Hoek Takes another Podium in Round 10 in Chicagoland
Fights for 4th place in Round 9
Holland, MI (August 30, 2010) – The Ross Hoek Motorsports #21 Allstar Performance, Venom Energy, Royal Purple, BFGoodrich, Ford Ranger had its best performance of the 2010 season in the Traxxas TORC Series from Chicagoland. The orange Ford nearly pulled off back to back PRO-Light podium finishes in the inaugural TORC event at Route 66 Raceway and provided the best racing action of the PRO-Light division.
The first of its kind mid-week, two evening TORC event at Chicagoland Speedway brought out the largest PRO-Light field of the year to race on TORC’s best purpose-built stadium style track of the year. The.8 mile layout included fast sections with six high flying jumps, but it also included a tricky camelback jump, a high and long flying tabletop, a mogul section and a rhythm section. The layout appeared to be a Supercross track for four wheeled vehicles. The course received high praise from most every driver.
Wednesday Evening – Round 9
A solid qualifying run had Ross and his #21 Allstar Performance Ford Ranger starting third thanks to a solid qualifying lap. It took two attempts before the class could get a clean first lap, due to two separate rollovers. Fortunately Ross avoided all the mayhem, but fell back a couple spots in the process. Undaunted, Ross quickly moved back into third place by the fifth lap. The top three racers solidly held their positions to the halfway point of the sixteen lap event.
When the field went back to green flag racing after the midway mandatory yellow, Ross began to feel pressure from #29 Rayford. The two battled back and forth, fender to fender. With three laps to go, Rayford made an inside pass to take the position. Then on the final lap Ross used all the Ford power he had through his ATD transmission into his BFGoodrich tires and made a bold move through the rhythm section. At one point, the #21 Ford regained the spot, but there was too much speed for the Ford Ranger to hold through the final corner. At the checkered flag, Ross Hoek finished a hard fought fourth place.
“Man that was tough,” remarked Ross Hoek. “We had Rayford coming through the whoops, but he got just in front of me coming out the corner and won the drag race to the finish. The last lap showed me I can carry more speed through the infield and I’ll use that to my advantage tomorrow night.”
Thursday Evening – Round 10
The next night saw Ross quickly put the Allstar Performance Ford Ranger into second place. Ross ran consistent lap times and held off #43 Cadell through most of the event, but a late charge by the #43 put Ross in the third spot. The top three trucks gradually distanced themselves from the rest of the field when the sixteen lap feature ended. Round 10 was Ross’ third podium finish of the season.
“We really have this Allstar Performance, Venom Energy, Royal Purple, BFGoodrich, Ford Ranger running great,” noted Ross Hoek. “Now we can fine tune the setup for each track we go to. Next week is our second visit to Crandon for the year and the season finale. The championship chase is down to a two truck competition, all we can do at Crandon is win and that is our goal. My first Pro-2WD win was a Crandon World Championship, I can’t think of a better way to get my first PRO-Light win.”
