Travis Senter Displays Dominance in USCS 600 Events

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Special To Daniel Kirby

January 27th, 2011

Travis Senter Jr. Conquers Australia for the Third Time!

Osceola, Arkansas (01/27/11) - Travis Senter Jr. has always faced a host of formidable opponents when he's headed "Down Under" to Australia to compete, but the 2010/2011 Oval Express Formula 500 Super Series proved to be the toughest he's ever encountered.  Despite a talented group of foes and more than his fair share of bad luck, the American driver claimed an impressive, third Oval Express Formula 500 Super Series Championship!

In his two previous ventures to Australia, Senter Jr. was nothing short of spectacular with six wins and twelve top five finishes in thirteen starts.

After missing last season's series due to family commitments, Travis Senter Jr. returned to Australia with a plan of taking three series victories in three appearances on Australian soil.  Teaming up once again with his good friend, Steve Caunt, the familiar USA22 started slowly with a 6th and 9th place finish in the opening two rounds of the series. Travis's first podium appearance occurred in round #3 at Sungold Stadium, Warrnambool on New Year's Day.

Travis looked to have a good shot at his first win in Round #4 at Laang Speedway as he lined up on the front row alongside fellow American, Jake Hagopian.  However,  contact between the two drivers in turn 2 saw Senter Jr. slam the concrete wall and flip bringing his night to a disappointing early end, which dug him a hole in the standings.

Round #5 at Simpson saw Senter Jr. bounce back from the previous night's mishap to miss out on the podium by one position with a 5th place finish.  The next night at Mid Western Speedway, Darlington, the talented driver sped his way to victory lane for the first time in the series, and in what would prove to be his only victory in the 2010/2011 edition of the series.  After trailing Hagopian in the standings during the first four rounds, bad luck struck Hagopian with an engine failure in Round #5. Senter Jr. took command of the lead and never would relinquish the top spot again.

Travis's next visit to the podium occurred at Round #7 at Borderline Raceway, when he finished 4th behind Trevor Harding Jr, Hagopian and Chad Sullivan. Going into the final round Senter Jr. held a slender twelve point advantage over Charlie Brown.  In the final event Travis only needed to finish ahead of Brown to clinch the series title.  The final result at Sungold Stadium saw Senter Jr. finish in the 4th position, just behind Brown.  The performance was adequate to allow Travis to claim the Championship, which was his third.

 

Travis acknowledges that the Australian competition has become much tougher.  "I will say the Aussies have stepped up their game and were much better prepared this time. I also struggled finding a handle on the race car. We changed things everyday looking for combinations that would work.  The main thing that I stress each time is that you must be consistently fast to win this series, since heat race's and feature races count toward the total points, so even a dropped heat race is almost a death penalty in this series. I had good runs in nearly every heat, and had just good enough feature finishes to win my 3rd Oval Express Series title."

Senter goes on to note, "It was a lot of hard work, and very nerve racking there at the end because the point's race was tight. I almost wrote it off after I got  wrecked during the feature in Round #4 at Laang. Then the very next night (at Simpson) the entire top five in points (I was sixth at the time), had problems either making the feature or finishing the feature. By the end of the series I was just watching after the car trying to finish each and every race."

2010/2011 Oval Express Formula 500 Super Series Finishes
Round/Track/Location/Date/Finish
Round 1: Western Speedway, Hamilton- December 30th, 2010 - 6th
Round 2: Avalon Raceway- December 31st, 2010 - 9th
Round 3: Sungold Stadium, Warrnambool- January 1st, 2011 - 4th
Round 4: Laang Speedway- January 2nd, 2011 - 20th
Round 5: Simpson Speedway- January 4th, 2011 - 4th
Round 6: Mid Western Speedway, Darlington- January 5th, 2011 - 1st
Round 7: Borderline Raceway, Mt Gambier- January 7th, 2011 - 4th
Round 8: Sungold Stadium, Warrnambool- January 9th, 2011 (Grand Final) - 4th

Travis has a long list of people that he would like to thank.  Steve Caunt, and his family provided incredible support, giving Senter Jr. a great race car to drive, and providing all the equipment and supplies needed to get the results.  Greg Wickham, Ralph Wren, Jason Priolo, and Tory Evans were a top notch crew and helping with anything needed along the way.  Senter Jr. would also like to thank Oval Express Magazine for sponsoring the series and for their support of this division.   Rocket Industries stepped up in a big way by sponsoring the grand prize for the series, which was a XXX 600 Frame and Body kit.  In addition, Senter Jr. would like to acknowledge Victorian Formula 500 Association for organizing the great series.

Last, but definitely not least, Travis thanks his  good buddy, Peter Wickham, who was tragically killed just two months before Senter Jr. arrived in Australia.  Travis comments, "Pete was instrumental in my previous two triumphs down-under and I know somehow he was looking out for me."

Travis Senter Jr. would also like to thank all of his sponsors, who made this trip possible, including Stallard Chassis,FTZ Engines, Accurate Machine Works , Keizer Wheels, Holthouse Farms, Xtreme Graphics, Fire Service Plus, ARS Shocks, Killer Coatings, Speedway Motors , Clayton’s Body Shop, Perry Farms, Senter and Son’s Gin, motorstands.com,Stren Flex , Intense Fabrication , Mettec Bolts, RaceBumpers.com, Ringers Gloves , ButlerBuilt Seats, Braille Batteries,Saldana Race Products, Conroy Pneu Control , Indico Pty Ltd , Raceseng Design , Indy Race Parts,  Xtreme Fuel Stick, and MSRMafia.com Marketing Services.

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     What a long strange trip its been. The 2010 season is coming to a close, and man has it been quite a racing season. For the first time in my career I have raced at least one time in each month of the calendar year, usually we get to skip the cold months, and of course some months just totally rain out, however this year is the exception. I started of at the Tulsa Shootout racing New Years eve, and day, off to East Bay Florida in February, I-30 600 Nationals in March, then resumed regular Spring Summer racing with trips to Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, and even Seattle, then finished up in November at Riverside Speedway in West Memphis. In total I ran 33 top notch races this year, with 7 wins, 23 Top Tens, 22 Top Fives, 19 Heat Race Wins, Average Finish of 8.0, Average Number of Cars of 50.4. By my normal standards you could say I had a bad year, my 7 wins was my lowest count since 2004, when I was running both the micro and 360 Sprint car. However, I look at it in a different perspective. This year I feel like I showed up at almost every major 600 mini/micro sprint race in the country, of course you can’t be at all of them, and i know I missed a few right there near the end, but you would be hard pressed to find a tougher schedule. Given all that and having a pretty decent finish at most of those races shows that I have a good package and can get the job done if luck will fall my way.

      Also this year has been one of tragedy, there were quite a few race related deaths and injuries this season, but one hit very close to home this time. My very good friend from Australia Peter Wickham lost his life in a tragic motorcycle accident. He was my ace crew chief when I raced in over there, he took care of me like a son, his family welcomed me into their home, his son is one of my best friends. I don’t know how things will be this time when I go over there and race. He provided very knowledgeable track experience, and could work on pretty much anything, which sure made my job easier. I can attribute both of my Oval Express Series Championships to Peter and Greg Wickham. On my first trip down under in 2006 Peter and my Dad struck up and immediate friendship, this carried over on my next trip in 2008 when Peter looked after me and did everything he could to help me succeed. One thing I can never forget is my 2008 trip at the Jack Wilsher Cup race , Peter came out to help, and I was driving a borrowed car which didn’t quite suit my style (and my body, I had to tape blocks on the pedals), I spun twice in hot laps, ran near the back of the heat races and Peter came up to me and said “You’re washed up Mate!” “Haven’t got it anymore!” in a joking manner. I went out in that feature and drove from 15th position to take the win and he came up afterward and said “You’re a legend mate!”, “Un-Believable!!!”.. He will be missed and I sincerely pass on my deepest sympathy to his family and friends.      

     With that said, my next race will in fact be in Australia, for the 2010-2011 Oval Express Series . Of course I expect to do well, I have all the right equipment. I will be teaming up with Steve Caunt again to run the tour which will feature 8 races in 10 days. I already have Greg Wickham lined up to help with crew chief duties, and my good friend and sponsor Ralph Wren from Texas will be traveling down with me. I will try to post updates here as often as I can, but the most recent updates will be on Facebook page. Wish me luck..

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      Quick little update here, things have gone well since returning from Seattle. I’ve mainly focused on getting prepared and ready for the 5th Annual 600 Nationals at I-30 Speedway. We traveled down the I-30 twice in the last 3 weeks to get tuned up and ready, finished 2nd one night and won the last time there. I think we have a package now that will do good and maybe make up for my bad result during the 4th annual version earlier this season (rain make up in March).

    I also got an opportunity to visit my good pal Ralph Wren in Texas to drive his car at the Texas Mini-Sprint Nationals near Waco, TX at Heart ‘O Texas Speedway. Things started out bad with a first corner mishap in the heat and I couldn’t quite make up ground to lock in the main from the heat, so off to the B-Main I go again. Seems like this year I’m destined for B-Main glory! I won the B-Main from the pole, and in the feature I had to drive my tail off, but I managed to go from 10th starting position to take the win and the $1,000 prize. I had a great time there and it’s always good to hang out with really great friends. I want to thank the wren family for giving us a place to stay treating us to a Texas Labor Day BBQ, and enjoying some great racing.

     So as I said earlier the 600 Nationals is coming up this next weekend the 25th of September, and we are tuned and ready. I have Mark Stallard flying in on Tuesday to ride down with me, and Tommy and Pete will be driving the rig down on Wednesday to get there in time for practice. Wish us luck.

Also I updated the shop cam page and added one new camera, little closer view to the action.

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