2020 Stadium Super Trucks Series

The 2020 Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks Series was the eighth season of the Stadium Super Trucks and the first in which the series was split into two championships, with the Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks in the United States and the Boost Mobile Super Trucks in Australia.

Matthew Brabham, the reigning series champion
While standings were not kept for the 2020 season, Robby Gordon was the lone driver to finish on the podium in every race

Much of the series' calendar after the season-opening Adelaide 500 in February—held as a combination event with the Boost Mobile Super Trucks—was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. After a six-month hiatus, the trucks returned in August at Road America. Standings were not officially tracked by the series, but Robby Gordon was the lone driver to record podium finishes in every race while reigning champion Matthew Brabham won twice.

Drivers

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No. Driver Races
2   Sheldon Creed 4–5
7   Robby Gordon All
21   Zoey Edenholm 4–5
25   Arie Luyendyk Jr. 4–5
32   Barry Boes 4–5
44   John Holtger 4–5
57   Bill Hynes All
66   Zane Smith 4–5
66x   Jett Noland 4–5
77   Max Gordon 4–5
78   Sara Price 1–3
83   Matthew Brabham All
Sources:[a]

Schedule

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The full schedule was revealed on November 21, 2019, with the series being divided into the American Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks and the Australian Boost Mobile Super Trucks; both championships intended to run three combination rounds.[3]

Round Track Location Date Supporting
1 Adelaide Street Circuit   Adelaide, South Australia February 21–23 Adelaide 500
2 Road America   Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 8 Henry 180
Combination races with Boost Mobile Super Trucks listed in bold

Races canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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Track Location Supporting Ref
Streets of Long Beach   Long Beach, California Grand Prix of Long Beach [4]
Wanneroo Raceway   Neerabup, Western Australia Perth SuperNight [5]
Exhibition Place   Toronto, Ontario Honda Indy Toronto [6]
Portland International Raceway   Portland, Oregon Grand Prix of Portland [7]
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course   Lexington, Ohio Honda Indy 200 [8]
Surfers Paradise Street Circuit   Surfers Paradise, Queensland Gold Coast 600 [9]
Lake Elsinore Diamond   Lake Elsinore, California Standalone [10]

Season summary

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Arie Luyendyk Jr. leading at Road America

The 2020 season began with a combination race weekend with the Boost Mobile Super Trucks at Adelaide Street Circuit. The weekend, which was promoted as an "Australia v USA Series",[11] saw eight Australian drivers and three Americans (defending champion Matthew Brabham holds dual citizenship with both countries). Robby Gordon and Bill Hynes, who ran the full 2019 schedule, returned for Adelaide; fellow American Sara Price made her SST return after last racing in 2017.[1] Gordon won Race 1 after starting first (he did not set a qualifying time due to steering problems, placing him on pole position due to an inverted grid) and holding off a charge by Toby Price on the final turn.[12] Matt Mingay and Paul Morris dominated the second race until Gordon and Brabham passed them late in the event; the two ran side by side to the finish with Brabham winning by just 0.0361 seconds.[13] Shae Davies, a series newcomer, won the final race after avoiding early wrecks and distancing himself from the field as they fought for position.[14]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Grand Prix of Long Beach, originally scheduled for April 18–19, was canceled, ending a nine-year streak for SST at the street circuit dating back to the series' inaugural season in 2013.[15][4] The combination Perth SuperNight at Wanneroo Raceway on May 16–17 was postponed; although SST intended to commit to ae rescheduled date,[5] the event was never rescheduled. Another combination weekend with the Gold Coast 600 on October 31–November 1 was excluded from the revised Supercars schedule in May.[9] On May 18, Honda Indy Toronto was removed from its July 11–12 date after local legislation expanded the city's ban on major events through the month, with race officials originally planning to find a new date;[6] the event was also never rescheduled. The Grand Prix of Portland, planned for September 5–6, was called off on July 27, followed by the Honda Indy 200 (August 7–9) at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course being postponed on August 1.[7][8]

After a six-month dormancy, the season resumed in early August at Road America as a support event for the NASCAR Xfinity Series.[16][17] Five drivers made their series debuts during the weekend: Barry Boes (Trans-Am Series), Gordon's son Max, Jett Noland and Zane Smith (NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series), and Zoey Edenholm (Formula 4 United States Championship).[18][2] John Holtger, whose SST debut came at the track in 2019, Arie Luyendyk Jr., and two-time SST champion Sheldon Creed also returned to the trucks.[19] Luyendyk won the first race after rolling over early in the event, while Brabham beat out Gordon to win the second.[20]

The series initially planned to return to Lake Elsinore Diamond, which held races in 2017 and 2018, in October before it was called off.[21][10]

Results and standings

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Race results

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Round Race Event Fastest qualifier Pole position Most laps led Winning driver Ref
1 1 Adelaide   Matthew Brabham   Robby Gordon   Robby Gordon   Robby Gordon [22]
2   Matt Mingay   Paul Morris   Matthew Brabham
3   Greg Gartner   Greg Gartner   Shae Davies
2 4 Road America   Matthew Brabham   Zoey Edenholm   Arie Luyendyk Jr.   Arie Luyendyk Jr. [23]
5   Bill Hynes   Matthew Brabham   Matthew Brabham [24]

Drivers' championship

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Points are approximate based on the points system and unofficial as the series did not track standings for the 2020 season.

Rank Driver  
ADE
 
ROA
Points
1   Robby Gordon 1* 2 2 3 2 147
2   Matthew Brabham 3 1 3 11 1* 133
3   Bill Hynes 7 11 9 10 10 58
4   Sheldon Creed 2 3 55
5   Arie Luyendyk Jr. 1* 9 44
6   Jett Noland 6 4 35
7   Sara Price 10 8 10 35
8   Zane Smith 5 6 34
9   John Holtger 4* 11 32
10   Max Gordon 9 5 28
11   Barry Boes 8 7 27
12   Zoey Edenholm 7 8 27
Boost Mobile Super Trucks drivers
  Toby Price 2 5 6
  Shae Davies 4 10 1
  Paul Morris 6 3* 5
  Paul Weel 5 4 7
  Greg Gartner 8 12 4*
  Luke van Herwaade 9 7 8
  Matt Mingay 12 6 12
  Shaun Richardson 11 9 11
Rank Driver  
ADE
 
ROA
Points
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 or abandoned (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
Points Position
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th
Heat 12 10 8 7 5 4 3 2 1
Final 25 22 20 18 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6
Bonuses
Most laps led 3
Position gained 1
Fastest qualifier 1

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Entry lists:
    • Adelaide (Races 1–3)[1]
    • Road America (Races 4–5)[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Nguyen, Justin (February 19, 2020). "SST entry list for Adelaide 500 revealed". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Nguyen, Justin (August 6, 2020). "SST Road America entry list revealed". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  3. ^ "2020 Stadium SUPER Trucks Tentative Schedule". Stadium Super Trucks. November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Nguyen, Justin (March 19, 2020). "2020 Grand Prix of Long Beach officially cancelled after failed reschedule". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Nguyen, Justin (March 18, 2020). "Tasmania, Auckland, Perth races postponed, SST to follow reschedules". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Nguyen, Justin (May 16, 2020). "Honda Indy Toronto jeopardised after extended local cancellations". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Fossett, Wyatt (July 27, 2020). "The Grand Prix of Portland has been officially canceled". Daily Hive. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "The Honda Indy 200 At Mid-Ohio Will be Postponed to Later in 2020". Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Press release). August 1, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Chapman, Simon (May 17, 2020). "Supercars releases revised 13-round 2020/21 calendar". Speedcafe. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Stadium Super Trucks [@SSuperTrucks] (November 18, 2020). "We were going to run there this year but COVID said no / It's an option, but won't happen until it's back to 100% fan capacity" (Tweet). Retrieved November 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Murray, Brett (February 6, 2020). "Shae Davies confirmed for SST season opener in Adelaide". Speedcafe. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  12. ^ Nguyen, Justin (February 21, 2020). "Robby Gordon kicks off 2020 SST season with Adelaide Race 1 win". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  13. ^ "Brabham charges to SST win over Gordon". Speedcafe. February 22, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  14. ^ "Debutant Davies takes out final SST race". Speedcafe. February 23, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  15. ^ Ruhl, Ashleigh (October 24, 2019). "BUSINESS BEAT: Get On Road With Grand Prix Tickets; Whiskey Pairing At The Federal; Census Hires; Port Report". Long Beach Grunion Gazette. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  16. ^ "Road America Announces Its 2020 Race Schedule". Roadracing World Publishing. October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  17. ^ "SST Returns To Action At Road America, August 6-8, 2020". Stadium Super Trucks. July 29, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  18. ^ Noland, Greg (August 6, 2020). "Jett Joins Stadium Super Trucks at Road America" (Press release). Jett Noland. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  19. ^ "Oconto County teen returns to Road America track for NASCAR event". Green Bay Press-Gazette. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  20. ^ Kallmann, David (August 8, 2020). "Local driver Sam Mayer finishes his first race at Road America with a broken wrist and runner-up finish". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  21. ^ Nguyen, Justin (December 17, 2019). "SST returning to Lake Elsinore in 2020". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  22. ^ "2020 Adelaide Results". Stadium Super Trucks. February 23, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  23. ^ "Round 4 – Road America – 8/8/20". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  24. ^ "Round 5 – Road America – 8/8/20". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved August 12, 2020.