A 2014 Robby Gordon Vegas victory starts the countdown until the trucks touch tarmac in Adelaide.
A preview of what’s in store for Australian V8 Supercar fans when the Stadium Super Trucks (SST) season kicks off in Adelaide from the 27th of February to the 1st of March at the Clipsal 500; Robby Gordon and co. stretched the final round of the SST 2014 season.
Over two nights racers tore up dirt and bitumen at the MGM Resort village in Las Vegas.
Motorsport veteran and virtuoso Gordon held off challengers, capitalising on mistakes from his series mates over the double header. Claiming outright victory in the 2014 series, Gordon’s run in Vegas saw the SST boss man up against some genuine opposition.
With no absence of attractions during the week of SEMA, the SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road round drew some 10,000 spectators to the circuit just off the Las Vegas strip.
The MGM resort village track present a unique and terrifying course layout for the final rounds of the season. The track design saw leading racers catapulted from a crossover jump intersecting the traffic laden mid-section of the track; sending front running SST’s soaring over following racers by a few feet as they kept the pedal flat to the floor to clear the obstacle.
As you might expect, there were a few hiccups.
Gordon told stadiumsupertrucks.com that the Vegas round is a personal favourite.
“Racing is Las Vegas is one of the coolest things we get to do all season” says Gordon. “The course we have built at the MGM is amazing…being able to race in front of the off-road community and knowledgeable Las Vegas fans in a great way for us to finish out season.”
RACE NIGHT ONE
1. #7 Robby Gordon
2. #47 Keegan Kincaid
3. #50 Burt Jenner
As tension built through the heats, the final round saw Venezuelan Indy Car driver E.J Viso leading the charge, followed by dirt racing expert Keegan Kincaid. Gordon spent much of the race tailing Kincaid and Viso, unable to get the big orange truck through their blockade.
During an intense moment, Viso made an uncharacteristic error and introduced more than a comfortable portion of his truck to the K-rail, knocking himself well and truly out of contention for the evening.
The collision gave Gordon the shot he needed to scramble past Kincaid and into the lead, which he held for the remainder of the race.
36 year old Burt Jenner slotted into third place, fulfilling a childhood dream and claiming the first SST podium of his career.
Gordon, happy with the win, complimented Viso and Kincaid’s performances.
“I had my sights set on E.J Viso and Keegan who were running great races in front of me” said Gordon
“E.J was running a great race and he clipped the K-rail there a little bit. Actually, he clobbered it – and we capitalized.”
RACE NIGHT TWO
1. #74 Sheldon Creed
2. #7 Robby Gordon
3. #18 Apdaly Lopez
Taking his third victory of the 2014 season, 16 year old Sheldon Creed fought tooth and nail to keep up with Gordon through the final race.
Swapping places throughout the three segments of eight laps, the teenage racing wunderkind grabbed the lead from Gordon in the crucial last moments.
Further downfield, the battle for first place paled in significance as drivers Dave Royce and Travis Pecoy rolled their cars, after clipping a wall early in the race and later with Pecoy slipping from the side of the crossover over jump and into peril below.
Tecate Mexico teen Apdaly Lopez raced into his fourth podium finish. The young driver claimed third place after a consistent race performance, managing to avoid the exchanges of paint, fibreglass and steel both ahead of and behind him.
ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER ROBBY GORDON VICTORY
In first place overall with six wins and 14 places from 16 race starts – Robby Gordon is your 2014 SST Champion.
Bringing the second season of Stadium Super trucks to a dramatic close, the founder and president of SST remains the top dog with his second outright series victory.
Gordon edged out young gun Creed by a narrow 75 points to take the crown.
With the field getting closer every race in both competition and physical proximity, 2015’s SST season may be the year that sees 45 year old Gordon toppled from his throne.
Sheldon Creed and Apdaly Lopez in particular have been etching out their mark in SST, racing with skill and experience beyond their years against lifelong veterans of motorsport twice, and three times their age.
Creed scored 5th place in last years championship, and with 2nd in 2014, there is only one rung left for him to climb.
With the 2015 SST season’s first round scheduled for the Clipsal 500, attendees will be among the first Australians to see the attention grabbing, panel busting spectacle that is SST unveiled, as a new year of paint trading, engines blazing competition begins.
2014 STADIUM SUPER TRUCKS SERIES
1. ROBBY GORDON 492 points
2. SHELDON CREED 417 points
3. ADALY LOPEZ 331 points
Full season standings, results, news and more at stadiumsupertrucks.com
SST competitors race on a combination of sealed roads, loose dirt and sand. The trucks get raced hard, jumped high and landed rough.
The unique racing style means drivers need a versatile, super tough tyre that doesn’t sacrifice performance on the road, or off-road.
For that reason, SST relies exclusively on Toyo’s Open Country A/T II.
