2020 Stadium Super Trucks season

2020 Stadium Super Trucks season
Previous:	2019	Next:	2021
Companion series: Boost Mobile Super Trucks

Matthew Brabham, the reigning series champion

The 2020 Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks season 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.

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

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

Schedule

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. ^[5]

Round	Track	Location	Date	Fastest qualifier	Pole position	Winning driver	Supporting	Ref
1	Adelaide Street Circuit	Adelaide, South Australia	February 21	Matthew Brabham	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon	Adelaide 500	[6]
2			February 22		Matt Mingay	Matthew Brabham		[6]
3			February 23		Greg Gartner	Shae Davies		[6]
4	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 8	Matthew Brabham	Zoey Edenholm	Arie Luyendyk Jr.	Henry 180	[7]
5					Bill Hynes	Matthew Brabham		[8]
Combination races with Boost Mobile Super Trucks listed in bold

Races canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Track	Location	Supporting	Ref
Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	Grand Prix of Long Beach	[9]
Wanneroo Raceway	Neerabup, Western Australia	Perth SuperNight	[10]
Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	Honda Indy Toronto	[11]
Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	Grand Prix of Portland	[12]
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	Honda Indy 200	[13]
Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Queensland	Gold Coast 600	[14]
Lake Elsinore Diamond	Lake Elsinore, California	Standalone	[15]

Season summary

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", ^[16] 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. ^[2] 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. ^[17] 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. ^[18] Shae Davies, a series newcomer, won the final race after avoiding early wrecks and distancing himself from the field as they fought for position. ^[19]

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. ^{[20] [9]} The combination Perth SuperNight at Wanneroo Raceway on May 16–17 was postponed, though SST intends to commit to the rescheduled date once it is finalized. ^[10] Another combination weekend with the Gold Coast 600 on October 31–November 1 was excluded from the revised Supercars schedule in May. ^[14] 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 planning to find a new date. ^[11] 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. ^{[12] [13]}

After a six-month dormancy, the season resumed in early August at Road America as a support event for the NASCAR Xfinity Series. ^{[21] [22]} 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). ^[23] 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. ^[24] Luyendyk won the first race after rolling over early in the event, while Brabham beat out Gordon to win the second. ^[25]

The series initially planned to return to Lake Elsinore Diamond, which held races in 2017 and 2018, in October before it was called off. ^{[26] [15]}

Standings

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 Sara Price 10 8 10 35 Jett Noland 6 4 35 8 Zane Smith 5 6 34 9 John Holtger 4* 11 32 10 Max Gordon 9 5 28 11 Zoey Edenholm 7 8 27 Barry Boes 8 7 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 (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

See also

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on motorsport

References

1. Nguyen, Justin (August 6, 2020). "SST Road America entry list revealed". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
2. Nguyen, Justin (February 19, 2020). "SST entry list for Adelaide 500 revealed". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
3. Nguyen, Justin (February 12, 2020). "Toby Price confirms Adelaide 500 SST entry". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
4. Noland, Greg (August 6, 2020). "Jett Joins Stadium Super Trucks at Road America" (Press release). Jett Noland . Retrieved August 7, 2020.
5. "2020 Stadium SUPER Trucks Tentative Schedule". Stadium Super Trucks . November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
6. "2020 Adelaide Results". Stadium Super Trucks . February 23, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
7. "Round 4 – Road America – 8/8/20". Stadium Super Trucks . Retrieved August 12, 2020.
8. "Round 5 – Road America – 8/8/20". Stadium Super Trucks . Retrieved August 12, 2020.
9. Nguyen, Justin (March 19, 2020). "2020 Grand Prix of Long Beach officially cancelled after failed reschedule". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
10. Nguyen, Justin (March 18, 2020). "Tasmania, Auckland, Perth races postponed, SST to follow reschedules". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
11. Nguyen, Justin (May 16, 2020). "Honda Indy Toronto jeopardised after extended local cancellations". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
12. Fossett, Wyatt (July 27, 2020). "The Grand Prix of Portland has been officially canceled". Daily Hive . Retrieved July 30, 2020.
13. "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.
14. Chapman, Simon (May 17, 2020). "Supercars releases revised 13-round 2020/21 calendar". Speedcafe . Retrieved August 25, 2020.
15. 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.
16. Murray, Brett (February 6, 2020). "Shae Davies confirmed for SST season opener in Adelaide". Speedcafe . Retrieved February 6, 2020.
17. Nguyen, Justin (February 21, 2020). "Robby Gordon kicks off 2020 SST season with Adelaide Race 1 win". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
18. "Brabham charges to SST win over Gordon". Speedcafe . February 22, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
19. "Debutant Davies takes out final SST race". Speedcafe. February 23, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
20. 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.
21. "Road America Announces Its 2020 Race Schedule". Roadracing World Publishing. October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
22. "SST Returns To Action At Road America, August 6-8, 2020". Stadium Super Trucks . July 29, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
23. Nguyen, Justin (August 6, 2020). "SST Road America entry list revealed". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
24. "Oconto County teen returns to Road America track for NASCAR event". Green Bay Press-Gazette . August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
25. 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.
26. Nguyen, Justin (December 17, 2019). "SST returning to Lake Elsinore in 2020". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved December 17, 2019.