Sheldon Creed and E.J. Viso battled door to door in the closing laps of the SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by TRAXXAS race at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix Saturday, before Viso made a critical error allowing the 17-year-old Creed to overtake him and cruise to victory for his second win of the young season.
Viso entered the final lap with the slim lead over Creed, and the two crossed the first of four ramps on the 1.89-mile street circuit together with Creed on a preferred inside line. Creed, who also won Round Two in Adelaide, Australia last month, nearly lost control of his truck with the aggressive move to the inside of Viso, but the Alpine, Calif. TRAXXAS-sponsored driver gathered his truck and made the pass only to give it up to Viso in the next turn. With the race seemingly in control, the Caracas, Venezuela driver overdrove turn 10 which again opened the inside lane to Creed who capitalized for the final time.
Viso’s aggressiveness cost him three spots and he finished fourth. Keegan Kincad, a teammate to Creed in another TRAXXAS-sponsored truck, finished second with the SPEED Energy entry of Robby Gordon coming home third.
The battle between Creed and Viso brought the already enthusiastic crowd to its feet, many of the fans having never experienced the flying trucks in person. As Creed, Kincaid and Gordon conducted post-race interviews and signed autographs, fan after fan thanked the drivers from the exciting show they put on, many of them expressing that the SST race was the most enjoyable auto race they have ever attended.
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