Photo Credit: Stadium Super Trucks
For the fourth straight Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach event, the Stadium Super Trucks have a different face in victory lane. Sheldon Creed became the fourth different drivers to pick up a victory on the streets of Long Beach, California on Saturday afternoon.
Creed was able to work his way from a deep starting spot in the 11-truck field to the front, passing Matt Brabham on lap four for the early lead. Brabham was able to get by Creed on a late race restart with four laps to go, but would kiss the wall after getting up on two wheels, handing the advantage back to Creed. Creed was then able to lead the rest of the way to victory.
It marks the fourth victory of the season for the current points leader and defending series champion. It also marks his third straight podium finish at Long Beach. Notably, he came into the weekend leading Keegan Kincaid by 47 points.
Matt Brabham would cross the finish line in the second spot after leading the opening three laps, marking his second runner-up finish this year as he finished second to Creed on the streets of St. Petersburg last month.
Tyler McQuarrie would come back from a roll over and flat tire on lap three to round out the podium in his second ever series start. McQuarrie came off the jump a little sideways, rolling the truck completely over. He would pull behind the wall, getting the tire changed, and was able to use the following pair of competition yellows to catch back up to the field and make up ground. It marks his second straight podium finish as he scored a podium earlier this year at St. Petersburg.
Paul Morris would round out the top-four as he was one of the drivers that managed to stay out of trouble throughout the race.
A lot of people expected Robby Gordon and Keegan Kincaid to be up front, but both ran into problems during the event. Gordon would go for a spin on lap four while trying to set-up a pass on Creed, blocking up the track. As a result, Kincaid, Erik Davis and Davey Hamilton would all collect damage. Kincaid got the worst of it with heavy front-end damage resulting in fluid leaking from his truck, ending his race.Gordon soldered on for the next couple of laps following the incident, but eventually had to pull pit side with left front suspension damage.
Pat O’Keefe and Dustin Scott also ran into problems during their second appearances with the tour, as O’Keefe spun around after contact on lap one, and Scott spun out while running second on lap three.
The trucks have one more race on the streets of Long Beach this weekend, scheduled for Sunday at 4pm PST. The series will be live streaming all of their events, with the link to the stream available on their facebook – https://www.facebook.com/StadiumSuperTrucks/?fref=ts.
