San Diego, Calif. (May 4, 2013) – SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks invaded Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif., for a full night of racing action with four distinct divisions testing their skills on the uniquely prepared high flying dirt and asphalt course. Rob MacCachren, Dan Runte, Apdaly Lopez, and Myles Cheek were able to conquer the multiple challenges of the most difficult course this year to record wins in Round No. 4 of SST competition.
Rob MacCachren, of Las Vegas, Nev., driving the #21 Traxxas was able to make a last lap pass on leader Ricky Johnson en route to capturing his second SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks victory of the season.
The 20-Lap SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks final began from a staggered start and saw first place starter Ricky Johnson from El Cajon, Calif., quickly jump out to the early lead navigating his way through the sand option. Point’s leader, Rob MacCachren decided to try the cross-over option in hopes of gaining the lead. Coming up short the No. 21 would file into the second position.
Bristol, Va., native Justin Matney driving the No. 8 RPM Off-Road truck found trouble early in Lap-2 becoming stuck in the sand pit losing multiple positions and eventually dropping out of competition.
By Lap-6, Johnson and MacCachren drove out to a commanding lead of the other competitors, but disappeared one lap later as the red flag flew for Justin Lofton’s rolled over Solar City truck.
On the restart, Orange, Calif., native Robby Gordon wasted no more time working his way to the front, opting to use the crossover option and taking the lead away from Johnson in the tight hairpin.
In just one lap, Gordon pulled out to a five truck lead ahead of Johnson and MacCachren. The lead did not last for long as the handling on Gordon’s truck began to go away as Johnson closed the margin on Lap-14.
Johnson would find trouble two laps later in the hairpin loosing valuable ground to Gordon and blocking multiple trucks behind him, causing P.J. Jones of Scottsdale, Ariz. to flip over in the chaos.
On the restart, Gordon raced back out to the lead, but found trouble soon after getting stuck in a large rut. Johnson would regain the lead coming to the white flag followed by MacCachren and Gordon.
Coming down the final stretch Johnson tried to fight his way through the dirt with a right rear tire going down as MacCachren passed him for the lead coming to the final corner.
MacCachren raced the No. 21 Traxxas truck to the Round No.4 victory ahead of Johnson and third place finisher Robby Gordon.
After the race MacCachren commented on winning Stadium SUPER Trucks Round No.4:
“Incredible, 2013 SST Round No. 4 Qualcomm Stadium, Robby Gordon and his top notch staff put their heart and soul into this race series with countless hours of preparation. I could not be happier for Mike Jenkins and everyone at Traxxas. My truck was awesome; we had a 2 point advantage SST Championship Points coming into the event, and with the win we increased our lead to 10.”
“The track was incredible; we were flying to new heights, distances, gap jumps. SST is way more than way Mickey Thompson use to be in the past. Flying 25-30 ft in the air, I ask myself; ‘Are we really doing this,’ these trucks Robby has built are doing a great job handling the challenges we put them through. These fans, who attended the show tonight, need to spread the word to the off-road and motorsports community and get everyone to come out and enjoy the show.”
Apdaly Lopez manged to shake the mechanical woes of the previous two races to take the lead on Lap 7 en route to taking his first SST win in the 12-lap SUPER Buggy final.
Phil Bollman and Cole Belio started the 12-lap SUPER Buggy final and raced around the challenging course. Rick Welch made contact with another driver and became stalled on top of the k-rail entering the sand. Bollman was in control of the fast paced race, until a tangle with Eddie Tafoya and Eric Jacobus in the hairpin caused Bollman to slip back to the sixth position. Lopez managed to steer away from the collision and drive into the lead.
Bollman would find trouble again on final lap flipping over and stalling Tafoya in the sand.
Lopez drove away to capture the win over Eric Jacobus and third place finisher Michael Ward.
Other winners included Dan Runte driving Summit Racing Equipment BIGFOOT over Eric Swanson’s LAT Oil No. 103 in the Monster Truck division; Myles Cheek, bested 13 competitors in the SUPER Trophy Kart division.
The Inaugural season of SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks continues Saturday night, May 18, in San Diego, Calif., at Qualcomm Stadium with a full slate of Stadium SUPER Trucks, Monster Trucks, SUPER Buggy, and SUPER Trophy Kart racing on a redesigned course.
Tickets to SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at Qualcomm Stadium start at just $25 for adults with kid’s 12 & under are $10 off with a purchased adult ticket at the stadium box office or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
A special for Armed Forces Day on May 18th! Military personnel tickets are just $10 by showing their Military ID cards at the stadium box office or other ticket purchasing locations.
All 11 SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck events in 2013 will be televised on weekends and featured on NBC Sports: seven on NBC and five to be televised on the NBC Sports Network. Round No. 4 from Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif., will be shown on Sunday, May 12 at 1 P.M. ET. on NBC Sports Network. Please check your local listings for channel.
Keep up with all the latest news and results on Robby Gordon OFF-ROAD’s 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. 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 (20 Laps): 1. Rob MacCachren; 2. Ricky Johnson; 3. Robby Gordon; 4. Arie Luyendyk Jr.; 5. P.J. Jones; 6. Lalo Laguna; 7. Adrian Cenni; 8. Jeff Ward; 9. Justin Lofton; 10. Sheldon Creed; 11. Mike Jenkins; 12. Nick Baumgartner; 13. Justin Matney; 14. Jerett Brooks.
Monster Truck Final: 1. Dan Runte; 2. Eric Swanson.
SUPER Buggy Final (12 Laps): 1. Apdaly Lopez; 2. Eric Jacobus; 3. Michael Ward; 4. Eddie Tafoya; 5. Rob Archibald; 6. Phil Bollman; 7. Rick Welch; 8. Cole Belio.
SUPER Trophy Kart Final (12 Laps): 1. Myles Cheek; 2. Eliott Watson; 3. Broc Dickerson.
Stadium SUPER Trucks LCQ (8 Laps): 1. Robby Gordon; 2. Sheldon Creed; 3. Jerett Brooks; 4. Mike Jenkins; 5. Arie Luyendyk Jr.; 6. Adrian Cenni; 7. Nick Baumgartner.
Stadium SUPER Trucks Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. Justin Lofton; 2. Rob MacCachren; 3. Jeff Ward; 4. Robby Gordon; 5. Arie Luyendyk Jr.; 6. Sheldon Creed; 7. Mike Jenkins.
Stadium SUPER Trucks Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. P.J. Jones; 2. Ricky Johnson; 3. Justin Matney; 4. Adrian Cenni; 5. Jerett Brooks; 6. Nick Baumgartner; 7. Lalo Laguna.
