News
November 14, 2007 - Waldvogel Named the 2007 WSORR SRT Driver of the Year
The WSORR (World Series of Off-Road Racing) held their inaugural awards banquet this past weekend at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. By nearly winning a championship in his first season in the Super Truck class, and clinching three wins, including the 2007 Super Truck World Championship race in Crandon, driver Dave Waldvogel was named the 2007 WSORR SRT Driver-of-the-Year. The Bendix® Brakes #282 piloted by Waldvogel consistently found its way to the podium and onto highlight reels all season long, and added excitement to every race. Dave was awarded this honor, to his surprise, early during award ceremonies on Saturday night.
Taking the honors from the Pro ranks was Pro-Light Pickup driver Jeff Kincaid. More than four-hundred drivers, sponsors, crew and family members gathered to celebrate WSORR's inaugural season, and to crown the series champions for 2007. In addition to honoring the 2007 champions, the "Driver-of-the-Year" award is given out to one driver from the three Pro classes, and one from the five SRT (sportsman) classes. This award is given to the driver and team who made the biggest impact in the sport, and who exemplified the model of sportsmanship and success, perhaps in adverse situations.
Dave commented, I am so proud of my entire team for all the hard work they put in over this past season. An award like this is a reflection of the entire team, including our sponsors and families. There are so many teams that I feel are worthy of this award, and I am flattered that we were chosen."
The 2008 schedule was announced during the ceremonies as well, and the Waldvogel Racing team has already begun off-season work to prepare for the first race in Wheatland, Missouri next May.
September 24, 2007 - Rookie Dave Waldvogel Claims Second Place Overall in 2007 WSORR Super Truck Standings
Over the past weekend, the WSORR (World Series of Off Road Racing) held their final event of the 2007 season at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. The event was dubbed the "Showdown in the Show-Me State" and it surely lived up to its name. Champions would be crowned in all nine WSORR classes, including the Super Truck class. Coming into the weekend in Wheatland, class rookie Dave Waldvogel trailed former class champion Ben Wandahsega by only one point in the Super Truck standings. The championship would be decided by whoever had the best finishes during this final weekend of competition.
The facilities at the Lucas Oil Speedway rival any of the best dirt track facilities in the United States. They call this track, "The Diamond of Dirt Tracks" and it too lives up to its name. The facility boasts full grandstands on both the front and back straights of the 3/8 mile dirt track. It also has fully accommodating luxury/VIP skyboxes along the front straight, built directly on top of a full service bar and restaurant with flat screen televisions mounted all over the place so you can still catch the racing action while grabbing a cool refreshment. On top of that, throw in fully paved pit areas, and a giant built in JumboTron with leader board, and this is a little slice of dirt track heaven nestled in the beautiful Ozarks of Missouri. Adding to the excitement, the Speed Freaks of SPEED TV fame were on hand for interviews with drivers after racing on Saturday.
Saturday's Super Truck race saw Dave get a great start off the line, and coming into the infield Dave held the second position behind Keith Steele. In a tight hairpin corner entering a treacherous rhythm section, Dave watched as Keith slid wide on the dry slick track. Dave felt he had a better handle on the corner, and tried to maneuver underneath Steele going into the rhythms. The dry slick track offered no relief however, and the slightest blip of the throttle sent the Bendix® truck into a spin that could not be corrected. Finding himself sideways in the middle of the track with the rest of the pack charging hard towards him, Dave did all he could just to get out of the way and stay in the race. There was significant contact as Dave ended up maneuvering through the rhythm section backwards while being drug and smashed the entire way. By the time the truck was pointed the correct direction again, Dave found himself in sixth position. Dave quickly moved into fourth over the next two laps, and with nine laps remaining he had a view of the red Potowatomi truck of Ben Wandahsega. Dave slowly but surely began to reel Ben in, and in the process turned the fastest lap of the day in the Super Truck class. Dave was unable to challenge for a pass before the end of the race, and was forced to settle for the fourth position. This was the first time Dave had missed the podium since back in July in Bark River in round five.
With the results from Saturday, Dave now trailed Ben by three points. On Sunday, at the drop of the green, the Bendix® truck again roared out of the gate, and looked to hold the advantage going into corner one over most of the field. The problem was that Dave had started in the outside position based on points, and as he entered the tight right hand corner, all those trucks he had beaten to the corner filled the space to his inside, and Dave was forced to either lift and stay on the track or be introduced violently to a 2,000 lb round hay-bale that was used to mark the course. Again, after the pack cleared Dave found himself in the sixth position, again playing catch up. Dave again worked his way to fourth, directly behind Wandahsega. A weekend of frustration ended with Dave on the podium in third position, directly behind Ben who had finished in second. This clinched the title for Wandahsega, his second title in the Super Truck class in the past three seasons.
When asked about his weekend, Dave commented "Things just didn't fall into place for us this weekend. Even though I know we had an amazing year for our rookie season, it hurts when you are this close to a championship and it slips away."
He continued to say "I'd like to congratulate Ben and the Forest County Potowatomi on a great season. They did what they needed to do, and all we can do is use this defeat as motivation for next season. I'm so proud of my crew.they really stepped things up this year and it showed. Now we know what we can do at this level, and we are hungry for more."
In 2007, rookie Super Truck driver Dave Waldvogel finished in all twelve rounds of racing, a feat that no other team in the division could boast. With three wins (including a World Championship victory in Crandon), eight podium finishes, a worst finishing position of fourth, and zero DNF's, the Waldvogel Off-Road racing team showed consistency, toughness and speed all season long. The 2007 final point standings show Dave finishing second, a mere five points behind class champion Ben Wandahsega. This is the third consecutive year that Dave has finished in the top-three in points, and the third consecutive year that he was in the running for the championship in the final round of racing.
Waldvogel Racing is sponsored by the Bendix® brand, a division of Honeywell International. The Bendix® brand has been a leader in braking technology since 1924. For information on Bendix® brake products and where to purchase, visit www.bendixbrakes.com.
September 4, 2007 - Waldvogel Wins 2007 Super Stock World Championship in Crandon!
Every short-course off-road racing fan has one event on their calendar every year. That event is the BorgWarner World Championship races held in Crandon, Wisconsin every Labor Day weekend. 2007 has brought many changes to the sport, with the emergence of the WSORR (World Series of Off-Road Racing) as a viable racing series, and the continued growth of CORR (Championship Off-Road Racing) on the west coast. Racers from all over know that Crandon is still the “Big House” of Off-Road Racing, and this weekend racers from across North America converged there to prove they were the best. It was standing room only on spectator hill all weekend long, as Crandon recorded another phenomenal event.
The races held on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend at Crandon are used to determine that year’s Off-Road World Champion in each respective division. This race is no different than any other point race, other than the fact that it holds this prestigious title and a customized championship ring for the winning driver. If there is one race in a season that any driver wants to win, this is the one.
Driver Dave Waldvogel was the reigning 2006 World Champion in the Stock Truck division, but this was his first ever attempt at the title in the Super Stock division. At the wave of the green flag on Saturday, the Bendix® Brakes/Toyo Tires Chevrolet rocketed towards what has been dubbed as "the most exciting corner in motorsports" and the first thing the fans at Crandon saw was the Bendix® truck in front with a dominating hole shot! The rest of the race was an absolute masterpiece performance by driver Dave Waldvogel. While being chased by two former class champions, Dave made things look easy as he cruised to the World Championship title with a flag-to-flag dominating performance. This win vaulted Dave into the points lead for the first time this season, and marked the first change in the points lead all year. This also marked the third consecutive victory for Dave and crew at the famed Crandon race track.
The crew went through the truck thoroughly and prepared for Sunday's race, hoping to continue their dominance at Crandon. On Sunday, Dave pulled into the second position behind Dan Baudoux, the defending class champion in the Super Truck division. Dave was able to hang with Dan for several laps, but unable to get close enough to challenge for the lead. Dan slowly increased his lead over the first half of the race. Just past half-way, Dave began to push even harder, and started to slowly close the gap. Motivated to catch Dan, Dave launched the Bendix® truck over the Boss Snowplow jump, even harder than he had hit the jump all weekend. The truck landed hard on the rear bumper, slamming the front wheels down with a bone-jarring impact. This impact destroyed the right-lower A-arm, instantly affecting the handling and performance of the truck. The arm had not completely detached, and Dave instantly switched his focus from winning the race to finishing the race. Dave amazingly held onto the second position for three full laps over points rival Ben Wandahsega, taking each corner gingerly to protect the inside line, and using that Wolverine Performance power to stretch the gap down the straights. This was the story until the final corner of the final lap, where Ben muscled his way around Dave with an aggressive inside move. Dave spun from the contact, but quickly righted the truck to pass the finish line with another podium finish in third place. This was Dave's fifth consecutive podium finish, dating back to the July race in Bark River.
Going into the final event of the season at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, Dave is a mere one-point out of the top spot in the points trailing Ben Wandahsega. With two races to be held in Wheatland, the championship will come down to the final event.
Waldvogel Racing is sponsored by Bendix® by Honeywell. The Bendix® brand has been a leader in automotive braking technology since 1924. For more information on Bendix® products, visit www.bendixbrakes.com.
August 14, 2007 - Waldvogel Podiums Twice in Bark River
The UP Off-Road 100 was held over the past weekend at the famous Bark River Off-Road Raceway. The Waldvogel Racing team entered the weekend second in points, only 11 points out of the top spot.
There was a practice session on Friday evening, and again on Saturday morning prior to the race. You will always see the Bendix® truck on the track if there is a practice session, because they are constantly tweaking and trying new things to find an edge. Going into the race on Saturday, driver Dave Waldvogel and Crew Chief Marty Waldvogel were confident that they had found a good setup for Bark River.
At the drop of the green in Round VII, something that is becoming the norm happened, as Dave pulled the hole shot and came across the start finish line in the lead. Hot on Dave's heals was defending points champion Dan Baudoux. Dave tore off some amazing lap times at the beginning of the race, including the fastest lap of the weekend in a Super Stock Truck on lap three. Dan was not easily shaken though, and did not let Dave get too far out of his site. Dave and Dan wowed the crowd with repeated jumps nearing, and sometimes surpassing the 200' mark over "the hill". More than once, Dave and Dan flew through the air nose to tail. Meanwhile, an intense battle for the third position was going on between Ben Wandahsega, Keith Steele, and Don Williams. Dave and Dan continued to battle for the entire race. Several times Dan could pull alongside Dave, but was unable to make the pass. On lap eight, a small slip in the gravel pit corner allowed Dan to take the lead coming to the white flag. The crowd was on their feet almost the entire race, and at the checkered Dave settled for a second place finish in one of the best races of the entire season
"That was one of the most intense races I have ever been a part of," commented Dave. "Dan worked hard for this win, and if there is anybody that I don’t feel as bad getting passed by, he's that guy."
Round VIII on Sunday saw the Bendix/Toyo Tires Chevrolet pull into second position off the start. Dave battled for the entire race, and at the checkered flag pulled out another podium finish, his third podium in a row, with a third place finish. Overall, Dave has five podium finishes in the eight races this season, with a worst finish of fourth in the other three events.
After Sunday's race, Dave commented, "We are very happy to be back on the podium for our sponsors. We need to stay consistent over these next few rounds and try to get a little better, and we'll see what happens for the points championship. We are thrilled to be in this position in our first year in Super Stock."
Leaving Bark River, Dave sits in the second position, now only 8 points out of first. The next race is back in Crandon, where earlier this year Dave dominated with back-to-back victories.
Waldvogel Racing is sponsored by the Bendix® brand, a division of Honeywell International. The Bendix® brand has been a leader in braking technology since 1924. For information on Bendix® brake products and where to purchase, visit www.bendixbrakes.com.
July 17, 2007 - Waldvogel finds the Podium the Hard Way in Bark River
The Waldvogel Off-Road Racing team traveled to the Bark River Off-Road Raceway in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan over the past weekend for rounds five and six of the 2007 World Series of Off-Road Racing (WSORR). After a career weekend in Crandon back in June with back-to-back victories, the expectations were high and the confidence was probably even higher coming into the weekend. Driver Dave Waldvogel held the second position in points and looked to close the margin on point leader Ben Wandahsega with another strong weekend at Bark River.
Bark River is a high-speed, high-flying Off-Road race track, including the series largest jump, known by all series racers as “The Hill”. Racers in the upper classes of WSORR routinely launch their trucks well over 150’ during race events, sometimes cresting the 200’ mark, putting on a spectacular show for the thousands of fans on spectator hill. The crew at Bark River has been hosting races for over thirty-years, and it has become one of the nation’s premier off-road racing facilities.
Round five started with Dave lined up second from the outside in the land rush start. At Bark River, this typically is a large disadvantage, as the start is angled to give competitors lower in points a better chance to get to turn one first. On this day however, the amazing power from the Wolverine Performance engine was channeled just about perfectly through those Toyo Open Country M/T’s, and Dave pulled an amazing hole-shot in his Bendix® Brakes Chevrolet, clearing the entire pack by a full truck length into turn one. Dave battled with the Monster Energy truck of Keith Steele throughout lap one, eventually putting a small lead on him by the end of lap one. Dave continued to increase this lead on lap two. During lap two, Dave noticed an apparent loss of power, and a change in sound of the engine…of all the things that could go wrong, a plug wire had come loose, and Dave now had his hands full as the rest of the pack started to run him down. Dave continued to battle, but the lack of power and poor running of the engine caused difficulty in cornering, and even in jump entry, as one lap saw disaster nearly strike with the Bendix Brakes truck landing hard on the nose off “The Hill”, nearly rolling end – for – end, and tearing the entire front bumper and grill off the truck. Dave battled on, and still had a chance at a podium finish until the hood panel began to flip up and eliminate any visibility. By the checkers, Dave held the fourth position. A disappointment after a very strong start, but the team was ready to get the truck back in winning form for Sunday.
Sunday’s start did not go as cleanly as Saturday’s, and as often happens at Bark River, Dave was collected in a turn one incident, putting him in the seventh position early in the race. Dave quickly moved up to fifth within the first lap, and then continued to run consistent laps while trying to track down the leaders. The truck ran strong and with one lap remaining Dave made the pass on former class champion Dan Baudoux who had developed steering problems to get the Bendix Brakes/Toyo Tires Super Truck onto the podium in third place.
"Our goal is to hit the podium every race…with at least five or six trucks in our class that can win in any race that is not easy..." commented driver Dave Waldvogel. He continued to say, "...I’d like to thank our sponsors for their great support, as well as some of the other teams for helping us out. We needed an oil cooler after Saturday’s incident, and Case Gunderson’s crew over at RaceFab hooked us up. Then on Saturday night our welder went down, and we were able to borrow one from Mike VandenHeuvel to finish up and get ready for Sunday. All in all it was a tough weekend and I am proud of my crew for the great work they did to keep us on the podium."
Dave held onto the second place in the Super Stock Truck point standings, with the next race to be held on August 11-12 back here in Bark River.
The Waldvogel Off-Road Racing team is sponsored by Bendix® by Honeywell. Bendix® has been a leader in braking technology since 1924. For more information on Bendix® products and where to purchase, visit www.bendixbrakes.com.
June 25, 2007 - Waldvogel Dominates Super Stock in Crandon
The Forest County Potawatomi Brush Run was held over the past weekend at the "Big House" of off-road racing, Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. Hundreds of race teams and thousands of fans visit this small northern Wisconsin town every year in June, marking the beginning of the summer off-road racing season with the roar of raw horsepower.
The Waldvogel Off-Road Racing team came to Crandon with high hopes, after a fair showing in Owatonna, Minnesota back in May. The truck had been serviced from top to bottom. A new power plant from Wolverine Performance and a new transmission from J&H Performance Transmission had been installed in preparation for Crandon, which is known for its high-speed straights and technical turns.
On Saturday, driver Dave Waldvogel pulled the Bendix© Brakes/Toyo Tires truck up to the line for the famous land rush start. At the green flag, all that preparation and setup work led to a killer hole shot, with the Toyo Open Country M/T tires launching the Bendix Brakes truck into the lead going into turn one. Dave held the lead over former champion and current points leader Ben Wandahsega. Dave aired it out lap after lap over the Boss Snowplow jump, wowing the crowd while nearly breaking the long jump record of 165ft with one attempt. At about the midpoint of the race, lapped traffic started to come into play, and Ben was able to pull up to Dave's bumper with only two laps to go. Dave was able to dig down and find just a little more speed during the last two laps, and brought home his first career win in the Super Stock Truck class in only his third race in the division. To say that there was excitement in the Waldvogel cheering section is an understatement.
Saturday's win was a huge step for the entire team, but there was another race to be held on Sunday and the Waldvogel crew worked diligently to prepare the truck for round four. At the start, the Bendix© Brakes/Toyo Tires truck again launched down the straight, this time pulling into second position behind Don Williams, another cagey veteran of the Super Stock class. Dave did not waste time when Don made a slip on lap one in the gravel pit turn, quickly ducking to the inside and claiming the lead while launching over the Boss Snowplow jump. Again, Ben Wandahsega pulled into second place behind Dave, but on this day Dave was smooth as silk, never making that mistake that would allow Ben to make his move. Dave eventually put a small lead on Ben and finished easily in the first position for a weekend sweep of the Super Stock Truck points races in Crandon. It was the first time in Dave?s entire career that he had swept a weekend of racing, in only his second weekend ever competing in the Super Stock Truck division. Dave competed in the Stock Truck class from 2003-2006, accumulating nine wins, with seven of those wins coming in the past two seasons.
On Sunday afternoon, after all the WSORR points races were complete, the 14th annual Forest County Potawatomi Chairman's Cup race was held. This is a big-money shootout race between the Pro-4wd, Pro-2wd, and Super Stock Truck's. The Pro-2wd and Super Stock Trucks (also two-wheel drive) get a handicap start over the Pro-4wd Trucks. Dave entered this race for the first time in his career in a field of seventeen trucks. A missed shift at the green flag kept Dave toward the back of the 2-wheel drive competitors in the beginning of the race. Even with the poor start, Dave soldiered on to an eighth place finish, the last truck on the lead lap. This was good enough for second place among the Super Stock Truck division competitors. Powerhouse driver Carl Renezeder took the win in his Pro-4wd Truck with an exciting last lap pass over Pro-2wd racer Mike Oberg.
After the dust settled, Dave finds himself in the second position in the 2007 WSORR Super Stock Truck season points? battle, a mere eight points out of first place. The next two rounds of racing will bring the WSORR series to the Bark River Off-Road Raceway in Bark River, Michigan on July 14th & 15th. Bark River has a history of making or breaking championship hopes, and finishing races will be the first order of business for the Waldvogel Off-Road Racing team. Come out and see if rookie Super Stock driver Dave Waldvogel can keep his winning streak alive in Bark River!
Waldvogel Racing is sponsored by Bendix® by Honeywell, a division of Honeywell International. The Bendix® brand has been a leader in automotive braking technology since 1924.
For the latest information on Bendix® brake products and where to purchase, visit www.bendixbrakes.com. Other sponsors of Waldvogel Racing include Toyo Tires, Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants, Fox Racing Shocks, Allied Wheel Components, MSD Ignition, Phlox Auto, Fram, Prestone, and Autolite.