When Robby Gordon started putting together the Stadium Super Truck Series, there were drivers that wanted to be involved. One of those being 2011 Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee Rob MacCachren.
“I used to race in the old Mickey Thompson Series in the 80s,” MacCachren said. “When this started coming together with Robby Gordon and this series, I wanted to be a part of it. I loved racing in the stadiums. We traveled all over, even a trip to Montreal.
“Thankfully one of my sponsors Traxxas wanted to be in the series and here I am.”
Gordon also raced in the Mickey Thompson Series and has been working at bringing something out like it again. The series, known as Mickey Thompson Off-Road in the 1980s, was one of the biggest series for off-road racing. Though when Thompson and his wife were murdered in 1988, the series fell apart shortly after. Since then, there’s been a crave from dirt racers to bring something like that back and that’s how the new Stadium Super Truck Series came together.
MacCachren, an off-road racing veteran, has had a successful season thus far with the Stadium Super Trucks as he won their debut event in March and currently leads the points, 21 points ahead of Gordon.
MacCachren got started at the age of eight on dirt bikes and since then, has been winning races and championships. He has a five-time SCORE Baja 1000 winner and a five-time SCORE Baja 500 winner, among the list of accomplishments.
When I asked him about how enjoyable the trucks are to drive, MacCachren said, “They’re incredible. They’re about a 2000 pound truck, they’re tube chassis – all the trucks are the same, kind of a spec series. They’re a lot of fun. About 20 wheel travel front and rear, tires are about 35 inches tall.
“They have great suspension. They build these ramps and we fly as high as these fences and these fences are about 10 feet air. About 100 feet in length and we land and they’re good. I love coming to Toronto and racing around here and having a good time.”
When a fan has gotten out to a show, they see what MacCachren is talking about and feed off the excitement it brings, enjoying the show. Though it being 20 years since the Mickey Thompson Series, they have to first work at showing fans their product.
“A lot of people don’t know what the Mickey Thompson Series was,” MacCachren said. “Kind of why we’re doing stuff like this is to get this exposed to everyone. I think what I’d like to see is a 50/50 series where we race 50% with IndyCar and 50% racing in stadiums.”
If word spreads and fans keep getting interested, along with exciting performances like what MacCachren and the group did at the H0nda Indy Toronto, expect news to spread real quickly.
