Black Creek, WI (July 25, 2013) – A near perfect weekend for Greg Stingle at Route 66 Raceway put the multi-time Light Buggy champion back in contention for a fourth straight title. The familiar orange single seater ran up front all weekend and is now tied for second place in the season long standings. With four rounds of racing left in the season anything can happen, the championship battle could go down to the final lap of the season.

Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2013 Traxxas TORC Sportsman Series presented by AMSOIL were hosted by Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. This was the first time, since the TORC series’ first visit the venue three years ago, that the Sportsman competitors were included in the Pep Boys “Battle in the Bowl” event and Greg Stingle was looking forward to racing his #172 Sassy’s Bar and Grill / Badger State Transport / Geno’s Steakhouse / Ben’s Small Engine / Kountry Bar / JJ Malloney’s / Lake Shore Cleaners / A & S Poured Walls / J & B Heating & Cooling / BFGoodrich Tires Buggy against seventeen other Light Buggy racers.

The one-mile track was designed for all the TORC classes, as track builder Jeff Nordstrom created a second lane through the infield of the dirt circle track for the Sportsman ensuring great racing all weekend long.

Friday’s race saw Stingle lined up on the outside of the front row. When the green flag was waved, Stingle patiently waited for early leader Craig Rabe to misjudge a turn, which happened early in the second lap, as Stingle moved into the lead. Even though Stingle led the final eight laps, it far from a cake walk. On the final lap the top three racers were fighting side by side through the final turns. Greg Stingle won by a margin of .356 seconds over the second place finisher.

The starting grid for Saturday’s race the top six finishers from the day before lined up in reverse order, this put Stingle on the outside of the third row. On a short track like Route 66 Raceway, the further back in the field you start, the tougher it becomes to get to the front of the field. Stingle this would take a huge effort to get to the front of the field especially with a couple of really fast buggies in front of him.

The ten lap race saw the #172 Sassy’s Bar and Grill / Badger State Transport / Geno’s Steakhouse / Ben’s Small Engine / Kountry Bar / JJ Malloney’s / Lake Shore Cleaners / A & S poured Walls / J & B Cooling & Heating / BFGoodrich Tires Buggy gradually move up the running order and on the final lap he had one opportunity to make the pass for the win coming to the finish line, but ended up just a couple feet short of victory. Greg Stingle crossed the finish line just .184 seconds behind the winner.

“What a race, we knew we were in for a fight to the finish and that was an understatement,” commented Greg Stingle. “Keeping your momentum is always important in this class and our BFGoodrich Tires really came though no matter what the track conditions. This was a weekend we really needed. We have closed the gap with Billy (Buth, current points leader), but we need to continue finishing at the top to have a chance at the championship. We have to take one race at a time and hope we have a little luck in the process. I know it will be an interesting fight to the final lap of the season for the title.”

Greg Stingle would like to thank all his sponsors including: Sassy’s Bar and Grill – Badger State Transport – Geno’s Steakhouse – Ben’s Small Engine – JJ MAlloney’s – Kountry Bar – Lake Shore Cleaners – A & S Poured Walls – J & B Heating & Cooling – BFGoodrich Tires. Don’t forget you can watch all the TORC action live or watch at your convenience on www.RedBull.TV.

Photo: Scott Behnke