ADELAIDE, South Australia – Rounds 1 through 3 of the fourth season of SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS will begin Friday when 12 identically prepared Stadium Super Trucks hit the track in picturesque Victoria Park for their much anticipated return to Adelaide, South Australia, the exact location where 2015 SST Champion Sheldon Creed, and 10 other SST pilots stole the attention of motorsports enthusiasts all over Australia.
The SSTs will once again 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 catapult the trucks and their drivers nearly 20 feet (six meters) in the air and as much as 150 feet (45 meters) down course much to the delight of the anticipated capacity crowd.
The starting lineup for Friday’s race was determined from each driver’s fastest lap time in Thursday afternoons qualifying session. Following the qualifying session, a blind pill draw was held which determined that the full field would be inverted for Race No.1, meaning Bill Hynes, from Nazareth, Pa., will start from pole alongside veteran desert racer Robbie Pierce from Santee, California.
Row two will consist of SST newcomer Travis Milburn from Adelaide, South Australia, Aus., and Greg Gartner from Penola, South Australia, Aus. Row three will feature Burt Jenner from Los Angeles, Calif. and TRAXXAS driver Keegan Kincaid of Crandon, Wisc. Jenner would struggle in the qualifying session rolling over and damaging the SPEED Energy No. 50.
Row four will consist of famed Australian Stuntman Matt Mingay of Gold Coast, Queensland, Aus. and 2016 Dakar Motorcyle Winner Toby Price from Aberglasslyn, New South Whales, Aus. The fifth row will feature the 2015 SST Champion Sheldon Creed from Alpine, Calif. and IndyCar racer Matt Brabham of Gold Coast, Queensland, Aus.
Rounding out the sixth and final row will be veteran Australian racer Paul Morris of Norwell, Queensland, Aus. and Robby Gordon of Orange, Calif.
Creed is the series’ most-recent winner, having fought off Gordon in a thrilling race at the Las Vegas season finale in 2015 in en route to his first ever SST championship.
SST 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.
Stadium Super Trucks Driver Roster
No. 1 Sheldon Creed; Alpine, Calif.; TRAXXAS
No. 2 Matt Mingay; Gold Coast, Queensland, Aus.; Hot Wheels/ Castrol Edge / GoPro
No. 7 Robby Gordon; Orange, Calif.; Arctic Cat/ SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires / TRAXXAS
No. 25 Travis Milburn/ Rob Cowie; Adeliade, South Australia, Aus.; Move Yourself Trailer & Ute Hire
No. 30 Robbie Pierce; Santee, Calif.; Royal Purple Synthetic Oil/ Impact by Mastercraft Safety
No. 47 Keegan Kincaid; Crandon, Wisc.; TRAXXAS
No. 50 Burt Jenner; Los Angeles, Calif.; SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires/ TRAXXAS
No. 57 Bill Hynes; Nazareth, Penn.; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
No. 67 Paul Morris; Norwell, Queensland, Aus.; SuperCheapAuto.com/ Hungry Jack’s
No. 83 Matt Brabham; Gold Coast, Queensland, Aus.; United Fiber & Data/ LIVE/ Think Loud Development
No. 87 Toby Price; Aberglasslyn, New South Whales, Aus.; Trojan Security/ KTM/ CASE Equipment
No. 500 Greg Gartner; Penola, South Australia, Aus.; R&J Batteries/ Delkor Calcium Battery/ Fuchs