BARK RIVER, Mich. – The Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL PRO 4WD race Sunday was a physical affair from the drop of the green flag to the waving of the checkers as Rick Huseman took the victory, earning the weekend sweep. Mark Jenkins and Mike Jenkins finished second and third, respectively, in an event that saw several lead changes, spins, and passes.
The PRO races represented a huge day for Traxxas with the Jenkins brothers sharing the podium for the first time and fellow Traxxas-sponsored drivers Andrew Caddell (PRO Light) and Jeff Kincaid (PRO 2WD) also taking wins here.
“That was a crazy race!” Huseman said from the Winner’s Circle. “There was a lot of carnage out there and I was just trying to stay alive. Battling back and forth with everybody, it was awesome. The track was real slick and there was a lot of door-to-door bangin’.”
Scott Douglas, who finished fourth, took the holeshot, but early contact with Huseman and Johnny Greaves sent Douglas to second with Greaves taking the lead. Greaves didn’t hold P1 long, though, after a three-way fight with Douglas and Mark Jenkins, giving Mark the lead.
The action continued as Mark Jenkins and Douglas got into each other, giving Huseman the lead with Steve Barlow close behind. Barlow would eventually fall back with Douglas and the Jenkins brothers fighting back to the front. Huseman would keep the lead to the end with Douglas falling to fourth near the checkered flag.
Kincaid took the holeshot at the start of the PRO 2WD race and never looked back, earning the win here Sunday. It was Kincaid’s first trip back to the top of the winner’s podium since earning the victory for the Crandon Cup in June. Jeremy McGrath, who earned his first-ever PRO 2 Saturday finished a close second with Rob MacCachren taking third.
“It was a great race for me,” Kincaid said after the race. “Yesterday, we had power steering problems or we could have given Jeremy a run. Today, we got a good holeshot and they had to come catch me.”
Throughout the run, McGrath inched closer and closer to Kincaid’s bumper, a fact the eventual race winner was well aware of.
“I knew (McGrath) had to go around me, he couldn’t go through me. I knew he was there and I couldn’t screw up or he would’ve went on by me. My no. 1 goal was to not screw up or spin it out on the last lap like I did yesterday and here we are in the Winner’s Circle!”
Ricky Johnson, who earned a hard-fought third-place finish Saturday had a bad day that kept getting worse. He spun at the finish line on Lap 1, but was able to keep it on the lead lap. On the restart after the mandatory caution, Johnson nearly put his machine on its side on the first jump and then immediately went to the pits, where he remained for the rest of the race.
It looked like Marty Hart was going to make it six consecutive round wins in PRO Light Sunday, but an engine issue stopped him cold, allowing Caddell to take his Traxxas-sponsored machine to the Winner’s Circle for the second time this season. Casey Currie rebounded from a bad finish Saturday to take runner-up honors and Luke Johnson rounded out the podium with his third-place finish.
“I was chasing Marty down really quick at the competition yellow,” Caddell said after earning his first win since the opening round in Crandon two months ago. “I knew we had a better truck than him yesterday but we just couldn’t get it done. I knew right after that yellow we were on him. I don’t know what happened to him. It kinda sucks to have him fall out, it would have been a good race for the fans here.”
Currie started the race on the point, but Hart was able to power past him on Lap 2 with Caddell following close behind. At the mandatory caution, Caddell was within a trucklength of the class points leader and gaining. On the restart, though, Hart was unable to complete a full lap and was forced to pull off the track.
Andrew Caddell earned the Traxxis Maxx Cash Award for the second time this weekend with a fast lap of 1:28.163 and Greaves also earned the PRO 4 fast lap award, taking home the Oakley Bomb with his lap time of 1:23.347. McGrath took the PRO 2 Oakley Bomb with his fast lap of 1:24.762.
Sportsman winners were: Mike Mischler (Classix), Dave Miah (Formula 4x4), Chris Bowser (Enduro), Mike Vanden Heuvel (Limited 2), Matt Gerald (1600 Light Buggy), John Fitzgerald (1600 Buggy), Scott Beauchamp (Super Stock), and Scott Schwalbe (Super Buggy).
NOTE: The TORC Series, its staff, its racers, and its sponsors send their thoughts, prayers, and condolences to the friends and families of those lost this weekend at the California 200 off-road race.
For more information on the Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL, visit them on the Web at TORCSeries.com. For information on the United States Auto Club, visit USACRacing.com. Both sites will also feature live free streaming of all the events on the TORC Series schedule courtesy of GoPro cameras and eBay Motors.
Race fans can follow all the action throughout the TORC Series season on its official Twitter sites at Twitter.com/TORCMedia and its official page on Facebook.
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