ADELAIDE, South Australia – 2015 SST Champion Sheldon Creed captured his second SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS win of the 2016 season in convincing fashion Sunday in the finale of the Toyo Tires SST Clipsal 500 on the temporary street circuit in Victoria Park Adelaide in front of a announced crowd of 83,000 Australian motorsports fans.
Creed, a native of Alpine, Calif., driving his No.1 TRAXXAS-sponsored truck and Orange, Calif. driver Robby Gordon in the Arctic Cat/ Toyo Tires No. 7 entered the race one and two overall in the weekend point standings. Meaning the two ultra competitive drivers would put on a show starting the 8-lap event from the last row.
From the drop of the green flag the weekend struggles for Australian stuntman turned racer continued, as Matt Mingay would start from the first position after crashing his Hot Wheels/ Castrol EDGE backed truck hard on Saturday afternoon. Mingay would lead the first lap but quickly surrendered the lead position to Los Angeles, Calif. racer Burt Jenner. Lap-3 would see Mingay tangle with Aberglasslyn, New South Whales driver Toby Price spinning Mingay parallel on the front stretch ramp causing all drivers to scatter from hitting him.
The charge to the front by Creed and Gordon would take full force on Lap-2 moving through the field passing truck after truck ultimately dodging the spinning carnage in front.
The Lap-5 restart would see Creed work his way past leader Price, and never look back as Gordon and Creed would break away from the rest of the pack three wheeling and putting on a driving performance for the ages maneuvering their 600-horsepower TRAXXAS trucks around the track much to the delight of the ecstatic crowd.
Gordon would close the gap on Creed the final two laps, but would run out of time as the 18-year old off-road standout would go on to win his 15th Stadium SUPER Trucks race of his young career.
Matt Brabham driving the United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development No. 83 would start in the ninth position and would quietly work his way through the chaos to finish in the third spot.
TRAXXAS racer Keegan Kincaid of Crandon, Wisc., would cross the finish line in fourth position behind Brabham after spinning early in the event and having to work his way back through the pack.
Saturday’s winner Burt Jenner would go on to finish fifth in his SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires No. 50 after leading four laps and tangling with a fellow driver on Lap-6 falling back, Jenner would be followed to the finish by Penola, South Australia Off-Road racer Greg Gartner in the R&D Batteries/ Delkor Calcium Battery/ Fuchs No. 500 who would finish sixth.
Sixth place starter Toby Price of Aberglasslyn, New South Whales would work his way to the second position behind Jenner on Lap-6 before contact with fellow Australian Matt Mingay would spin the both of them. Price would be credited with the seventh position, while Mingay’s horrific weekend would continue with him finishing in the eighth spot.
Paul Morris from Norwell, Queensland driving the SuperCheap Auto truck finished ninth, while Nazareth, Penn. driver Bill Hynes piloting the No. 57 United Fiber & Data / LIVE/ Think Loud Development truck rounded out the top ten.
Santee, Calif. driver Robbie Pierce in the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil No. 30 ran a great first four lap’s before getting turned around on the final lap and loosing valuable ground to the lead group ultimately crossing the finish line in the eleventh position.
First time SST driver Travis Milburn of Adelaide, South Australia would encounter troubles on Lap-4 bringing the No. 25 Move Yourself Trailer & Ute Hire to the pit lane falling out of the event.
The overall standings over the three races would see Sheldon Creed first, with Robby Gordon claiming second, and Matt Brabham rounding out the top three.
The SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS will continue with Rounds No. 4 & 5 next weekend March 11 & 12 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Fla. Tickets to the race are available through the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg web site at www.gpstpete.com/.
Stadium Super Trucks: Race No. 3 Results
1. Sheldon Creed; No.1 Alpine, Calif.; TRAXXAS
2. Robby Gordon; No. 7 Orange, Calif.; Arctic Cat/ SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires / TRAXXAS
3. Matt Brabham; No. 83 Gold Coast, Queensland, Aus.; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
4. Keegan Kincaid; No. 47 Crandon, Wisc.; TRAXXAS
5. Burt Jenner; No. 50 Los Angeles, Calif.; SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires/ TRAXXAS
6. Greg Gartner; No. 500 Penola, South Australia, Aus.; R&J Batteries/ Delkor Calcium Battery/ Fuchs
7. Toby Price; No. 87 Aberglasslyn, New South Whales, Aus.; Trojan Security/ KTM/ CASE Equipment
8. Matt Mingay; No. 2 Gold Coast, Queensland, Aus.; Hot Wheels/ Castrol Edge / GoPro
9. Paul Morris; No. 67 Norwell, Queensland, Aus.; SuperCheapAuto.com/ Hungry Jack’s
10. Bill Hynes; No. 57 Nazareth, Penn.; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
11. Robbie Pierce; No. 30 Santee, Calif.; Royal Purple Synthetic Oil/ Impact by Mastercraft Safety
12. Rob Cowie; No. 25 Adelaide, South Australia, Aus.; Move Yourself Trailer & Ute Hire