Toronto, Ontario, Canada – In a complete role reversal of Saturday afternoon’s race, Sheldon Creed captured Sunday’s exciting SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS (SST) closing event of the Honda Indy Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada by besting his TRAXXAS teammate, and Saturday’s winner, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia driver Matt Brabham by a margin of .004 seconds.
Tenth Starting Robby Gordon of Orange, Calif. would waste no time getting to the front of the field tracking down SST’s first female competitor and early race leader Sara Price of Canyon Lake, Calif. on Lap-4. Following the tracks of the Gordon in the Arctic Cat/ Toyo Tires/ SPEED Energy No. 7 to the front from their eleventh and twelfth starting positions, TRAXXAS teammates Sheldon Creed of Alpine, Calif. and Matt Brabham of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia would waste no time looking for the lead.
Right before the competition caution would fly Creed would nab the lead from Gordon, followed by Brabham in third. The restart would see Creed try to block Gordon for the lead, but Gordon would be too much for Creed to handle. Setting back into the second position Creed and Brabham would tandem draft down the back straight as the two TRAXXAS trucks would blow past the Gordon’s machine into the first and second positions.
The final four laps would see Brabham pull his No. 83 truck along side the 2015 SST Champion in a challenge for the lead. Racing side-by-side much of the race circuit Brabham and Creed would alternate the lead six different times three-wheeling through the corners and putting on an absolute display of driving talent.
Just like the day before the final lap would see the two TRAXXAS drivers continue to go side-by-side all around the Honda Indy Toronto street circuit with the capacity Canadian crowd on their feet with ecstatic cheers. Coming off the final corner Creed and Brabham would race neck and neck to the checkered flag. Creed would make contact with the side of Brabham causing him to fall off the side of the second jump coming to the checkered flag. The contact was enough to allow Creed to grab the victory by a mirror .004 seconds.
Sunday’s victory would be Creed’s seventh victory of the 2016 season.
Much like the position Paul Morris was in one day prior Gordon held the best seat in the house to view the multi-lap duel of the TRAXXAS drivers out in front of the field. Gordon waiting for both drivers to take each other out and capture the win would have to settle for finishing in the third position.
Looking to improve on his fifth place finish from Saturday; Singleton, New South Wales, Australia driver Toby Price would keep his SafeCraft Safety Equipment No. 87 clean sticking with the leaders and would capitalize on a late race spin by Norwell, Queensland, Australia driver Paul Morris. Price would cross the line in a respectable fourth position while Morris would be credited with the fifth spot.
Inver Grove Heights, Minn. driver Dustin Scott would advance one position from his seventh starting spot to claim the sixth position for the second straight day driving his SPEED Energy/ Cobra Transportation No. 20 truck.
Making his second start in a SST race, veteran CART/Champ Car and NASCAR driver Max Papis of Como, Italy would study extensive in-car video over the evening, and the results would show holding with the lead pack most of race. Papis whom was upset with his showing on Saturday, finished in a respectable seventh position and can’t wait to get back behind the wheel again to improve even more.
Scottsdale, Ariz. driver P.J. Jones was credited with the eighth position in the United Fiber & Data No. 98 after making slight contact with various trucks and falling back in the field.
Sara Price in just her second SST start would use all the knowledge she learned in Saturday’s first event to turn heads and capitalize on a mistake by Paul Tracy to drive her BitTorrent No. 78 truck to the lead on Lap-1. Price was able to lead her first three-laps before Gordon and Creed would work there by on the inside to the front of the field. Holding her ground Price would run with the lead pack for most of the event until the brakes would fade considerably forcing her to miss the braking zone on multiple corners ultimately finishing in a very respectable ninth place finish.
Third starting Russell Boyle of Toronto, Ontario, Canada driving the KMC Wheels/ NGStone/ Morgan No. 93 entered Sunday’s event looking to improve on yesterday’s skirmish with Toronto rival Paul Tracy. Boyle would loose the handle on his truck multiple times in the 11-lap event to finish in the tenth position in the final run down.
Bill Hynes from Nazareth, Penn. driving the United Fiber & Data truck was credited with the eleventh position after spinning and stalling his truck on Lap-8 and was unable to finish the scheduled amount of laps.
Fourth starting Paul Tracy of Scarborough, Ont., Canada would quickly jump out to an early lead as the Canadian fans went ecstatic. However, much like Saturday afternoon Tracy would encounter problems leading the race. Missing a breaking zone Tracy would stuff his Royal Purple Synthetic Oil truck into the tire barrier causing extensive damage to his No. 30 machine.
Matt Brabham would capture the overall win for the weekend with the lowest average of both races with his win on Saturday, and his second place finish Sunday, Second was claimed by Sheldon Creed, while the overall podium was completed by Robby Gordon in third.
The next event in the season-long SST World Championship will see the excitement of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS return to the dirt and sand of Southern California with the Sand Sports Super Show event September 16-17.
Advance ticket sales to Rounds 15 & 16 at the Sand Sports Super Show will be available soon through the through http://www.stadiumsupertrucks.com and http://www.sandsportssupershow.com. Check back often for future announcements.
SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS
Round No. 14 Results
July 17, 2016
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1. Sheldon Creed; No. 1; Alpine, Calif.; TRAXXAS
2. Matt Brabham; No. 83; Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; TRAXXAS
3. Robby Gordon; Orange, Calif.; Arctic Cat/Toyo Tires /SPEED Energy/TRAXXAS
4. Toby Price; Singleton, New South Wales, Australia; SafeCraft Safety Equipment/ GoPro/ Golden Gate Petroleum
5. Paul Morris; No. 67; Norwell, Queensland, Australia; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
6. Dustin Scott; No. 20; Inver Grove Heights, Minn.; SPEED Energy/ Cobra Transportation Services
7. Max Papis; No. 9; Como, Italy; SafeCraft Safety Equipment/ GoPro/ Golden Gate Petroleum
8. P.J. Jones; Scottsdale, Arizona; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
9. Sara Price; No. 78; Canyon Lake, Calif.; BitTorrent
10. Russell Boyle; No. 93; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Morgan/NGStone/Krank Off-Road/ Town & Country Volkswagon
11. Bill Hynes; No. 57; Nazareth, Penn.; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
12. Paul Tracy; No. 93; Scarborough, Ontario, Canada; Royal Purple Synthetic Oil