Loves Park, IL (June 19, 2013) – After a great weekend at the MAORA event in Marengo, Indiana, John Frana and his team headed to back to the TORC Series and Bark River, Michigan to a track that has been a favorite of the #907 AWD PRO Buggy. The team from Northern Illinois did not disappoint as the RCV Performance/”the Official” Brand Name Prescription Card/Sway-A-Way/Frana Vehicles Honda-powered AWD PRO Buggy landed on the podium twice during the three race weekend.

All the TORC PRO teams were scheduled to race Friday evening due to the one round of racing that was postponed due to rain at Eldora Speedway. This meant practice, qualifying and racing would last late into the evening. Fortunately with the summer solstice just a few days away, sundown wouldn’t be until 10pm.

The practice session saw the #907 AWD Honda powered PRO Buggy set fast lap in qualifying. With the usual starting grid inversion, this meant the #907 lined up in the third row. When the field went green, Frana quickly moved into second place behind Andy Zipperer. After a couple of laps, the alternator failed so John immediately turned off the engine fans. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough as the engine began to lose power, ending the day in eighth place.

Overnight the team replaced the alternator and a flat rear tire. The early Saturday morning practice revealed another engine issue, the prototype engine air filter base was slowly breaking apart leaving unwanted particles in the carburetor. Quickly crew chief Ryan Brumund went to work installing the back-up carburetor and filter assembly.

Saturday’s Round Three had the #907 PRO Buggy starting in the same position as Friday’s race. Once again Frana moved into second place, but this time he was chasing Luke Johnson. The two front runners pulled away from the rest of the field. In several sections of the track, the AWD PRO Buggy was much quicker than the leader, but a great race by Johnson kept the RCV Performance/”the Official” Brand Name Prescription Card/Sway-A-Way/Frana Vehicles #907 in second place all the way to the finish.

Sunday’s Round Four had Frana originally lined up in the third row. As the racers moved into position, the front row was repositioned to the rear of the field. When the green flag waved, Frana jumped into a commanding lead all the way to the midpoint mandatory caution lap. Now with the field bunched closer together, the restart saw second place Johnson stay close to the rear bumper of Frana. Then with only a couple laps until the checkered flag, Johnson gave Frana a slight bump coming through the cemetery   turn. It was just enough to get the #907 out of the racing groove and back into second place. When the checkered flag waved, John Frana crossed the finish line in second place.

“All in all we had a very good weekend,” noted John Frana. “Friday set us back, but we ran strong the rest of the weekend. We almost won today, but to have our race car running so well made this a fun weekend. The track at Bark River really suits our race car very well. Our RCV four wheel drive, BFGoodrich Tires, Sway-A-Way Shocks, and the Honda engine really worked great this weekend.”

After four rounds of racing, John Frana is in third place in the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL PRO Buggy Championship.

Next Race: June 29-30, TORC – Crandon, WI
Photo by Scott Behnke