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Sticker
Dude Motorsports Battles Adversity in Crandon
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June 26,
2007 (Lake Zurich, IL) – The three drivers that make up
Sticker Dude Motorsports were looking for consistency in their
driving performance. The Pro-Light drivers, Steven Federico
and Lee O’Donnell, are veterans when it comes to Crandon
International Raceway. Luke Zoetmulder has competed at the
“Big House” a few times, and has time testing at this track,
this past spring, looking to gain an advantage on his fellow
Super Buggy competitors.
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The weather
in Crandon was incredible for early June. The skies were
sunny, a slight breeze, temperatures in the 80’s, and not a
cloud in the sky all weekend. This made for some incredible
WSORR racing.
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Round 3
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Super Buggy
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The start
saw Luke Zoetmulder in his #942 Sticker Dude Designs Invisible
Glass Hankook Tires Toyota powered Super Buggy come through
Turn One in good shape. At the end of the first lap, Luke
found himself in fifth place. On lap three, Luke got tangled
in some traffic and slipped back to the 12th spot.
Undaunted, Luke gathered up the Buggy and began working his
way up the field. At the end of the nine lap event, Luke
crossed the finish line in eighth place.
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PRO-Light
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The field
of sixteen PRO-Light trucks headed down into Turn One and
somehow everyone came through unscathed. Lee O’Donnell and his
#23 Invisible Glass PF Changs Hankook Tire Nissan Frontier
headed down the front straightaway in the sixth position.
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Meanwhile
Lee’s teammate, Steven Federico and his #24 PF Changs
Invisible Glass Sticker Dude Designs Hankook Tire Toyota
Tacoma was right behind #24 Nissan. Then as the field came
past the Barn Jump, Steven spun out from a fellow
competitor’s contact, putting him back in last place at the
end of lap one.
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Steven was
charging hard as his Goodwin Performance engine was really
making the Hankook Tires work. Just as the #24 was making up
some ground on the front runners, the right front wheel broke.
Quickly the team made the tire change, but the stop put the
#24 Toyota Tacoma one lap down from the leaders. At the
finish, Steven was credited with an eleventh place finish.
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While
Steven had his problems, teammate Lee O’Donnell had a race
long battle for position with #77 Vandenhuvel, while trying to
catch the Toyota of #63 Kandel. The entire nine lap race, #24
Nissan Frontier held the sixth position.
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Later in
the evening, Sticker Dude Motorsports discussed their day with
BUMPRACER.com
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Luke
Zoetmulder
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“Today was
a learning experience for me. I’m still learning about the
Buggy and how to drive with all that power behind me. I made a
few mistakes, but came home in eighth. We have a fuel pressure
situation we need to work on for tomorrow, but the rest is
just between race maintenance.”
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Lee
O’Donnell
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“We had a
clean start and quickly fell in line with the fast guys in the
class. My Nissan is a little short on horsepower compared
Kincaid and Hord, and at Crandon it’s hard to overcome the
lack of horsepower. Overall finishing a solid sixth, is fairly
good, considering the level of competition we run against. I
really believe Hankook has hit a home run with these DynaPro
tires. They really hookup well in the Crandon gravel. I can’t
forget about Case Gunderson of Race Fab. He does all the race
prep on the truck, and it performs flawlessly. I get to the
track, jump in and drive. I can’t say enough about great prep
work by Case.”
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Steven
Federico
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“The
Goodwin Performance Toyota engine has unbelievable power. The
Hankook Tires are just awesome, I was at the receiving end of
some contact and the truck looped right around, The broken
wheel was caused a hard hit , from another racer. Tomorrow is
a new day, and the PFChangs Invisible Glass HankookTire Toyota
Tacoma will be ready for Sunday”
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Round 4
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Super Buggy
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The start
saw Luke grab the holeshot as he led the entire field down the
Skybox straightaway. On lap two Luke did a vicious barrel roll
as he headed into the “gravel pit” section of the track. Luke
got out of his Buggy feeling a little fuzzy, but okay. This
quickly ended his weekend.
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PRO-Light
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This time
Steven Federico grabbed the lead right from the drop of the
flag. Then suddenly Steven pulled the #24 Toyota Tacoma off
the track. The engine temperature had soared to 270 degrees,
and a quick thinking Steven turned off the engine to prevent
any serious damage to the powerplant. He officially finished
in the thirteenth spot.
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While
Steven’s race ended early, Lee O’Donnell has problems of his
own. His position in the second row on the starting grid
prevented him from reaching the front pack of competitors as
they exited Turn One. About halfway through lap one, Ponder
and LeDuc tangled directly in front of Lee. With nowhere to
go, #23 Nissan Frontier piled into the two stopped trucks. The
contact and the time it took to get under power again, put Lee
almost a lap down.
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A few laps
later, his hood broke loose and continually flapped up and
down, blocking Lee’s vision. A quick trip to the “Hot Pits,”
fixed his flopping hood, but now he was one lap down. At the
finish, Lee was credited with an eighth place finish.
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Sticker
Dude Motorsports Post Race Comments
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Luke
Zoetmulder**
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“I took a
wild ride today. The Buggy took a good hit today, but the
damage is not catastrophic. The suspension looks good, the
intake manifold on the engine is cracked, but other than that,
it really held up well. I feel a little foggy right now, but
I’ll be good by tomorrow.”
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Lee’
O’Donnell
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“If you get
stuck racing in the back of the pack, there’s a good chance
you might get caught up in someone else’s mess. That’s what
happened today. I’ll get the truck back over to Race Fab and
they will have ready to contend for a podium in Bark River.”
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Steven
Federico
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“Did you
see that holeshot. The Hankook DynaPro Tires are just awesome.
Unfortunately, a cooling problem ended our day way too soon.
Goodwin came by afterwards to check up on the motor, and
luckily I shut it down before any damage occurred. I love
going to Bark River. It’s where I got my first PRO division
win. It might be a fight between teammates for the top spot.”
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Team Sticker Dude would like to thank Donna Peplansky,
Heartland Strategy Manager, for Toyota Mid-West, for coming to
the race on Sunday. We look forward to seeing Donna at more
races, as Sticker Dude Motorsports looks to take Toyota to the
winner’s circle during the 2007 WSORR season.
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Current
Sticker Dude WSORR Points Standings:
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PRO-Light
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#24 -
Steven Federico - 6th
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#23 - Lee
O’Donnell – 7th
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Super Buggy
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#942 - Luke
Zoetmulder – 12th
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**On Monday morning, Lee Zoetmulder did to get to a doctor,
back home, and was diagnosed with a mild concussion. The
doctor ordered several days of rest.
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For more information about Sticker Dude
Motorsports and its supporters visit:
Invisible Glass –
www.invisibleglass.com
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Hankook Tire -
www.hankooktireusa.com
Team Sticker Dude Racing –
www.stickerdudems.com
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PF Changs –
www.pfchangs.com
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Toyota –
www.toyota.com
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TRD –
www.trdusa.com
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Vehicle Dynamix-
www.vehicledynamix.com
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American Racing –
www.americanracing.com
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Nielsen Enterprises –
www.nielsens.com
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Polaris –
www.polaris.com
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Autometer –
www.autometer.com
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F.A.S.T. –
www.fasthelmets.com
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Sponsorhouse –
www.sponsorhouse.com
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Kicker Audio –
www.kickeraudio.com
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Phil’s Inc. –
www.philsinc.com
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Mechanix Wear –
www.mechanixwear.com
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Racing Optics –
www.racingoptics.com
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- Mike Reusche, marketing -
MTG
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