It’s always a dark day when you hear that a quality racing series has been banned. In this very unfortunate case, it just so happens to be what I consider to be the purest of all racing series: Stadium Super Trucks. Please spare a thought for Robby Gordon & Co.
Essentially, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport just isn’t having it anymore. While also racing in the United States, Stadium Super Trucks is largely an Australian series, a popular support for Supercars since their introduction in 2015. But The Powers That Be have been taking a closer look at the sport and have decided, uh, this is probably too dangerous for us to keep endorsing.
Which is understandable. I’m not going to be the one to complain about things being made safer for drivers and fans alike. In all honesty, it’s probably about time someone looked at Stadium Super Trucks and said, “hey, maybe launching trucks through the air and potentially over the catch fencing is probably not a great idea!” But that does not mean I can’t be sad to see it go.
Super Trucks has proved that it can be pretty dangerous. This year in Perth, a stray tire from one of the trucks struck a fan bridge. In 2016, driver Matt Mingay sustained horrific injuries in a crash at Detroit’s Belle Isle circuit, including losing his jaw. No fans have been injured and no one has died, but for CAMS, it seems like it’s not a matter of if it could happen, but when.
It’s not the first time Stadium Super Trucks has been in hot water with CAMS. Ol’ Robby Gordon was heavily fined by police after doing a burnout in downtown Darwin, which CAMS followed up with a racing ban that was only lifted after Gordon apologized and donated $10,000 to the Australian Road Safety Foundation.
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No matter how dire this situation sounds, it’s not all bad. A spokesperson from CAMS told Motorsport.com that “the door is not 100 percent closed” on the series making a comeback. SST is probably going to have to restructure the way they run things, including a hell of a lot of safety improvements, but there’s still a chance they, like Gordon, could make a comeback.
And SST is still a thing here in the United States. The high-flying trucks have been competing ahead of IndyCar events for the past few years, and there’s currently no indication that anyone in the US is looking to slap a ban on what is probably the most hilariously fun and primal racing series you can get outside of a dirt track.
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