Breaking a two race run of bad luck, Victor Pfluger stormed back to a 3rd place finish at the ASA Speedtruck event at Orange Show Speedway on Saturday. A 5th place qualifying time, at only 6/10th of a second off fast time, combined with an inversion put the young hotshoe on the outside pole for the start of the 100 lap feature. As the green flag dropped Victor settled into the second spot for a long ride trailing Darren Young. Forty laps of chasing the leader and dodging lapped traffic afforded the young driver a lesson in patience. But it was lap traffic near the halfway point that allowed former Speedtruck champion Lee Hatch to push past Victor to take the second spot. For the remaining laps Victor driving his Parker Farms, Mondello Tech Center powerhouse took a strong line and held off Chad Boat and fast time qualifier Randel King as well as the rest of the Truck Challengers.
Coming from a Karting and Dwarf Car background, Victor has quickly moved up to Late Models and the Speedtrucks and was the youngest driver in history to win an ASA Speedtruck event. Last year the Pflugers and Thunderwave racing joined forces with Chuck Lahorgue of Redding California. The two teams were introduced by mutual friends the Cattanach race team. "Chuck is a great person to work with and gives 100 percent to all of his customers" says Victor's father, Art. Victor is grateful for having such a supportive team, "We will never know why Chuck LaHorgue and Kyle Cattanach decided to take us under their wing last season but it sure has had an impact on my career", said Victor. "My dad works all week to try to give me a great car to take to the track, but it is Chuck that is giving us the setups. At the track after each run in the Late Model you will see either my dad or I on the phone with Chuck getting his expertise on how to change the car."
The ASA Speedtruck series has been a real challenge for Victor and the Thunderwave Racing Team. Starting the season strongly with two top ten finishes Victor was fated as one of the young drivers turned away from the Irwindale Speedtruck race due to an insurance debacle. The fourth race at Tucson was then canceled when the facility changed management. The Las Vegas race had good potential to continue his top ten finishes, but a cut tire relegated him to a 12th place finish.
In breaks from the Truck schedule Victor has been traveling. Victor's Late Model program has been the strong suit all year and at the encouragement of car builder and crew chief Chuck Lahorgue Victor made the long tow to Northern California to run back to back weekends at Shasta Speedway Park. The first race was the North State Challenge Series where an early race tangle just in front of Victor left him no where to turn and the damage sustained forced him to end his night. However, spending a week of non-stop work on the car under the expert tutelage of Lahorgue, Victor was ready to take on the seasoned drivers of the Westcar series. Entering the show as a rookie Victor wowed the officials by setting the 3rd fastest time. This left him primed for the Trophy Dash where he dominated over more experienced drivers to take the win and cash. But it was the Main Event that proved Victor's skill. A gas cap mishap forced Victor to a quick stop on the parade lap dropping him from front runner to a last place start. Despite this the young powerhouse smoothly, cleanly and patiently wended his way back to a 7th place finish.
Next stop: July 15th at Madera Speedway and a 100 laps around its 1/3 mile oval. Victor is anxiously waiting for the St. John's Grand Prix on Sept. 2nd. Victor was the youngest driver in history to win the ASA Speedtruck event at this race. His skill in Karting is really put to use here at this challenging course.
Victor and Art want to give special thanks to The Parkers of Parker Farms, the Mondellos - Mondellos Tech Center, Jerry Auck from the Chrome Oasis and many more are constantly in our thoughts as we are eternally in debt for their efforts. You can find out more about Victor and follow his career at his website - VictorPlfuger.com.
