In conversations with people, I’ve heard a common question asked – what is Robby Gordon up to? Well, the answer is clear as ever – putting together the Stadium Super Truck Series.
Basically, simple to the point – the stadium trucks are motocross on four wheels.
When it comes to an event, the trucks race on a combination of dirt and asphalt, jumping different ramps – some jumps shorter than others. The idea of the track is to challenge a driver’s skill and let the best driver come out on top as the drivers race identical trucks.
The stadium truck series was something that existed before, called Mickey Thompson Off-Road. Mickey Thompson, an off-road racing legend, formed the series 1979, hosting events in stadiums. Gordon ran in the series alongside Thompson, winning a championship in 1988.
A historical look at the series with what Thompson had before and a glimpse of what Gordon has created now can be viewed in a special youtube video put together by the Stadium Super Truck Series – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciJe5YsEpo8.
In 1988, Thompson and his wife were murdered, and the series only survived a short time after that.
“I essentially want to bring it back, which is what we’ve done,” Gordon says. “We are putting people in the grandstands. We’re off and running.”
Gordon says that in the events that they’ve hosted so far, fans have been very excited with the product and only had a few complaints.
“The only concern is the schedule changes and that’s just a fact of business with the audience with the east coast and Midwest not knowing off-road racing like they do on the west coast,” Gordon says. “It’s just going to take us a while doing events like the Honda Indy. Hopefully we can do Houston with IndyCars, and introduce the audience to stadium trucks.”
One of the difficulties with being a new series, it’s all about getting the racing out there for fans to see.
“I think it’s good that we come to events like the Honda Indy Toronto and do events here because I think there’s an opportunity to do four or five races a year with IndyCars,” he says. “If we do four or five races a year with IndyCars and four or five stadiums, we can complete a whole season.”
For Honda Indy Toronto fans, they are in for a treat this weekend as 2003 CART Series Champion Paul Tracy and 1996 CART Series Champion Jimmy Vasser have signed up to take part in this weekend, joining Gordon and series regulars PJ Jones, Justin Lofton and Rob MacCahren, among others.
“I’m thrilled to race with Robby Gordon’s Stadium SUPER Truck Series in my hometown of Toronto this weekend. I’ve been a fan of the SST events this year and have a good bit of experience in off-road vehicles at the Glamis (Calif.) Sand Dunes, so I’m hoping to bring some added excitement to my fans in Toronto,” Tracy said. “I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel and kicking Robby’s butt around the track with the ‘chrome horn’ just like the old times.”
Like many action sports, whether asphalt car racing or supercross or monster trucks, you can’t truly experience it unless you’re there in person to see the high jumps right in your face, see the speed right before and take in the excitement.
So with that said, I highly recommend either you head out to the Honda Indy Toronto this weekend or head to an event near you. If you can’t do that, at least take the time to check out more details about the series online and watch some of the videos of the action because once you see it, you’ll be hooked. I know I was.
For more information on the Super Stadium Truck Series, check out the series website at http://stadiumsupertrucks.com/ssts/
