2018 Stadium Super Trucks season

2018 Stadium Super Trucks season
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Matthew Brabham, the 2018 champion

The 2018 Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks season was the sixth season of the Stadium Super Trucks series. The season consisted of 20 races; it began on January 27, 2018 at Lake Elsinore Diamond and concluded on January 20, 2019 at Foro Sol in conjunction with the 2019 Race of Champions.

With a series-high six wins and 540 total points, Matthew Brabham won his first championship. Gavin Harlien finished second in the standings with 490 points and five wins.

Drivers

No.	Driver	Races
1	Jerett Brooks	1
	Paul Morris	2–12, 15–16
	Adam Andretti	13–14
5	Casey Mears	17–18
7	Robby Gordon	1–8, 11–20
	Russell Boyle	9–10
9	Russell Ingall	15–16
14	Davey Hamilton Jr.	19–20
17	Lalo Laguna	1
18	Apdaly Lopez	1, 5–6, 19–20
21	Matt Nolan	7–8
25	Arie Luyendyk Jr.	1–12, 17–18
	Casey Mears	13–14
47	Jeff Hoffman	1
52	Davey Hamilton Jr.	5–6
55	Gavin Harlien	All
57	Bill Hynes	1–12
	Greg Biffle	13–14
	Sheldon Creed	17–18
	Jerett Brooks	19–20
60	Cole Potts	All
68	Blade Hildebrand	All
73	E. J. Chiba	11–12
74	Sheldon Creed	1
75	Erik Davis	5–6, 17–18
77	Travis Milburn	2–4, 7–8
	Jerett Brooks	17–18
83	Matthew Brabham	All
87	Toby Price	2–4
88	Tommy Dawson	13–14
410	Greg Gartner	2–4, 7–8
441	Troy Diede	5–6
Sources: [lower-alpha 1]

Schedule

Round	Track	Location	Date	Supporting
1	Lake Elsinore Diamond	Lake Elsinore, California	January 27	Standalone
2	Adelaide Street Circuit	Adelaide, South Australia	March 2–4	Adelaide 500
3	Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	April 14–15	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
4	Barbagallo Raceway	Neerabup, Western Australia	May 5–6	Perth SuperSprint
5	The Raceway on Belle Isle	Detroit, Michigan	June 2–3	Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
6	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	June 9	DXC Technology 600
7	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 24–25	Johnsonville 180
8	Sydney Motorsport Park	Eastern Creek, New South Wales	October 27–28	Australian Motor Racing Championships
9	Glen Helen Raceway	San Bernardino, California	December 1–2	Robby Gordon Off-Road World Championships
10	Foro Sol	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	January 19–20, 2019	2019 Race of Champions

Season summary

The season began at the Lake Elsinore Diamond, where the 2017 finale had been held. ^[21] Apdaly Lopez won the Feature event, but confusion arose in the days following the race as multiple drivers took the Joker Lap on the final lap, which is not allowed per series rules. After video review by series officials, Bill Hynes – who ran the Joker on the penultimate lap – was declared the winner, though Lopez was allowed to keep his win. Matthew Brabham, who finished seventh, was also revealed to have utilized the same strategy as Hynes, and had his finishing position upgraded to second alongside Jeff Hoffman. ^[22]

A tripleheader at Australia's Adelaide Street Circuit followed. In the first race, rookie Cole Potts took advantage of Robby Gordon's transmission problem and Brabham locking his brakes entering a turn to win his first SST race. Gordon rebounded to win the second, while Brabham won the final round; Gordon had been in position to win the third race when he entered the final corner too deep, allowing Brabham to capitalize and win. ^[23] Behind him, Gavin Harlien's truck landed off a jump at a poor angle, resulting in a broken right rear wheel that caused him to hit the wall. Harlien continued to accelerate until he crossed the start/finish line to finish sixth. ^{[24] [25]}

At the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the first race was stopped after Apdaly Lopez rolled his truck with 17 minutes left; race officials chose not to resume the event and leader Harlien was declared the winner, scoring his maiden series victory. ^[26] Series commentator Sean Sermini criticized the decision during the broadcast, calling it "Very upsetting." ^[27] Brabham won the second round of the weekend.

In May, the series returned to Australia to race at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth. Matt Nolan, running his first points race, flipped while jumping on a ramp in the first event, causing his truck's left rear wheel to come off; the wheel eventually hit a vacant spectator bridge. The incident eventually spurred the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) to suspend the series from CAMS-sanctioned races for safety concerns, though SST officials were not notified of the news until July. ^{[28] [29]} The weekend concluded with Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Jeff Hoffman scoring their first series wins, while Brabham recorded the overall weekend win. ^{[30] [31]}

Harlien and Luyendyk won at Detroit, the former holding off Aaron Bambach and Luyendyk for the win in the first race. Six laps into the second round, Luyendyk was the race leader when the red flag came out for Paul Morris' wreck in turn three that sent him airborne and onto his truck's roof after hitting a tire barrier. ^{[32] [33] [34]}

The series returned to Texas Motor Speedway for a second year in June. ^[35] Japanese rally driver E. J. Chiba made his series debut, while Gordon returned for the weekend after missing the Detroit weekend to race in the Baja 500. On lap 16 of 18, Harlien passed Morris for the lead and eventually won Race One, while Brabham took advantage of the field fighting among themselves for position to win Race Two. ^[36]

Brabham competing at Road America

In August, the trucks made their debut at Road America in support of the NASCAR Xfinity Series' Johnsonville 180, running a shortened course that bypassed turns 6–12, though the full circuit was utilized for the final laps. ^{[37] [38]} NASCAR drivers Casey Mears and Greg Biffle competed in the weekend, the latter making his SST debut. ^[39] Gordon and Brabham won the weekend's races, while Biffle finished second in the latter. ^[40]

Nolan's wreck at Perth and the CAMS suspension forced the series' planned competition in October's Gold Coast 600 at Surfers Paradise to be called off. During the month, the series, represented by Queen's Counsel barrister Stewart Anderson, went to court against CAMS in a case overseen by the Supreme Court of Victoria. Anderson argued new wheels would be built with forged billet aluminium that makes them heavier and less likely to detach than the current cast alloy; in an inspection conducted by retired V8 Supercar driver Larry Perkins, he gave his approval of the trucks and pointed out their safety was comparable to the Supercars. Anderson also claimed CAMS and SST had formed an agreement in February in which the former agreed the series was being operated within CAMS' satisfaction, while the delay until July to inform SST officials was a breach of contract. ^[29] On October 11, judge John Digby ruled in favor of CAMS. ^[41] The ban would not be lifted until August 2019. ^[42]

Six days after the trial, SST partnered with the Australian Auto Sport Alliance, which is not affiliated with CAMS, and the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS), ensuring the series' future in the country. After a risk assessment, the AASA and NSW Sport and Recreation approved the series for competition in AMRS event. ^[43] The trucks' first race weekend under the AMRS banner took place nine days later at the Sydney Motorsport Park, ^[44] won by Brabham and Harlien. ^{[45] [46]} 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series champion Russell Ingall contested his first SST weekend. ^[47]

To close out the 2018 calendar year, the series participated in the Robby Gordon Off-Road World Championships at Glen Helen Raceway. ^[48] Hoffman and Harlien were victorious in the two rounds, while Brabham finished second in both races, placing him in position to win the championship. ^[49]

The 2019 Race of Champions at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez's Foro Sol in Mexico City served as the season finale. ^{[50] [51]} Due to the Race of Champions' track and race format, the trucks utilized a head-to-head bracket system in which two drivers competed against each other, with the winner advancing to the next round; should a driver lose in the first two rounds, they may proceed if they were the fastest of the defeated drivers as the "Fastest Loser". After three rounds, the final two drivers competed in the final round. Gordon won Saturday's racing after defeating Brabham, while Brabham clinched the championship when he won against Harlien in the third round on Sunday; Brabham ended the 2018 season by beating Hoffman in the final. ^{[52] [53]}

Results and standings

Race results

Round	Race	Event	Fastest qualifier	Pole position	Winning driver	Ref
1	H1	Lake Elsinore	Jerett Brooks	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon	[1]
	H2			Blade Hildebrand	Sheldon Creed
	1			Jeff Hoffman	Apdaly Lopez Bill Hynes
2	2	Adelaide	Matthew Brabham	Bill Hynes	Cole Potts	[2]
	3			Toby Price	Robby Gordon	[3]
	4			Bill Hynes	Matthew Brabham	[4]
3	5	Long Beach	Robby Gordon	Arie Luyendyk Jr.	Gavin Harlien	[5]
	6			Aaron Bambach	Matthew Brabham	[6]
4	7	Perth	Matthew Brabham	Matt Nolan	Arie Luyendyk Jr.	[7]
	8			Bill Hynes	Jeff Hoffman	[8]
5	9	Detroit	Matthew Brabham	Russell Boyle	Gavin Harlien	[9]
	10			Cole Potts	Arie Luyendyk Jr.	[10]
6	11	Texas	Matthew Brabham	Aaron Bambach	Gavin Harlien	[11]
	12			Blade Hildebrand	Matthew Brabham	[12]
7	13	Road America	Blade Hildebrand	Tommy Dawson	Robby Gordon	[13]
	14			Adam Andretti	Matthew Brabham	[14]
8	15	Sydney	Matthew Brabham	Matthew Brabham	Matthew Brabham	[15]
	16			Blade Hildebrand	Gavin Harlien	[16]
9	17	Glen Helen	Sheldon Creed	Land rush start	Jeff Hoffman	[17]
	18				Gavin Harlien	[18]
10	19	Race of Champions	Robby Gordon	Head-to-head system	Robby Gordon	[19]
	20				Matthew Brabham	[20]

Race of Champions

January 19 Seed Driver 1 Seed Driver 2 Round 1 1 Robby Gordon 10 Apdaly Lopez 2 Blade Hildebrand 9 Jerett Brooks 3 Jeff Hoffman 8 Casey Mears 4 Matthew Brabham 7 Cole Potts 5 Davey Hamilton Jr. 6 Gavin Harlien Round 2 1 Robby Gordon 3 Jeff Hoffman 2 Blade Hildebrand 4 Matthew Brabham 6 Gavin Harlien 7 Cole Potts Round 3 1 Robby Gordon 6 Gavin Harlien 4 Matthew Brabham 7 Cole Potts Final 1 Robby Gordon 4 Matthew Brabham

January 20 Seed Driver 1 Seed Driver 2 Round 1 4 Matthew Brabham 5 Davey Hamilton Jr. 2 Blade Hildebrand 9 Jerett Brooks 3 Jeff Hoffman 8 Casey Mears 1 Robby Gordon 7 Cole Potts 6 Gavin Harlien 10 Apdaly Lopez Round 2 1 Robby Gordon 7 Cole Potts 2 Blade Hildebrand 3 Jeff Hoffman 4 Matthew Brabham 6 Gavin Harlien Round 3 1 Robby Gordon 4 Matthew Brabham 3 Jeff Hoffman 7 Cole Potts Final 3 Jeff Hoffman 4 Matthew Brabham

Bold – Won round Italics – Fastest loser Seed set by qualifying times

Drivers' championship

Rank Driver ELS ADE LBH PER DET TEX ROA SMP HLN MXC Points H1 H2 F 1 Matthew Brabham 6 2 3 3 1* 4 1 7 4 4 2 10 1* 2* 1 1 9 2 2 2 1 540 2 Gavin Harlien 3 3 6 2 6 1 3 9 6 1 3 1 2 3 5 2* 1 4 1 43 52 490 3 Robby Gordon 1 4* 11 1* 10* 2 4 5 11 Rpl‡ Rpl‡ 5 3 1 6 4 4 10 5 1 43 410 4 Jeff Hoffman 2 2 4 12 4 12 12* 2 1 8 4 3 8 12 4* 5 8 1 3 52 2 377 5 Cole Potts 2 5 1* 8 11 7 2 8 2* 10 7 4 5 8 8 3 3 8 6 3 3 369 6 Blade Hildebrand 5 7 7 9 5 6 11 4 3 5 5 11 6 4 3 9 6* 12 4 62 62 341 7 Arie Luyendyk Jr. 4 9 2 5 7 3* 14 1* 8 3 1* 6 10 Rpl# Rpl# 3 11 305 8 Paul Morris Rpl† Rpl† 8 4 8 10 5 3 5 9 10 2* 4 6 2 249 9 Bill Hynes 4 1 10 11 12 11 10 11 10 9 8 7 9 Rpl# Rpl# 208 10 Aaron Bambach 14 6 2* 6 9 7 5 7 9 132 11 Travis Milburn 5 6 2 6 7 95 12 Apdaly Lopez 3 1 13 9 101 101 81 13 Sheldon Creed 1 6 6* 9 62 14 Greg Gartner 9 7 9 10 9 61 15 Matt Nolan 12 DNS 9 10 8 7 59 16 Davey Hamilton Jr. 5 7 91 81 58 17 Erik Davis 8 8 5 7 56 18 Jerett Brooks 5† 10† 11 8* 71 71 54 19 Casey Mears 6# 12# 7 10 81 91 50 20 Toby Price 12 10 3 40 21 Russell Ingall 7 5 30 T-22 Adam Andretti 11 9 23 T-22 E. J. Chiba 8 11 23 24 Tommy Dawson 10 11 21 25 Troy Diede 9 13 20 26 Lalo Laguna 6 8 17 T-27 Greg Biffle 7# 2# 0 T-27 Russell Boyle 7‡ 9‡ 0 Rank Driver ELS ADE LBH PER DET TEX ROA SMP GHR MXC Points H1 H2 F 1, 2, 3 Round in which driver was eliminated Source: [54]

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 (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

Driver replacements

Key	No.	Original driver	Replacement driver	Race
†	1	Paul Morris	Jerett Brooks	Lake Elsinore
‡	7	Robby Gordon	Russell Boyle	Detroit
#	25	Arie Luyendyk Jr.	Casey Mears	Road America
	57	Bill Hynes	Greg Biffle
All points scored by the replacement went to the original driver.

Notes

1. Sorted by round:
   • Lake Elsinore (Race 1) ^[1]
   • Adelaide (Races 2–4) ^{[2] [3] [4]}
   • Long Beach (Races 5–6) ^{[5] [6]}
   • Perth (Races 7–8) ^{[7] [8]}
   • Detroit (Races 9–10) ^{[9] [10]}
   • Texas (Races 11–12) ^{[11] [12]}
   • Road America (Races 13–14) ^{[13] [14]}
   • Sydney (Races 15–16) ^{[15] [16]}
   • Glen Helen (Races 17–18) ^{[17] [18]}
   • Race of Champions (Races 19–20) ^{[19] [20]}

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2018 Stadium Super Trucks Round 14 .

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2. "Round 2 – Adelaide 500 – 3/2/18". Stadium Super Trucks . Retrieved December 21, 2019.
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4. "Round 4 – Adelaide 500 – 3/4/18". Stadium Super Trucks . Retrieved December 21, 2019.
5. "Round 5 – Long Beach – 4/14/18". Stadium Super Trucks . Retrieved December 21, 2019.
6. "Round 6 – Long Beach – 4/15/18". Stadium Super Trucks . Retrieved December 21, 2019.
7. "Round 7 – Perth, Australia – 5/5/18". Stadium Super Trucks . Retrieved December 21, 2019.
8. "Round 8 – Perth, Australia – 5/6/18". Stadium Super Trucks . Retrieved December 21, 2019.
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