SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks concluded the extended 2018 SST World Championship season this past weekend in conjunction with the Race of Champions event at Foto Sol in Mexico City, Mexico.
Race of Champions is an annual event featuring champion drivers from all over the world competing head to head on a unique technical track to test their skills in various unique race vehicles.
Operating in direct conjunction with the Race of Champions; 10 Stadium SUPER Truck drivers would have the opportunity to compete head to head for two knock out elimination races on the same exact Race of Champions track, but with the addition of two SST signature 36-inch tall aluminum ramps.
After the completion of an hour-long practice and qualifying session Friday evening, Orange, California driver; Robby Gordon would claim the number one seed for Saturday’s race as the quickest qualifier with his familiar bright orange SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires/ KMC Wheels entry.
Round one on Saturday would feature five elimination races immediately cutting the field in half.
The number one seed of Robby Gordon would line up his Toyo Tires against the tenth seed of Baja 100 Off-Road Champion Apdaly Lopez of Tecate, Mexico for three laps with the fastest time of the two competitors advancing. Lopez would immediately hit a cone inquiring a five second penalty to his overall time easily allowing Gordon to advance to the second round.
The second race would put Yucca Valley, California driver Blade Hildebrand alongside Alpine, California racer Jerett Brooks driving the vibrant blue United Fiber and Data machine. Hildebrand would complete the three laps the fastest eliminating Brooks early from the competition.
Jeff Hoffman of Phoenix, Arizona in the LIVE/Think Loud entry would line up against United Fiber and Data driver Casey Mears of Scottsdale, Arizona in the third race. However, Mears would hit a cone applying a five second penalty to his overall time handing the victory over to Hoffman.
The fourth match up to hit the track would feature the SST Championship Points Leader of Matt Brabham from Gold Coast, Australia against Scottsdale, Arizona native Cole Potts. Brabham would race smart and consistent avoiding any cones to easily beat Potts to advance to the next round.
Gavin Harlien in the United Fiber & Data truck would match up again the VP Racing Lubricants and Oil driver of Davey Hamilton Jr. Harlien would lay down one of the fastest laps of the day beating Hamilton Jr. to move on.
Round two of head to head knock out racing would see Gordon claim victory over Hoffman, Brabham defeat Hildebrand, and Harlien easily working his way past Potts the Round 1 lucky loser. All three drivers would move on to round three.
The third round would see Gordon defeat Harlien to move on to the finals against Brabham whom would easily claim victory over the fastest loser Potts in the second semi-final.
Race of Champion Saturday Finals would see Brabham go head to head with Robby Gordon for the victory. In the closest race of the day Gordon would inch past Brabham by mere seconds to capture the win.
Saturday Results
January 19, 2019
Round 1
Robby Gordon Def Apdaly Lopez
Blade Hildebrand Def Jerett Brooks
Jeff Hoffman Def Casey Mears
Matt Brabham Def Cole Potts
Gavin Harlien Def Davey Hamilton Jr.
Fast Loser: Cole Potts
Round 2
Robby Gordon Def Jeff Hoffman
Matt Brabham Def Blade Hildebrand
Gavin Harlien Def Cole Potts
Fast Loser: Cole Potts
Round 3
Robby Gordon Def Gavin Harlien
Matt Brabham Def Cole Potts
Final
Robby Gordon Def Matt Brabham
Final Results
- Robby Gordon
- Matt Brabham
- Cole Potts
- Gavin Harlien
- Jeff Hoffman
- Blade Hildebrand
- Jerett Brooks
- Casey Mears
- Davey Hamilton Jr.
- Apdaly Lopez
For the Sunday afternoon SST Race of Champions Final drivers were re-seeded based on their results from Saturday’s event.
Round one would feature five elimination races replicating the exact format that was done on Saturday.
The first race Sunday would feature the Devilbiss/BulletLiner driver of Matt Brabham lining up against Davey Hamilton Jr. of Indianapolis, Indiana for three laps. In a very close race Brabham was able to defeat Hamilton to move on to the second round.
In a rematch of Saturday’s Round 1 Jeff Hoffman would line up against United Fiber & Data driver Casey Mears. Mears looking for revenge on Hoffman would keep a consistent pace and win the event, but would be penalized for hitting a cone handing the win back over to Hoffman.
Also in a rematch of Saturday’s Round 1 Blade Hildebrand in the Empire Destructive Racing truck would face fellow Southern California Off-Road racer Jerett Brooks. Hildebrand would complete the fastest laps eliminating Brooks from competition for the second day in a row.
Saturday’s Race of Champions SST winner Robby Gordon would match up against Cole Potts with a battle of the SPEED Energy back entries. Gordon would advance to the next round with the fastest time.
The fifth and final race of Round 1 would feature Gavin Harlien of Mesa, Arizona in the United Fiber & Data truck go against Tecate, Mexico Baja Champion Apdaly Lopez. Harlien would easily capture the victory over Lopez to move on to the second round.
Round two of elimination racing would see Hoffman claim victory over Hildebrand, Brabham nipping Harlien by the closest of margins to advance, and Gordon easily working his way past Potts the Round 1 lucky loser.
Round three would feature a rematch of Saturday’s Final round seeing Brabham defeat Gordon to move on to the finals to compete against Hoffman whom claimed victory over the fastest loser Potts in the second semi-final.
As Brabahm and Hoffman would go head to head inside the Foto Sol for three laps looking to drive as cautious and smooth as possible. Hoffman would go on to win the final round in dominating fashion, but a :05 penalty was issued by USAC’s Jason Smith after completion for hitting a marker cone handing the SST Race of Champions Sunday victory to Brabham.
After placing second in Saturday’s event, and claiming victory in Sunday’s finale Brabham would be crowned the overall Race of Champions winner.
Saturday’s race winner Robby Gordon, after being knocked out in the Semi Finals in a rematch of Saturday’s Final would place in second overall with Cole Potts claiming the third overall position.
With claiming victory in the overall weekend, and knocking runner-up Gavin Harlien out in Round two was enough for Brabham to secure the 2018 Stadium SUPER Trucks World Championship title.
“The weekend was a great event and I could not be happier to cap off the title by winning the final event of the season.” Explained an enthusiastic Brabham.
After dominating the season, finishing every event on the podium. It was a tremendous reward for Brabham to end the season on top after loosing the 2017 Championship by a single point to fellow Australian Paul Morris.
Brabham’s excellent season featured 13 podiums, including six wins and five fast qualifier awards.
Sunday Results
January 20, 2019
Round 1
Matt Brabham Def Davey Hamilton Jr.
Jeff Hoffman Def Casey Mears
Blade Hildebrand Def Jerett Brooks
Robby Gordon Def Cole Potts
Gavin Harlien Def Apdaly Lopez
Fast Loser: Cole Potts
Round 2
Jeff Hoffman Def Blade Hildebrand
Matt Brabham Def Gavin Harlien
Robby Gordon Def Cole Potts
Fast Loser: Cole Potts
Round 3
Matt Brabham Def Robby Gordon
Jeff Hoffman Def Cole Potts
Final
Matt Brabham Def Jeff Hoffman
Final Results
- Matt Brabham
- Jeff Hoffman
- Cole Potts
- Robby Gordon
- Gavin Harlien
- Blade Hildebrand
- Jerett Brooks
- Davey Hamilton Jr.
- Casey Mears
- Apdaly Lopez
Round No. Race Location Race Date Winner
1 Lake Elsinore, California January 27, 2018 Bill Hynes
Overall: Jeff Hoffman
2 Adelaide, SA, Australia March 2, 2018 Cole Potts
3 Adelaide, SA, Australia March 3, 2018 Robby Gordon
4 Adelaide, SA, Australia March 4, 2018 Matt Brabham
Overall: Matt Brabham
5 Long Beach, California April 14, 2018 Gavin Harlien
6 Long Beach, California April 15, 2018 Matt Brabham
Overall: Matt Brabham
7 Perth, WA, Australia May 5, 2018 Arie Luyenkdyk Jr.
8 Perth, WA, Australia May 6, 2018 Jeff Hoffman
Overall: Matt Brabham
9 Detroit, Michigan June 2, 2018 Gavin Harlien
10 Detroit, Michigan June 3, 2018 Arie Luyendyk Jr.
11 No Limits, Texas June 10, 2018 Gavin Harlien
Round 1: January 27, 2018; Lake Elsinore, California
Round 2: March 2, 2018; Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Round 3: March 3, 2018; Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Round 4: March 4, 2018; Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Round 5: April 14, 2018; Long Beach, California
Round 6: April 15, 2018; Long Beach, California
Round 7: May 5, 2018; Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Round 8: May 6, 2018; Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Round 9: June 2, 2018; Detroit, Michigan
Round 10: June 3, 2018; Detroit, Michigan
Round 11: June 9, 2018; Fort Worth, Texas
Round 12: June 9, 2018; Fort Worth, Texas
Round 13: August 24, 2018; Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Round 14: August 25, 2018; Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Round 15: October 27, 2018; Sydney, NSW, Australia
Round 16: October 28, 2018; Sydney, NSW, Australia
Round 17: December 1, 2018; San Bernardino, California
Round 18: December 2, 2018; San Bernardino, California
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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