Scotty Steele Scores First SST Win at Honda Indy Toronto

TORONTO, Ontario (June 13, 2015) – Scotty Steele, 17, of Peoria, Ariz. collected his first career SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS race Saturday at the Honda Indy Toronto. Steele led wire to wire as wild action took place behind him around the downtown Toronto street circuit through Exhibition Place.

Steele inherited the lead on the first lap from TRAXXAS driver Keegan Kincaid and led every lap. Just as the race got started in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd that came to watch the SST trucks fly off of the three-foot-tall man-made ramps, Toronto’s Russell Boyle failed to negotiate a ramp on the front-stretch and ended up on his side. While the young Canadian driver was unhurt, he did retire from the race which was his first career SST start. Boyle finished ninth.

While Steele made the race look easy from the front, veterans Sheldon Creed and E.J. Viso battled fiercely for second behind the red LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment TRAXXAS truck, with the position decided only when Viso lost control of his own LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment truck and flipped the truck bringing out the second red flag of the event. Viso was also unhurt in the accident and was credited with the eighth finishing position one lap down to the field.

Steele, who only six days ago laid in an Austin, Texas hospital after an accident in X Games Austin left him slightly disoriented, became the sixth different winner in 11 races in the 2015 SST season. Creed brought his TRAXXAS truck home second, with Robby Gordon’s SPEED Energy truck finishing third, Kincaid fourth, Charles Dorrance in the Sportsman Finest truck fifth, Matt Brabham diving a Toyo Tires truck in his first SST race came home sixth with Bill Hynes in a third LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment truck took seventh.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Rusty Wallace has long believed he retired from racing too soon, that he had another three years in a Hall of Fame NASCAR career.

Since his 2005 decision to get out of the car and transition into a broadcasting role with ESPN, Wallace has periodically longed to return to some form of competition. He’ll get his chance in June at the X Games, where the 58-year-old Wallace will compete in the Off-Road Truck Racing event.

“I honestly miss driving a car a little bit,” Wallace told The Associated Press. “ESPN brought up this possibility and I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s go knock the cobwebs off and try this.’ I know that I stopped driving too early. I think I could have gone another three years.

“But at that point, I was really getting burned out on all the travel. I was irritable. I got the opportunity to work for ESPN and I said to myself, ‘If I don’t do this, someone else will.’ So that’s the path I took. I still struggle with not racing, not a whole lot, but a little, and this was a good opportunity to go have some fun.”

Wallace spent Wednesday of this week at Robby Gordon’s race shop driving one of the trucks for the first time. All the trucks competing in the X Games will be leased from Gordon, who will also drive in the race.

“He was very methodical about it — he asked me to go out first to give him a vision, and he basically then went out and did everything I did,” Gordon said Thursday. “He got out and was ear-to-ear smiling, just laughing and saying how much fun he had.

“To watch him smile like a young man was great. I asked him to hold his hand out to see if there was a nervous shake, a shake most race car drivers get. And he had a little shake, but he was good to go.”

Wallace retired from NASCAR competition after the 2005 season, the same year he made NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship driving for Team Penske. He was with ESPN from 2006 until the network’s contract with NASCAR expired at the end of last season.

Now the 1989 champion is spending about half the year living in Mexico while doing radio work for Motor Racing Network and ambassador appearances as a NASCAR Hall of Famer. Wallace also owns several car dealerships that require his attention.

“I don’t need to do anything, any racing I do, it’s just for fun,” Wallace said. “My wife rolls her eyes at me and says, ‘We are having fun.’ But most of you, you see Rusty in damn regular clothes and think, ‘There’s retired Rusty.’ I am a racer at heart, I’m always a racer at heart, and I’m not done with racing.”

Wallace has periodically been back in a car since his retirement, and he had a high-profile stint behind the wheel when he tested Brad Keselowski’s car at Daytona in January, 2014. Wallace said he told Team Penske he’d be willing to do any testing the team needs.

The X Games in Austin held June 4-7 will be Wallace’s first time competing in Off-Road Truck Racing. His truck will be sponsored by Jimmy John’s.

The Off-Road Truck racing competition will feature identically-prepared 600-horsepower trucks. The trucks reach speeds up to 120 mph and hit man-made ramps at multiple locations throughout the course. The Baja-style race trucks will negotiate the seven-turn course made of both dirt and asphalt.

There will be 16 drivers in the field, Gordon, who owns and operates his own Stadium Super Trucks Series.

“I’ve been following Robby’s series, watched the races when they run with IndyCar, and it just looks like something I’ll enjoy,” Wallace said. “Every time I see that 2 car (Keselowski) running around, I say ‘Man, I wish I could do that again.’ But I’m smart enough to know I’ve got other things, so this chance at X Games and working with Robby is an opportunity to just go have a little fun.”

ADELAIDE, South Australia (April 16, 2015) – South Australian Minister for Tourism, Leon Bignell, today announced American racing icon and off-road racing star, Robby Gordon will return to South Australia with his popular Stadium Super Trucks for the Toyo Tires SST race at the 2016 Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

The Australian debut of the Stadium Super Trucks was an overwhelming success for Clipsal 500 Adelaide race organizers with crowds packing the grandstands to see the V8-powered trucks fly around the Adelaide street circuit.

In 2016, the field will increase from 10 to 12 trucks with an equal share of American and Australian drivers.

Australian Stuntman, Matt Mingay, who finished an impressive fourth overall in his Stadium Super Trucks debut, will again be joined on the grid in 2016 with off-road motorcycle star Toby Price as they attempt to secure the first-ever race win by an Australian.

Gordon and teenage sensation Sheldon Creed won’t be making it easy for the Australians. Their fast-flying finish to the final race made highlight reels all over the world, with Creed tumbling across the finish line in third place after ending up on his roof following a dogged battle with Gordon.

South Australian Tourism Minister Leon Bignell said it was a maor coup for the Clipsal 500 Adelaide organizers.

“The trucks were a huge hit and race fans were literally out of their seats watching them slide around the track and fly through the air,” Mr Bignell said.

“In 2016 it will be even easier to see thanks to major infrastructure upgrades including bigger grandstand seating and new super screens.

“I am very pleased to welcome Robby and his team back. This is a major coup for Clipsal 500 and South Australia,” Mr Bignell said.

Gordon said he was already looking forward to next year’s Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

“The race track and the facility in Adelaide is one of the finest temporary circuits I’ve ever seen in my life. The atmosphere was amazing and I know a lot of the U.S. guys are excited about coming back to race at the Clipsal 500 next year.

“I knew we had a really exciting product but for it to build this quickly and in another country in only our third year is unbelievable. Next year is going to be even bigger and better – we’re already planning to bring out more trucks,” Gordon said.

Toyo Tires have signed on again as naming rights sponsor of the Stadium Super Trucks race in Adelaide after the overwhelming success of the 2015 Clipsal 500 Adelaide. The tire maker’s Open Country A/T II is the spec tire for the international series.

Toyo Tires & Rubber Australia Limited CEO & managing director Michael Rudd said it is an exciting prospect to be a part of the series and its second visit to Australia.

“Not many motorsports push tyres as hard as Stadium Super Trucks. The series is rapidly gaining a profile, every round has spectators pressed up against the fence,” Mr Rudd said.

“The rigours of SST and the skills of the globally renowned drivers are a perfect showcase for the Open Country tires toughness and resilience. A set of tires will last teams multiple race weekends, despite the punishment, SST truly demonstrates that Toyo Tires are Driven to Perform,” he said.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 19, 2015) – E.J. Viso of Caracas, Venezuela won the third annual Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by Traxxas race at the Long Beach Grand Prix Sunday by an impressive distance over Traxxas driver Sheldon Creed of Alpine, Calif. Viso’s 5.2-second winning margin was uncharacteristically large for an SST race, and was due to the tremendous battle taking place behind him between Creed, Arizona’s Gavin Harlien, California’s Robby Gordon and Arizona’s Scotty Steele.

Harlien, who battled with Viso for much of the event, controlled the majority of the race with aggressive braking around the 1.968-mile 11-turn street circuit, giving the veteran road racer Viso all he could handle throughout the event. “This is as much fun as I have ever had racing,” Viso said. “Harlien did a great job, especially by out braking me the entire race. He did an awesome job and it was only because I finally got around him and he got in a battle with some other trucks that I was able to get away.”

Coming through the 180-degree turn 11 just before the white flag and final lap started, Harlien and Creed touched in the middle of the slow right hander which caused Harlien to spin and give up the third spot to Gordon. “I should have never looked in my mirror, but when I did all I could see was orange, and it made me a little tense,” said the 16-year-old Harlien referring to Gordon’s bright orange SPEED Energy/Traxxas-sponsored truck. “We ran a good race but I just let that little extra pressure get to me.”

Creed displayed his normal spectacular style by flying higher and farther than any other competitor in the field over the four man-made ramps located throughout the circuit. Several times he launched off of the two front-stretch ramps nearly landing on Harlien in front of him. Creed: “There were a couple of times that I really thought I was going to land on him. I’m doing a really good job in qualifying, and we’re three for three in fast laps. Gavin did a great job and he made his truck really wide and tough to pass. He ran a great race and I was lucky to get around him.”

With a full inversion of the starting lineup from qualifying, the fastest qualifier in each race starts at the rear of the field. Creed has been the fastest qualifier at SST’s first three events of 2015 which also included the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, Australia and the St. Petersburg Grand Prix.
LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment driver Scotty Steele was fourth, Traxxas driver Keegan Kincaid finished fifth, Harlien was sixth, off-road veteran but newcomer to SST Dale Dondel was seventh in the Roberts Racing SST and Charles Dorrance of Austin, Texas in the Three Bears Racing SST was eighth.

LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment’s Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Pa. was ninth, followed by Toyo Tires driver Kyle LeDuc in 10th, Erik Davis in the Always Evolving SST in 11th and St. Petersburg winner Burt Jenner in the Gladiator SST finished 12th after a suspension failure on lap four. The Stadium Super Trucks will take several weeks off before returning to the Belle Isle Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in late May. The trucks will then be featured as part of X Games Austin and immediately return to the streets of Toronto for the Toronto Grand Prix.

Round 6 of 20 – Grand Prix Of Long Beach – 4/19/15

Notes:

– Starting lineup full field inversion from qualifying

– EJ Viso led the most laps; 3 Bonus points

– Sheldon Creed was the quickest qualifier; 1 Bonus point

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 13, 2015) – Robby Gordon and Stadium Super Trucks have been invited to the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed, the world’s largest and most diverse celebration of motorsports history taking place June 25-28 on the English estate of the Earl of March in West Sussex, England.

Two Stadium Super Trucks, along with a ramp that allows the SST trucks to fly through the air in dramatic fashion during races, will be featured along with hundreds of other modern and historic race cars and trucks from all corners of the globe. The race vehicles will take part in demonstrations and competition runs up the nine-turn 1.16-mile Hillclimb in the Goodwood House grounds approximately 80 miles southwest of London.

“It is and incredible honor to be invited by Lord March to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed with our Stadium Super Trucks,” said Gordon, who founded the SST series and conducted its first race in April 2013. “Goodwood is a who’s who of motorsports and to be included as part of this amazing program is a tremendous testament for our company. For our young series to gain international recognition and be invited to such prestigious events alongside Formula 1, NASCAR and other forms of motorsports is a great testament to our drivers and team members.”

Since 1993 the Festival has been a celebration of the world’s greatest cars and drivers, and the event has grown to attract hundreds of thousands of fans every year at the British estate. Not only will Gordon drive a Stadium Super Truck on the famous Hillclimb Circuit in a timed event, but a second truck will be featured in a new off-road venue on the estate’s activity field.

Now in its third season of competition, the SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS is a full series of races featuring identically prepared trucks resembling their smaller radio control TRAXXAS counterparts. The trucks race at large IndyCar street circuit events, massive Australian V8 SuperCar races, in stadiums, on dirt and on paved surfaces. The versatile trucks provide an off-the-ground dimension to racing normally reserved for the off-road worlds of Baja and Dakar, which few American fans have an opportunity to witness in person. Gordon’s introduction of the SST series has re-introduced fascinating elements of off-road racing to crowds regularly in excess of 100,000 fans at venues including the Long Beach Grand Prix, the Belle Isle Detroit Grand Prix, X Games Austin, the Clipsal 500 V8 SuperCar race in Adelaide, Australia and other high-profile events.

The Stadium SUPER Trucks return to Australia for the 2015 Castrol Gold Coast 600, October 23-25. It’s the biggest racing import since the days of ‘Indy’ with Robby Gordon’s spectacular stadium trucks being shipped from the US to the Gold Coast.

The stadium trucks were a crowd sensation at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide which resulted in one of the biggest attendances in history at the multi-award winning event.

The monsters on wheels generate speeds upwards of 210km/h, jumping man-made ramps and flying 100 metres through the air two storeys off the ground.

The stadium trucks have grown a massive following around the world, capturing the imagination of millions as an adrenaline pumping spectacle as these 600hp beasts fly through the air.

“I have so many amazing memories of the Gold Coast event,” said Gordon, who raced six times on the streets of Surfers Paradise.

“It is one of the very best street tracks in the world and the way the Gold Coast turns it on is incredible. We found in March of this year at the Clipsal 500 that the Australian motorsports fans are amazing and love to see the stadium trucks fly through the air and beat and bang only the way they can.

“To be able to bring our trucks to Queensland’s biggest party is going to be a huge highlight for our series. The SSTs on that track will be absolutely spectacular and we can’t wait to get back to Australia in October.”

V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton said with the addition of Cold Chisel and stadium trucks the event would grow beyond the additional 10,000 fans that attended last October.

“Last year we said that we would make this the biggest entertainment event on the Gold Coast and we delivered,” he said. “Now we are raising the bar. Cold Chisel will be one of the biggest shows the event has had.

“And the stadium trucks have to be seen to be believed. Their show in Adelaide had people on their feet. It is fantastic they have been able to come back to Australia and the Castrol Gold Coast 600 in October.

DETROIT, Michigan (May 29, 2015) – Robby Gordon won his first SPEED Energy Stadium Super Truck Series Presented by TRAXXAS race of the 2015 season by overtaking E.J. Viso at the end of the back straight on the final lap in the first of three rounds of racing at the Belle Isle Detroit Grand Prix.

The race on the beautiful Belle Isle course was the seventh event of the SST season which is an uncharacteristically long period for Gordon to go winless. Gordon’s last SST race win was Nov. 1, 2014 at Las Vegas.

Viso took the lead from eventual third-place finisher Burt Jenner on lap four of the event and led until half way through the last lap, when Viso moved to the inside of the track heading into turn 7 and Gordon moved to the outside of the Venezuelan driver forcing Viso through a puddle on the inside. Knowing that Viso would lose grip in the wet patch, Gordon stayed wide and cut to the inside of the corner leaving Viso to spin his tires. From there the drive to the win around the 2.35-mile street circuit was uneventful for Gordon.

“I don’t believe I would have gotten to him and been able to pass for the win without forcing him to make a small mistake,” Gordon said. “The competition in this series has gotten so much stronger in the last year, which I am happy for, but it means I’ve got to work that much harder for race wins. It’s great that the SST series has gotten so much more competitive and the wins aren’t as easy to come by.”

Gordon’s SPEED Energy/TRAXXAS sponsored truck beat Viso’s LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment truck to the line by four-tenths of a second, followed by Jenner’s Gladiator truck in third, the TRAXXAS truck of Keegan Kincaid fourth, 3Dimensional.com’s Aaron Bambach of Detroit finishing fifth, Scotty Steele in the LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment truck sixth, P.J. Jones’ Traxxas truck in seventh, Bill Hynes in a third LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment entry eighth, Larry Job in 3 Bears Motorsports truck was ninth and Arie Luyendyk Jr. in the Quicken Loans truck finished 10th.

The Stadium Super Trucks will race Saturday on Belle Isle at 2:25 p.m. and again on Sunday at 2:15 p.m.

DETROIT, Michigan (May 30, 2015) – Venezuela’s E.J. Viso won his fourth Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix SPEED Energy Stadium Super Truck Series Presented by TRAXXAS race in five attempts Saturday by making a last-lap pass on 17-year-old Scotty Steele in a driving rainstorm.

The wet conditions around the 2.35-mile street circuit made driving conditions extremely slippery which strung the field of 11 trucks out and caused drivers to race cautiously and capitalize on other’s mistakes. Steele led several laps of the race but the experience of Viso, a former IndyCar driver who has competed in wet conditions many times including races at Belle Isle, took advantage of a slide by Steele which opened the door for Viso.

Both Viso and Steele are teammates driving identical LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment trucks. Viso won all three SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS races at Detroit in 2014 and finished second in Friday’s first weekend race.

Burt Jenner of Los Angeles, Calif. came home third for the second consecutive day in his Gladiator truck. P.J. Jones in a Traxxas SST finished fourth, Keegan Kincaid in a second Traxxas truck finished fifth, Robby Gordon’s SPEED Energy SST finished sixth, Detroit’s Aaron Bambach in the 3Dimensional.com truck came home seventh, Arie Luyendyk Jr in the Quicken Loans truck was eighth, Charles Dorrance in the Sportsman’s Finest SST was ninth, Bill Hynes in the third LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment truck was 10th and Larry Job in the Toyo Tires truck finished 11th.

The race on the beautiful Belle Isle circuit was the eighth event of the SST season. Detroit race No. 3 is scheduled for Sunday at 2:15 p.m.

“Scotty did a great job and I think he has improved so much over the last year that I have been racing against him,” Viso said. “I just waited patiently for him to make a mistake because driving on this slick circuit causes everyone to make a mistake at some point. He did a great job in the rain, but when I saw an opportunity I had to take it.”

Finish Truck No. Driver Sponsor Hometown
1. 5 E.J. Viso LIVE/Think Loud Ent. Caracas, Venezuela
2. 48 Scotty Steele LIVE/Think Loud Ent. Peoria, Ariz.
3. 50 Burt Jenner Gladiator Tire Los Angeles, Calif.
4. 74 P.J. Jones TRAXXAS Scottsdale, Ariz.
5. 47 Keegan Kincaid TRAXXAS Crandon, Wisc.
6. 7 Robby Gordon SPEED Energy Orange, Calif.
7. 87 Aaron Bambach 3Dimensional.com Detroit, Mich.
8. 25 Arie Luyendyk Jr. Quicken Loans Scottsdale, Ariz.
9. 3 Charles Dorrance Sportsman’s Finest Austin, Texas
10. 57 Bill Hynes LIVE/Think Loud Ent. Nazareth, Penn.
11. 1 Larry Job Toyo Tires Las Vegas, Nev.

DETROIT, Michigan (May 31, 2015) – Burt Jenner of Los Angeles, Calif. won his second career SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS race Sunday at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. Jenner and 17-year-old Scotty Steele of Peoria, Ariz. traded the lead four times on the final lap alone in a driving rainstorm.

“This is just a dream come true,” said Jenner, driving a black Gladiator truck to his third podium finish of the weekend and his first overall weekend victory in SST competition. “When I was growing up Scott Sharp was a teammate of my dad’s (Bruce) at Roush Racing in Trans-Am, so Scott was always my guy growing up. When I got here on Thursday I was walking across the bridge and peeked through the fence to look at the cars on track and who would it be passing underneath us other than Scott. That was a surreal moment for me and I made me realize just how different things were than just a few years ago when I went to these races as a spectator. I knew then this was going to be a good weekend.”

Jenner’s two third-place finishes on Friday and Saturday combined with Sunday’s victory topped E.J. Viso for the overall weekend win. Viso, driving one of three LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment trucks in the field, won Saturday’s race with Robby Gordon driving a SPEED Energy SST to Friday’s win.

Steele, who was also driving a LIVE/Think Loud Entertainment SST, backed up his comment Saturday that he loved driving in the rain by battling with Jenner the entire event in a torrential downpour with standing water in virtually every spot on the track.

Like Saturday’s race which was also run in the rain, vision for the drivers was almost zero all the way around the 2.35-mile street circuit given the spray coming off of the trucks in front.

Keegan Kincaid from Crandon, Wisc. finished third in one of two TRAXXAS trucks, P.J. Jones finished fourth in a second TRAXXAS truck, Viso finished fifth, Detroit’s Aaron Bambach in his 3Dimensional.com truck finished sixth, Gordon finished seventh, Arie Luyendyk Jr. finished eighth with Charles Dorrance in the Sportsman’s Finest truck and Bill Hynes in the third LIVE/Think Loud Investments truck rounded out the field.

The race on the beautiful Belle Isle circuit was the ninth event of the SST season. The Stadium Super Trucks will part of X Games Austin next weekend in Austin, Texas before returning to their regular schedule at the Toronto Grand Prix in Ontario, Canada June 12-14.

RESULTS

1. Burt Jenner
2. Scotty Steele
3. Keegan Kincaid
4. PJ Jones
5. EJ Viso
6. Aaron Bambach
7. Robby Gordon
8. Arie Luyendyk, Jr.
9. Charles Dorrance
10. Bill Hynes