2018 Detroit Race #2 Results
1. Arie Luyendyk Jr
2. Matt Brabham
3. Gavin Harlien
4. Jeff Hoffman
5. Blade Hildebrand
6. Aaron Bambach
7. Cole Potts
8. Bill Hynes
9. Russell Boyle
10. Paul Morris
Race 2 Replay -> https://stadiumsupertrucks.com/live/
2018 Detroit Race 1 Results
1. Gavin Harlien
2. Aaron Bambach
3. Arie Luyendyk Jr
4. Matt Brabham
5. Blade Hildebrand
6. Bill Hynes
7. Russell Boyle
8. Jeff Hoffman
9. Paul Morris
10. Cole Potts
Watch the replay here -> https://www.facebook.com/StadiumSuperTrucks/videos/1648356061930319/
Boost Mobile boss Peter Adderton has signed a three-year rights deal for Stadium Super Trucks in Australia and is in discussion with Supercars management to make them a regular support act at major events in 2019 and beyond.
The Boost Mobile Group, which is a major sponsor of Walkinshaw Andretti United, has penned the deal with SST creator Robby Gordon with the idea of giving the category stability and a bigger presence in Australia.
It is believed that Adderton met with Supercars boss Sean Seamer at the Australian Grand Prix in March and the basis of those conversations encouraged him to further negotiations with Gordon.
A dynamic marketer, Adderton has already started building a management team and wants to meet with Supercars bosses as soon as possible in an effort to get a 2019 calendar confirmed.
Adderton has employed former Adelaide 500 General Manager Nathan Cayzer to head-up the new championship, while the logistics will be handled by Paul Morris Motorsport at this Norwell Motorplex on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Cayzer and former Adelaide 500 co-worker Craig Dontas brought Stadium Super Trucks series to Australia back 2015 after meeting with Robby Gordon at the 2014 Long Beach Indycar event.
The Supercars event wish list includes the Australian Grand Prix, Perth, Darwin, Townsville, Gold Coast and Newcastle.
There has also been discussions of a dirt/tarmac event under lights at the new Tailem Bend circuit in South Australia and a possible link with the XGames, which will be held in Australia for the next three years.
“I can confirm that we have the SST rights in Australia for the next three years,” said Adderton.
“What we do with them and what the final championship looks like is in the hands of third parties, including Supercars, who we are looking forward to sitting down with again.
“So many people have identified the potential of the Stadium Super Trucks, but we have done something about it.
“Whether Supercars want to play ball with us or not, we will be taking Stadium Super Trucks to a whole new level in this country and building on what is already a large, young and engaged audience.
“Watching these SST trucks for the first time, the crowd reaction was a real eye opener for me and I believe the motorsport fans deserved more than just three events .”
It is believed that a couple of stadium events are also planned as part of the Australian championship, but there will be a series of standalone events if an agreement cannot be reached for an extension of the current Supercars program.
While a non-traditional form of motorsport, the SST races have been a massive hit with fans on both sides of the Pacific.
The popularity has not only been through fans on track, but through a massive social media following which is one of the largest in world motorsports.
Adderton used motocross and off-road events in the US to build his Boost Mobile brand and has relationships with high-profile competitors like Chad Reed, Toby Price, and Robby Maddison, who could all possibly make appearances in the Australian championship.
Visit SPEEDCAFE for full story
Matt Brabham captured victory in the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks race No. 2 at the Grand Prix of Long Beach Sunday in convincing fashion. Leaving the thousands of fans whom lined the 11 turn 1.968-mile street circuit on their feet the entire race in pure amazement how thrilling Stadium SUPER Truck races truly are.
SST Rookie Cole Pott’s of Scottsdale, Arizona driving the HallmarkTrust.com entry would work his way past truck after truck from his eighth starting position into the fourth position by Lap-4.
Following Potts to the front of the field was the twelfth starting Matt Brabham of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia driving the DeVilbiss/Headstrong entry. Brabham put on an amazing display of driving making his way from the rear of the field all the way to the sixth position by Lap-2.
Right before the competition caution would wave over the field on Lap-4 Brabham would sneak around the Potts truck for the fourth position.
However, Brabham did not stop as he would move past Aaron Bambach for the third position a lap later, and then set his sights on the LIVE teammates of Paul Morris and Jeff Hoffman to grab the lead on Lap-7.
As the second competition caution would wave over the field Brabham would use that as his opportunity to separate himself from the rest of the field, and 2017 SST World Championship Runner-Up did just that pulling away to a sizeable distance away from second and third place.
On the re-start Potts would look to work his way around Yucca Valley, California’s Blade Hildebrand whom was running a career best in the second position. Hildebrand would slip up the track in the corner allowing Potts to move by into the second spot setting his sights on the lead position.
Thirteenth starting Gavin Harlien of Mesa, Arizona driving the United Fiber & Data entry would patiently wait for the openings created by Brabham as the two picked off truck after truck moving through the field towards the front.
Saturday’s race winner has raced very well at Long Beach over the course of five previously contested events, and today would prove to be no different as Harlien would place himself in all the right places at the right time avoiding contact, and making good clean passes to move himself into the third position on the final lap. Brabham and Potts however were just too far ahead for Harlien to catch them.
Brabham would capture his second SST victory at Long Beach ahead of Potts, and Harlien who would round out the podium.
Orange, California driver Robby Gordon sporting the Toyo Tires/ KMC Wheels livery this weekend would hang back in the pack waiting for things to sort out avoiding all of the carnage the first half of the race. After the competition caution Gordon would continue to pick off truck after truck thru the field to ultimately finish in the fourth position after contesting Harlien multiple times for the third spot.
Paul Morris of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia would move into the second position early in the event from his fourth starting position, but the savy Australian motorsports legend would fade back a few positions at the end of the race getting credited with the fifth position at the finish.
Today’s pole sitter Aaron Bambach of Rochester Hills, Michigan driving the Strategic Staffing Solutions truck would lead the first three laps of the race before Jeff Hoffman and Paul Morris would slip by sending Bambach back to the third position. Hanging around the top-five majority of the race Bambach would loose the fifth spot to Paul Morris on the last lap. Bambach would go on to get credited with the sixth spot.
Davey Hamilton Jr. of Indianapolis, Indiana driving the VP Racing Fuel and Lubricants/ Always Evolving truck would run a smart race battling mid-pack admits the chaos for majority of the race. Keeping his truck pointed in the right direction for all eleven laps Hamilton would go on to finish respectively in the seventh position.
Burbank, Calif. driver Erik Davis in just his second start in Stadium SUPER Trucks of 2018 would put himself in the right positions at the right time on Sunday hitting his marks and driving a super clean race avoiding all the carnage around him. Davis would drive his Always Evolving/Assault Industries truck to a very respectable eighth place finish.
After becoming the highlight of Saturday’s first race after rolling his SPEED Energy/ RPM Off-Road truck down the front stretch multiple times Apdaly Lopez would look to gain redemption from his second starting position on Sunday. Things did not go much better as Lopez would fade to the back of the pack after a few laps and make contact with Troy Diede. Lopez would go on to be credited with the ninth position.
Third Starting Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Pennsylvania driving the United Fiber and Data/ Think Loud Development entry would drive a clean race and stay out of trouble bringing the No. 57 across the finish line in the tenth place.
Blade Hildebrand of Yucca Valley, California driving the Empire Destructive/ HeatWave truck would run a great race batting Jeff Hoffman hard for the third position mid race before the two would become locked together on Lap-8. Both drivers would need to come to a complete stop to become untangled loosing multiple positions in the process. Hildebrand would go on to be credited with thirteenth place.
Phoenix, Arizona driver Jeff Hoffman driving the LIVE truck would show strong signs of competing for a podium early in the event running in the top three, and at one point was even scored as the leader at the first competition caution. But in Stadium SUPER Trucks racing things happen unexpectedly and as Hoffman and Blade Hildebrand were battling hard for position Hoffman would get the bad end of the deal loosing multiple positions after getting spun out by Hildebrand.
Lodi, California driver Troy Diede would encounter all kinds of issues in today’s event. First he would make contact with Apdaly Lopez going flipping over and landing back on his wheels. Next he would loose the handle on his Diede Construction truck on Lap-7 backing it hard into the tire barrier causing extensive damage to the fuel cell. Going over the jumps the fuel cell became more and more loose to continue safely ultimately having USAC officials to make the call to have Diede pull to the side of the track, and be scored in the twelfth position.
Eleventh starting Arie Luyendyk Jr. of Scottsdale, Arizona driving the United Fiber & Data/ Think Loud Development truck would loose a drive shaft on Lap-5 ending his day early, crediting him with the fourteenth position.
The overall standings for the two races of the Grand Prix of Long Beach would see Matt Brabham and Robby Gordon tie for the overall weekend points championship. With Brabham’s fourth place finish on Saturday, and victory on Sunday he would win the tiebreaker for a better finish in Sunday’s event. Saturday’s race winner Gavin Harlien would round on the third position.
The next event in the season-long SST World Championship will see the thrills and spills of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks return to Barbagallo Raceway in Perth, Western Australia; May 4-6 for rounds seven and eight.
Advance ticket sales to Stadium SUPER Trucks at the Barbagallo Raceway can be purchased at https://stadiumsupertrucks.com
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 13, 2018) – Gavin Harlien of Mesa, Arizona managed to avoid the carnage in the first half of the race to work his way past competitor after competitor and hold off a late charge by Robby Gordon to earn his first SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks victory.
Pole sitter Arie Luyendyk Jr. who would encounter mechanical issues during qualifying would start from the first position, and immediately jump out to a sizable lead in front of third starting Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Pennsylvania driving the United Fiber and Data entry.
As Luyendyk would pull away, the man on the move was United Fiber & Data teammate Gavin Harlien who would move past truck after truck from his eleventh starting position to move into contention with the lead pack. Harlien whom has shown strong signs of competing for a win at Long Beach in the past was on top of his game today quickly moving into the second position by Lap-4.
Friday’s fast qualifier Robby Gordon of Orange, California driving the Toyo Tires/ KMC Wheels truck wasted no time finding his way to the front following the Toyo tire tracks of Harlien advancing though the field quickly from the fourteenth starting spot.
As Lap-6 approached Luyendyk would start to see the handling of his truck start to go away, and Harlien was right there to capitalize taking over the lead. Gordon would follow Harlien past Luyendyk into the second position.
However, the red flag would fly over the track at the start of Lap-8, as Tecate, B.C., Mexico driver Apdaly Lopez would catapult the SPEED Energy/ RPM Off-Road entry off the side of the Toyo Tires front stretch ramp barrel rolling down the front straight away. The young desert Trophy Truck champion would climb out of the truck un-injured with a wave to the crowd. The race however was deemed official, as the clean up crew would need extensive time to clean up the racetrack.
Harlien would go on to capture his first Stadium SUPER Trucks victory, while Gordon would be credited with the second position and Luyendyk would round out the top three.
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia driver Matt Brabham sporting new DeVilbiss/Headstrong/Bullet Liner livery this weekend would hang back in the pack waiting for things to sort out avoiding all of the carnage the first half of the race. After the competition caution Brabham would continue to pick off truck after truck through the field to ultimately finish in the fourth position after contesting Luyendyk Jr. multiple times for the third spot.
Davey Hamilton Jr. of Indianapolis, Indiana in his return to racing after a scary sprint car accident last November put him out of the drivers seat for nearly five months. Keeping pass running in the top three the first four laps the younger Hamilton showed signs of feeling right back at home in the seat of his VP Racing Fuels and Lubricants/ Always Evolving Truck. Not loosing any ground to the lead pack Hamilton would go on to score his best career Stadium SUPER Trucks finish with a fifth place effort.
Blade Hildebrand of Yucca Valley, California making his first start at the Grand Prix of Long Beach would keep his truck in one piece learning more and more each lap from his tenth starting position. The Empire Destructive driver would record a respectable finish earning the sixth spot.
Also making his first ever start at the Grand Prix of Long Beach Scottsdale, Arizona driver Cole Potts driving the HallmarkTrust.com truck would follow SST rookie Hidebrand to earn a seventh place finish.
Making his return to Stadium SUPER Truck competition after a year hiatus Erik Davis of Burbank, Calif. driving the Always Evolving/ Assault Industries No. 75 would bounce around the front of the field from his second starting position before falling back into the mix of things. Davis would be placed in the eighth position at the conclusion.
Lodi, California driver Troy Diede making his return to Stadium SUPER Trucks racing in the Diede Construction entry would run a smart cautious race holding his ground. Diede would be scored with ninth position.
2017 Stadium SUPER Trucks World Champion Paul Morris of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia would be stuck in the middle of chaos from his eight starting position. Beating and banging into each other trying to break free into open track Morris would spin around the LIVE/Think Loud Development entry on Lap-6, and be stuck against the tire barrier loosing multiple positions on track. When the checkered flag waved Morris was sitting in the tenth spot.
United Fiber and Data/ LIVE driver Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Penn., would run an amazing first three lap’s keeping pace with the leader Luyendyk Jr. at the front of the pack. However, in Stadium SUPER Truck racing nothing is ever certain lap after lap. Attempting to make a daring pass after the mandatory competition caution Hynes would not brake early enough, and need to use the escape road to slow down for the corner. One little mistake would take “The Thrill” out of a great finish with being credited with eleventh.
Phoenix, Arizona driver Jeff Hoffman driving the LIVE/ Think Loud Development truck struggle to gain positions after being collected in a Lap-2 scramble with Aaron Bambach where the two drivers would become stopped on track facing each other. That wasn’t the only trouble for Hoffman would encounter, as he would have nowhere to go after teammate Paul Morris would block the entire track on Lap-6. Hoffman would be scored with the twelfth position.
After his wild ride down the front straight away on Lap-7, Apdaly Lopez would go on to be credited with the thirteenth position after his beaten and broken the race would need to get towed back to the SST paddock with extensive left front suspension damage.
Rochester Hills, Michigan driver Aaron Bambach making his first SST start of 2018 would lose the handle on his Strategic Staffing Solutions truck on Lap-2 after making heavy contact with Jeff Hoffman. Bambach would pull his truck into the pit lane to see if SST technicians could diagnose a problem. Bambach would be credited with the fourteenth position.
The second and final round of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at the 2018 Grand Prix of Long Beach will take place Sunday at 4:05 PM PT just after the completion of the IndyCar Series event.
Adelaide, South Australia (March 4, 2018)- Matt Brabham would make a last corner pass on Robby Gordon much to the delight of the capacity South Australian crowd to capture victory in the third and finale round of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at the Adelaide 500 in Adelaide, South Australia.
Second starting Toby Price of Singleton, New South Whales driving the McDonald’s SST truck would jump out to an early lead ahead of Pole Sitter Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. As Hynes would fade back into the pack, third starting Jeff Hoffman of Phoenix, Arizona would slide into the second position, and start to chase down Price for the top spot.
Saturday Race 2 Winner Robby Gordon of Orange, California; driving the SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires truck once again would not waste any time moving to the front of the field from his sixth starting spot settling in the third position behind Hoffman and immediately setting his sights on the leader.
As Price would start to extent his lead on Lap-2, Gordon was already putting a nose under Hoffman for the second position. Gordon and Hoffman would race nose to tail with one another drafting trying to cut into the lead of the price truck. However, Gordon would make a move on Hoffman launching off the McDonalds further to steal the second position away.
Right before the half way competition caution would fly Gordon would track down Price, and move past him for the lead.
The driver who would benefit the most from the competition caution was Gold Coast, Queensland driver Matt Brabham in the DeVilbiss/Hawk Performance entry. After the cumulative points inversion Brabham would start last on the field after acquiring the most points over the course of the first three days through qualifying and the first two races.
Bunching the field back up would allow Brabham an opportunity to make a run at the leaders. Picking off Hoffman and Milburn for fourth and third respectively in the following laps.
Quietly running in the top five the entire event Adelaide, South Australia driver Travis Milburn driving the TRG Transport SST would remain strong lurking in the shadows of the leaders in fourth place waiting for something big to happen in front of him he could capitalize on.
As the white flag flew you could put a blanket over the lead five trucks, as it was anyone’s race.
Brabham moving past Price for second setting his sights on Gordon for the lead, with Price, Milburn, and Hoffman waiting for their opportunity to strike on the two if something were to happen.
Gordon and Brabham would trade the lead position back and forth through multiple turns racing hard to the finish.
Coming to the checkered flag out of the final turn Gordon would encounter mechanical issues, as the truck would just shut off on him. Rolling out of the racing grove allowing Brabham to drive by the stalled truck of Gordon on the inside of the track. Gordon’s truck would not re fire right away dropping him out of contention for the win.
Brabham would go on to capture his first victory of the 2018 season, ahead of second finishing Travis Milburn whom would earn his best career Stadium SUPER Trucks finish. Matt Brabham would take the third position rounding out the podium for the second straight day.
Making tremendous gains over the previous two races VP Racing Lubricants and Fuel driver Blade Hildebrand of Yucca Valley, California would drive a clean and smart race making sure to hit all his braking zones, and avoid contact with the other competitors to score his best career Stadium SUPER Trucks finish with a fifth place.
Stealing the show in one of the wildest finishes in Stadium SUPER Trucks history Gavin Harlien of Mesa Arizona would cross the finish line in the Road Pod Transport Transformed truck backwards after doing a series of donuts all the way down the front straight away after breaking off his right rear KMC Wheel and Toyo Tire. With the roaring massive crowd in the background Harlien would be credited with the sixth position in the final finishing order.
Friday Race 1 second place finisher Arie Luyendyk Jr. would run mid-pack for majority of the race not able to gain any positions in his Boost Mobile backed entry. Luyendyk would be credited with the seventh spot in the final finishing order.
2017 Stadium SUPER Trucks Champion Paul Morris would continue to struggle with his race truck being stuck mid pack for the third straight race battling hard in the thick of the chaos beating and banging on one another. The OzLand Security driver would cross the finish line and be credited with the eighth position at the conclusion of the 9-Lap race.
Greg Gartner of Penola, South Australia would once again loose positions late in the race after contact with Arie Luyendyk Jr. whom would spin him. Gartner would bring the No. 410 R & J Batteries/ Fuchs across the finish in the ninth position.
After leading majority of the race Gordon would be credited with the tenth position after his misfortunes on the lap corner of the last lap.
Friday’s race winner Cole Potts of Scottsdale, Arizona would get into the back of another truck folding his hood into his vision causing him to spin out on his own and loose the lead pack of trucks. Potts driving the HallmarkTrust.com truck would go on to be credited with the eleventh position
Pole sitter Bill Hynes driving the LIVE/ United Fiber and Data/ Think Loud Development truck would miss the braking zone on the first lap in an early corner and would fad to the back of the pack. Never able to recover Hynes was scored in the twelfth position.
The overall standings over the three races would see Matt Brabham first, with Arie Luyendyk Jr. claming second, and Travis Milburn rounding out the top three.
The 2018 SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks World Championship will continue with Round 5 & 6; April 14 & 15 in Long Beach, California for the world renown Long Beach Grand Prix. Pre-Sale tickets with multiple ticket options are currently available for purchase at https://stadiumsupertrucks.com
Adelaide, South Australia (March 3, 2018)- Robby Gordon with stood a late charge by Gavin Harlien and Matt Brabham to capture victory in Saturday’s thrilling second round of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at the Adelaide 500 in Adelaide, South Australia.
Pole sitter Toby Price of Singeton, New South Whales driving the McDonalds/ Ramsey Brothers truck would benefit from a poor finish on Friday to start up front in Round 2.
From the wave of the green flag Price wasted no time jumping out to the early lead, but it did not take Orange, California driver Robby Gordon long to pressure him for the top.
The two competitors would race side by side with close hard racing for multiple laps running away from the rest of the field before Gordon would find an opening to move past for the lead on Lap-3. Gordon would drag race Price down the long straightaway to move in front of him entering Turn-10.
However the driver on the move was Gavin Harlien of Mesa, Arizona driving the Road Pod Transport Transformed truck, as he would work his way thru the field from the seventh starting position to challenge Price for second.
At the start of Lap-4 Harlien would find an opening over the front stretch ramps to move past Price just before the chicane to move into second behind Gordon. Price would battle back, but would not be able to move back past Harlien as Gordon would begin to pull away from the field.
The next lap would see Price would loose the handle on his McDonald’s truck in the corner on Lap-5 loosing multiple positions, and loosing all sights of the leads trucks.
Gold Coast, Queensland driver Matt Brabham would move past the spinning Price truck to slide into the third position, as he would immediately attempt to pressure Harlien for second.
Gordon would have the best seat to view an epic battle unfolding behind him with good clean hard racing between Harlien and Brabham for multiple laps.
Harlien would try his hardest to catch Gordon on the last lap trying everything he could to work his way past, but the savvy off-road and road race veteran was just too fast on this day.
Gordon would capture his first victory of the 2018 season, ahead of second finishing Gavin Harlien whom re deem himself from a poor finish in Friday’s opening race. Matt Brabham would take the third position rounding out the podium for the second straight day.
Following Saturday’s third race of the season, Gordon wanted to give a special thanks to the hard working Stadium SUPER Trucks technicians who have been battling various mechanicals on the SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires truck the last few days.
Coming off a rough finish in Friday afternoons opening event Paul Morris driving the OZ Land Security truck would have a better day on Saturday crossing the line in fourth position while yesterday’s second place finisher Arie Luyendyk Jr. driving the Boost Mobile entry would earn a top five finish for the second straight day.
Adelaide, South Australia; driver Travis Milburn was sixth in his TRG Transport No. 77, followed in seventh by fellow South Australia racer Greg Gartner driving the R & J Batteries/ Fuchs entry.
Yesterdays winner Cole Potts of Scottsdale, Arizona; driving the HallmarkTrust.com truck would get bounced around mid back throughout the race and would never advance getting credit with the eighth spot. Getting in a tangle late in the race for the second day, Blade Hildenbrand of Yucca Valley, California; driving the VP Racing Lubricants & Fuel/ HeatWave truck would finish in the ninth position.
Race No. 2 pole sitter Toby Price of Singleton, New South Whales would lead the first two laps of the event in a tremendous battle with Robby Gordon before going wide in a corner, and spinning out loosing tremendous ground to the lead pack. Price would run out of time to recover and would go on to finish the eight lap event in the tenth position.
Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Pennsylvania driving the LIVE/ United Fiber and Data entry would be recorded in the eleventh position.
After spun into the wall early in the event Phoenix, Arizona driver Jeff Hoffman driving the LIVE No. 47 would loose a large amount of track position and would never catch the pack again. Hoffman would be credited with the twelfth and final position.
The SST trucks will return to the Adelaide Street Circuit for the third and final round of the Adelaide 500 on Sunday at 2:20 pm local time prior to the Supercars race in front of another capacity crowd.
Tickets for this weekend’s Adelaide 500 event are still available for purchase by visiting https://www.adelaide500.com.au/ticketing
SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks World Championship
Round No. 3 Unoffical Results
March 3, 2018
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
1. Robby Gordon; Orange, Calif.; SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires/ KMC Wheels/ Menards
2. Gavin Harlien; Mesa, Arizona; Road Pod Transport Transformed
3. Matt Brabham; Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; DeVILBISS/ Hawk Performance/ HeadStrong/ KMC Wheels
4. Paul Morris; Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; OZ Land Security/ AC Tec/
SuperCheap Auto
5. Arie Luyendyk Jr.; Scottsdale, Arizona; Boost Mobile
6. Travis Milburn; Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; TRG Transport/ Adelaide General Property Maintenance/ Move Yourself Trailer Hire
7. Greg Gartner; Penola, South Australia, Aus.; R&J Batteries/ Fuchs/ Case IH
Agriculture
8. Cole Potts; Scottsdale, Arizona; HallmarkTrust.com/ ICP/ Security State Bank
9. Blade Hildebrand; Yucca Valley, California; VP Racing Lubricants & Fuel/ Empire Destructive/ HeatWave/ MPI/ KMC Wheels
10. Toby Price; Singleton, New South Whales, Australia; McDonald’s/ Ramsey Brothers/ Mitsubishi/ Oakley
11. Bill Hynes; Nazareth, Penn.; LIVE/ United Fiber & Data/ Think Loud Development
12. Jeff Hoffman; Phoenix, Arizona; LIVE/ United Fiber & Data/ Think Loud Development
Adelaide, South Australia (March 2, 2018)– After making his first ever asphalt road race laps in an SST truck on the fast and technical temporary street circuit in yesterdays practice session; Scottsdale, Arizona driver Cole Potts withstood a serious charge by two of Stadium SUPER Trucks elite drivers to became the class of the field winning the opening round of the renamed Adelaide 500 in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Pole sitter Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Pennsylvania would pace the field to green for the 8-Lap sprint. Quickly jumping out to the early lead in the LIVE entry, Hynes would show the field around the circuit for 11-turns before Potts driving the HallmarkTrust.com truck would work his way around Hynes to the front from his second starting position.
Shortly after taking the lead Potts would receive pressure for the lead from Penola, South Australia driver Greg Gartner on Lap-2. However, the man on the move was Orange, California driver Robby Gordon working his way all the way into the third spot from the seventh starting position in his familiar bright orange SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires entry.
As the leaders would begin Lap-3 carnage would break out behind them as the hornets nest of the trucks spinning and banging into each other would began to increase. As Potts and Gartner would race towards Turn-1 Gordon would hold the best seat in the house to potentially witness a great battle, as Gartner would stalk the Toyo Tire tracks of Potts waiting for him to miss his marks in the braking zone.
In typical Gordon fashion there was no time to sit back and watch, as he powered his truck into the corner past Gartner for the second position setting his sights on the bright green Potts trucks for the top spot.
Potts would hold off the hard charging Gordon for several corners in an impressive display of driving by the young Arizona driver in only his second SST start.
The yellow flag would fly over the circuit on Lap-4 as Singleton, New South Wales driver Toby Price, would snap his rear end housing in half ultimately sending his McDonald’s truck through the chicane out of control before pounding the outside retaining wall ending his run in today’s competition.
On the restart Potts would once again hold off a hard charging Gordon who would apply lots of pressure attempting to take over the top position. As Potts and Gordon battled out front Gold Coast, Queensland native Matt Brabham driving the DeVilbiss entry would work his way into the sights of the lead trucks and a podium finish working his way into the third position.
In a bonsai move Scottsdale, Arizona driver Arie Luyendyk Jr. would continue to make Lap-5 interesting as he would completely miss his braking point, and launch past Gordon Gartner, and Brabham into the second position for a brief second bouncing off Gordon and Brabham in the process.
Brabham would be the big winner in the process as he would settle into the second position, and set his sights on Potts for the lead. Gordon would become the big loser, as his truck would encounter significant damage ending his day early.
In a soft and easy pass in the corner Brabham would work his way past Potts for the lead. Things would not go much better for Potts as he would loose the handle on the Hallmark Trust truck coming to the completion of the lap.
As the white flag would fly for the final lap Matt Brabham would make a crucial mistake completely missing the corner allowing Potts and Gartner to get by.
After the race Brabham made it known that his radio had come loose, and was flying around in the cockpit. In the process of grabbing it would loose control and miss the corner.
This would allow Luyendyk to come back into the mix nosing his truck into the R & J Batteries truck of Gartner spinning him out, and out of podium contention.
The race for the second position would heat up tremendously as Luyendyk, Brabham, and Phoenix Arizona racer Jeff Hoffman would now all be gunning for the second position. As all three would beat and bang off each other, and the outside retaining wall loosing ground to the leader in the process.
In a an amazing display of driving Potts would cleanly drive away from the chaos directly behind him for second place en route to his first ever SST victory oddly enough in his first ever start on asphalt in any form of motorsports.
Luyendyk would hold off Brabham at the finish line for the second position, with Brabham rounding out the podium.
The SST trucks will return to the Adelaide Street Circuit for there second round of the Adelaide 500 on Saturday at 1:20 pm local time in front of an anticipated capacity crowd.
Tickets for this weekend’s Adelaide 500 event are still available for purchase by visiting http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/Clipsal500
