Saturday was round three of the Pro-2 points race and the team started in 6th place. As the field took the green flag in the lemans start, Dan was “stuck in traffic”. The track was over watered on the starting line which caused the entire group to bunch up against the fence. Slamming into each other looking like everyone was racing on slicks, the #41 truck took the worse of it getting pushed into the fence and over one of the K-rails. The red flag was shown and track repairs were made while the rest of the field headed back to staging.

At the restart, the racers took the green in a side by side rolling start. Trying to gain a spot each lap, Dan also fought with the dusty conditions since the track crew was fearful of adding any more water. Dan moved to 5th, and was going for 4th with 3 laps left when contact was made with another truck and damage was done to the left front shocks. Not wanting to cause more harm to the truck, Dan pushed the Pro-2 # 77 as hard as he could on the straight-aways and corners while easing it over the jumps for the last 2 laps. At the checkered flag, Dan came in 6th place.

The first event of Sunday was the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup Qualifying race. Which Dan started in the pole position for and took command of the competition until the 29 truck passed him in turn seven. While they fought for the lead, behind them were two other trucks battling for position and one went over the wall. Shortly after the leader started slowing and Dan saw the opportunity to take back the lead while the 48 was gaining momentum.

The AMSOIL Kumho Tires Pro-2  proved to be a tough truck to pass as they raced side by side for two laps until they just touched enough while in the air that the 48 landed off camber into the 2nd turn sending him spinning. Dan quickly pulled away from the field until the mandatory yellow flag on the 8th lap. CORR rules allow the entire field to catch up to the leader by the restart. That put the # 1 truck of Renezeder on Dan’s rear bumper. The green flag waved again with the remaining seven laps for Dan to hold off last years champ, but two laps later, the #1 made the pass and Dan stayed close in 2nd place. Then with three laps to go, Dan got some help from the left rear tire on the #1 truck that was getting low on air pressure.

Dan pushed his # 77 truck after the lead, but the track was getting rutted up and he put the truck up on two wheels in turn seven. After saving it and knowing there was another battle later in the day, he held on for the 2nd position at the finish. As Dan told Marty Snider from NBC, “It was great to put the AMSOIL Kumho Tires truck in the lead for most of the race and I wanted the win so bad in front of the sold out crowd, but getting to the finish line was just as important, if  I didn’t get the win. We’ll take 2nd and be back here again for the 4th round of Pro-2”.

The crowd at Pomona was pumped up when the Pro-2 field of trucks returned to the .8 mile race course for the final race of the day. At the drop of the green flag, Dan took the lead into turn two as the #10 spun, causing the field a delay in their chase. The 2nd & 3rd position trucks were about five truck lengths behind when one flipped end over end and landed on the wheels. He continued to race while the fourth place truck got by both and chased down Dan. They went back & forth until one lap before the yellow flag when Dan fell to 3rd place.

Not wanting to wreck his truck, he talked with his spotters about the next several laps and where he could make the best move for the lead and the win. As the green flag waved again, Dan got an incredible jump on the two leaders and had passed both by the end of the front stretch and once again regained the lead. He continued to lead with the #1 gaining on him until with three laps to go when the #1 truck tangled with the #71 and spun on the asphalt portion of the track. This moved the #41 & #71 trucks closer to Dan. After another lap, the 41 truck was pressuring Dan looking for a slight mistake and grab the lead. They came over the first jump in front of the crowd and Dan was crossed up as was the #41.

Both gained control of their race trucks and battled for the lead going into turn two. Dan fell into 2nd place again and kept the spot until the finish line. In his SPEED interview, Dan said “We received some much needed help from John Marking at Fox Shocks on the suspension setup. We gained better control in the Jason Baldwin Memorial Qualifier and even more for this race. I lead the most laps in both races today, putting AMSOIL, Kumho Tires, ATD, Fox Shocks and all our proud sponsors on the podium again. We just need some more ponies under the hood and we’ll be the leader at the finish line next time. With a limited crew this weekend and the extra help from Fox, we considered this an excellent day of racing”.

Next event on the CORR schedule is the Chula Vista Raceway, just outside San Diego, CA on June 9-10. Stay tuned to the NBC network in your area for the Jason Baldwin Memorial Qualifier race, which will air on Sunday, May 27th 2-3 EST.

For more photos, please log on to: www.flyingdutchmanoffroad.com OR www.jnlphoto.com.

Always Racing,
The Flying Dutchman
Dan Vanden Heuvel