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Ross Hoek Motorsports - WSORR Bark River II Race Report
Holland, MI (August 15, 2007) - Ross Hoek Motorsports was looking
forward to its second visit of the year to Bark River International
Raceway. The familiarity of competing at the Upper Peninsula
facility would be a great advantage to the development of the team’s
new PRO-2WD truck. The World Series of Off-Road racing also added an
additional round of racing to the schedule to makeup the
cancellation of a race date back in June.
After Friday morning practice, the RHM team made a few chassis
changes, as Ross gained confidence in the truck’s handling, as well
as, his ability to maximize the 800+ horsepower of the Pro Power
engine.
Friday Evening- Round 7
The start saw the Toyo Tires on the #21 Herculiner Ford F-150 really
hook up as Ross grabbed the lead as the field came through the Armed
Forces Turn One. He held the top spot until lap two. About midway
through the ten lap affair, the engine lost a cylinder.
Nevertheless, Ross pressed on to a well deserved fifth place finish.
“We led our first PRO-2WD race, that really big for our team and our
sponsors,” commented Ross Hoek. “A broken rocker arm slowed us down,
but we were able to run our own race. We’ll fine tune our chassis
setup, replace the rocker arm and took for a solid finish tomorrow.”
Saturday – Round 8
The land rush start saw Ross and #5 Evans battle for the top spot
all the way through turn two, when Evans made hard contact causing
the #21 Herculiner Ford to spin. This put Ross at the back of the
field. Quickly, Ross put the Pro Power horsepower to the Toyo Tires
looking to get back with the leaders. By lap 5, the #21 was behind
points leader, #99 Kevin Probst when a power steering hose broke.
This made the truck extremely hard to turn. In order to grab as much
championship points as possible, Ross motored on to finish sixth
place finish.
Afterwards Ross commented about the day’s racing.
“The start had us side by side with Evans (for the lead). In turn
two Evans made hard contact, which spun us, putting us dead last.
Quickly got around Rhonda and was right behind points leader Probst
when a power steering hose blew. Then it was just a survival run to
the finish. I was really looking forward to following Kevin, to get
to see the lines he takes. Unfortunately I didn’t get much of an
opportunity.”
Sunday – Round 9
The morning practice saw the Herculiner Ford fly over 200 feet off
the “Hill" when the truck veered into the concrete wall just after
landing. The contact broke the truck’s steering and sent Ross off to
the hospital to check on the pain coming from his left foot.
As Ross was taken to Escanaba, the RHM team went to work repairing
the race truck. Almost three hours later, Ross returned to the track
with his left foot in a soft cast. X-Rays revealed cracked and
separated bones in his foot.
Once at the track Ross decided to get back behind the wheel looking
to finish the weekend on a high note.
The start saw the Herculiner Ford get all the horsepower to the Toyo
Tires as the #21 battled for the lead with #8 Taylor and #5 Evans.
The three drivers were not giving each other an inch as they rubbed
one another door to door. Then suddenly a tie rod broke on the
Herculiner Ford, basically ending the day for the team.
“The truck felt really good in practice, and then we hit the wall,”
commented Ross Hoek. “My left foot was hard on the brake pedal when
I hit. My left foot absorbed most of the force which is why I’m
standing here on crutches. Thanks again to my crew for prepping the
truck while the doctors checked me out. The tie rod failure was
probably caused from the hit in practice…. We made great strides
with our chassis setup this weekend. Our engine program is on track
as well. We’ve got three weeks until Crandon. My foot should be in
good shape by then.”
Next Race: August 31-September 2, WSORR BorgWarner Off-Road World
Championships – Crandon, Wisconsin
Our many supporters include:
Herculiner Truck Bed Liners Toyo Tires
Precision Gear
Royal Purple Synthetic Oils Fox Racing Shox
Allied Racing Wheels
Lane Automotive AllStar
Motor State Distributing
ATD transmissions Jeff's Bronco Graveyard
C&R Racing Radiators
K&N Engineering, Inc. Oliver Racing Products
Wilson Manifolds
T&D Machine Products Dart Blocks
ARP
MSD Ignitions JE Pistons
REM chemicals
Racer-X Motorsports Miller Electric welders
G-Force racing gear
Stoner Products Optima Batteries
Finishmaster / PPG
Chicago Pneumatic Tools The Printery
Peterson Fluid Systems
Auto Meter Cimatron CAD/CAM
systems Loctite
Contact Info:
Ross Hoek
Ross Hoek Motorsports
7105 144th Ave.
Holland, MI 49424
616 738-0058
-Mike Reusche, - marketing MTG
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