Truck racing group born

A major truck parts manufacturer and several individuals with extensive racing experience announced the formation of a new Class 8 truck racing association during the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky.

The Super Truck Racing Association of North America will return Class 8 truck racing to U.S. markets. Brian Till, STRANA’s executive director, says the new venture will offer the industry a platform to “showcase everything good about [trucking] from original equipment manufacturers to carriers.”

Till says German truck parts manufacturer ZF will be the association’s first sponsor. The association hopes to host its first race in the summer of 2002, but much must still be decided, including race tracks, rules, truck designs, drivers and additional sponsors.

While some exhibition races have been run over the past 10 years, no formal association or league has existed in the United States since the early 1990s, when the Great American Truck Racing series dissolved. For much of the past 10 years, Class 8 truck racing has existed in two forms in the States – at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb once a year in Colorado, and at drag strips across the United States.

– Sean Kelley