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Sticker Dude Motorsports Weathers the Storm at Wheatland –
O’Donnell Lands on Podium!
June 4, 2008 (Lake Zurich, IL) – The three members that make up
Sticker Dude Motorsports, Steven Federico, Luke Zoetmulder, and
Lee O’Donnell, arrived at the “Diamond in the Dirt,” Lucas Oil
Speedway, very optimistic about upcoming 2008 World Series of
Off-Road Racing season.
The .7 mile long off-road course used much of the 3/8 mile dirt
oval as well as a high speed section behind the banking of turns
one and two of the oval. The track consisted of several jumps, a
rhythm section and a multi groove banked corner. The layout was
a small version of the course at Bark River.
Saturday afternoon, all three Sticker Dude drivers went out for
practice looking to fine tune their chassis setups. Luke
Zoetmulder in his #942 Invisible Glass Sticker Dude Designs Q
Racing Oil PF Changs Hankook Tire Toyota powered Super Buggy and Steven
Federico driver of the #24 Invisible Glass PF Changs Sticker Dude Designs
Lost Dunes Golf Club Q Racing Oil Hankook Tire Toyota Tacoma
PRO-Light made shock adjustments after the session looking to
get around the track a little quicker.
Then just before the Saturday evening race program was ready to
begin, the skies darkened, lightning and thunder filled the air,
as a major downpour swept through area. Around 9:30 pm WSORR
officials got one group of racers out on the track to begin the
season. Then just after the Super Truck division finished, a
major rain storm erupted again. This time the rest of the
program was cancelled and rescheduled for Sunday morning, before
the regular schedule of Round Two racing.
Luke Zoetmulder
Round 1
Luke Zoetmulder in his #942 Probst-built Toyota Super Buggy drew
the pole position as the rest of the fourteen buggy field lined
up behind him. Luke ran a great race as he stayed out of trouble
and finished a strong sixth place in the opening round of the
2008 season.
Round 2
The start of Round 2 was tough on the Invisible Glass Super
Buggy. When the green flag dropped, #929 Scott Schwalbe almost
immediately bumped Luke’s buggy. When it happened again
Schwalbe’s right front tire was caught inside of Luke’s right
rear tire. By the time track workers were able to pry the two
apart. Both racers were two laps down. At the finish, Luke was
credited with an eleventh place finish.
“Round One was probably the most fun I’ve had in the buggy in a
while,” commented Luke Zoetmulder. “I made some passes, and was
pressuring Barnum pretty hard the last couple of laps. I think I
could have got’em if we had one more lap. Round two the start
was just a racing deal. The buggy in front of me got a slow
launch at the start. I had to check up, which led Scott right
into me. It was just bad luck when we got hooked together and
could not get ourselves free. The course workers were great.
They got their quickly and got us apart without damaging either
buggy. Once again the Hankook Tire DynaPro MTs worked awesome.
Earlier in the day the Hankooks had to contend with a slight
damp track, especially if you got out of the main groove, and
they really displaced the mud and got down into the hard tack.
What an awesome tire.”
Steven Federico
Round 1
Steven Federico and his #24 Invisible Glass PF Changs Q Racing Oil Lost
Dunes Golf Club Hankook Tire Toyota Tacoma PRO-Light grabbed the
early holeshot. After the first lap, the #24 PRO-Light truck
began to misfire greatly reducing the pace of the Toyota. At the
flag, Steven finished in eighth place.
With little time before Round Two, team members, A.J.
S’atenstein and Chris Hansen went to work looking for the
problem. The crew changed ignition boxes, plugs, wires, the
battery, the fuel pressure regulator, and the fuel pump. The
problem lessened, but the engine still wasn’t one hundred
percent.
Round Two
Steven Federico went out knowing his engine was not performing
it best. Nonetheless, Steven was going to give it his best shot
to land on the podium. At the start the intermittent engine
misfires made the #24 Invisible Glass Toyota a handful to drive.
About the third lap, Steven seemed to get a rhythm going and
began moving past several competitors. When the checkered flag
fell on the tenth lap, Steven crossed the line in a respectable
fourth place.
“We were fighting some gremlins in our motor today,” explained
Steven Federico. “First we thought it was an ignition problem,
then an electrical problem, then a fuel problem. Chris and A.J.
replaced whatever we could in the short time between races. We
went back out, but it still was far from perfect. Even so, we
just missed standing on the podium. When we get back we have our
problem solved, and look to give Kincaid, and my teammate a good
run for the top spot.”
Lee O’Donnell
Round One
Lee O’Donnell and his #23 Hankook Tire Invisible Glass PF Changs Q Racing
Motor Oil Toyota Tacoma took the starting grid in the outside
position in row two. The track was still damp, in spots, so
getting out of the main groove, was not an option. The start of
the race saw Lee fight for position and got pushed out of the
dry groove a few times, allowing mud to restrict his line of
sight. The #23 Toyota Tacoma crossed the finish line in fifth
place.
Quickly, the crew changed the front springs to help to Toyota
rotate better through the turns.
Round Two
Again O’Donnell started in the second row of the grid. Early in
the race, Lee lost a few spots, and then began making his way
towards the front of the field. On the final lap, Lee really
came flying through the rhythm section make the pass on #31 John
Fitzgerald stick, giving the #23 Hankook Toyota a second place
finish.
Comments from Lee O’Donnell:
“Round One I seemed to get pelted with mud though much of the
race. I had trouble seeing at times, but battled on. Round two I
was determined to get on the podium and we did. The Hankook
Tires don’t loose there grip during the race. In fact the
DynaPro tire seems to get better the more laps we run… The motor
isn’t quite right. When I get it back to Case Gunderson at Race
Fab, he will send some extra time with the engine and I know we
will have something for Kincaid when we get to Crandon. Thanks
again to my crew, my teammates, the awesome Hankook DynaPro
tires, Invisible Glass, and Case at Race Fab for the incredible
race prep on my truck.”
Sticker Dude Motorsports - WSORR Championship Standings after
Round Two.
PRO-Light
#23 – Lee O’Donnell - SECOND PLACE
#24 – Steven Federico – SEVENTH PLACE
PRO Super Buggy
#942 – Luke Zoetmulder – NINTH PLACE
The next race for Sticker Dude Motorsports is the Forest County
Potawotomi Brush Run, June 21-22, in Crandon, Wisconsin.
For more information about Sticker Dude Motorsports and its
supporters visit:
Invisible Glass –
www.invisibleglass.com
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PF
Changs -
www.pfchangs.com
Hankook Tire -
www.hankooktireusa.com
Team Sticker Dude Racing –
www.stickerdudems.com
Toyota –
www.toyota.com
Q Racing Oil –
www.qpower.com
United Trailers –
www.united-trailers.com
TRD –
www.trdusa.com
American Racing –
www.americanracing.com
Lost Dunes Golf Club –
www.lostdunes.com
RH2 –
www.rh2.com
Autometer –
www.autometer.com
Edge Cameras –
www.edgecameras.com
F.A.S.T. –
www.fasthelmets.com
Phil’s Inc. –
www.philsinc.com
Mechanix Wear –
www.mechanixwear.com
Racing Optics –
www.racingoptics.com
Gatorade –
www.gatorade.com
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www.stickerdudems.com
- Mike Reusche, marketing - MTG
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