Currie Takes Route 66 to Victory Lane and Points Lead, Sets Up Exciting Season Finale for Championship Weekend in Crandon, WI

The Traxxas TORC Series took its high powered, high stakes off-road racing to a mid-week visit at Chicagoland's Route 66 Raceway this past Wednesday and Thursday. Casey Currie and his Monster Energy Pro Light team entered rounds 9 and 10 carrying a 13 point deficit in the standings, but would leave sitting in the number one spot by a narrow 5 point margin. Casey took a second place on Wednesday but captured his second win of the season on Thursday to edge out Andrew Caddell for the points lead. The tight points race will set the stage for a nail biter season finale coming up next weekend at Crandon International Raceway. Championships in each of the pro classes will be determined in the Labor Day weekend races. The converted oval track was very gnarly and rough with numerous small jumps, rhythm sections and a huge tabletop jump. Casey made the crowd grimace several times with his huge tail first landings˜one time knocking the bumper off of the rear of the truck. Wednesday, Casey started his BFG clad Ford in the 5th spot with Marty Hart sitting on the pole. Marty has won more races than any other driver this year, but suffered setbacks in both races at Bark River allowing Currie's team to stay close in the points. Hart's heartaches would not end in Chicago as he flipped violently on lap one, taking him out of the race. A few seconds after Marty flipped, Brad Lovell also flipped bringing out the red flag. Officials decided to do some track work and halted the race for a while. After a lengthy pause in the action, the field was reset and Casey moved up to restart on the second row. Almost as quickly as the green flag fell, Currie was able to maneuver his number 2 V8 into the second spot behind Caddell. Currie and Caddell pulled away from the field to claim the one and two spots on the podium followed by Chad Rayford, who got his first podium of the year. Thursday's Pro Light race was a wild and exciting affair with rolls, flips and intense battles. Casey started on row 3 with Wednesday's winner, Andrew Caddell, sitting beside him. Casey edged forward, moving through the lap 1 traffic jam. On lap 2, front runner Caddell and the number 29 machine of Chad Rayford got together, spinning them both sideways at the exit of the final turn going into the front stretch. Casey Shot to the lead while Luke Johnson took a wild tumble at the start/finish line behind him. Currie pulled away from the field by 15 car links leading up to the competition caution. On the restart, Ross Hoek tried everything he could to pass Casey but couldn't get it done. Hoek battled to the end of the race with Caddell for the second spot and eventually lost the battle. With Hoek/Caddell mixing it up behind him, Casey was able to pull away to a comfortable lead. He took the win and the points lead followed by Caddell and Hoek to round out the podium. "We have been making small changes all year to the truck to make it more competitive," said Currie following his Thursday evening victory. "The team put a solid truck on the track tonight; we just about have it where we want it. Lots of pressure going into Crandon—it's going to be exciting and we are looking forward to next weekend." The season finale will take place at Crandon International Raceway on Labor Day weekend, September 4-6th. You can watch the season climax unfold live via webcast on USAC's USTREAM portal at TORCseries.com. Be sure to watch the TORC Series' premiere on the Discovery Channel's HD Theatre in high definition coming next month in prime time. The 26 hours of exciting off-road drama, captured on multiple high-performance RED digital cine cameras, will air every Thursday at 8pm and 11pm EST, meaning primetime series coverage on both the East and West coasts.