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Scott Taylor Shows Speed at
TORC Opener
Belvidere, IL (June 21, 2010) - The epicenter of short course
off-road racing is Crandon, Wisconsin, and was the perfect venue
to begin the 2010
Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL. The most
successful PRO-2 driver in the track's history, Scott Taylor,
was well prepared and looking to keep his reputation at the Big
House intact.
The off-season saw several changes to the off-road racing
landscape. The Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL is now
under the full control of USAC. The track Scott Taylor considers
his home, Crandon International, made several changes to the
layout. Several corners were made wider as clay banking was
added. Then TORC also brought back the "trademark" that made
Crandon famous, the land rush start. Late this winter, Scott
Taylor redesigned his 2008 built Wernimont PRO-2 chassis. Subtle
changes were made to improve the truck's balance and weight in
direct relation to the size of his RoushYates powerplant.
Saturday Round One
After early morning practice, the team felt very confident with
the performance of the #8
Miller Welders
BFGoodrich Ford
F-150. Scott and crew chief Mike Kasch, decided to make a
gear change in an effort to get that "something extra" on the
competition. Quickly the crew went to work and had the truck
ready well ahead of schedule.
The land rush start saw the
Miller Welders
Ford come out of Turn One in third place. The pace of the race
was the fastest ever for a PRO-2 race. By lap three Scott was
applying pressure to the second place truck. The gear change was
really working, actually too good. The truck was getting that
extra bite, but it was really stressing the left rear tire. Just
after the competition yellow Scott knew it would be a race to
the finish in more ways then one. The last two laps saw the #8
fall back and finish sixth.
"You do know our
BFGoodrich Tires have incredible traction," exclaimed
Scott Taylor. "I took a gamble with the gear change, but there
are times when too much traction can be a hindrance. This was a
lesson learned."
Sunday Round Two
The Taylor Racing crew went through some notes and selected a
gear set more suitable to the new found hardness of the track.
The land rush start saw the blue Miller Welders RoushYates
BFGoodrich Ford F-150 speed past the front stretch in second
place. By lap three Scott a slight puff of blue smoke came out
the side of the #8 Ford. Then suddenly the transmission input
shaft broke, leaving the truck powerless.
Immediately after getting the race truck back to the
transporter, Mike, Dustin, Alan, Kevin, and Scott all went to
work replacing the transmission for the weekend's big money
event, 17th Annual Crandon Cup Challenge.
Crandon Cup
As usual Taylor Racing had Scott lined up and ready with plenty
of time to spare. The start was clean as the #8 Ford was leading
the pack heading the
Ford Trucks
Skybox back stretch. As the pack of PRO-2 trucks came into
Calamity Corner, Scott caught a rut and nearly rolled. By the
time he gathered it up; the rest of the PRO-2 field went by,
putting him in the line of fire for the fast approaching PRO-4
pack.
As Scott attempted to make up the lost ground, there was quite a
bit of contact with a couple of PRO-4 drivers over the next few
laps. At one point Scott and
Johnny Greaves made contact causing both to roll over
simultaneously without ever stopping. Eventually damage to the
truck's steering made the truck impossible to drive at race
speeds, ending the weekend early for the former Crandon Cup
champion.
As the teams were packing up, Scott took a few moments to look
back on the weekend.
"This weekend our team showed everyone we continue to be one of
the elite of the class. Hats off the Jeff Kincaid, it looks like
he has made the transition to the full size trucks fairly quick.
Once again the best drivers in short-course racing are here with
TORC. Our truck is really working well right from the start. We
had a couple bumps in the road this weekend, but you can
guarantee we will be right in the mix for the top spot at
Bark River."
Next Race:
July 10-11, Bark River, Michigan.
Don't forget you can watch all the archived race action from
Rounds One and Two and well as live racing from Bark River @
www.usacracing.com.
Taylor Racing thanks all their supporters including:
Miller Electric
- BFGoodrich Tires -
Automatic
Transmission Designs - AMSOIL - Roush-Yates Engines
Ford Trucks, Russ Wernimont Designs, King Shocks,
Walker Evans
Racing, Ringers Gloves, MSD Ignition, Autometer, K & N
Filters, Boatec, and Phil's Inc.
Taylor Racing still has marketing opportunities available for
the rest of the 2010 season.
- www.taylorsoffroadracing.com
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