Crandon up Next for Mopar Ram Drivers in the Traxxas TORC Series

CC | June 17, 2011

Team Mopar® and Ram drivers Samuel Hübinette and Rob MacCachren will look to continue their early season dominance in the Traxxas TORC Series, while Ricky Johnson will chase his first win, as the Mopar-powered TORC stars prepare to invade Crandon International Off-Road Raceway in Crandon, Wis., June 17–19, for the track’s annual “Brush Run.” The event will mark Rounds Three and Four for the series and will be the first of two separate visits to the historic venue for TORC in 2011.

The TORC season kicked off at RedBud MX in Buchanan, Mich. over Memorial Day weekend, with Mother Nature playing a big part at the event. Record rainfall leading up to the races left the track muddy and challenging for both drivers and series officials.

Hübinette swept the opening two rounds in PRO Light at RedBud in his TORC debut aboard his Mopar Ram Truck, with just seven laps of testing under his belt. Hübinette, a two-time Formula DRIFT (FD) champion, came from 17th on the grid — dead last — to pick up the win in his first-ever TORC start. He followed up with another victory in the Second Round at RedBud.

“I am very excited to get back in the Mopar Ram truck,” said Hübinette, who had a brief test session at Crandon prior to the season opener. “Crandon is a historic race track and one of the fastest out there. That’s going to be a tough one for sure. A lot of guys are pumped up now to go out there and try to school me. I can’t wait to get back on the dirt. I got a good taste of it at RedBud and am very happy to be part of the Jenkins Brothers Racing team with Mopar and Ram.”

Hübinette is the current leader in PRO Light standings by 16 markers over Casey Currie. “The Crazy Swede” is the only driver in the division that has finished on the podium in both rounds to open the 2011 campaign. Following the TORC event, Hübinette competed with the Formula DRIFT series at Palm Beach International Raceway in Florida.

“It’s really not that big of an adjustment,” noted the veteran racer of competing in two vastly different types of vehicles. “It was good to have the Formula DRIFT race in between, so that I was racing and able to stay sharp. We didn’t do quite as well as wanted in Florida, but that’s behind us and we are looking forward to getting to Crandon.”

MacCachren took his Mopar Ram to Victory Lane in PRO 2 at RedBud in the Second Round of the TORC season, after the opener fell to rain and inclement weather. The off-road veteran claimed the title in PRO 2 during the inaugural 2009 TORC season and is the current points leader. The Las Vegas native is a former three-time winner of the AMSOIL Cup World Championship at Crandon and also has reached the top of the podium in the “Brush Run” at the track on three occasions.

Ricky Johnson finished second in Round Two in PRO 4 aboard his Mopar-powered Ram, after Mother Nature was victorious in the opener. Johnson, one of the drivers that helped form the TORC series back in 2009, is the defending champion in PRO 2. He was victorious at Crandon in the “Brush Run” in 2009.

Bryce Menzies, recent winner of the Baja 500, will compete in his Mopar Ram in the PRO 2. Hübinette’s Jenkins Brothers Racing PRO Light teammate Andrew Caddell, who finished on the podium in Round Two at RedBud, will be in action aboard a Mopar-powered Ram Truck and Luke Johnson, Ricky Johnson’s son, is ready to rumble as well in the PRO Light class.

Action will kick off at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway on Friday, June 17 with qualifying in PRO Light, PRO 2 and PRO 4, followed by full racing on Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19. For more information on the Traxxas TORC Series, visitwww.torcseries.com.

Mopar-First Features

Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:

• Camper trailers: first to introduce off-road camper trailers
• Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with consumers
• Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format
• Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with a new interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
• 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car
• Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
• WiTECH: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network

About the Mopar Brand
Mopar is Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand.

Mopar distributes approximately 280,000 parts and accessories in more than 90 countries and is the source for all original-equipment parts for Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge and Ram vehicles. Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles — a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at http://www.mopar.com.

More than 70 Years of Mopar

When Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the need for a dedicated parts manufacturer, supplier and distribution system to support the growing enterprise led to the formation of the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation (CMPC) in 1929.

Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. It also was widely used as a moniker for the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s — the muscle-car era. The Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “special parts” for super-stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use.