Nobody Was Faster Than The Monster/Pflueger
Racing Truck @ This Past Weekend’s
SCORE Terrible’s Cup!
Driver Alan Pflueger hammers the
competition on Friday night, going
1-1 in the heat and main, but
unfortunate circumstances on Sat.
negate the sweep
CORONA, Calif., (July 24, 2007) –
There was
one standout ride on at the third
annual Vegas Terrible’s Cup III,
round four of the 2007 SCORE
International Off Road Series -
Monster Energy-backed Alan Pflueger
and his incredibly fast short course
Trophy Truck.
Pflueger and the Monster Energy/Pflueger
Racing Team so dominated the
competition on Friday – winning the
heat race and the evening feature –
that Saturday’s race looked to be in
the bag as far as driver and team
was concerned.
“After winning both races on Friday
night we were really excited about
our prospects heading into
Saturday’s races,” said Pflueger.
“Clearly our vehicle was the one to
beat.”
Saturday’s heat race started out
well enough with Pflueger – who was
on the pole - battling fellow
Monster Energy-backed driver Travis
Coyne for the holeshot. Coyne
managed to get the nod heading into
the first turn, but was quickly
passed by Pflueger when he drifted
ever so slightly wide on Turn Two.
The Hawaiian then began to put
distance between himself and the
rest of the field (an estimated 15
truck lengths), like he had on
Friday, and for all intents and
purposes began to check out for a
third time in three races
Then the first of two Saturday
disasters would strike.
“I took a corner too close with a
big lead and that was the end of the
story,” said Pflueger, who bicycled
the truck bumper-over-bumper and out
of Saturday’s heat race. “Driver
error,” he added.
Undaunted, the Monster Energy/Pflueger
Racing Team got the wounded Trophy
Truck back to the pits and began
thrashing on the truck like there
was no tomorrow. In the searing
summer desert heat at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway and in front of
thousands of curious onlookers the
popular Trophy Truck began to
re-take its shape the same shape it
enjoyed when the team arrived in
Vegas earlier in the week. And the
fans that patiently watch were, of
course, treated to a nice, cold
Monster Energy drink – courtesy of
Monster’s Phoenix Sample Team!
“I’ve got to hand it to the Monster
Energy/Pflueger team, they really
had to crank to get the truck
rolling again and back into
Saturday’s main event,” said
Pflueger Racing’s Mike Emerson,
navigator for Alan Pflueger. “From
replacing the body work,
straightening the frame and changing
out the oil and tranny fluid to make
sure everything was ‘OK’ with our
new Kroyer Racing Engine – under
immense pressure in the mid day heat
- both Alan and I were pumped with
the way the team came together."
Eager to get back at it, Pflueger
got a fairly descent gate pick for
Saturday’s main – based on how well
he’d run up to the point of the heat
race crash. Starting 5th,
Pflueger had just got the Monster
Energy Trophy Truck up to speed when
a bottleneck occurred with several
trucks halfway through the first lap
of the 1.5 mile course. When the
dust cleared Pflueger found himself
atop a giant tractor tire used for a
boundary marker on the course.
So in a matter of a half a lap he
went from challenging for the lead
to dead last.
“By the time we were finally able to
get Alan freed to rock and roll
again, the race was already
decided,” said Emerson. “He (Pflueger)
did manage to move from last (19th)
up to 13th and salvage
some valuable championship points on
the weekend.” Noteworthy: Pflueger
and Larry Ragland (Collins
Motorsports) are tied for 3rd
overall in the SCORE Trophy Truck
points with 264 each.
“Things just didn’t go the way we’d
have liked on the second day,” said
Pflueger. “But sometimes that’s just
the way the tire rolls.”
Next up for Pflueger and the rest of
the Monster Energy/Pflueger Racing
Team is the Sept. 8th
running of the SCORE Las Vegas Primm
300.
Monster Energy supports the sport.
Be it road racing, MX, supermoto,
off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, off-road,
surf, snow, BMX – name it – the
athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy
more than anything these days. Check
out all the types – Original Monster
Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster
Assault, Monster Khaos, the new
Monster/fruit juice hybrid called
“M-80” and the ground-breaking Java
Monster premium coffee & cream
supercharged with our Monster Energy
blend. Alan Pflueger digs ‘em – so
will you. On the ‘Net at
www.monsterenergy.com
August 13, 2007
