The ASA Speed Truck Challenge will be taking their edge-of-your-seat truck racing action onto an industry-famous road course this Saturday. The series' drivers will be tackling the challenging 1.3 mile road course at the Firebird International Raceway in Chandler-Arizona and will be taped for national television.
Making this race even more challenging is the fact that it's not about a scheduled amount of laps. It's about the element of time. This race is exactly 40 minutes long and that means qualifying is going to be especially intense because track position at the start of the race will be crucial. In this type of racing you often hear the term "road course specialists." The ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series is loaded with specialists, many of whom gained that experience from racing karts on a road course at a very early age.
Yet another exciting aspect of this race is the highly competitive season the series is enjoying. The first four races of the year has turned up four different winners, starting fields literally 7/10 of a second apart from first to last and a very close points race for the series' championship and we will likely see a fifth race winner in as many races in 2008.
Going into Saturday afternoon's race, Dallas Colodny’s #08 Speed Truck sponsored by Ramac Industries, Pepsi of Reno, Kohn Colodny CPA’s / La Horgue Metal Fabrication is currently on top of the championship standings with 284 points which was aided with his strong second place finish at Lucas I-10 Speedway on April 26th. Colodny knows however there can be no resting on his current racing fortune as he leads the next two drivers tied for second by a slim five points.
Colodny is certainly one of the series' road course specialists but is nervous about holding off two-time ASA STC champion, Darren Young #18 United Nissan / Sudden Impact; event winner at Firebird previously, Jason Black #9 in the Golden Lane Ventures / Empire Power Systems Speed Truck and Paul Bonaccorsi #11 Bonaccorsi Racing / BHRM Motorsports; have been running extremely well in these first few races. Bonaccorsi is a road course specialist as well and all previously mentioned will face fierce competition from Jeff Catlin in the #1 Speed Truck sponsored by Arrowlane Restoration - Fabrication / DJ Safety / Sikwidit Clothing as Catlin has many wins on the West Course at Firebird in shifter karts.
When Colodny was asked about his holding on to the points’ lead on a tough road course like Saturday's race at Firebird International Raceway, he commented, “I really love road course racing and plan to make a great showing there this week. It's what I grew up doing."
Other road course notables that will not make the trip to Firebird are Joey Licata in the #71 Throttle Racing Products / Anarchy Clothing Speed Truck as he is suffering from lower back problems due to go kart crash in Utah last week and James Griffith in the #2 Kawasaki of Reno Speed Truck suffering from a broken arm.
Firebird International Raceway has a rich history of multi-faceted racing utilizing four different tracks for top-rated NHRA sanctioned events, amateur road racing, Formula and Indy car testing, Bondurant school education, and challenging road course configuration events. The Speed Trucks will find themselves on the exciting 1.3 mile road course incorporating 11 tight turns and a 3/8-mile straight-away. The elevated pit area overlooking the track is 8 feet higher than the surrounding terrain; the course itself requires its drivers to maintain correct corner entry and excellent opportunities to pass.
ASA Speed Truck Challenge president Jay Rutherford is also very enthused over the return to a road course and said, "Without question it's a world of difference. These trucks are going to have to be completely manipulated in terms of balance. The key reason for road course racing goes with our ASA byline: “We build Champions.” If these guys are going to move up into the big leagues, they better have road course experience."
For more information on the ASA Speed Truck Challenge, go to www.speedtruck.com.
