Taylor Battles Adversity at Primm
Belvidere, IL (May 21, 2008) - The #8 Skyjacker Suspensions BFGoodrich
Tire Ford F-150 pulled into Las Vegas International Off-Road Raceway
looking to regain the championship form that fans expect from Scott
Taylor. The week before the event, Scott Taylor and his chief engineer
and designer, Russ Wernimont, spent some time at a test track fine
tuning the truck’s chassis setup.
The track, located behind the three Herbst-owned Primm Valley casinos,
was basically the same layout as the final weekend of the 2007 CORR
season. The .95 mile course featured high speed jumps, a lengthy
rhythm section, a huge table top, and CORR trademarked banked corners.
The biggest difference between last November and the past weekend was
the air temperature. The weekend saw temperatures exceeding 100
degrees F both days.
The Friday evening qualifying session saw the Skyjacker Ford stop the
clocks sixth fastest. In 2008 the PRO-2 continued to be extremely
competitive. The top six qualifying PRO-2 trucks were within one
second of the pole winner.
Saturday - Round 3
The rolling start saw Scott Taylor moved quickly into fifth place. On
lap two, Taylor took the high line round Turn One, and slipped off the
backside of the turn. By the time the Skyjacker BFGoodrich Tire Ford
F-150 got back on track most of the field had gone by.
The mandatory yellow came out on lap eight; Scott Taylor had worked
his way up to eleventh place. Then out of nowhere, during the caution
lap, Rodrigo Ampudia drove into the left rear corner of the Skyjacker
Ford. The hit was so hard, Ampudia’s truck rolled over from the
contact. Scott made one more lap before bringing the damaged F-150
back to his hauler. Officially Scott Taylor finished Round 3 in
twentieth place.
Afterwards Scott Taylor commented, “I made a big mistake on the second
lap, but seemed to be avoiding all the other stuff that was happening
on the track. I was looking forward to getting back toward the front
during the last half of the race. Then, during the yellow, Ampudia
just drives into the truck. The rear suspension was really torn up.
Afterwards we talked and he said the brake pedal went to the floor….
But we were just supposed to be idling around during the caution. It’s
unfortunate that we have all this work to do, especially in this heat,
but we will be ready for Sunday.”
Sunday - Round 4
The #8 Skyjacker Ford qualified in sixth place once again. Just
getting the truck ready was a feat in its own right, ripping off a
very respectable lap time was a complement to Scott, Russ, Mike, and
the entire Taylor Racing crew.
Just after the race went green, Scott quickly moved into second place
just behind Jeremy McGrath. The Supercross champ, McGrath and the CORR
champ raced side by side right up to the mandatory caution. At that
point Taylor pulled his #8 Skyjacker Ford off the track, ending his
day. The engine had lost all oil pressure. Scott Taylor was credited
with an eighteen place finish.
“My crew is just incredible,” stated Scott Taylor. “They just didn’t
put the truck back together; they gave me a truck that I could win
with. I thought we could get by Jeremy on the restart. The BFGoodrich
tires were really hooking up coming out of turn four and I was better
through the rhythm section. Then I looked over and saw the oil
pressure light on and gauge zeroed out. I just pulled over and turned
everything off. We know what to expect at Pomona for the next rounds,
don’t surprised if you see Taylor Racing on the podium”
After four rounds of racing, Scott Taylor is tenth the 2008 CORR PRO-2
standings, just 34 points out of fifth place.
The next weekend of Championship Off-Road Racing is June 6-7, at The
Fairplex in Pomona, California.
You can catch all the action from Round Two on NBC Sports, May 25, at
1:30pm eastern.
Taylor Racing thanks all their sponsors including: Skyjacker
Suspensions, BFGoodrich Tires, Ford Trucks, Russ Wernimont Designs,
Roush Performance, Automatic Transmission Designs, Walker Evans
Racing, Miller Electric, Justice Brothers, Phil’s Inc., Boatec, MSD
CNC, K & N, Lancair, Autometer, and Ringers Gloves.
-Mike Reusche, marketing, MTG –
mike@mt-graphics.com
|
