TORC: Scott Taylor Racing Oshkosh event summary

Taylor Tackles Oshkosh with Limited Results

Belvidere, IL (July 26, 2010) - After getting on the box in Round 4 at Bark River, Scott Taylor was looking to keep the momentum going at Oshkosh. The first time PRO TORC event at the Oshkosh Speedzone would present many challenges for the #8 Miller Welders RoushYates Ford F-150, including some that were unexpected.

The layout of the off-road track at the Speedzone was carved out of the ½ mile clay circle track. The actual clay oval had a total of four jumps scattered in the front straightaway and the back stretch. The infield portion consisted of a large rhythm section and a six foot tall table top jump. The track is the shortest layout on the 2010 TORC World Tour, but it definitely wasn't short on excitement.

The USAC track crew must be commended not only on a great track design, but for all the extra work taken to get the track ready each evening for racing. The Fox Valley area was hit with heavy rains Thursday evening and very early on Saturday morning, but by race time the track conditions were some of the best of the season.

Unfortunately, the heavy rains wiped out any practice sessions as extra time was needed to get the race surface in prime condition. USAC did give all PRO drivers two hot laps before the starting grid was finalized. Scott's two laps in the blue Miller Welders Ford looked like the RoushYates ATD BFGoodrich components were really working in synch.

Before the start of the race, Scott had the Miller Welders Ford hooked up during the two pre-race hot laps. As soon as Round 5 began, Scott got pushed and bumped right from the start. From that point on the handling went away. Regardless Scott pushed on to finish the night in fifth place.

"I just wasn't comfortable in the truck tonight," noted Scott Taylor. "I ran the two hot laps and the truck really felt great, but then everything changed right after the start."

Early the next morning just before dawn, another thunderstorm hit the area and dumped another inch of rain throughout the Fox Valley. Again practice was cancelled, but this gave teams more time to work on their chassis setups. The Taylor Racing crew went to work on their Wernimont design PRO-2WD chassis looking to free the truck up as the clay surface developed a ton of grip.

Almost immediately Scott had a difficult time turning the truck. The truck seemed to have too much grip and getting the truck through the tight corners was a handful. The #8 Ford would work well enough to pass a few competitors and then have a cornering issue positioning the truck at the back of the field. At the finish Scott crossed the finish in ninth place.

"This just wasn't our weekend," commented Scott Taylor. "The solid finishes we need to keep up with the class leaders just didn't happen this weekend. We will put our heads together, me, Kevin and Mike and get this hot rod back on the podium at Bark River."

Next Race: August 14-15, Bark River, MI.

-source: str