St. Johns, MI (July 5, 2013) -The B & L Sand Toys Off-Road Race Team began its second season of competition at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. The two truck team overcame some struggles to land on the podium during the opening rounds of the Traxxas TORC Sportsman Series presented by AMSOIL. The team of veteran driver Dan Baudoux and sophomore competitor Gerrit Bancroft landed on the podium three times during the weekend.
The 1.8 mile long Crandon layout is mix of big air jumps and table tops, high banked corners, elevation changes, and really fast straightaways. The track is the longest and fastest on the TORC schedule. Then to makes chassis set-ups interesting, Mother Nature dumped rain all over the area making Saturday’s race muddy slippery, but by Sunday the track was dry and really fast.
The 2013 season is Gerrit Bancroft’s second year of TORC competition behind the wheel of the #217 B & L Sand Toys Ford F-150 Super Truck. The Super Truck class is the premier division in the TORC Sportsman series. The race truck itself is almost identical to a PRO-2WD truck with the exception of a lower horsepower engine, and the trucks must us a DOT tire.
The eight lap Round Three race saw Bancroft move into the third position as the field headed down the front straightaway through the Red Bull Arch. The #217 Ford was in a tight battle with Matt Solka and Troy Retzlaff during the early stages of the race. Then the transmission temperature began to rise, a concern to any racer, so Bancroft pulled in to the Hot Pit to clean the mud off the transmission cooler. The quick work of the crew kept the B & L Sand Toys Super Truck on the lead lap, as Gerrit Bancroft continued on to finish in sixth place.
Later in the day Dan Baudoux suited up in his #17 Sport 4 race truck. This is a new class to TORC Sportsman racing. The race truck is similar to a PRO-4×4, but rules changes in the areas of the drivetrain and engine make this a much affordable “unlimited” four-wheel drive race truck. In fact this class currently races at the same time as the PRO-4×4 trucks. Look for this class to grow during the upcoming season.
Dan Baudoux and the rest of the Sport 4 competitors were lined up behind the PRO-4 competitors as the green flag was waved for the traditional Crandon land rush start. Quickly Baudoux assumed the lead, and it looked like it would be a flag to flag win. Then on the ninth and final lap, Baudoux broke a tie rod end. The B & L Sand Toys Sport 4 somehow made it around the final turn, but was edged out by Milan Mazenac as the two crossed the finish line. Dan Baudoux finished a heart breaking second place.
Overnight the team thoroughly prepped both trucks for the next day off competition. The steering issue on Baudoux’s truck was repaired, and a faulty temperature sending unit was discovered on Bancroft’s truck. This meant that the transmission wasn’t overheating and would ready for Round Four.
Sunday brought sunny skies, warm temperatures, and ideal track conditions for all the competitors.
The Super Truck Round Four eight lap race saw Bancroft charge into third place at the end of the first lap. The top three trucks had a real race on their hands. By the fifth lap Bancroft moved up to second and began to make up ground on the leader. The final two laps saw the B & L Sand Toys lap times drop significantly, but the team ran out of time before making a challenge for the lead. Bancroft had his best finish off the year taking home the runner-up spot.
The second Sport 4 race of the weekend saw Dan Baudoux lead flag to flag as he was never seriously challenged to take his third victory of the year.
“Today’s race was definitely fun,” commented Gerrit Bancroft. “Last year was all about learning how to drive our B & L Sand Toys Ford, this year I’m much more comfortable with everything, and now it’s about speed and landing on the top spot on the podium. It won’t be easy as there are a quite few new drivers in our class.”
Congratulations also go out B &L Sand Toys sponsored Single Buggy driver, Jeff Villemure. The Michigan resident finished second in Round Three and took home the win in Round Four.
The next race for the B & L Sand Toys Off-Road Race team is July 19-20 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL.
About B & L Sand Toys
B & L Sand Toys offers a huge selection of dune buggy and VW parts, ranging from Stock to High Performance. We’re proud to be the Northeast Tatum dealer for parts, service, and turnke
y cars. B & L Sand Toys also offers a complete of ready to run R/C buggies and trucks from leading manufacturers. From Rock Crawlers to 1:5th Scales, we’ve got them all covered.
With one of the largest selections of parts in the area, B&L Sand Toys has what you need to get the performance you expect from your play car, sand car, off-roader, or R/C. www.bnlsandtoys.com
- Mike Reusche, race report
- Scott Behnke, photos