Taylor Racing Gets Back into the Groove at Crandon

June 26, 2006
Belvidere, IL

Taylor Gets Back in the Groove – Takes Point Lead

Scott Taylor and his #8 Skyjacker Suspension, BFGoodrich Tires Ford F-150 came to Crandon to let the competition know not to count him out for the 2006 Lucas Oil CORR Pro-2 Championship. 
In the first two rounds of competition in Chula Vista, the new truck had almost no test time before it headed to the West Coast.  The opening results for the team were not typical for the six-time CORR Pro-2 champion. 

Scott knew he had to step it up at Crandon to get back in the hunt for the championship.

Saturday – Round 3
Ford Trucks Pro-2 Race

Practice – After one lap of practice, Scott brought the Skyjacker Suspension, BFGoodrich Tires Ford F-150 to address a carburetion problem. Quickly the team replaced the carb and had the truck ready for the day’s race.

At the start, Scott and Carl Renezeder were battling for the lead. At the two headed for the BorgWarner Turn Two. The Roush Performance horsepower locked up with the BFGoodrich Tires and Scott grabbed the lead. Scott led the entire event start to finish. At the flag finished almost 22 seconds in front of the second place truck of Evan Evans.

“This spot’s kind of familiar (winning) and I was wondering if I was ever going to get back over here again. The truck ran awesome the guys put a great truck under me.”- commented Scott Taylor.

Sunday – Round 4
American Axle Pro-2 Race

Saturday night and early Sunday morning Mother Nature delivered enough rain for the track officials to cancel the morning’s practice. This allowed the track to dry out and created ideal track conditions for both the competitor and the spectator.
When the green flag fell, Scott immediately took the lead. As the field of Pro-2 trucks headed down the very fast Argonne Loop, Josh Baldwin had a huge crash, going end over end several times, and coming to a sudden stop into the trees. The safety crews got to Josh immediately as the race was red flagged to ensure the driver’s and emergency worker’s safety. Fortunately Josh climbed out of his truck on his own. 

When the green flag fell for the second time, Scott came out of Turn One and headed for the BorgWarner Turn 2 right on the bumper of #6 Travis Coyne. As the two trucks headed down the Ford Trucks Sky Box Straightaway, Scott really applied the Roush Performance horsepower to the BFGoodrich tires and grabbed the lead. From that point on, Scott never was never challenged again. When Scott crossed the Skyjacker Suspension Finish Line for the final time, the second place finisher was almost 24 seconds back.

The podium winners were: 1st-Scott Taylor, 2nd-Travis Coyne, & 3rd-Jerry Whelchel. All three trucks were Ford F-150s with BFGoodrich tires. The truck driven by Jerry Whelchel is the same truck that carried Scott to six Pro-2 championships. 

“I’ve finally gotten comfortable with this new truck. We were just beginning to sort the entire package out when we unloaded in Chula Vista. Since then we did quite a bit of testing and I think we figured it out,” commented Scott Taylor. “ The Skyjacker engineered suspension, the Ford power from Roush Performance, and the latest designed tires from BFGoodrich, are all working together. Congrats to Travis and Jerry, making it an all Ford F-150, BFGoodrich Tires podium.”

The Chairman’s Cup Heavy Metal Challenge

The 2006 edition of the Chairman’s Cup saw the top 8 Pro-2 trucks starting at the beginning of Turn One, while the Pro-4 trucks were lined up at the traditional start line. Scott Taylor was on the pole hoping to get to the front immediately and let the Pro-4s fight their way through traffic. 

At the drop of the green flag, #99 Kevin Probst grabbed the lead with Scott on his rear bumper. As the two entered the Lucas Oil Turn 4, Probst spun while Scott taking the lead. By lap 4 Johnny Greaves in his Pro-4 had moved up to third place. On lap 5, Greaves got by Jerry Whelchel for second place. Now Scott knew he had his work cut out for him. On lap 8, Greaves ducked inside of Scott to take the lead in the gravel pit area just before the Argonne Loop. The loose soft gravel really gives the 4-wheel drive Pro-4 trucks an advantage in the section of the track.  

Now he had to hold off the hard charging Curt LeDuc. The final four laps saw LeDuc slowly close in on Scott, but Scott held on to take the checkered flag in second place. 

The finish was an all BFGoodrich Tires podium with Johnny Greaves first, followed by Skyjacker Suspension trucks of Scott Taylor second and Curt LeDuc third.  Scott Taylor was also received the bonus for the highest finishing Pro-2. 

After the race Scott Taylor commented, “ Once I got in the lead, we were hoping the added number of Pro-2 would be enough traffic to hold off the Pro-4s. Unfortunately Johnny’s really got his truck working great. My hat is off to him… This weekend has been a huge boost to my team’s confidence. We have the points lead, now its time to concentrate on the getting the truck setup for Bark River… I also have to say thanks to all the fans that came to watch us this weekend without them we couldn’t put on this great show.  I can’t wait to watch all this action on SPEED later this year either.”

Thanks to all our supporters including:

Skyjacker Suspension – Jesus Rocks,
BFGoodrich Tires,
Ford Trucks,
Roush Performance,
ATD, Russ Wernimont Designs,
Justice Brothers, Miller Electric,
Royal Purple, MSD Ignition, Phil's Inc., Precision Gear,
Auto Meter, Boatec, CNC, K&N Engineering,
Mastercraft and Ringer Gloves

After four rounds of racing the 2006 Pro-2 Championship standings are:
1st-Scott Taylor - 59 pts.
2nd-Evan Evans - 49 pts.
3rd-Todd LeDuc – 47pts.
4th-Travis Coyne – 44pts.
5th-Jerry Whelchel-43pts.

Next Race - July 8-9 – Island Inn Casino UP Off-Road 100 – Bark River, Michigan.