2017
TORC Series
Round #2
Chicagoland Slam
Joliet, Illinois
May 14, 2017 |
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TORC Pro Mod UTV - Round 2
Race Report
::Continued::
Kyle Chaney, also a GNCC veteran, was making
his TORC debut this weekend in a Can-Am. He made
several huge setup changes prior to round one
and came out, finishing second in both races.
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XPS' Kyle
Chaney battled with Round One Winner,
Rodney VanEperen, before the caution with
VanEperen making the pass, but he suffered
a mechanical issue after the caution,
which moved Chaney back into the 2nd spot
behind Tim Farr
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“I didn’t expect to come into this weekend and
win,” said Chaney. “I was hoping for top fives,
so two podiums ups my standards. I just got my
Fox shocks back a couple days ago so I only got
to test before my motor was tuned, so that changed
the setup. I was a second and half off the pace
in practice. I called my buddy Larry Pegram. He
used to race this kind of stuff and he told me
how to change my setup. I looked at Tim’s setup.
I changed everything and dropped a second and
a half.”
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Kyle Chaney
went 2-2 on the weekend, which now has
him just one point behind Tim Farr in
the TORC Pro Mod UTV Points championship
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Crash Addict / Bikeman teammates Drew Schultz
and David Plavi battled for the last two laps
before Schultz made the pass for third. Schultz
followed Plavi with two laps to go, looking for
a line to pass and found it in the final corner.
The podium was Schultz’s first in professional
off-road competition.
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Crash Addict
/ Bikeman's Drew Schultz makes the last
turn pass on his teammate, David Plavi,
to take the final spot on the UTV Pro
Mod Podium on Sunday
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“I saw Plavi leave a door open for me, so I dipped
low on the inside and the next thing you know
I was in third place,” said Schultz, who started
eighth. “I held it steady for the first part of
the race and as the track dried off I made my
moves.”
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FOX's Drew
Schultz scored his career first Pro UTV
Podium finish a Round 2 of the TORC Off-Road
Championship Series
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Plavi had a mechanical issue with his car prior
to the event and wasn’t able to compete until
Howie asked him to drive for him. Howie was involved
in a big crash on the first day of competition,
but Crash Addict cage and components held up,
so they were able to repair the car to compete
on Sunday, while many thought it would have been
totaled from the impact with the tire and k-rail.
Plavi struggled with brake problems throughout
the race before finishing fourth. TORC allows
drivers to substitute in cars to help maintain
points positions.
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Crash Addict
/ Bikeman's David Plavi stepped in the
#888 Polaris for Darin Howie hat suffered
a serious crash on Saturday, but he is
now tied for 5th in points with Plavi's
4th place finish on Sunday
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“Darin Howie wrecked on the front straight yesterday
and got pretty banged up so he let me use his
car,” explained Plavi. “We had a really good run,
but I lost my brakes on the second lap. I was
just trying to drive cautiously and fast. I hit
on the tabletop pretty hard and was pumping the
brake pedal, but I blew the corner and he got
past me.”
Zakowski worked hard for his second top five
of the weekend. After finishing fourth in round
one, he lost an engine after qualifying for round
two. He started last after changing the engine
and drove through the field to finish fifth.
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Country Side's
Zac Zakowski proved his 4th place on Saturday
was no fluke as he charged his way from
20th place to secure a 5th on Sunday,
which now has him third points championship
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“We had a good run in qualifying and then we
blew the motor on the last lap, so we had to run
the final with a bone-stock engine,” said Zakowski.
“We were a long ways back. I gave it everything
I had, and we were passing turbos left and right.
The car is perfect in the corners. I was impressed
that we did it.”
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