TRAXXAS Driver Sheldon Creed Wins Townsville Australia SST Race 1 in Thrilling Fashion

Townsville, Queensland (July 8, 2016) – 2015 SST Champion Sheldon Creed left off right where he did the last time he was on Australian soil (March/Clipsal 500 Adelaide) racing to the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS victory in thrilling fashion Friday afternoon in the opening race of the Townsville 400 weekend.

With this weekend being the first visit of the SST trucks to fast and technical temporary street circuit that makes up the 13-turn 1.78-mile (2.85 km) street course built for the newly re-named SuperCars series many drivers would struggle to hit their marks throughout the race.

However, two drivers that would have no issues making there way through the field would be Paul Morris of Norwell, Queensland and Alpine, Calif. driver Sheldon Creed aggressively charged past truck after truck from their eleventh and twelfth starting positions to the withstand a plethora of contact and spinning trucks to place themselves in a shootout for the win the final two laps.

The final lap would see Morris and Creed put on driving clinic for the ecstatic fans as Creed would stalk Morris to the last corner to set up a pass for the lead. In which Creed completed a daring move to the inside of Morris moving him up the track with a bit of contact. Creed would go on to capture the win much to the delight of thousands of screaming Australian Stadium SUPER Truck fans.

TRAXXAS racer Matt Brabham of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia never paid a ticket, but had the best seat in the house to view the Morris/Creed duel. Brabham would cross the finish line behind Morris in the third position.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. from Scottsdale, Ariz. making his third SST start of 2016 finished fourth in the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil backed entry, while Penola, South Australia off-road veteran Greg Gartner rounded out the top five in his R&J Batteries/ Delkor Calcium Battery No. 410 truck.

Making his first ever SST start Park City, Utah driver Todd Romano was sixth in the Arctic Cat/ Toyo Tires/ KMC Wheels No 33, followed in seventh by Bill Hynes with his best finish of the year driving the World Gym No. 76 truck.

Burbank, Calif. driver Erik Davis driving the Always Evolving/ AERNow/ Replay XD truck would run in the top five for the first half of the race, but would encounter a late race spin, and would be scored in the eighth position at the finish of the nine lap event.

Shaun Richardson from Scunthrope, United Kingdom making his first SST start driving the Positive Automotive/ Positive Trailers No. 12 would struggle a bit getting the handle on his SST truck crossing the line in the ninth position.

Former IndyCar racer E.J. Viso of Caracas, Venezuela raced out to the early lead for the first half of the race from his first starting position, but that would all change as veteran off-road racer Robby Gordon would make contact with the Mount Margaret truck of Viso going for the lead. Viso would drop back in the running order, and eventually be credited with the tenth position, as damage to his hood would hinder his vision.

Gordon driving the Hot Wheels/ Castrol EDGE colors this weekend for injured SST driver Matt Mingay would go on to lead two laps after passing Viso. Morris and Creed would pressure Gordon for the lead and Gordon would get into the wall causing damage to his No. 2 truck. Gordon would not finish the race and be credited with the eleventh position.

Australian drifting legend Rob Whyte driving the AVA Performance Tuning truck would roll over in Friday mornings practice would encounter more mechanical failure and go on to be credited with twelfth finishing position after failing to complete the scheduled laps.

The SST trucks will return to the Townsville Street Circuit for there second round of the Townsville 400 on Saturday at 2:315 pm local time in front of an anticipated capacity crowd.

SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS
Round No. 10 Results
July 8, 2016
Townsville, Queensland, Australia

1. Sheldon Creed; No. 1; Alpine, Calif.; TRAXXAS
2. Paul Morris; No. 67; Norwell, Queensland, Aus.; SuperCheap Auto/ Hungry Jack’s
3. Matt Brabham; No. 83; Gold Coast, Queensland, Queensland, Australia; TRAXXAS
4. Arie Luyendyk Jr.; No. 30; Scottsdale, Arizona; Royal Purple Synthetic Oil
5. Greg Gartner; No. 410; Penola, South Australia, Aus.; R&J Batteries/ Delkor Calcium Battery/ Fuchs
6. Todd Romano; No. 33; Park City, Utah; Arctic Cat/ Toyo Tires / SPEED Energy/ TRAXXAS
7. Bill Hynes; No. 76; Nazareth, Penn.; World Gym Australia
8. Erik Davis; No. 75; Burbank, Calif.; Always Evolving/ AERNow/ Replay XD
9. Shaun Richardson; No. 12; Scunthrope, United Kingdom; Positive Automotive/ Positive Trailers/ Savino Del Bene/ Master Tow
10. E.J. Viso; No. 5; Caracas, Venezuela; Mount Margaret Residential Estate
11. Robby Gordon; No. 2; Orange, Calif.; Hot Wheels/ Toyo Tires / Castrol EDGE
12. Rob Whyte; No. 11; Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; AVA Performace Tuning/ Motul Oil/ Drift School Australia