CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 18, 2014) – A racing event the likes of which has never been seen anywhere near the Bay area will take place in conjunction with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg March 28-30.

Once synonymous with the open-wheel cars that will headline activities that weekend, former IndyCar and NASCAR star Robby Gordon is bringing the exciting world of off-road racing to street circuits such as St. Petersburg with his SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas series.

The Stadium Super Trucks that race in the series will hit huge man-made ramps at more than 100 mph at multiple locations throughout the picturesque street circuit hurling drivers nearly 20 feet in the air and 150 feet down course. Gordon created the series to bring the excitement of Baja-style desert racing to large crowds of race fans. The St. Petersburg Grand Prix begins the series’ second season.

Following street circuit races at Long Beach and Toronto in 2013, the Formula Off-Road Series and promoters from the St. Petersburg Grand Prix knew the SST trucks needed to be added in St. Petersburg after receiving fan reviews such as:
“The new Stadium Super Trucks put on an awesome show at the Long Beach Grand Prix. Watching the trucks brake into and fly around the corners on three wheels with the smell of burning rubber was really something…” and “That was freaking epic!!!! Best racing and the most fun I have had in a long time!!! So freakin’ cool. This stuff will be big and I’m not just drinking the kool-aid, trust me this was awesome.”

The series features identically prepared trucks which are made to resemble their scaled-down Traxxas radio-control-car counterparts. Like their Traxxas namesake the trucks are designed to take flight. However, unlike RC trucks, they produce 600 horsepower generating speeds upwards of 130 miles per hour.
“Fan reaction has been tremendous,” Gordon said. “Jimmie Johnson (six-time NASCAR champion), Casey Mears (NASCAR) and I all got our start driving trucks like these and we’ve reinvented the series and are bringing their former popularity back to the fans.”

Gordon himself is a seven-time SCORE International Off-Road Champion, a three-time winner of the Baja 1000 and a four-time winner of the Baja 500. For the last 10 years he has tackled the world’s most challenging off-road endurance race – the Dakar Rally – so he is an authority when it comes to off-road trucks.
“The goal is to provide equal equipment to all the drivers and let driver skill and not engineering budgets determine the winner,” Gordon continued. “This is what racing should be. The trucks are amazing but it’s about skill and not money that puts on a great show for the fans.

“When I was still racing in NASCAR people always asked me why I still drove off-road, and they were surprised when I told them that I raced in NASCAR so that I could race off-road. Off-road racing gets in your blood and it’s where I started. It has always been my first love and it’s the most unbelievable form of motorsport in the world and we’re trying to do our part to make it mainstream.”

As part of that objective Gordon founded the SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas series in late 2012, and ran its first race in March 2013 in Phoenix, Ariz. The series has built more than 20 identically prepared Stadium Super Trucks that have all the characteristics of an off-road “Baja-style” truck capable of racing on dirt, asphalt or even snow.

While the concept of building and maintaining an affordable racing series with an even playing field can be credited completely to Gordon, the theory behind the series is not entirely original. From the early 1980s through 1996 the Mickey Thompson Stadium Truck Series featured races in football and baseball stadiums primarily in the western United States.

“Not only is it one of the most awesome forms a racing in the world, for drivers and teams it’s about the most affordable professional racing series you can be involved with,” Gordon said. “In 2014 we will race in front of something like 750,000 people, have eight hours of exposure on NBC Sports Network and will race live on ESPN at X Games Austin.”

The franchise format created for the Stadium Super Trucks makes business sense for drivers and marketers knowing that they don’t have to outspend other teams to be competitive. Each week the series builds, maintains and delivers race-ready trucks to competitors which eliminates start-up costs and day-to-day overhead of running a team. A driver’s focus is on winning races and delivering for their sponsors.

“I loved my time in IndyCar and NASCAR but it costs a lot of money to be competitive in either one of those series which means a lot of capable drivers have some fairly difficult barriers to entry,” Gordon said. “Those series will continue to thrive based on many years of success and a proven business plan and incredible fan support. What we have created is an opportunity for drivers to race in front of hundreds of thousands of fans and a tremendous platform for sponsors.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Robby Gordon and one of his two-seat Stadium Super Trucks will be available on the Grand Prix circuit for media rides and demonstrations Thursday, March 27 from 4-4:30 p.m. Accredited media only are invited to attend and expressions of interest should be directed to Chris Hecht of Formula Off-Road (checht@teamgordon.com) or Kathleen Stelmach (kathleen@torchiacom.com) of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Due to time constraints, ride availability is limited and will be filled on a first-come first-served basis. Interview opportunities with Gordon are not confined to this schedule.

Media Contact: Chris Hecht, Formula Off-Road

704-949-1255 checht@stadiumsupertrucks.com

ABOUT SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas

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 Stadium SUPER Trucks 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 SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas and Stadium SUPER Trucks by liking us 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.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 14, 2014) – NBC Sports Network will broadcast eight SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas races in 2014. Time slots for the eight hours of programming were selected and focused on the powerful millennial-generation demographic with all races airing in primetime on the west coast of the United States due to the immense popularity of off-road racing in the Central and Pacific time zones.

Additionally, ESPN will showcase the trucks live during X Games Austin on June 8.

Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas will begin its second season of competition March 28-30 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in conjunction with the IndyCar Series. The trucks will race five times with IndyCar in 2014 at a number of the series’ most popular venues including St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Indianapolis, Detroit and Toronto. Stand-alone Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas events will take place at Orange County, California’s Sand Sport Super Show, the Coronado Speed Festival in San Diego and along the Las Vegas Strip while the mega-SEMA show is in town in November.

The Stadium Super Trucks that race in the series will hit huge man-made ramps at more than 100 mph at multiple locations throughout each of the circuits hurling drivers nearly 20 feet in the air and 150 feet down course. Robby Gordon created the series to bring the excitement of Baja-style desert racing to large crowds of race fans and with a revamped and expanded schedule for 2014 the Series expects to race in front of more than 750,000 fans in addition to its television audience.

The series features identically prepared trucks which are made to resemble their scaled-down Traxxas radio-control-car counterparts. Like their Traxxas namesake, the trucks are designed to take flight. However, unlike RC trucks, they produce 600 horsepower generating speeds upwards of 130 miles per hour.

2014 Formula Off-Road Presented By Traxxas Broadcast Schedule

Event Broadcast Date/Time PT Network

Grand Prix of St. Petersburg April 17, 10 p.m. PT NBC Sports Network

Long Beach Grand Prix May 1, 10:30 p.m. PT NBC Sports Network

Indianapolis June 12, 9 p.m. PT NBC Sports Network

Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix June 20, 10:30 p.m. PT NBC Sports Network

X Games Austin June 8 (Live) ABC/ESPN

Toronto Grand Prix July 31, 10:30 p.m. PT NBC Sports Network

Orange County Calif. October 9, 10 p.m. PT NBC Sports Network

Coronado Speed Festival October 10, 11 p.m. PT NBC Sports Network

Las Vegas November 20, 9:30 p.m. PT NBC Sports Network

ABOUT SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas

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 Stadium SUPER Trucks 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 SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas and Stadium SUPER Trucks by liking us 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.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Mar. 4, 2014) – Traxxas, the Fastest Name in Radio Control, and SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks (SST) announced today that Traxxas has become the presenting sponsor of the Series now entering its second season. The SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Series Presented by Traxxas will begin its second season at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg March 28-30 and finish the season under the bright lights on the Las Vegas Strip during SEMA week Nov. 3-7 – the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world.

Traxxas is the No. 1-selling Ready-to-Race® (RTR) nitro and electric Radio Control (R/C) company with vehicles in the truck, car, boat and helicopter categories. No company has done more than Traxxas to advance the RTR category with innovative thinking and fun designs that make it easy for anyone to get started with the durability and performance of Traxxas radio controlled vehicles.

“Being associated with the Formula Off-Road Series provides the perfect forum for Traxxas to showcase the extreme capabilities and incredible fun that our vehicles deliver,” said Traxxas President Mike Jenkins. “The SSTs are fast, jump and fly high, just as their scaled-down Traxxas R/C replicas. The Formula Off-Road Series allows us to market our trucks and cars directly to one of our most targeted groups of customers and put our products in their hands to experience and enjoy.”

As part of its marketing partnership, Traxxas will have on-site “Try Me Tracks” at all SST races where consumers will have a hands-on opportunity to race Traxxas R/C vehicles. There will also be a full product display and demonstration area along with the fully loaded mobile Traxxas store at each event to make it easy to jump right into the fun. Traxxas also will highlight its products through traditional commercial inventory in SST broadcasts on NBC Sports Network and on ESPN at the X Games.

“Traxxas has been a major supporter of SST/Formula Off-Road Series since its inception,” Series founder Robby Gordon said, “and the brand continues to realize the marketing capabilities of our unique series by taking this presenting role after fielding two trucks in the Series in our first season.”
The SST trucks will continue to be branded as Traxxas Slash trucks in all 2014 Formula Off-Road Series Presented by Traxxas races. In several events, most notably X Games Austin, Texas resident and Traxxas owner Mike Jenkins will be behind the wheel of one of the life-sized Traxxas trucks.

The Traxxas-branded life-size trucks are capable of launching more than 20 feet in the air covering distances more than 150 feet with speeds up to 130 mph. What sets the SST program apart from other racing series is that all the SST trucks are identically manufactured. For drivers and sponsors, the opportunity to race at professional venues with hundreds of thousands of spectators throughout the season and millions that will watch the races on broadcast television, make Traxxas Formula Off-Road one of the best values in America. Races are decided by driver skill alone rather than individual team engineering and budgets.

Tickets for the opening round at St. Petersburg are available by visiting www.gpstpete.com.

About Traxxas
Traxxas is the number-one selling name in Ready-To-Race® nitro and electric models The company is dedicated to innovative thinking and fun designs that make it easy for anyone to get started in radio control. Traxxas products include cars, trucks, helicopters and speedboats, as well as a full line of accessories for a completely personalized experience. Prices start under $200. Store locator and product videos online at www.traxxas.com

Tickets for the April 13 SST race at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach are now on sale.

Please visit the Toyota Grand Prix Of Ling Beach website for more information.