TORC: Keith Steele Oshkosh event summary

Steele Continues His "David v. Goliath" Quest @ Oshkosh

Madison, WI (July 27, 2010) - The "Man in Black" looked to Oshkosh at his best chance to race to a Top-5 finish while competing on the tight and technical .6 mile long Speedzone track. The Oshkosh event is the third weekend of racing in 2010 that Keith Steele has gone up against the best PRO-2WD drivers in the world with his Limited 2 race truck. The #29 Monster Energy Kumho Tire Chevy is at a considerable horsepower disadvantage, but that doesn't deter Keith from taking on competitors like Taylor, MacCachern, Oberg, and Vanden Heuvel. After the solid performance this past weekend, Steele Off-Road Racing is definitely on everyone's radar.

The .6 mile long track that was created on and inside the .5mile clay circle track was very technical in design. The infield portion had a large table top jump as well as a gnarly rhythm section that was at least one hundred yards long. Even with the limited space for the Stadium style track, the course still offered plenty of opportunities for passing.

Friday's Round 5 saw Ricky Johnson and Rob MacCachern distance themselves from the rest of the field while the remaining competitors "duked it out" for position. The fifteen lap event had Keith Steele finish in eighth place.

The damage to the Monster Energy Kumho Chevy was mostly cosmetic so the team repaired what fiberglass they could, slightly changed the chassis setup, and prepped the J & H Transmission equipped Chevy for Round 6 without any drama to the weekend.

The second to last race of the weekend had Johnson and MacCachern battling again for the top spot, as the rest of the field seem to be players in an Ultimate Fighting Cage Match. While all this was going on, Keith was able to keep in front of a couple of his fellow competitors for much of the race. Then on the final lap, Keith and Mike Oberg hooked bumpers causing Oberg to roll over directly in front of the #29 Monster Energy Chevy. Somehow Keith didn't get totally caught up in the incident and kept on racing to the flag for a well earned sixth place finish.

"We did what we had to do in order to finish," noted Keith Steele. "In years past this track would develop a blue groove causing the track to loose grip. This year, the blue groove never happened. I guess all the rain the Fox Valley has had this past week kept the track very tacky. When the track is tacky, horsepower is very important. Our Limited 2 powerplant is awesome, but we are still down at least one hundred fifty horsepower on the rest of the competition. I've got a deal on the table for a good PRO-2WD motor, we just need the funding. Until we can find another marketing partner for the team, the larger motor will just have to wait."

Next Race: August 14-15, the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL heads to Bark River International Off-Road Raceway in Bark River, MI

-source: steele off-road race team