Klaus Charges to the Front - Wins @ Route 66 Raceway
Posted on Friday, July 27, 2012
Freehold, NJ (July 27, 2012) - Bob Klaus took home his third PRO Buggy victory of the year in the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL. The #26 BFGoodrich Tire equipped Toyota powered PRO Buggy opened the Chicagoland event by edging out the competition winning Round 7 in front of a near sellout crowd.
The East Coast resident has been competing in the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL for the past three seasons, and is one of the top competitors in the division. Between TORC events, the race team stores their rig at fellow competitor, Scott Schwalbe's business in Northern Wisconsin. During the season all the prep work is done by Bob and his crew chief Tim Craley. All the commuting between home, the team's temporary home in Wisconsin, and to the race tracks have definitely paid dividend for the team.
Thursday - Round 7
The line-up for the Thursday evening fifteen lap feature saw Bob Klaus starting last in the field of thirteen racers. A persistent electrical issue prevented the team from making a lap during the practice and qualifying sessions.
The start saw Klaus methodically work his way through traffic and was in fourth place at the midway caution period. When racing resumed he found himself in a battle with Charlotte winner Steve Krieman.
The final four laps saw the Klaus and Krieman going wheel to wheel for the top spot. With two laps to go, Klaus made the pass on Krieman stick and the black #926 PRO Buggy took his third victory of the year.
"Wow, from last to first," exclaimed Bob Klaus. "We had problems with our ignition system earlier today and we couldn't even make a qualifying run. My crew chief Tim kept at it and we gotit solved and now we are on top of the podium. Hey, look at this huge crowd, this is awesome!"
Friday - Round 8
The starting lineup had the top six Thursday finishers inverted, which Klaus had positioned inthe third row. When the green flag was waved, Klaus avoided all the banging and bumping and by the end of the opening lap had a sizable lead on the rest of the field. Then suddenly the BFGoodrich Tire equipped Toyota powered PRO Buggy began to slow. The electrical issues came back and now Klaus was left idling around the track, racing for points. In the end Bob Klaus finished a disappointing eighth place.
"It seems like we either win or the intermittent ignition problem slows us down," noted Bob Klaus. "We have a couple of weeks before Bark River to get this figured out, but we are stillsecond in the points standings."
The next race for Bob Klaus and his #26 PRO Buggy is the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL event, August 11-12, in Bark River, Michigan.