Townsville, Queensland –  Robby Gordon driving the Hot Wheels No. 2 truck for injured SST driver Matt Mingay captured Saturday’s thrilling second round of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS (SST) at the Townsville 400 in Townsville, Queensland, Australia beating Alpine, Calif. driver Sheldon Creed to the line by less than a truck length.

SuperCheap Auto/ Hungry Jack’s driver Paul Morris of Norwell, Queensland, Australia finished third, holding off the hard charging TRAXXAS driver Matt Brabham whom spun early in the event and would work his way back to fourth position.

Gordon, a veteran off-road racer from Orange, Calif., started second on the grid after encountering mechanical issues in Friday’s opening round, but wasted no time jumping out to the lead after making a strong move early in the event to work past early leader Rob Whyte of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

From Lap 1 Gordon drove a smart and conservative race to keep the aggressive driving of Creed and Morris behind him. Creed Friday afternoons winner on a last lap pass raced through the field from his twelfth starting position to be knocking on the door of race leader Gordon by Lap-7.

The final two circuits saw the TRAXXAS driver Creed apply heavy pressure to Gordon as he attempted everything in his bag of tricks to work his way past the ultra quick Gordon.

The last lap saw Creed try to make the same last corner pass he did one day prior, but would ultimately come up a few inches short as the Hot Wheels No. 2 of Gordon and the TRAXXAS No. 1 went side by side down the front straight to the checkered flag.

Gordon would capture his first victory of the 2016 season ahead of Creed, and Morris.

Following Saturday’s second SST race of the Townsville 400, Gordon considered Saturday’s victory special as not only was he racing for fellow injured competitor and friend Matt Mingay, but the victory snapped an eleven race winless streak dating back to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2015.

“It’s great to be back on top of the box, and to capture my first victory of the year in the Hot Wheels Castrol EDGE No. 2 driving for Matt is something special. We all are wishing Matt the best of luck in the recovery process, and hope to see him back out here competing with us again real soon.” Gordon Stated after the win.

As thousands of spectators lined the 13-turn 1.78-mile (2.85 km) Townsville Street Circuit to watch 12 TRAXXAS-branded trucks launch off of man-made ramps on the same DOT-approved Toyo Tires that consumers can buy. The loud raucous cheers of disbelief from the thousands of Australian SST fans could be heard over the trucks as fans of traditional newly renamed Supercar racing saw the trucks literally fly through the air side by side beating and banging in complete racing chaos.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. from Scottsdale, Ariz. finished fifth in the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil truck for his second consecutive top five finish, while Penola, South Australia driver Greg Gartner claimed the sixth position in his R&J Batteries/ Delkor Calcium Battery No. 410 truck.

Caracas, Venezuela driver E.J. Viso driving the Mount Margaret Residential Estate No. 5 would run in the second position behind Gordon for the first five laps of the race until trouble would strike him spinning on his own after getting passed by Morris and Creed. Viso would be go on to be credited with the seventh position.

Rob Whyte of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia driving the AVA Performance Tuning No. 11 would have a better luck than Friday finishing in the eighth position.

Burbank, Calif. driver Erik Davis would encounter a late race spin, and would be scored in the ninth position at the finish of the ten-lap event.

Shaun Richardson from Scunthrope, United Kingdom making his second SST start driving the Positive Automotive/ Positive Trailers No. 12 would feel more comfortable behind the wheel of his SST today running with the lead pack for a good portion of the event before a tangle with Paul Morris would send him to the back, ultimately finishing in the tenth position.

Park City, Utah driver Todd Romano was credited with the eleventh position in the Arctic Cat/ Toyo Tires/ KMC Wheels No 33 after making contact with the wall and falling back in the field.

Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Penn. would be credited with the twelfth position after encountering transmission issues on Lap-7 in the World Gym No. 76, and would not complete all of the scheduled laps.

The SST trucks will return to the Townsville Street Circuit for their third and final round of the Townsville 400 on Sunday at 2:10 pm local time in front of an anticipated capacity crowd.

Photos Courtesy of DirtComp Magazine