Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Race weekend: Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks

For someone who has never been to a Detroit Grand Prix, seeing these specialized off-road trucks racing on a road course can be a bit confusing. However, these Stadium Super Trucks follow the INDY car series to many events.

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The trucks are a completely tubular-chassis construction, sharing little to no part of the trucks they might resemble.

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These trucks have long travel suspension with what looks like more than 20" of travel, enabling them to jump off of these ramps, roughly 3 feet tall, and land as soft as if they landed on an air cushion.

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The sounds you hear from these trucks is immense, as they are powered by what looks like GM LS-based V8 engines, and equipped with extremely short exhaust plumbing.

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The nature of the suspension gives the car some interesting characteristics in the corners. Letting off of the throttle causes the back end to go light, enabling the tail to slide around a bit, and often results in a little bit of inside front wheel liftoff.

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On corner exit, when the driver gets back onto the throttle, the torque, combined with a lack of sway bars, and very soft, long-travel suspension, the inside front wheel can pick up considerably. This truck has about a foot of air between the left front tire and the ground.

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While these trucks were relatively slow, when compared to the other cars racing that weekend, they were still reasonably quick.

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You can see the rear end squat down under throttle pretty well on Belle Isle's back stretch, too.

Be sure to check back often for more content. I've got a big backlog of content to post, and continue to build up a backlog as summer events happen.

So stay tuned, and please, remember to follow me here, and on my social media pages.

-Phil