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14Jul2013
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Justin Lofton Wins Round No. 7 of SST Competition on the Streets of Toronto
TORONTO (July 13, 2013) – Justin Lofton withstood a mid-race battle with Robby Gordon on the way to capturing his second SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks win of 2013 in the Honda Indy Toronto.
As near perfect weather conditions invaded Toronto, ON., the highly anticipated Round No. 7 of SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks took to the temporary constructed street course of the Honda Indy Toronto for race one of the doubleheader event weekend.
The starting line-up for the 8-lap SST Final would be determined by a complete invert of qualifying times from Saturday morning practice. At the conclusion of the 8-minute practice session, Sheldon Creed would navigate through the 11 turns and over the four metal jumps of the 1.75-mile course the quickest of the 8 competitors with a lap of 1:33:209, over a second faster than second place, P.J. Jones with a 1:34:658.
As the green flag flew in front of a jam-packed grandstand, Davey Hamilton subbing for the injured Jimmy Vasser and SST Championship Points Leader Rob MacCachren would pace the field from a standing start. Hamilton would jump out to the early lead ahead of MacCachren. However, the trucks of Townsend Bell, Justin Lofton and Robby Gordon wasted no time moving to the front passing truck after truck.
Trouble would find the first place starter Hamilton at the completion of Lap-1 as the motor would expire on the No. 12 Traxxas truck ending his race early. Third starting Bell would lead the first two laps before the hard charging Gordon in the SPEED Energy No. 7 would take command on Lap-3.
A restart on Lap-4 bunched the field back up, setting up a tremendous duel between Gordon and Lofton for the lead. Gordon and Lofton would alternate positions through multiple corners driving the tires off the SST trucks, literally as Gordon would make contact with the outside retaining wall puncturing a hole in one of his Toyo Tires.
Lofton, driving the Lofton Cattle No. 6 would go on to secure his name in the record books winning his second SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks race of the year. Lofton was followed to the finish line by second place finisher MacCachren, with Creed rounding out the podium.
After the race Lofton commented on winning SST Round No. 7:
“It’s awesome to be here in Toronto, I have always dreamed about racing on IndyCar tracks like this and I finally get to do it. I want to say thanks to all the fans for coming out and checking out these SST trucks.”
“Being able to race to race head-to-head with Robby (Gordon) has always been a dream of mine. I’ve been waiting for a battle like this to happen between Robby and I for quite sometime,” Stated Lofton “I’m so glad I came out on top.”
SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Round No. 8 will take place Sunday afternoon at 2:15 PM ET just prior to the green flag of the IZOD IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto Finale.
Round No. 8 will be aired live on SportsNet Ontario and SportsNet 360 at 2:15 PM ET. Please check your local listings for channel.
For tickets and full festival schedule for the Honda Indy Toronto visit http://www.hondaindy.com or call (877) 503-6869.
Fans can follow the Honda Indy Toronto on Facebook at http://facebook.com/HondaIndyToronto and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/hondaindy.
Keep up with all the latest news and results on SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks by liking us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/StadiumSuperTrucks & following us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SSuperTrucks.
All information including where to purchase your tickets for the 2013 season can be found at https://stadiumsupertrucks.com.
Unofficial Results:
Stadium SUPER Trucks Final ( 8 Laps): 1. Justin Lofton; 2. Rob MacCachren; 3. Sheldon Creed; 4. Townsend Bell; 5. P.J. Jones; 6. Robby Gordon; 7. Davey Hamilton; 8. Paul Tracy DNS .
Stadium SUPER Trucks Qualifying: 1. Sheldon Creed 1:33:209; 2. P.J. Jones 1:34:658; 3. Justin Lofton 1:35:224; 4. Robby Gordon 1:35:378; 5. Townsend Bell 1:35:869; 6. Rob McCachren 1:36:855; 7. Paul Tracy 1:37:382; 8. Jimmy Vasser 1:38:768.