Robby Gordon won the 2014 championship for his second consecutive titleSheldon Creed finished second in points
The 2014 Stadium Super Trucks Series was the second season of the Stadium Super Trucks and the first under the Speed Energy Formula Off-Road presented by Traxxas name.[1]
As he did in 2013, series founder Robby Gordon was the winner of the series championship, taking six victories en route to the title. Gordon won the championship by 75 points ahead of Sheldon Creed, who won a trio of races during the year, including a clean sweep at the IndyCar Series-supporting event in Toronto. Third place in the championship went to Apdaly Lopez, who won two races during the season, at the X Games and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. E. J. Viso won the most races with the exception of Gordon, which included winning all three races at the Detroit Grand Prix, as part of a part-time season; Viso ultimately finished fifth in the championship. Keegan Kincaid (OC Fair) and P. J. Jones (St. Petersburg) were the only other winners during the 2014 season.
The 2014 Speed Energy Formula Off-Road season began in March with the Stadium Super Trucks' inaugural trip to the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.[18] The first race was marred by a rain storm as Robby Gordon took the win, while P. J. Jones beat out Gordon in the second.[19] Gordon won again at the following month's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach when he passed the battling Sheldon Creed and E. J. Viso for the victory. Viso, an IndyCar Series driver making his series debut, finished second after leading the most laps.[20]
In May, the trucks raced at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the Indianapolis 500's Carb Day. Known as the Menards at the Brickyard, the track layout featured part of the oval's frontstretch and the infield road course.[21] Prior to the racing, Charles Dorrance's truck rolled through the grass after a poor ramp entry, leading to rib injuries. Gordon and Apdaly Lopez won the two races; Lopez, who finished second in the first round, claimed the overall weekend victory.[22] The following week, SST joined the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix slate for the first time.[23] Viso went on to sweep the weekend's three races as he off Arie Luyendyk Jr. in the first round,[24] led the final three laps of the second,[25] and survived a collision with Burt Jenner to hold the lead in the third.[23]
Formula Off-Road's next stop was X Games Austin 2014 at Circuit of the Americas, a date that was scheduled in December 2013.[26] A series-record 20 drivers entered the event.[27] The field was split into two heats of ten drivers apiece, with the top eight advancing to the final; Justin Lofton and Gordon won the heats, while Dorrance, Nick Vanis, Greg Adler, and Jay Reichert failed to qualify.[10] In the final, Bobby Runyan Jr. hit a jump with two wheels on lap four, sending his truck into a roll and triggering a red flag. At the restart, Lopez took the lead and maintained it to win the gold medal, with Creed and Gordon taking silver and bronze, respectively; Lopez became the first male Mexican X Games gold medalist.[28] The X Games helped the trucks catch the attention of sports marketing firm The Elevation Group, whose president Denny Young decided to purchase a 40 percent stake in the series in September.[29]
At Honda Indy Toronto, Creed swept the weekend.[30] The first race saw a wet course due to rain, during which Creed moved through the field from the back as Scotty Steele led. The two eventually battled until Creed passed him.[31] The second race, this time in dry conditions, featured a duel between Creed and Gordon that the former won.[30]
From September 19–21, the series ran a weekend tripleheader in Southern California with dates at the OC Fair & Event Center and Naval Station North Island.[32] The OC Fair races were part of the Sand Sports Super Show; SST was joined by support classes including off-road class 1440 trucks, motocross, trophy karts, and UTVs.[33] Two heats for each final were held, with Viso and Gordon winning the first round's and Gordon and Lopez splitting the following day's.[34][35] In the first final, pole sitter BJ Baldwin led the first half before he collided with Viso and fell off the pace, enabling Gordon to take the lead and win.[36] Keegan Kincaid won the second final after catching up to Gordon when the latter began experiencing issues with his truck;[37] Kincaid raced with Creed's No. 74 number plate, meaning the points scored by Kincaid went to Creed in the standings.[35] On Sunday, the trucks joined the Coronado Speed Festival at NAS North Island, an event held to celebrate Fleet Week and also featured vintage racing;[32] a vintage race was held between the Formula Off-Road heat race and final.[38] Viso won the heat, while Gordon took advantage of the Joker Lap on a green flag restart to pull ahead and score the victory in the final.[39]
The 2014 season finale took place at the MGM Resorts Village in Las Vegas, held in conjunction with SEMA.[40] Viso led the first race of the weekend with Kincaid and Gordon in tow, but Viso retired after hitting a K rail. Gordon passed Kincaid after Viso's incident to take the lead and the eventual round victory; Burt Jenner finished third for his first career podium. In the final round, Creed and Gordon fought for the lead until the former cleared the latter late in the race. Although Creed won the race, he finished 75 points behind Gordon in the championship; Gordon ended the 2014 season with his second series title as he recorded six wins and 14 podiums.[41]
^"SST Trucks To Race In Rebranded SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented By Traxxas". Stadium Super Trucks. March 4, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
^ ab"Round 1 of 16 – Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg – 3/29/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 2 of 16 – Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg – 3/30/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 3 of 16 – Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach – 4/13/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 4 of 16 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway – 5/23/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 5 of 16 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway – 5/23/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 6 of 16 – Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix – 5/30/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 7 of 16 – Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix – 5/31/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 8 of 16 – Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix – 6/1/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ abc"Round 9 of 16 – X GAMES AUSTIN – 6/8/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 10 of 16 – Honda Indy, Toronto, Ontario – 7/19/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 11 of 16 – Honda Indy, Toronto, Ontario – 7/20/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 12 of 16 – Sand Sports Super Show – 9/19/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 13 of 16 – Sand Sports Super Show – 9/20/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 14 of 16 – Coronado SPEED Festival – 9/21/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 15 of 16 – Las Vegas – 11/1/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^ ab"Round 16 of 16 – Las Vegas – 11/6/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
^"SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by Traxxas Kicks off 2014 at Grand Prix of St. Petersburg". Stadium Super Trucks. March 29, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^Sinclair, Adam (March 16, 2015). "SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks Presented by TRAXXAS Returns to St. Petersburg Grand Prix for Two Races March 27-29". Speedway Digest. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
^"Gordon Wins TRAXXAS Race At Long Beach". Detroit Grand Prix. April 14, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^Lewandowski, Dave (May 19, 2014). "Notes: Stadium Super trucks add to show". IndyCar Series. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^Pettit, Vince (May 24, 2014). "Apdaly Lopez Takes Indianapolis SST Win". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^ abPryson, Mike (May 31, 2014). "E.J. Viso sweeps weekend Stadium Super Trucks races on Belle Isle in Detroit". Autoweek. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^"Viso wins in first TRAXXAS Truck Race at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix". Motorsport.com. May 31, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^"E.J. Viso Wins Second TRAXXAS Truck Race at the Grand Prix". Detroit Grand Prix. May 31, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^Bane, Colin (December 11, 2013). "Super Trucks event added to X Games Austin". ESPN.com. X Games. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^Pettit, Vince (June 7, 2014). "Record 20 Truck Entry List For Formula Off-Road X Games Races". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^Lisanti, Jamie (June 9, 2014). "X Games Recap: Nyjah Huston Scores Big in Skateboard Street, Lopez Wins Stadium SUPER Trucks Debut". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^Ryan, Nate (September 23, 2014). "Robby Gordon's stadium truck series adds owners". USA Today. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
^ ab"Creed edges out Gordon in Stadium Super trucks; Paul Tracy fourth". Motorsport.com. July 20, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
^"Sheldon Creed slips and slides to second straight Honda Indy Toronto victory". Speedway Media. July 19, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^ ab"Racing Returns this Weekend with Three Events in Southern California". Stadium Super Trucks. September 16, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^"Stadium Trucks Back At Sand Sports Event". Speed Sport. August 3, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^"Round 12 of 16 – Sand Sports #1 – 9/19/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
^ ab"Round 13 of 16 – Sand Sports #1 – 9/20/14". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
^"Robby Gordon Wins Race 1 at Orange County's Sand Sports Super Show In SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by TRAXXAS". On Pit Road. September 20, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^"Keegan Kincaid wins Race #2 at the Sand Sports Super Show". Stadium Super Trucks. September 22, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^Cruz, Danny. "Stadium Super Truck Formula Off-Road Surprise". RallyWays. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^Hernandez, Jaime (September 23, 2014). "Speed Energy SST Trucks Take Flight at Coronado Speed Festival". Off-Road. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^"Stadium Super Trucks moves Las Vegas date". Motorsport.com. October 28, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^"The Line - November 5, 2014". Auto Extremist. November 5, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
^"Official 2014 Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2014 Stadium Super Trucks season.