Matt Brabham Wins First Ever SST Race at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Opener

Detroit, Michigan (June 3, 2016) – Coming off a top-25 finish in the 100 running of the Indianapolis 500 last Sunday; Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia driver Matt Brabham raced to his first SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS victory Friday at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Race 1.

Filling in for driver Robby Gordon, whom is in Ensenada, Mexico competing in Baja 500 this Saturday, Matt Brabham would not let down his new boss down tracking down early leader Scottsdale, Arizona driver Arie Luyendyk Jr. from his ninth starting position after the competition caution to race away to an extensive lead.

Brabham whom has been on absolute fire in Stadium SUPER Trucks competition in 2016 has been on the podium in every event and Friday’s race did not prove no different as Brabham proved Gordon’s choose to put him in the truck was a great decision as he ran away to his first victory in Stadium SUPER Trucks competition.

“It was terrific when Robby called and offered me the seat for today and tomorrow and I could not be happier to bring the Arctic Cat/ Toyo Tires truck home in first place. I really enjoy my Stadium Super Truck racing and to get my first ever win today to cap off an amazing three weeks of racing was a real bonus” Stated and ecstatic Matt Brabham in Victory Lane.

Luyendyk whom lead the first six laps in the Quicken Loans backed entry would go on to finish in the second position, while local hero Aaron Bambach of Rochester Hills, Michigan would place his 3Dimensional.com /Titan Wealth Advisors truck back on the podium in the third spot repeating his 2014 efforts.

Paul Morris of Norwell, Queensland, Australia driving the United Fiber & Data/ LIVE truck No. 67 would drive a calm and conservative race in his new blue livery except for the last lap where the driver known as the “The Dude” made an aggressive move to work his way past TRAXXAS driver Keegan Kincaid to nab the fourth position.

Filling in for SafeCraft Safety Systems driver Tyler McQuarrie, whom had another race event scheduled for Friday and Saturday’s events would make the call to Scotty Steele of Peoria, Arizona to make his first start of the 2016 season. Steele would settle into the seat of the No. 6 right where he left off in Sydney of last December hanging with the front-runners and making moves towards a podium finish. In a last lap shuffle of positions Steele would fall back to respectable fifth place finish.

Dustin Scott of Inver Grove Heights, Minn. would once again show strong signs of competing for a podium early in the event keeping up with the quick pace of Luyendyk and Bambach, but would find trouble on the ultra tight course nosing the SPEED Energy/ Cobra Transportation truck into the tire barrier and having to work his way back through field. Scott would go on to finish his fifth Stadium SUPER Trucks race in the sixth position.

Fast Qualifier and current point leader Sheldon Creed of Alpine, Calif. would start his first ever race on the Belle Isle Street Circuit in the last position. In typical Sheldon Creed fashion the young driver would work his way to the front of the pack challenging Luyendyk and Bambach for the second position quickly. However, contact with the outside wall would see Creed loose his hood and the handle on his No. 1 TRAXXAS truck in the closing laps to fade back in the pack with suspension damage. Limping his truck across the finish line Creed was credited with the seventh position.

Making his return to Stadium SUPER Truck competition after a year hiatus E.J. Viso of Caracas, Venezuela driving the United Fiber & Data/ Think Loud Investments No. 83 would fight the handling of his truck early in the event finishing with a eighth place finish.

Australian SST regular Matt Mingay of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia making his debut on American soil on Friday substituting for SST regular Pat O’Keefe would struggle getting familiar with the braking of the new course hitting the tire barriers multiple times to bring home the SafeCraft Safety Systems SST home in the ninth position.

TRAXXAS driver Keegan Kincaid of Crandon, Wisc., would experience a bent a-arm after making contact with Los Angeles, California driver Burt Jenner who bounced off the outside wall on Lap-1. Recovering from that contact Kincaid would work his way back into fifth on the last lap, but contact with Morris would spin the No. 47 around ultimately forcing Kincaid to a tenth place finish.

United Fiber and Data/ LIVE driver Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Penn., would go on to finish the twelve-lap event in the eleventh position ahead of Los Angeles, California’s Burt Jenner who made his first start in the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil truck would hit the wall on the first lap and retire his truck early.

EJ Viso Wins Race #2 At The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix

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.

 

 

SST SERIES TO RACE AT 2014 CHEVROLET DETROIT BELLE ISLE GRAND PRIX

SPEED ENERGY STADIUM SUPER TRUCKS SERIES TO RACE AT
2014 CHEVROLET DETROIT BELLE ISLE GRAND PRIX

DETROIT, Mich. (December 13, 2013) – Adding even more excitement and bringing an extreme element to the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, it was confirmed today that the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks (SST) Series will compete at next summer’s event, May 30-June 1, 2014.

In only its second season and coming off a wildly-popular debut in 2013, the SST Series will compete on the 2.3-mile Raceway at Belle Isle Park street circuit with two races run during Grand Prix weekend. The high-flying trucks will launch from a standing start for each race and they jump ramps that will be set up on the Grand Prix race circuit.

With trucks expected to reach speeds in excess of 120 mph, launching more than 15 feet in the air and covering distances more than 75 feet on Belle Isle, the SST Series is unique in the sense that all trucks are identically prepared and delivered to drivers in race-ready condition. Drivers do not have an advantage over others because they have a bigger budget or greater technology.  Drivers are assigned SST crew members who make minor adjustments at a driver’s request.  The rules are specific as to what changes are permitted on the trucks so that the technology in the trucks remains equal.

“All the fans at the Grand Prix are going to love watching the SST Series trucks in action,” said Bud Denker, Chairman of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. ”These trucks can just fly and it will be incredible to watch them battle wheel-to-wheel on the streets of Belle Isle.”

In addition to the SST Series, the IndyCar Series, the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and the Pirelli World Challenge Series will also compete at Belle Isle in 2014. With two races run in SST, IndyCar and World Challenge competition, fans will have the opportunity to enjoy seven great races over the course of three days at Belle Isle.

“With the addition of the SST Series to an already action-packed racing lineup, next summer’s Grand Prix is going to provide the most exciting on-track competition that we’ve ever had on the island,” added Denker.
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Founded by former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Robby Gordon, the 1995 Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix polesitter and race winner, the SST Series raced at the Long Beach and Toronto street circuits with the IndyCar Series this past season. In 2014, the series will feature 15 rounds of competition among 10 race venues, including the ESPN X Games in Austin, Tex.

“It’s an awesome opportunity to bring the SST Trucks to Detroit and race next season at the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix,” said Gordon, who is also a driver in the series. “We believe SST is the most extreme and exciting form of motorsports on four wheels in the world and we’re thrilled to be able to bring it to the fans in the Motor City.”

In addition to Gordon an off-road racer Rob McCachren, who finished second in the SST Series season championship, other popular drivers that raced in the series this year included Paul Tracy, Davey Hamilton, Justin Lofton, Kyle LeDuc, Arie Luyendyk Jr., P.J. Jones, Mike Jenkins and Ricky Johnson.

ABOUT THE SPEED ENERGY STADIUM SUPER TRUCKS SERIES:
Influenced by the former Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road Racing Series, where driver’s such as Gordon, Casey Mears and six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson got their start, Gordon created SST to capitalize on the public’s overwhelming interest in trucks and SUVs as well as the fact that the majority of automotive aftermarket parts are marketed for trucks. Keep up with all the latest news of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Series by liking the series on Facebook at http://facebook.com/StadiumSuperTrucks as well as following on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SSuperTrucks. For more information visit https://stadiumsupertrucks.com.


ABOUT THE CHEVROLET DETROIT BELLE ISLE GRAND PRIX:

The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix is a 501(c)3 organization and a subsidiary of the Downtown Detroit Partnership. Scheduled for May 30-June 1, 2014, the event will include the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans featuring cars of the IndyCar Series, the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers with the sports cars of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship,  the Cadillac V-Series Challenge presented by the Metro Detroit Cadillac Dealers featuring the cars of the Pirelli World Challenge Series and the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Series. Partners for the 2014 Grand Prix include General Motors, Quicken Loans and MotorCity Casino Hotel.
For more information, visit www.DetroitGP.com and follow our social media pages at www.facebook.com/detroitgp and www.twitter.com/detroitgp.