Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
“Imagine 12 guys robbing a bank and all trying to get a win. The guy that gets the loot, they get the win.”
Following a close duel back and forth through the final laps, Sheldon Creed came out on top in the second race of the weekend for the Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks presented by Traxxas at the Honda Indy Toronto.
Creed was able to take the lead prior to the final lap, though Matt Brabham grabbed the top spot back going into turn five when Creed locked up the brakes. Creed wasn’t going to be denied, though, retaking the lead through turn seven and down the stretch going to turn eight. Brabham was set to make the move back on Creed, however despite getting alongside off of turn 11, he was unable to clear him with Creed getting the win.
Amongst the battle, contact was made – including Brabham landing on the left rear of Creed’s truck off of one of the jumps.
“He clipped the right rear….and that’s when I got on the brakes,” third place finisher Robby Gordon said. “We were coming through turn eight and 11 and I don’t know if you saw, but Matt had Sheldon set up in turn eight, but it was a no passing zone due to Bill Hynes’ stalled truck so he gave way. But he positioned himself for 9 to be on the outside.
“Sheldon then jumped the jump, and shut the door on him. Matt wore out the left rear tire and he landed on top of the rear of his truck. That knocked Sheldon sideways and his car control is as good as anything I’ve seen so he just so laid into it sideways and stayed on the gas. So Matt went to the left side for the next corner – figured the right side didn’t work so try the left.
“They went side-by-side through a section with jumps that IndyCar would have a tough time driving side-by-side at pace lap speed. So that shows their ability in how they kept trucks behind the walls. I think Matt has a little more bravery than I do because he could’ve followed Sheldon and got the overall. But he went for it because he wants those extra victories, those extra points for the points battle race.”
Neither driver was upset with how the racing played out, with Creed saying he thought it was hard racing, but fair and normal for Stadium Super Truck competition.
“I feel the same,” Brabham said. “It was just hard racing. Yesterday it was a little more reserved. We gave each other a little more room, but it was on today. It was the final race and we were going for the win, for the overall so it was just all out. But that’s just racing. Massive combat here and there but we all finished so it’s all okay. There was never any deliberate try to drive the other one off the track so it was all clean in my books.”
“We are not afraid to bang side-by-side, so side-to-side hits, slide jobs are totally good,” Gordon added. “Front bumper to back bumper is not cool – it’s not cool racing anywhere. I think these guys showed a lot of respect between themselves and they’re very competitive. They both want to be on top of their team and with that, you’re going to have exciting racing.”
With finishes of first and second on the weekend, Brabham currently leads the North American standings. However, he says that doesn’t change his strategy as he is going to try and win every week.
“I am going to do everything I can to do that and let it sort itself for the points race,” he said. “I’m happy that Traxxas jumped on board for the rest of the year and I look forward to doing more races with these guys.”
Robby Gordon crossed the finish line third, followed by Toby Price and Paul Morris. Morris was running in third till turn eight on the final lap when he spun.
Dustin Scott finished sixth, followed by Max Papis, PJ Jones, Sara Price and Russell Boyle. Price notably led the first four laps in her SST debut.
“It was awesome,” Sara Price told OnPitRoad.com. “I couldn’t have asked for a better first race. I led some laps, showed I was a force to be reckon with, my speed was good – everything went great.”
Bill Hynes and Paul Tracy rounded out the field following mechanical issues.
The race featured a bit of noticeable confusion for some onlookers, due to the trucks continuing to race with yellow flags waving all around the track. Gordon commented post-race it was a result of track workers not knowing series rules in regards to full-course yellows and local yellows.
“We leave cars on the track as we know the cars are safe,” he said. “On the other side of that, we do local cautions instead of a full course yellow. Race control was telling us yellow, turn eight – obviously, the track went yellow. We kept going but had to go single-file through that corner.
“When it comes to the street courses, we just race because we only get 20 minutes of time period, and because IndyCar is on a time slot local television, we can’t have laps of caution. Obviously that’s why we use locals – stalled truck on the side of the track, we’re not worried about.”
