Rookie Dave Waldvogel Claims Second Place Overall in 2007 WSORR Super Truck Standings

9/24/07 (Fond du Lac, WI) - Over the past weekend, the WSORR (World Series of Off Road Racing) held their final event of the 2007 season at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. The event was dubbed the “Showdown in the Show-Me State” and it surely lived up to its name. Champions would be crowned in all nine WSORR classes, including the Super Truck class. Coming into the weekend in Wheatland, class rookie Dave Waldvogel trailed former class champion Ben Wandahsega by only one point in the Super Truck standings. The championship would be decided by whoever had the best finishes during this final weekend of competition.

The facilities at the Lucas Oil Speedway rival any of the best dirt track facilities in the United States. They call this track, “The Diamond of Dirt Tracks” and it too lives up to its name. The facility boasts full grandstands on both the front and back straights of the 3/8 mile dirt track. It also has fully accommodating luxury/VIP skyboxes along the front straight, built directly on top of a full service bar and restaurant with flat screen televisions mounted all over the place so you can still catch the racing action while grabbing a cool refreshment. On top of that, throw in fully paved pit areas, and a giant built in JumboTron with leader board, and this is a little slice of dirt track heaven nestled in the beautiful Ozarks of Missouri. Adding to the excitement, the Speed Freaks of SPEED TV fame were on hand for interviews with drivers after racing on Saturday.

Saturday’s Super Truck race saw Dave get a great start off the line, and coming into the infield Dave held the second position behind Keith Steele. In a tight hairpin corner entering a treacherous rhythm section, Dave watched as Keith slid wide on the dry slick track. Dave felt he had a better handle on the corner, and tried to maneuver underneath Steele going into the rhythms. The dry slick track offered no relief however, and the slightest blip of the throttle sent the Bendix® truck into a spin that could not be corrected. Finding himself sideways in the middle of the track with the rest of the pack charging hard towards him, Dave did all he could just to get out of the way and stay in the race. There was significant contact as Dave ended up maneuvering through the rhythm section backwards while being drug and smashed the entire way. By the time the truck was pointed the correct direction again, Dave found himself in sixth position. Dave quickly moved into fourth over the next two laps, and with nine laps remaining he had a view of the red Potowatomi truck of Ben Wandahsega. Dave slowly but surely began to reel Ben in, and in the process turned the fastest lap of the day in the Super Truck class. Dave was unable to challenge for a pass before the end of the race, and was forced to settle for the fourth position. This was the first time Dave had missed the podium since back in July in Bark River in round five.

With the results from Saturday, Dave now trailed Ben by three points. On Sunday, at the drop of the green, the Bendix® truck again roared out of the gate, and looked to hold the advantage going into corner one over most of the field. The problem was that Dave had started in the outside position based on points, and as he entered the tight right hand corner, all those trucks he had beaten to the corner filled the space to his inside, and Dave was forced to either lift and stay on the track or be introduced violently to a 2,000 lb round hay-bale that was used to mark the course. Again, after the pack cleared Dave found himself in the sixth position, again playing catch up. Dave again worked his way to fourth, directly behind Wandahsega. A weekend of frustration ended with Dave on the podium in third position, directly behind Ben who had finished in second. This clinched the title for Wandahsega, his second title in the Super Truck class in the past three seasons.

When asked about his weekend, Dave commented “Things just didn’t fall into place for us this weekend. Even though I know we had an amazing year for our rookie season, it hurts when you are this close to a championship and it slips away.”

He continued to say “I’d like to congratulate Ben and the Forest County Potowatomi on a great season. They did what they needed to do, and all we can do is use this defeat as motivation for next season. I’m so proud of my crew….they really stepped things up this year and it showed. Now we know what we can do at this level, and we are hungry for more.”

In 2007, rookie Super Truck driver Dave Waldvogel finished in all twelve rounds of racing, a feat that no other team in the division could boast. With three wins (including a World Championship victory in Crandon), eight podium finishes, a worst finishing position of fourth, and zero DNF’s, the Waldvogel Off-Road racing team showed consistency, toughness and speed all season long. The 2007 final point standings show Dave finishing second, a mere five points behind class champion Ben Wandahsega. This is the third consecutive year that Dave has finished in the top-three in points, and the third consecutive year that he was in the running for the championship in the final round of racing.

Waldvogel Racing is sponsored by Bendix by Honeywell. The Bendix brand has been a leader in automotive braking technology since 1924. For more information on Bendix brake products, and to find out where to purchase for your own vehicle, visit www.bendixbrakes.com 

Waldvogel Racing is also sponsored by Toyo Tires, AMSOIL synthetic lubricants, MSD Ignition, Fox Racing Shox, Phlox Auto, Allied Wheel Components, Fram, Prestone, and Autolite. For more information on the Waldvogel Off-Road team including photos, videos, and race reports, visit www.waldvogelracing.com .