Scott Taylor Racing - TORC Bark River II Report

TAYLOR SURVIVES BARK RIVER II ? LOOKS TOWARDS CRANDON

Belvidere, IL (August 13, 2009) ? Taylor Racing brought the familiar  
red, white, and blue Skyjacker Suspensions BFGoodrich Tire Ford F-150  
to Bark River International Off-Road Raceway, in hope of landing back  
on the podium after an uncharacteristically sub par performance the  
previous stop at the 1.5 mile all-natural terrain track. For some  
reason, this track has not been kind to Scott Taylor through much of  
his career, and 2009 was no different.

After Friday?s practice session, the crew made some slight suspension  
changes looking to gain that extra bite coming out of Bark River?s now  
famous high banked corners.

Saturday morning, Round 9 practice and qualifying session was  
cancelled due to the heavy rains the night before. This put Scott  
Taylor and his #8 Ford starting in the second row. The start had  
Taylor hold his starting position for the first few laps. Almost  
immediately, the untested suspension changes did not improve the race  
truck?s performance. Scott battled as much with the truck as he did  
with the competition. At the finish, the Skyjacker Ford crossed the  
line in sixth place.

Not settling for a sixth place finish, Scott and his crew immediately  
went to work installing a different suspension setup for Sunday?s  
race. The usual between rounds prep also included replacing the  
differential and some creative fiberglass work to keep the Ford F-150  
looking its best for the Round 10 television broadcast.

The overnight changes seemed to bring the Skyjacker Ford to life, when  
Scott went out for practice. All the changes brought a new sense of  
confidence in the seven-time PRO-2 champion.

The Round 10 start saw an increased level of contact, compared to the  
previous round of racing. By the time the front of the pack had exited  
the second turn, PRO-2WD trucks were everywhere. For a moment it  
looked like the field was four trucks wide as everyone headed for the  
finish line. Trucks were inside the turn, in the middle of the berm,  
on top of the berm, and on the back side of the banking, all at once.  
The #8 BFG equipped Ford was right in the middle of the chaos.  
Somehow, Scott came out of the mess heading in the right direction and  
without serious damage to the truck, or so he thought.

A couple of laps later, he realized his right rear tire was going  
down. Even during the mandatory caution lap, Scott decided to stay out  
hoping the tire would stay together long enough to get to the finish.  
When the track went back to green flag racing, the tread gradually  
peeled away from the tire carcass, leaving just the inner liner.  
During the last two laps, Scott was racing on one good tire and one  
inner liner. Somehow the inner liner held together and the #8  
Skyjacker BFG Ford crossed the finish in seventh place.

?Losing the right rear probably came from the contact at the start,?  
commented Scott Taylor. ?I knew if I pitted during the yellow I would  
be at the back of the pack, and getting quickly through that would be  
another gamble I couldn?t afford to take. I figured the track wasn?t  
getting as blue (slick) as it had other years. The overnight rains,  
really seem to make the track very loamy in places, keeping tire temps  
down. I just seem to muddle through the weekend whenever we race here.  
Considering the condition of my right rear tire, seventh place wasn?t  
too bad. It?s not the result we wanted, but we were able to minimize  
the damage to our points and to the truck. Crandon is next and our  
winning record there speaks for itself. Let?s go.?

After ten rounds of racing, Scott Taylor is fifth overall in the TORC  
PRO-2WD Championship points standings.

The next race is the 40th anniversary celebration of off-road racing  
in Crandon, Wisconsin. The three day affair will be held September 4-6.

You can watch Scott Taylor and all the TORC Round 10 PRO-2WD action  
this Sunday at 11:30am on ESPN2.

Taylor Racing thanks all their supporters including:

Skyjacker Suspensions ? BFGoodrich Tires ? Automatic Transmission Designs

Ford Trucks, Roush-Yates Engines, Russ Wernimont Designs, Miller  
Electric, King Shocks, Walker Evans Racing, Justice Brothers, AMSOlL,  
Ringers Gloves, MSD Ignition, Autometer, K & N Filters, Boatec, Parker  
Pumper, and Phil?s Inc.

Taylor Racing still has marketing opportunities available for the rest  
of the 2009 TORC season.

For more information, please visit: www.taylorsoffroadracing.com  or  
email scott800@t6b.com   

- Mike Reusche ? MT Graphics, race report mtgraphics@ymail.com