Tires/KMC Wheels No. 7 into the third position.
Creed would go on to capture the victory ahead of teammate Matt Brabham, along with Robby Gordon rounding out the podium.
After breaking two ribs in practice earlier in the morning Norwell, Queensland, Australia driver Paul Morris would battle through the pain to drive his United Fiber & Data truck from the sixth starting position to fourth not overly pushing the limit of his wounded body.
Sara Price of Canyon Lake, Calif. making her third start in SST competition, but first with a newly announced partnership with UFD Racing. Price would start the 16-lap race in the fifth position and would remain in the fifth position throughout the event keeping up to the pace of skillful driver and teammate Paul Morris to get credited with a respectful fifth place finish.
Third starting Brian Ickler of San Diego, Calif.; making his first SST start would comfortably find the happy medium of the challenging to drive SST trucks after softly rolling over in morning practice. Ickler would drive the Arctic Cat/Toyo Tires No. 15 to a solid sixth place finish.
Santee, Calif. driver Robbie Pierce driving the Royal Purple Synthetic Lubricants No. 30 would lead the very first lap of the event, but would eventually begin to fade in the pack with power steering issues. Pierce would fight his truck around the challenging course to finish in the seventh spot.
Making his first ever start in a SST truck with only three laps of practice prior NASCAR veteran, and current Dirt Modified racer Kenny Wallace of St. Louis, Missouri would adapt quickly to the unique handling of an SST truck successfully bringing the SafeCraft Saftey Equipment truck home in the eighth position.
Nazareth, Penn. native Bill Hynes in the United Fiber & Data truck running a solid race would encounter a right front suspension issue, and pull off the course. Hynes would get created with ninth position.
Luyendyk, after running in the top three majority of the race would be credited with the tenth finishing position after breaking the studs off the left rear hub late in the event loosing his tire and forcing him to retire the SPEED Energy No. 20 truck.
Race two of the Showdown in Charlotte for the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by Traxxas will take place on Saturday night August 20 at 9:15 pm ET.
LiveStream of the race can be viewed at http://www.torcseries.com.
SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS
Round No. 15 Results
August 19, 2016
Charlotte, North Carolina
1. Sheldon Creed; Alpine, Calif.; TRAXXAS
2. Matt Brabham; Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; TRAXXAS
3. Robby Gordon; Orange, Calif.; Toyo Tires/ Four Wheel Parts/ SPEED Energy
4. Paul Morris; Norwell, Queensland, Australia; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
5. Sara Price; Canyon Lake, Calif.; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
6. Brian Ickler; San Diego, Calif.; Arctic Cat/Toyo Tires /SPEED Energy/TRAXXAS
7. Robbie Pierce; Santee, Calif.; Royal Purple Synthetic Oil/ Impact by Mastercraft Safety
8. Kenny Wallace; St. Louis, Missouri; SafeCraft Safety Equipment
9. Bill Hynes; Nazareth, Penn.; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
10. Arie Luyendyk Jr.; Scottsdale, Arizona; SPEED Energy/ Cobra Transportation Services