The ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series,(ASA-STC), teams arrived in Lake Havasu City-Arizona to officially open their 2008 season with a March 8th 100 lap feature at the Havasu 95 Speedway. But before they officially kicked off their 12th season they had a some business to take care of from last year. It was their annual awards banquet, held at the Quality Inn and Suites, where a packed room gathered to pay tribute to their 2007 champion: Morristown-Arizona's Victor Pfluger.
The gathering brought back a lot of memories of exactly how Pfluger won that championship this past October at the Havasu 95 Speedway. It was a race that many series participants and fans are still talking about. Going into that final race Pfluger was two points behind two time series champion Darren Young. Everyone watching was prepared for literally anything that night. It was a race that was being billed as "the duel in the desert." Pfluger set the fast time in qualifying that night and that earned him the highly coveted five bonus points. He also won the trophy dash. The stage was now set for "the duel."
On the initial green flag Young jumped into the lead. Pfluger stayed close to his tailgate. The two potential champions ran nose to tail for over 40 laps. All of sudden Young slowed and pulled into the pits. He was the victim of a cut tire. Young returned to the race and charged his way back to fifth before the laps ran out. Pfluger became the new ASA-STC champion. At age 16 he was also the youngest champion in series history. Pfluger and his family owned and operated racing team finished the 2007 season with three wins, 11 top five finishes, 12 top tens in 13 starts. He also was the fastest qualifier five times and won four trophy dashes.
Pfluger displayed a great deal of class at the awards banquet. Anyone who has ever met him should not be surprised. Victor Pfluger is a very classy, very well raised, young man. After being presented with his champion's ring and jacket, Pfluger dedicated the champion's trophy to his parents and thanked them for the years of support and the sacrifices that they made to help him achieve his dream. He also had high praise for crew chief, and truck builder, Chuck Lahorgue and told them that this championship could not have happened without his effort. Pfluger awarded LaHorgue with a Champions ring and jacket. Pfluger was also pleased to acknowledge Jim Parker, the owner of Parker Farms, who has been his long time primary sponsor. There were also the appropriate thank you to his list of associate sponsors that included Copperstate Tire, Alpine Stars, Maxima Racing Oil, NGK Spark Plugs, Mondello Tech, Pimp Hammer Clothing and Holley Carb.
Anyone who closely follows the ASA-STC already knows that Victor Pfluger will be moving on the new racing opportunities in 2008 and will not be defending his title. He plans to campaign a super late model stock car in NASCAR's Whelen All American Series and plans to seek the NASCAR Arizona State Championship. Home base for Pfluger Racing this year will be Tuscon Raceway Park where he's already scored top five finishes in two starts. Chuck Lahorgue is busy building the team a new car. In the mean time they are using a car loaned to them by Jerry Blaco.While the details are still being finalized, there are also plans for the team to compete in selected NASCAR Camping World West Series events this year.
Also appropriately honored at the awards banquet was Darren Young. Always a class act off of the track, Young saluted Pfluger Racing for a job well done under the highly competitive circumstances that they both dealt with. The Gilbert-Arizona native also had high praise for his team, United Nissan Racing, and the tireless effort they put out that put him in a position to make that championship run last year.Young finished the 2007 season with an excellent record that included four wins, 10 top five and 10 top ten finishes in 13 starts.
Also making the honor roll at the ASA-STC's awards banquet were the drivers who finished third through tenth in the final 2007 standings. They included: Andy Allen, Randel King, Bear Rzesnowiecky, Jim Putman, Austin Murphy, Shawn Steele, Tim Allen and Jeff Catlin.
While 2007 was another banner year for the series, the prospects of 2008 are even brighter. And for the eighth year in a row there will be a national television package which is a huge benefit for both the series and the individual teams in terms of acquiring sponsorships. It has also been announced that the ASA-STC's televised races this year will be aired on a Saturday afternoon time slot which is a big improvement. There is also an influx to 20 plus new teams who will be racing with them this year.
After completing their first race of the year at the Havasu 95 Speedway, it appears that the competitive edge for the ASA-STC is going to be as sharp as ever. That season opener saw Jason Black get his first ever series win with Dallas Colodny right behind him in a very exciting green-white-checker finish. After that race Jay Rutherford, series President and CEO, was all smiles about the outcome of the race and said "somebody asked me earlier if I had two picks for the 2008 championship and I gave them two picks. Come to find out they were first and second in qualifying and one of them won the trophy dash and the other won the main event." That would be Dallas Colodny and Jason Black.
