Chula Vista, CA (July 29, 2008)—Team Red Bull/BOSCH fought it out for two forth place finishes at round 7 and 8 at Chula Vista International Raceway. Record numbers of fans swelled into the stands at the ultra spectator friendly Chula Vista International Raceway to watch the field of thirty eight CORR trucks battle it out for points and glory in person and live on Speed channel and NBC. With blue skies above and a perfectly prepped course featuring a huge table top jump directly in front of the stands and the famous down hill “Ski Jump”, the stage was set for a weekend of spectacular racing.
Qualifying Friday
Ricky Johnson, in the number nine Redbull/BOSCH Pro-2 hit the track and immediately ran into fuel pick up problems but still managed to qualify 6th. Steve Barlow was met with some challenges of his own. Adrian Cenni lost his 4-wheel drive, but rather than clearing the track he stayed out causing Barlow to be slowed by the traffic. Additionally, for some reason the water trucks came out before the end of the last lap spraying down water making the track ultra slippery thus effecting qualifying times. Despite the challenges Steve managed to qualify 9th.
Racing Saturday
Starting in the third row back on the inside, RJ attacked the field quickly moving from sixth to fourth, but midway through the fourth lap he was stopped due to engine failure. A rock had caused the oil pump belt to come loose, ultimately stopping the Redbull/BOSCH Pro-2. Steve Barlow started on the inside mid-pack and was forced to take an inside line off the first jump. The Redbull/BOSCH number 2 Pro-4 nosed down on the landing and flipped end over end multiple times twisting and slamming onto the hard-packed dirt. Steve quickly climbed out of the wreckage and wave to the crowd that he was all right. The accident ended Steve’s day of racing. Steve came out of the harrowing accident with bruised ribs and a whip lashed neck. It was now up to the crew to rebuild the vehicle in time for racing on Sunday. The crew would be challenged with repairing both trucks prior to qualifying time early Sunday morning. Outfitted with complete sets of BOSCH power tools the crew hammered, cut, welded and grinded away until the early hours of the morning to replace RJ’s engine and rebuild Barlow’s truck.
Qualifying Sunday
Practice and qualifying was combined on Sunday leaving no time to correctly seat the newly replaced engine in Ricky Johnson’s Pro-2. RJ had to stay conservative and ran into a bit of trouble with his fuel pick up, but still managed to qualify 7th. Barlow got on the track with his rebuilt Redbull/BOSCH Pro-4 and was faced with challenges right away as his drive train malfunctioned leaving him with only two-wheel drive. Barlow managed to qualify 14th
Racing Sunday
Ricky Johnson started in 7th, but quickly moved up to 4th place before spinning out on the top rhythm section when his truck began having fuel pick up issues again. Due to spin, RJ fell back to 12th place, but again quickly got back to 3rd within four laps. Going into the last corner RJ was overtaken when his trucked stalled, once again putting him just off the podium in 4th place.
“I owe it to my team. They got they spent all night getting the Redbull/BOSCH trucks ready to race on Sunday. We have a little issue with the fuel pickup to solve, but we will be ready for Pomona”. Stated the upbeat Ricky Johnson.
Steve Barlow started in the 14th position 7 rows back on the inside. Barlow immediately moved to ninth on the first corner. As several trucks tangled, Barlow found a clean line and moved past them. Barlow continued to move up, picking off one truck at a time. Barlow had moved up to the 6th place position by the competition caution. Barlow continued to advance as trucks fell out due to crashes and mechanical failure. During one of the full course yellow’s Barlow overheated his brakes. “We were going so slow I had to drag my brakes. On the restart I realized I had almost no brakes,” explained Barlow. “ I managed to get up to 3rd place, but I was forced to take the outside line because I had no brakes. Carl Renezeder got me on the inside.
Team Red Bull/BOSCH owner/driver; Steve Barlow had this to say about the weekend of racing; “Crashing wasn’t the way I wanted to make the highlight reel! I got a bit of whiplash and some bruised ribs, but I’ve got to give the credit to my crew for staying up all night thrashing to get the trucks fixed. Despite the challenges we managed two top fives.”
About CORR
CORR (Championship Off–Road Racing) is the most thrilling type of off-road racing in the world! Referred to as “Supercross with trucks”, CORR takes place on both permanent and temporary tracks in San Diego, Pomona, Antelope Valley, Dallas, Primm, and Charlotte. The CORR trucks have over two feet of suspension travel and 850+ horsepower, making them capable of jumping over 160 feet while racing. Tracks are built out of dirt with jumps, whoops, tabletops and hairpin turns to keep the racing exciting for the fans, and challenging for the drivers. CORR racing is a “full-contact” sport, and fans are treated to non-stop action as the competitors bump and grind their way through the course. Pro-2 and Pro-4 Trucks are the premier classes. Event attendance averages over 20,000 plus fans per race. TV coverage consists of nine races on NBC and The Speed Channel. CORR has a large online community, and the primary demographic being is males between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five.
Check out the Team Red Bull/BOSCH website for race results, photos and video: http://redbulloffroad.com
Team Red Bull/BOSCH is sponsored by:
Red Bull, BOSCH, KMC Wheels, BF Goodrich Tires, FOX Racing Shox, Team Associated, VP Racing Fuel, Alpinestars, KC Lights, Mastercraft Seats, Gear Vendors, Hughes Transmissions, MSD, Amsoil, McKenzies and Ogio.
