Traxxas Pro Light: Andrew Caddell Podiums Round 7, Wins Round 8, and Cashes In With Maxx Lap Bonuses

Traxxas Pro Light front-runner Andrew Caddell was back in top form in Bark River. As the dust hung in the air from the start of Round 7’s race, Andrew shook out to third position behind Casey Currie and the seemingly unstoppable Marty Hart, who was looking for his fifth consecutive Traxxas Pro Light win. Caddell was on Currie’s bumper from the start, and found his passing opportunity before the first lap was over as Currie spun his truck in the right-hander after the “Monster Hill”, Bark River’s infamous hilltop jump. With Currie dispatched, Caddell could now focus on chasing down Marty Hart, who had amassed a lead of about ten truck lengths. Caddell was able to reduce the gap, but it was the mandatory yellow flag that finally put him on Hart’s bumper. At the restart, Caddell took the inside line through the “horseshoe” turn to go door to door with Hart, but Hart managed to hold off the hard-charging Traxxas driver and pull out the lead as the trucks launched over the start/finish tabletop jump. For the remainder of the race, Hart and Caddell put on a master-class in short-course racing as they distanced themselves from the field, flinging their trucks through the turns, each countering the other’s moves. Caddell was a threat in every corner and went door to door with Hart in the final turns, but Hart held on for the win as Caddell took a well-fought second place. Hart pocketed the $5,000 Traxxas Pro Light purse, Caddell earned the $2,500 check, and third-place finisher Ross Hoek went home with $1,500. In addition to the purse dollars, Caddell earned an extra $1,000 by posting the fastest lap of the race to earn the Maxx Lap Award.

In Round 8, Caddell found himself between Casey Currie and Marty Hart at the start, but Hart overtook both drivers for the lead before the first lap was through. About three truck lengths separated each of the top three trucks through lap two, but Caddell was soon on Currie’s bumper and ready to move into second as Hart opened up a gap on the dueling drivers. Currie was able to counter Caddell’s passing attempts, until Caddell made an aggressive but clean inside pass for second as he and Currie rounded the “Kumho Tires” turn, just in time for the mid-race yellow. With the top three now tightly grouped for the restart, Caddell had to be ready to hold off Currie as he tried to make a move on Hart for the lead. As the green flag unleashed the Traxxas Pro Light field, Caddell tried an inside line through the horseshoe but Hart maintained his momentum to hold the lead by a slim margin. Caddell kept Hart in his cross-hairs, looking for his opportunity to pass, then overtook him for the lead with seeming ease as the trucks floated over the Monster Hill. As the trucks touched down and Caddell motored away, Hart pulled off the track with mechanical trouble. The duel that had propelled Hart and Caddel to a sizeable gap on third-place Currie and the rest of the field now represented an insurmountable lead that Currie could not bridge. Caddell’s last lap was essentially a victory lap, as he took the checkers unchallenged to earn the $5,000 purse and another $1,000 Maxx Lap award.