Jenkins Brothers Racing

TORC Rounds 3 and 4: Mike Jenkins Shreds Perris Auto
Speedway In No-Holds-Barred Pro 4x4 Battle

Perris, CA (May 29, 30)—Jenkins Brothers Racing unleashed full-throttle fury on the Perris Auto Speedway for Rounds 3 and 4 of THE Traxxas Off-Road Championship Series (TORC), sending fans to their feet with racing action that was so close just fractions of a second separated the competition. Mike Jenkins put in his most aggressive driving performance to date in wheel-to-wheel combat for Pro 4X4 supremacy, and brother Mark Jenkins turned up the action with incredible passes and strong lap times. Perris Auto Speedway (PAS) converted its half-mile oval to a brutal short-course track that challenged drivers with its tight, technical layout.

Mike Jenkins: Pro 4X4
In Friday night's Pro 4X4 event, Traxxas' Mike Jenkins turned his inner demon loose and laid down his most aggressive driving performance of the season. Starting from the back, Mike quickly got past Kyle LeDuc, and began an aggressive charge on the now 3-time winner Rick Huseman. With the pressure on, Rick opened the door when he was spun near the halfway point of the 20-lap race. The hard-charging Huseman then came back quickly to re-pass Jenkins, even putting his Monster Energy/Traxxas truck on two wheels to do so. Immediately after making the pass, Mike regained his position and added another as Rick slowed to avoid Curt LeDuc, who spun out after making contact with Adrian Cenni in turn five. The yellow flag signaled the mid-race mandatory caution, with Mike's Traxxas Pro 4X4 in fifth place ahead of Rick Huseman and Kyle LeDuc (Curt LeDuc was out of the race after his contact with Cenni). Mike Jenkins, determined not to give up a position, stuck to the fast line and kept the throttle pinned to keep the No. 47 Traxxas truck ahead of Huseman. The close racing kept the crowd on their feet until the final lap of the race when Mike's front driveshaft came apart, unable to survive Mike's merciless assault on the track. During the race between Jenkins and Huseman, more attrition on the track created an opportunity for Mike to land a spot on the podium if the #47 truck had not failed. Mike was pleased with the race nonetheless. "The truck worked great. The BFGoodrich tires were hooked up, and we had a good suspension setup with King Shocks. We just kept taking spots. But as I came off that tabletop and took the next jump, I tossed it into second and turned it in to get the truck landed and in position, it bound up and threw out the right front output shaft. I tried to stay in it, but it just pushed out to the wall. I thought I could get it back out there, but the upper suspension arm was broken. We were done. It was a good race. It would have been a lot better to get in that last lap though."

Mark Jenkins: Pro 2WD
In Pro 2WD action, Traxxas' Mark Jenkins started in seventh position in Round 3, and immediately started to move up in the field, yielding only one position to Evan Evans after the start. Evans soon spun out; bringing himself and Mark Jenkins to a dead stop that permitted the rest of the field to pass. Mark pulled out all the stops to get No. 25 back in the race, quickly reeling in Dan Baudoux and lining up on Doug Fortin. The mandatory mid-race caution gave Mark the chance to close up on the field. At the green flag, Mark held his position until third-place driver Jeremy McGrath spun out and dropped to last which allowed Mark to get around Fortin in the fray. Scott Taylor and Mike Oberg became Mark's next targets. Taylor left the door open for Mark to execute a tough inside pass in turn four with some shoulder-to-shoulder contact along the way. Now the full-throttle chase was on to catch Oberg. Mark made the pass inside of Oberg just before the straight, but Oberg, in an attempt to defend his position, moved to the inside and made contact with Mark's right rear quarter. The contact resulted in a spin and rear suspension damage that took the competitive edge out of Mark's truck, sidelining his attempts to progress further up in the field.

In Round 4, Mark started tenth in a strong truck that quickly reeled in Mike Oberg but was set back later by a spin in turn two. Mark pushed on keeping pace but was unable to move up before the mid-race mandatory caution. Back under green-flag racing, Mark took advantage of an opportunity when a tangle in turn four let Mark advance three positions, picking off Greg Adler, Todd LeDuc, and Evan Evans. Within the next two laps, Mark used the momentum to put Doug Fortin behind him as well. Racing paused for a caution on the track, and as the green flag signaled the return to racing, Mark maintained his lead over Adler, LeDuc, and Evans. Adler slipped beneath Mark on the next lap pushing him back to eighth. Just as quickly, Mark moved back up to seventh by passing Mike Oberg, only to lose a position to Evan Evans. The close racing action continued when Mark used a traffic jam in turn two that bunched up the field allowing Mark to rip past Evan Evans and Scott Taylor to occupy sixth place. Taylor took his position back in turn one, and the battle was on as Taylor, Jenkins, and Evans duked it out, with Mike Oberg in the wings looking for an opening to get through. In the end though, Mark would not be rewarded for his perseverance and forceful driving efforts as a spin on the dry, slick surface of turn one, on the final lap, caused him to lose position with no time to recover. In the final analysis, Mark still finished one spot ahead of where he started and his fastest laps compared well with the best of the Pro 2WD field. The expectations are running high for a strong performance at The Big House in Crandon starting June 20th.

Rounds 3 and 4 of THE Traxxas Off-Road Championship will air on June 7, 5pm-6pm Eastern on ABC. For the full racing and television coverage schedule, visit TORCseries.com.

The next stop for the Traxxas TORC Series is in Crandon, WI June 20-21. Get advance tickets at TORCseries.com.

For more information about Traxxas, The Fastest Name In Radio Control®, visit Traxxas.com.