CORR: Pomona III: Dan Vanden Heuvel Sr weekend summary

The Flying Dutchman Drives Round Ten for Greaves Motorsports

Appleton, WI (August 19, 2008) - Dan Vanden Heuvel Sr. went to the CORR event in Pomona, California as a spectator, but ended his weekend as a competitor. Dan drove for Greaves Motorsports, on Sunday, in Round Ten, in both the PRO-4 and PRO-2 competition. Due to a severe crash by Johnny Greaves in Round Nine, Greaves Motorsports needed an extra truck and a replacement driver to finish out the weekend.

The severely bent PRO-4 was replaced with the Jenkins Brothers Traxxas backup PRO-4 truck and Dan Vanden Heuvel Sr. became the replacement driver for both the PRO-2 and the PRO-4 race trucks.

Off-Road racing fans at Round Nine of Championship Off-Road Racing, at the Fairplex in Pomona, California witnessed one of the hardest crashes on the season when Johnny Greaves rolled his #4 Monster Energy Forest County Potawatomi BFGoodrich Tire Toyota Tundra several times on the asphalt in Turn One. Fortunately, Johnny came away only with a slight concussion and a black eye. Due to the severity of the incident, Johnny Greaves has to wait five days, as per CORR rules, before he can compete in another event.

Originally, Jeremy McGrath was to compete in the PRO-4 truck, but sponsor conflicts prevented the opportunity. Then Greaves Motorsports asked Dan to drive both race trucks. Without hesitation, the Flying Dutchman said, yes!

In order to garner valuable Championship points in both divisions, the driver of record must start the race. The plan was to have Johnny start the race and before the end of the first lap, the driver swap would occur in the Hot Pits. CORR agreed to the driver switch, and everyone got the trucks ready for Sunday's Round Ten action.

The Traxxas Off-Road Race Team volunteered the backup truck of PRO-4 competitor, Mike Jenkins. The next step was to apply the appropriate decals to the substitute truck and get Dan fitted to both the PRO-2 and PRO-4 trucks.

By the time everything was finalized, Dan was only able to practice and qualify the PRO-2 truck. After just four laps, the #4 qualified eighteenth out of twenty-six trucks.

The PRO-2 race everything went to plan, except the driver change took some extra time, putting the Monster Energy Forest County Potawatomi Toyota Tundra down a couple of laps. Once Dan got behind the wheel, he kept out of trouble and brought the truck across the finish line in sixteenth place.

The PRO-4 race saw an even better result. The driver exchange was so quick, Dan got out on the tail end of the lead lap. He stayed ahead of the leaders, so when the mandatory yellow came out, he was able to come in to adjust his harnesses and still stay with the pack, when the green flag came out. This time, Dan finished on the lead lap in tenth place. An incredible finish, considering he has never driven a PRO-4 truck.

"What an incredible opportunity," commented Dan Vanden Heuvel Sr. "I came out to watch the racing and help out my tire WSORR sponsor, Maxxis Tire. Sunday morning I dropped by the Greaves pit to see how John was doing, when somebody said, there's our driver. After Creighton at Maxxis gave me the okay, I borrowed a driving suit from Scott Taylor, Harold from Park Pumper loaned me a head and neck restraint, and Greaves Motorsports had an extra helmet and Ringers Drivers-X driving gloves for me to use. It's incredible how everyone came together. To help out Johnny and his team with the points championship was an honor. Hopefully this opportunity will open up the eyes of some team looking a competitive driver, or some company looking to support a top notch racer."

After ten of fifteen rounds of racing, Johnny Greaves is currently in fourth place in the CORR PRO-4 Championship standings, and eighteenth in the PRO-2 Championship standings.

-credit: www.flyingdutchmanoffroad.com