2017 Stadium Super Trucks season

The 2017 Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks season was the fifth season of the Stadium Super Trucks series. Paul Morris won his first series championship with a one-point advantage over Matthew Brabham.

2017 Stadium Super Trucks season
Previous: 2016 Next: 2018
Paul Morris, the 2017 champion
Matthew Brabham, the 2017 runner-up

Drivers
No. Driver(s) Round(s)
1 Sheldon Creed 1–5, 8–14
2 Travis Milburn 1–3
Ryan Villopoto 21–22
3 Aaron Bambach 11–12, 19–20
5 Casey Mears 21–22
7 Robby Gordon 1–10, 13–22
Davey Hamilton Jr. 11
10 Greg Adler 21–22
12 Shaun Richardson 8–10
13 Beau Robinson 8–10
18 Apdaly Lopez 21–22
25 Arie Luyendyk Jr. 4–7, 13–14, 18, 21–22
33 Todd Romano 18
44 Adam Andretti 21–22
45 Craig Dontas 1–3, 8–10, 15–17
47 Jeff Hoffman 1–3
50 12
50:1 4–7, 11, 13–22
Travis Milburn 8–10
51 Átila Abreu 11–12
52 Davey Hamilton Jr. 6–7
55 Gavin Harlien All
57 Bill Hynes All
67 Paul Morris 1–20
Jerett Brooks 21–22
75 Erik Davis 1–3, 6–7, 11–14, 21–22
Davey Hamilton Jr. 4–5, 18
Jake Kostecki 8–10
77 Li Ya Tao 18
78 Sara Price 21–22
83 Matt Brabham All
87 Toby Price 1–3
98 P. J. Jones 4–6, 13–14
119 Arie Luyendyk Jr. 11–12
213 Steve Kendall 19–20
257 Myles Cheek 6–7
410 Greg Gartner 1–3, 8–10, 15–17
441 Troy Diede 6–7

Schedule
RoundTrackLocationDateFastest qualifierPole positionWinning driverSupportingRef
1Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, AustraliaMarch 3 Matthew Brabham Bill Hynes Craig DontasClipsal 500 Adelaide[1]
2March 4 Robby Gordon Sheldon Creed[2]
3March 5 Bill Hynes Paul Morris[3]
4Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FloridaMarch 11 Robby Gordon Jeff Hoffman Robby GordonFirestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg[4]
5March 12 Matthew Brabham Matthew Brabham[5]
6Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, CaliforniaApril 8 Matthew Brabham Bill Hynes Matthew BrabhamToyota Grand Prix of Long Beach[6]
7April 9 Troy Diede Robby Gordon[7]
8Barbagallo Raceway Perth, AustraliaMay 5 Matthew Brabham Beau Robinson Sheldon CreedPerth SuperSprint[8]
9May 6 Gavin Harlien Robby Gordon[9]
10May 7 Beau Robinson Sheldon Creed[10]
11Streets of Detroit Detroit, MichiganJune 3 Gavin Harlien Davey Hamilton Jr. Sheldon CreedChevrolet Detroit Grand Prix[11]
12June 4 Átila Abreu Sheldon Creed[12]
13Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, TexasJune 10 Paul Morris Erik Davis P. J. JonesRainguard Water Sealers 600[13]
14 Erik Davis Sheldon Creed[14]
15Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, AustraliaJune 16 Robby Gordon Bill Hynes Paul MorrisDarwin Triple Crown[15]
16June 17 Bill Hynes Matthew Brabham[16]
17June 18 Bill Hynes Paul Morris[17]
18Beijing National Stadium Beijing, ChinaJuly 29 Paul Morris Bill Hynes Matthew BrabhamMonster Jam[18]
19Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New YorkSeptember 2 Paul Morris Shaun Richardson Robby GordonGrand Prix at The Glen[19]
20September 3 Steve Kendall Matthew Brabham[20]
21Lake Elsinore Diamond Lake Elsinore, CaliforniaDecember 15 Greg Adler Arie Luyendyk Jr. Apdaly LopezStandalone[21]
22December 16 Gavin Harlien Robby Gordon Sheldon Creed[22]

Season summary

For the third consecutive year, the new SST season began at Adelaide Street Circuit to support the Supercars Championship's Clipsal 500 Adelaide. Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series driver Jeff Hoffman made his series debut, while Gavin Harlien ran his first race since 2015.[23][24] In Race 1, V8 Ute Racing Series racer Craig Dontas, who helped SST establish a following in Australia, started in the second row and quickly took the lead.[25] Although Paul Morris and Matthew Brabham passed Dontas on the final lap, Harlien wrecked after making contact with Erik Davis and flipped, causing the race to be red flagged and Dontas to be declared the race winner.[24][26] Sheldon Creed beat Toby Price to win Race 2.[27] The final race began with Dontas flipping, leading to a red flag that shortened the race from eight to five laps. Hoffman led the race until Morris passed him and went on to win; Hoffman was eventually involved in a battle with his Royal Purple teammate Harlien, ending when Harlien hit the wall and triggered a wreck that involved Davis, Price, and Travis Milburn.[28]

The trucks' first American race took place with the IndyCar Series' Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Sprint car racing driver Davey Hamilton Jr. joined the series for his maiden SST start, driving the No. 75 Always Evolving truck owned by Davis.[29] Although Brabham led much of Race 1, power steering issues and a late spin knocked him out of the win;[30] instead, Robby Gordon and Creed fought for the victory, with the former holding the latter off to win his first race at St. Petersburg since 2014.[31] Brabham rebounded by winning Race 2, the first non-Australian SST winner at the track.[30]

In January, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the series formed a multi-year agreement to continue racing at the street course.[32] Brabham took the weekend victory as he won Race 1 and finished second in Race 2;[33] Gordon won the latter. Myles Cheek, who raced in the series' Super Trophy Kart division in 2013, made his series debut at Long Beach as he finished seventh and eighth, including spinning in Race 2.[34][35]

Returning to Australia in May, SST's races at Barbagallo Raceway in conjunction with the Perth SuperSprint was their first at a closed circuit.[36] Jake Kostecki ran his first SST weekend in the No. 75, but contact on a ramp with Milburn in Race 1 caused him to roll through the grass;[37] Harlien attempted to dodge Kostecki's truck but stalled his vehicle, eliminating him from the race.[38] Creed avoided the wreck and eventually won the round.[37] Kostecki missed the rest of the weekend due to the damage. Gordon won Race 2, while Creed beat Gordon to the finish in Race 3 by .023 seconds, one of the closest finishes in series history.[39]

Creed's success continued as he swept the two Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix races.[40] Gordon missed the weekend as he was competing in the Baja 500, with Hamilton serving as the interim No. 7 driver. Stock Car Brasil driver Átila Abreu also made his SST debut at Detroit, driving the No. 51 with sponsorship from his SCB team Shell Oil Company and Monster Energy.[41]

A week after Detroit, the series followed IndyCar to Texas Motor Speedway for the Rainguard Water Sealers 600, where SST raced on a dirt track featuring elements of the infield, pit road, and the frontstretch. As further promotion for the trucks, TMS' turn two held an off-road expo called the "Off-Road Ruckus", which allowed visitors to drive their off-road vehicles along an obstacle course and observe exhibits.[42] P. J. Jones and Creed won the two races, but Harlien claimed the overall weekend victory with third- and second-place finishes.[43][44][13][14]

The trucks' next trip to Australia, the Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin as part of the Darwin Triple Crown, was their first points racing at the track;[45] in 2016, Morris, Price, and Brad Gallard participated in an SST demonstration at Hidden Valley.[46][47] Morris won Races 1 and 3 in close battles with Gordon, but Race 2 saw him hit the tire barrier in a chicane and roll over; Brabham won the round.[46] After the weekend, Gordon took a stadium truck to a nightclub in the city, where he performed donuts. He was eventually charged with and pleaded guilty to traffic and anti-hooning violations, leading to a fine, though he defended his actions as he had received prior approval from security guards.[48] The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) revoked Gordon's competition visa for future events, barring him from racing in the country and jeopardizing the series' future.[49] An apology and $10,000 donation to the Australian Road Safety Foundation in October led to the ban being lifted.[50]

In July, SST joined Monster Jam for a round at the Beijing National Stadium, their first trip to Asia since a demo in Mongolia in 2016 and their inaugural Asian points race.[51] Among the ten SST drivers was newcomer Li Ya Tao.[52] Racing on a dirt oval, Hamilton led the most laps and won the race, but was disqualified as he had not taken the Joker Lap; instead, Brabham was declared the winner.[51][18]

The following month, the series was a part of IndyCar's Grand Prix at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.[53] Officially known as the UFD at The Glen,[54] it was SST's first race in the northeastern United States and first on an American permanent road course.[55] Gordon and Brabham won the weekend's two races.[56]

To close 2017, SST organized the inaugural Race & Rock World Championship at the Lake Elsinore Diamond baseball park.[57] Among those in the field were X Games Austin 2014 gold medalist Apdaly Lopez, female driver Sara Price, NASCAR's Casey Mears, Trans-Am Series veteran Adam Andretti, and four-time AMA Motocross champion Ryan Villopoto.[58] Morris skipped the weekend as he was tending to a rib injury, so he tasked Jerett Brooks with driving his No. 67 truck.[59] Both races were determined by two heats each, with Lopez and Creed winning on Friday; Mears, Davis, Andretti, and Greg Adler failed to qualify for the Friday feature. Lopez went on to win Race 1. Saturday featured heat wins by Creed and Brooks. The two dominated the second half of Race 2, with Brooks' runner-up finish and Brabham's eighth securing the championship for Morris by one point.[59][60]

Standings
Rank Driver
ADE
STP
LBH
PER
DET
TEX
DAR
BEI
WGI
ELS		 Points
H1 H2 F1 H1 H2 F2
1 Paul Morris 2 4 1 3 7 2* 4 3 4 9 4 4 4 9 1 7 1 5 2 3 Rpl# Rpl# Rpl# Rpl# 546
2 Matthew Brabham 3 12 2 9 1* 1 2 10 3 4 3 2 5 3 3 1* 3 1 3 1* 4 5 7 8 545
3 Robby Gordon 12 3 4 1* 3 4 1* 4 1 2 2 4 2 3 2 2 1* 2 2 3 3 3 530
4 Gavin Harlien 8 7 7 10 6 3 3 11 2* 3 2 3 3 2 4 2 3 4 4 6 8 4 2 7 459
5 Sheldon Creed 7 1 5 2 2 1 5 1 1* 1* 9 1* 1 2 1 1 411
6 Jeff Hoffman 10 9 3 7 8 5 5 2† 6† 8† 6 9 6 5 5 5 4 3 6 4 3 12 5 4 325
7 Bill Hynes 11 10 11 8 9 10 10 6* 11 5* 9 7 8 10 8 8 7 8 7 10 5 11 6 DNQ 279
8 Arie Luyendyk Jr. 5 4 6 6 10 6 7 8 7 2 7 6 9 183
9 Erik Davis 9 8 8 11 9 8 5 10 7 7 DNQ 8 DNQ 147
10 Greg Gartner 6 6 6 5 7 6 6 6 8 139
11 Craig Dontas 1* 11 12 7 8 11 7 5 5 133
12 Travis Milburn 5 5 9 2† 6† 8† 102
13 P. J. Jones 4 5 9 1* 6 99
14 Davey Hamilton Jr. 6 10 8 7 7 12*‡ 76
15 Toby Price 4 2 10 66
T-16 Aaron Bambach 5 10 5 5 61
T-16 Shaun Richardson 8 9 10 9 8 61
18 Apdaly Lopez 1 1* 3 11 59
19 Beau Robinson 9 10 7 37
20 Ryan Villopoto 6 10 5 10 35
21 Adam Andretti 6 DNQ 1 12 34
22 Casey Mears 7 DNQ 4 5 29
23 Myles Cheek 7 8 27
24 Greg Adler 8 DNQ 4 6 26
T-25 Burt Jenner 5 6 8 DNQ 25
T-25 Sara Price 4 9 7 DNQ 25
T-27 Átila Abreu 11 8 23
T-27 Steve Kendall 10 9 23
29 Troy Diede 12 DNS 19
30 Todd Romano 6 15
31 Li Ya Tao 9 12
32 Jake Kostecki 12 DNS DNS 9
- Jerett Brooks 3# 8# 2# 2# -
Source:[61]
† Travis Milburn replaced Jeff Hoffman at Perth, though Milburn and Hoffman shared the points.
‡ Davey Hamilton Jr. won at Beijing, but was disqualified for not taking the Joker Lap.
# Jerett Brooks replaced Paul Morris at Lake Elsinore, and all points scored by Brooks went to Morris.
Legend
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place (Top 5)
Light Blue 6th–10th place (Top 10)
Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10)
Purple Did not finish (DNF)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown Withdrew (Wth)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate (DNP)
Driver replacement (Rpl)
Race not held (NH)
Not competing
In-Line Notation
Bold Pole position
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
miscellaneous notation

References
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  2. "Round 2 of 18 – Clipsal 500 – 4/3/17". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  3. "Round 3 of 18 – Clipsal 500 – 5/3/17". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
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