Stadium Super Truck series founder Robby Gordon and South Australian Tourism Minister, Leon Bignell, announced today the SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by TRAXXAS 2015 season will start in Adelaide, Australia, in conjunction with the Clipsal 500 Adelaide.
The Clipsal 500 Adelaide attracted more than 273,600 spectators over four days in 2014. The invitation from Australia’s premier motorsports event is a testament to the rapid growth and popularity of the TRAXXAS-sponsored Stadium Super Trucks (SST).
“The fast growth of the SST series has been incredible and for us to take our series outside North America for the first time is a huge accomplishment, so we were very selective with which event we chose,” Gordon said. “The Clipsal 500 is one of the biggest and best entertainment events in Australia, so for us it was a perfect fit. We know how much Australians enjoy sports, and particularly auto racing, and we know that our TRAXXAS SSTs will put on a great show. It will be nothing like anything race fans in Australia have ever seen before.”
The SSTs will be introduced to the Australian public on Feb. 26 with two practice sessions, followed by one race each day Feb. 27-March 1. Each race will feature a mix of some of Australia’s most popular and well-known drivers and an equal number of drivers from the SST series who compete regularly in the United States.
The 14-turn street circuit at Victoria Park will be a spectacular venue for the SSTs to fly over man-made ramps placed strategically throughout the circuit while reaching speeds of nearly 150 mph (240 kph) on the longest straights. The trucks will race the same course as the V8 Supercars.
“We expect Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks to attract new audiences to South Australia from around Australia and even overseas with its cult following,” Bignell said. “The Clipsal 500 will be the first event in Australia to feature Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks which is a terrific endorsement for the event and the State of South Australia.”
Clipsal 500 CEO Mark Warren said his team is always looking to introduce new categories to Australian motorsport fans: “We introduced utes to the motor racing scene back in 2001, which regularly rates as the second most popular category for Clipsal 500 fans in post-event polling. Stadium Super Trucks was a huge hit at X Games Austin and we expect they’ll be one of the most exciting categories to race around Adelaide’s iconic street circuit in 2015.”
Finishing only its second season of competition in the United States, the series has raced in major metropolitan cities, including: Los Angeles; Austin, Texas; Detroit; Toronto; San Diego; Las Vegas; St. Petersburg, Florida; Indianapolis; Phoenix; and others. The SST series will complete its second season on Nov. 1 and 5 in Las Vegas racing directly alongside the famed Las Vegas strip during the annual SEMA Show, the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world.
The identically prepared, purpose-built race trucks provide an amazing platform for competition, with drivers from a variety of backgrounds battling side-by-side in a test of the best driver rather than engineering. Each highly specialized truck makes approximately 600 horsepower and races on DOT-approved all-terrain Toyo Tires. In addition to Gordon, among the drivers that have competed in the SST series include: IndyCar drivers E.J. Viso, Paul Tracy, Townsend Bell and Arie Luyendyk Jr.; NASCAR driver Justin Lofton; off-road stars B.J. Baldwin, Sheldon Creed, Scotty Steele and Keegan Kincaid; and sports car drivers Aaron Bambach and Burt Jenner.
More information on the SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by TRAXXAS can be found at www.stadiumsupertrucks.com.
More information about Clipsal 500 Adelaide: http://www.clipsal500.com.au/
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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