Jenkins Takes the TORC PRO 4 Win in a Wild Shootout Under the Lights
OSHKOSH, Wis. – It was a night of racing at the Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway that won’t soon be forgotten and Mike Jenkins led the way with his second career Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL PRO 4WD win. The victory wrapped up a race that saw two red flag stoppages, one for his brother, Mark Jenkins, the other for Steve Barlow, who was able to finish the race after barrel rolling down the backstretch. Friday’s winner, Scott Douglas, finished second.
The lead went back and forth as Rick Huseman had the lead, then Johnny Greaves took the lead, then Douglas took the lead. But it was on the restart after the second red flag that Jenkins seemingly came out of nowhere and took a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
In the other two PRO categories, Ricky Johnson (PRO 2WD) and Marty Hart (PRO Light) brought out the broomsticks for the weekend sweep here. Hart also earned the Traxxas Maxx Cash Award for $1,000 for a fast lap of 43.373 seconds. Taking the Oakley Bomb Award in PRO 2 was class runner-up Rob MacCachren with his lap of 40.295 seconds and in PRO 4, Greaves earned fast lap honors courtesy of Oakley with his lap of 38.533 seconds.
Johnson and MacCachren provided a hint of the evening’s finale with their neck-and-neck racing in the PRO 2 race. Johnson was able to stay just ahead of Rob Mac for his second win of the weekend. Hart once again was dominant throughout the PRO Light event with Todd Cunningham and Casey Currie fighting for runner-up honors with Cunningham winning that battle.
In Sportsman news, it was a wild Super Stock race with Scott Beauchamp earning the victory in an event full of bumping, banging, and flaring tempers. CJ Greaves looked to move past a rough night Friday in the Super Buggy class, but another early pileup ruined his night again. He was able to race his way back on the lead lap, but it was Steve Krieman with the weekend sweep. On Friday night, it was Brock Smith taking the Enduro win and on Saturday, it was his twin brother Brent visiting the Winner’s Circle.
In what had to be one of the craziest Limited 2WD races in a while, Michael Baker was able to pick up his first class win after Dan Baudoux got loose on the frontstretch and got into Mike Vanden Heuvel in second. Baudoux pulled off the track and coming to the white flag, Vanden Heuvel pulled off as well. Baker may have won the race, but it was Rhonda Konitzer getting the standing ovation after her runner-up finish.
Other Sportsman winners were: Bill Wilson (Classix), Bradley Lemarche (Formula 4x4), Matt Gerald (1600 Light Buggy), and John Fitzgerald (1600 Buggy).
The series returns to Bark River Raceway in Bark River, Mich., Aug. 14-15. For more information, visit them on the Web at BarkRiverOffRoad.com.
For more information on the Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL, visit them on the Web at TORCSeries.com. For information on the United States Auto Club, visit USACRacing.com. Both sites will also feature live free streaming of all the events on the TORC Series schedule courtesy of GoPro cameras and eBay Motors.
Race fans can follow all the action throughout the TORC Series season on its official Twitter sites at Twitter.com/TORCMedia and its official page on Facebook.
