Ross Hoek Motorsports TORC Race Report - Bark River
RHM Shows Speed ? Contact Hinders Outcome Holland, MI (July 14, 2009) - Ross Hoek Motorsports brought his two truck off-road race team to Bark River, Michigan for the fourth stop on the 2009 Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL tour. The combination of high speed, high flying action as well as very technical jumps and corners makes this legendary track one of Ross Hoek?s favorite events. The weekend of racing started out well, but the extraordinary sense of urgency by many of the competitors, saw Ross Hoek Motorsports racing in the middle of the pack getting tossed around like a silver ball in a pinball machine. Saturday First up on Saturday was Round 3 of the Limited 2 Championship. The start saw Ross come out of the land rush start in fourth place, behind #248 Luke Johnson, #277 Don Williams and #229 Keith Steele. By the end of lap 2, Ross put the #210 Auto Trans Design Kumho Tires Ford into second place, looking to chase down the leader who had already built up a large lead. Now with just one truck in front of him, Ross Hoek began to turn some very fast laps. The second half of the race, the RHM machine made up quite a bit of time on the leader, but the laps ran out before the Kumho Tire machine could pressure the eventual winner. At the checkered flag, it was Steele first, Ross Hoek second, and Johnson third. A few hours later, Ross suited up again to get behind the wheel of the #21 Venom Energy, Kumho Tire, PRO-2WD race truck. The fifteen truck field began with a two wide rolling start heading down the traditional land rush chute. When the green flag was dropped, the field quickly went seven trucks wide heading into the first turn. As the field sorted itself out heading across the front straightaway, the #21 Venom Energy Ford was in seventh place. Quickly, dust became a problem for most of the racers. Nevertheless, Ross makes a couple of passes as he finds himself in fifth place at the mandatory caution lap. When the race goes green, Ross gets around a spinning Oberg to move in fourth. The racing was intense, bumper to bumper, door to door. Then with three laps to go, a hit from behind spins the Venom Performance Ford, moving Ross back several positions. With little time left, the Kumho Ford gets back in the game trying to regain the lost positions. After nine laps the checkered flag fell with the #21 Ford in tenth place. Later in the evening Ross commented; ?Our old gal really ran great in the Limited 2 race. I have to get out of the box quicker to challenge for the lead right away. If you don?t clear the slower trucks immediately, the leader can run away with the race. Tomorrow I?ll get a better jump?.. The PRO-2WD race started out really well. With three laps to go we were in the hunt for a podium finish. Then we got tagged pretty hard from behind and that was the race. All in all both trucks ran very well today. Our Swift springs and Fox Shox combination really kept our ProPower horsepower on the ground while the ATD / Gear Vendor trans package kept the Kumho Tires working hard.? Sunday Round 4 of the Limited 2 Championship saw the #210 Ross Hoek Motorsports Ford in fourth place midway through the first lap. The top four trucks were running tightly together as the group came out of the keyhole heading for the table top for the first time, when disaster struck. Ross made a huge run around the rim of the new berm and carried enough speed toward the finish line to pass the second and third place trucks. At the same time #220 Edgerton spun in front of the Herculiner Ford! With no where to go or time to slow down the Herculiner Kumho Tire Ford climbed over Edgerton at the same time as they both launched the table top causing the truck to pirouette in the air, clearing the large table top jump and landing upside down. After a spectacular multiple roll Ross was able to climb out of the truck without any injury. After a few minutes, Ross started the truck and completed one more lap to take the checkered flag. As Ross was slowly bringing the truck back to the pit area, the left axle broke. A tow truck was needed to get Herculiner truck back to the hauler. After four rounds of the Sportsman Limited 2 Championship, Ross Hoek is in third place. Round 8 of the PRO-2WD Championship saw a slightly different tire groove on the #21 Venom Energy Kumho Tire Ford F-150 as Ross was looking for better traction earlier in the race in hopes of moving quickly toward the front of the pack. The start of the race saw even more pushing and shoving in the first turn than the day before. Multiple hard contacts put three of fifteen starters out of commission before the exit of the first turn. Somehow Ross made it through, but not before he too was pushed sideways and off the track allowing most of the field to get in front of the Venom Energy Ford. At the restart Ross had a good jump to make up a couple positions but dusty conditions caused a four truck pileup and let the field go by once again. The rest of the race was spent trying to stay out of trouble and making clean passes for position. At the finish, Ross Hoek crossed the line in tenth place. After competing in six of the eight rounds of racing in the TORC PRO-2WD Championship, Ross Hoek is in fourteen position overall. As the team was loading up the trucks to head back to Holland, Michigan, Ross Hoek added; ?Our day could have gone better. In the Limited 2 race, I knew I had to make my move quickly to keep pace with Steele; unfortunately, the opening began to close after I was committed. It would have been the pass of the weekend if it had worked. The PRO-2WD race was just a disaster, I don?t think I have one good body panel left on the truck from all the contact at the start, restart, and through the final laps. The track was awesome but hopefully Bark River can get control of the dust when we return.? The next race for Ross Hoek Motorsports is August 8-9, back in Bark River, Michigan. RHM is unable to attend the Sportsman only TORC event July 24-25 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, but the SRT Limited 2 is available for sale or rent for that event or for any the remaining Sportsman races as well. Please contact Ross Hoek at ross@rosshoek.com for more information. You can see all the exciting Bark River Round 8 PRO action this coming Sunday, July 19, at 11:30am on ESPN 2. Ross Hoek Motorsports thanks its marketing partners including: Venom Energy DrinkKumho Tires Lane Automotive Fox Racing ShoxRem ChemicalsHawk Performance Swift SpringsISP SafetyMSD Ignitions Royal Purple Synthetic Oils Parker Pumper All Star Performance ATD Transmissions Jeff's Bronco Graveyard Allied Racing WheelsC&R Racing Radiators T&D Machine Products Dart Blocks ARP Herculiner Truck Bed Liners Baer Brake Calipers Motor State DistributingGear Vendor Auto Meter Miller Electric WeldersInvisible Glass Optima Batteries QA1 Precision Products Ross Hoek Motorsports has several marketing opportunities still available for the remainder of the season. To contact Ross Hoek Motorsports for an interview or marketing opportunities please call, 616 738-0058 or email: ross@rosshoek.com - Mike Reusche, MT Graphics "Affordable Website and Marketing Solutions" www.mt-graphics.com www.bumpracer.com mike@mt-graphics.com (847)343-4658