4 Days of Racing on Dirt and Asphalt in Joliet, IL.

The Pro Division of the Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL, combined their off-road racing show with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the IZOD Indy Series for a dream weekend for any speed freak.

It all started, courtesy of Kumho Tires and a couple of Vipers from Dodge on the Route 66 Raceway Dragstrip in Joliet, IL. Scott Douglas, Casey Currie, Todd & Kyle LeDuc, Mike Oberg, Dan Vanden Heuvel and more tested their straight line skills in bracket style racing down to the final 4 fastest racers. Mike Oberg had fastest time until Todd LeDuc smoked a time of almost 12 seconds flat. The Dodge rep on hand for support & some ribbing said he’s seen mid 11’s as the fastest time in the Dodge Vipers and these guys were fast. He was also shocked more when his run times were beat, more than once. Dan Vanden Heuvel and Steve Barlow were the other 2 fastest drivers, but all were eliminated by Todd LeDuc, who collected a custom “engraved” Kumho Tire for his trophy room. Look out Leah !

Next on the agenda was the off-road course qualifying and practice on Wednesday afternoon. The weather provided a dry, warm day and the USAC crew watered the track and even added gallons upon gallons of soap in hopes of keeping the dirt compacted and limiting dusty conditions.

A short break leading to opening introductions for the PRO 2WD and PRO 4×4 racers with guest racer, NASCAR’s Kyle Busch. He was to pilot the # 18 PRO 2WD M&M’s Traxxas truck both nights, then race the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series across the street at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday night.

The Sportsman Super Buggy class was invited as an exhibition race and where up first. Pretty much a smooth race on both nights, as CJ Greaves got to the front of the pack, he checked out and was gone. Johnny, his father and one of the best off-road racers in the sport, gave pointers over the radio when needed and he bested 2nd place, Scott Schwalbe, both nights. 3rd place finishers, John Frana on Wednesday and Steve Krieman on Thursday completed the podium.

The PRO Lights started off with a bang on the 1st lap when Marty Hart’s Stronghold Maxxis truck flew off the jump nose heavy and flipped his truck close to 15 ft in the air and rotated 3 more times before landing on its side. Marty was ok and his win streak came to an end. After the track crew touched up the jump, a full re-start followed. Andrew Caddell took the holeshot and went all the way to the checkers with Casey Currie in 2nd. The final 4 laps provided the best action as Ross Hoek and Chad Rayford traded paint, dented bumpers and cracked some fiberglass side panels together in a duel for the last podium spot. Coming to the checkered flag, Chad forced his way by Ross and claimed his first podium in PRO Light.

On Thursday night, Casey Currie passed early race leader, Randy Eller, and had a commanding lead all the way to another 1st place finish. Andrew Caddell was tagged by another racer early on and worked his way back only to do door to door battle with Ross Hoek, who was looking for redemption from Wednesday’s race. The fight lasted until final lap when Ross’s truck left the inside open as the Traxxas # 43 of Caddell moved by for the 2nd spot. With Hart finishing in the back of the pack again, Currie now leads the PRO Light class points heading into the final weekend of racing in Crandon, WI.

Most eyes were on the #18 M&M’s Traxxas truck of Kyle Busch as he took to the track in his first PRO 2WD race. Competing against the likes of motocross champions Rick Johnson, Jeremy McGrath and multi-time off-road Champion, Scott Taylor. It wasn’t much track time as one of the rear upper wishbone links snapped and sidelined him only 2 laps in. After the mandatory yellow flag, Rick Johnson was charging to the front and was looking to pass leader, Rob MacCachren. Yet, the Mac, held him off until they raced out of the final turn headed to the white flag, when Rob’s truck slowed. Rick just avoided hitting him and made the pass for the lead and the win. Rob fell to a 7th place finish. Todd LeDuc gave Chad Hord and Jeff Kincaid a fight for the other podium spots. LeDuc made it past Hord for 3rd but could not gain ground on 2nd place Kincaid.

Further back in the field, a paint trading session lasted ½ the race between Scott Taylor and Dan Vanden Heuvel. Each having plenty of broken body panels, Vanden Heuvel got the worse of it with the front right side suspension destroyed and parked for rest of night.

Thursday’s race was a little better for Kyle Busch, who made it half way before a different rear suspension issue sidelined him again. Even with the poor finishes, Kyle remarked his strong interest in racing again and especially at the famous Crandon Raceway, but with some reserve for going 100 mph or more through turn 1 without destroying the truck. “That’s just insane how fast they can do that with all the other trucks around them. It goes against some rules of racing or driving. A racer should be doing some lifting of the throttle. Some don’t lift at all. Without more seat time, I’d lift a lot”.

Johnson ran away from the field and Chad Hord made hard work and patience pay off when he raced his way to 2nd place finish. It was the best of the season and his 2nd podium. He’s been close before, finishing 4th in four other rounds. Rob dropped to 2nd place in the standing when his set up was a tick off and came in 3rd at the finish line. The Red Bull #48 added more hardware to his collection with the Oakley Bomb award and Bosch Power Move Award.

PRO 4×4 points leader, Rick Huseman, started in 7th place and raced his way through traffic as Johnny Greaves and Scott Douglas started to pull away from the rest of the field. While they fought for lead, Huseman got into 3rd waiting for them to make a mistake. At the ½ way yellow flag, Greaves had a right rear tire going flat and pulled in the pits. That gave the lead to Rick. When Greaves returned to the course, he was given a black flag ( for not taking entire lap when returning onto the course ), even though he was at the back of the field. This dropped him to 6th place at the end of round 9. Douglas couldn’t get by Rick and make it stick as they switched spots a couple of times. He settled for 2nd with Kumho Tire teammate, Steve Barlow, taking 3rd.

The following night for PRO 4×4 was much different as Johnny, Scott and Rick each took point at least once, until Greaves grabbed the lead and put some distance between fellow racers, Scott and Rick. Curt LeDuc tried the inside line and was passing 3 trucks going into turn 1 until the dirt berm caught his left wheels and flipped the truck over and barrel rolled 3 times. He would be up-righted and return to racing. Then later, his son, Kyle flipped his truck on its side. He also got back to racing a lap later and was charging hard then he caught up to Scott. He was touching front to back bumpers with Douglas while going over the main table top jump. Douglas was sideways in the air and put all his driving skills to the test and just managed to get the front right tire spinning as it touched down. The 4WD drive got him back on track and saved what could have been a messed up truck, as he held onto the position. Huseman had front tire issues and pulled off the course giving the reins to Scott Douglas, then Greaves made a move for the lead and raced all the way to the checkered flag. Scott held off a hard-charging Steve Barlow for 2nd. Taking the win puts Greaves on top of the championship chase by 2 points over Huseman.

After 2 days of racing on the off-road short course, Kyle Busch, was teamed up with Traxxas for his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race across the road at Chicagoland Speedway. Having 2nd fastest time in practice and qualifying 4th, Kyle was calm and comfortable knowing his truck was ready to win again. Back in the garage area, he chatted with Mike & Mark Jenkins and Andrew Caddell up to the call of drivers introductions.

Once the green flag dropped the 3 main players were Kyle, Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. As kyle took over the lead from Todd, he ran the train session around the speedway in front. Except for green flag pit stops, Busch was in top 3 all night. A last minute caution put the team and Traxxas on edge of the seats as most of the top 10 came in the pits for fresh tires and fuel to fight for the win. Busch returned to the track in 6th place and didn’t flinch. After 2 laps, he was up front again and led last 10 laps to grab his 4th win in a row.

On Saturday, the speed demons of the IZOD Indy Series hit the track for the PEAK 300. Running times were posted with top speed of 215 mph. Ryan Briscoe grabbed the pole position. The race was held under the lights and at the drop of the green flag, the drafting turned into bumping and touching tires. In open wheel racing, this is not a good thing and can end in disaster. Throughout the 200 laps, Briscoe led 113 laps as Tony Kanaan, Vitor Meira, Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti fought each other nearby. Sarah Fisher was off track for pit stops. It paid off when a caution landed her into the lead. She held on as long as she could for 10 laps, before dropping back to 15th, one lap down. Danica Patrick had an uneventful night hanging mid-pack most of the race and placing 14th. Also making their presence known to the others, Dan Weldon, who led 14 laps and Ryan Hunter-Reay led 2 laps. In the closing minutes, Dario Franchitti, who led for 28 laps, pulled away and took the win over Weldon and Andretti. Pole sitter, Ryan, lost the draft and ended up 11th.

The next event of the Traxxas TORC Series is in Crandon, WI this Labor Day weekend. Robby Gordon will be returning for 2nd year in a row and will compete all weekend.