Osceola, Arkansas (01/27/11) - Travis Senter Jr. has always faced a host of formidable opponents when he's headed "Down Under" to Australia to compete, but the 2010/2011 Oval Express Formula 500 Super Series proved to be the toughest he's ever encountered. Despite a talented group of foes and more than his fair share of bad luck, the American driver claimed an impressive, third Oval Express Formula 500 Super Series Championship!
In his two previous ventures to Australia, Senter Jr. was nothing short of spectacular with six wins and twelve top five finishes in thirteen starts.
After missing last season's series due to family commitments, Travis Senter Jr. returned to Australia with a plan of taking three series victories in three appearances on Australian soil. Teaming up once again with his good friend, Steve Caunt, the familiar USA22 started slowly with a 6th and 9th place finish in the opening two rounds of the series. Travis's first podium appearance occurred in round #3 at Sungold Stadium, Warrnambool on New Year's Day.
Travis looked to have a good shot at his first win in Round #4 at Laang Speedway as he lined up on the front row alongside fellow American, Jake Hagopian. However, contact between the two drivers in turn 2 saw Senter Jr. slam the concrete wall and flip bringing his night to a disappointing early end, which dug him a hole in the standings.
Round #5 at Simpson saw Senter Jr. bounce back from the previous night's mishap to miss out on the podium by one position with a 5th place finish. The next night at Mid Western Speedway, Darlington, the talented driver sped his way to victory lane for the first time in the series, and in what would prove to be his only victory in the 2010/2011 edition of the series. After trailing Hagopian in the standings during the first four rounds, bad luck struck Hagopian with an engine failure in Round #5. Senter Jr. took command of the lead and never would relinquish the top spot again.
Travis's next visit to the podium occurred at Round #7 at Borderline Raceway, when he finished 4th behind Trevor Harding Jr, Hagopian and Chad Sullivan. Going into the final round Senter Jr. held a slender twelve point advantage over Charlie Brown. In the final event Travis only needed to finish ahead of Brown to clinch the series title. The final result at Sungold Stadium saw Senter Jr. finish in the 4th position, just behind Brown. The performance was adequate to allow Travis to claim the Championship, which was his third.
Travis acknowledges that the Australian competition has become much tougher. "I will say the Aussies have stepped up their game and were much better prepared this time. I also struggled finding a handle on the race car. We changed things everyday looking for combinations that would work. The main thing that I stress each time is that you must be consistently fast to win this series, since heat race's and feature races count toward the total points, so even a dropped heat race is almost a death penalty in this series. I had good runs in nearly every heat, and had just good enough feature finishes to win my 3rd Oval Express Series title."
Senter goes on to note, "It was a lot of hard work, and very nerve racking there at the end because the point's race was tight. I almost wrote it off after I got wrecked during the feature in Round #4 at Laang. Then the very next night (at Simpson) the entire top five in points (I was sixth at the time), had problems either making the feature or finishing the feature. By the end of the series I was just watching after the car trying to finish each and every race."
2010/2011 Oval Express Formula 500 Super Series Finishes
Round/Track/Location/Date/Finish
Round 1: Western Speedway, Hamilton- December 30th, 2010 - 6th
Round 2: Avalon Raceway- December 31st, 2010 - 9th
Round 3: Sungold Stadium, Warrnambool- January 1st, 2011 - 4th
Round 4: Laang Speedway- January 2nd, 2011 - 20th
Round 5: Simpson Speedway- January 4th, 2011 - 4th
Round 6: Mid Western Speedway, Darlington- January 5th, 2011 - 1st
Round 7: Borderline Raceway, Mt Gambier- January 7th, 2011 - 4th
Round 8: Sungold Stadium, Warrnambool- January 9th, 2011 (Grand Final) - 4th
Travis has a long list of people that he would like to thank. Steve Caunt, and his family provided incredible support, giving Senter Jr. a great race car to drive, and providing all the equipment and supplies needed to get the results. Greg Wickham, Ralph Wren, Jason Priolo, and Tory Evans were a top notch crew and helping with anything needed along the way. Senter Jr. would also like to thank Oval Express Magazine for sponsoring the series and for their support of this division. Rocket Industries stepped up in a big way by sponsoring the grand prize for the series, which was a XXX 600 Frame and Body kit. In addition, Senter Jr. would like to acknowledge Victorian Formula 500 Association for organizing the great series.
Last, but definitely not least, Travis thanks his good buddy, Peter Wickham, who was tragically killed just two months before Senter Jr. arrived in Australia. Travis comments, "Pete was instrumental in my previous two triumphs down-under and I know somehow he was looking out for me."
Travis Senter Jr. would also like to thank all of his sponsors, who made this trip possible, including Stallard Chassis,FTZ Engines, Accurate Machine Works , Keizer Wheels, Holthouse Farms, Xtreme Graphics, Fire Service Plus, ARS Shocks, Killer Coatings, Speedway Motors , Clayton’s Body Shop, Perry Farms, Senter and Son’s Gin, motorstands.com,Stren Flex , Intense Fabrication , Mettec Bolts, RaceBumpers.com, Ringers Gloves , ButlerBuilt Seats, Braille Batteries,Saldana Race Products, Conroy Pneu Control , Indico Pty Ltd , Raceseng Design , Indy Race Parts, Xtreme Fuel Stick, and MSRMafia.com Marketing Services.
For more information on Travis Senter Jr., please visit www.TravisSenter.com .
In his two previous ventures to Australia, Senter Jr. was nothing short of spectacular with six wins and twelve top five finishes in thirteen starts.
After missing last season's series due to family commitments, Travis Senter Jr. returned to Australia with a plan of taking three series victories in three appearances on Australian soil. Teaming up once again with his good friend, Steve Caunt, the familiar USA22 started slowly with a 6th and 9th place finish in the opening two rounds of the series. Travis's first podium appearance occurred in round #3 at Sungold Stadium, Warrnambool on New Year's Day.
Travis looked to have a good shot at his first win in Round #4 at Laang Speedway as he lined up on the front row alongside fellow American, Jake Hagopian. However, contact between the two drivers in turn 2 saw Senter Jr. slam the concrete wall and flip bringing his night to a disappointing early end, which dug him a hole in the standings.
Round #5 at Simpson saw Senter Jr. bounce back from the previous night's mishap to miss out on the podium by one position with a 5th place finish. The next night at Mid Western Speedway, Darlington, the talented driver sped his way to victory lane for the first time in the series, and in what would prove to be his only victory in the 2010/2011 edition of the series. After trailing Hagopian in the standings during the first four rounds, bad luck struck Hagopian with an engine failure in Round #5. Senter Jr. took command of the lead and never would relinquish the top spot again.
Travis's next visit to the podium occurred at Round #7 at Borderline Raceway, when he finished 4th behind Trevor Harding Jr, Hagopian and Chad Sullivan. Going into the final round Senter Jr. held a slender twelve point advantage over Charlie Brown. In the final event Travis only needed to finish ahead of Brown to clinch the series title. The final result at Sungold Stadium saw Senter Jr. finish in the 4th position, just behind Brown. The performance was adequate to allow Travis to claim the Championship, which was his third.
Travis acknowledges that the Australian competition has become much tougher. "I will say the Aussies have stepped up their game and were much better prepared this time. I also struggled finding a handle on the race car. We changed things everyday looking for combinations that would work. The main thing that I stress each time is that you must be consistently fast to win this series, since heat race's and feature races count toward the total points, so even a dropped heat race is almost a death penalty in this series. I had good runs in nearly every heat, and had just good enough feature finishes to win my 3rd Oval Express Series title."
Senter goes on to note, "It was a lot of hard work, and very nerve racking there at the end because the point's race was tight. I almost wrote it off after I got wrecked during the feature in Round #4 at Laang. Then the very next night (at Simpson) the entire top five in points (I was sixth at the time), had problems either making the feature or finishing the feature. By the end of the series I was just watching after the car trying to finish each and every race."
2010/2011 Oval Express Formula 500 Super Series Finishes
Round/Track/Location/Date/Finish
Round 1: Western Speedway, Hamilton- December 30th, 2010 - 6th
Round 2: Avalon Raceway- December 31st, 2010 - 9th
Round 3: Sungold Stadium, Warrnambool- January 1st, 2011 - 4th
Round 4: Laang Speedway- January 2nd, 2011 - 20th
Round 5: Simpson Speedway- January 4th, 2011 - 4th
Round 6: Mid Western Speedway, Darlington- January 5th, 2011 - 1st
Round 7: Borderline Raceway, Mt Gambier- January 7th, 2011 - 4th
Round 8: Sungold Stadium, Warrnambool- January 9th, 2011 (Grand Final) - 4th
Travis has a long list of people that he would like to thank. Steve Caunt, and his family provided incredible support, giving Senter Jr. a great race car to drive, and providing all the equipment and supplies needed to get the results. Greg Wickham, Ralph Wren, Jason Priolo, and Tory Evans were a top notch crew and helping with anything needed along the way. Senter Jr. would also like to thank Oval Express Magazine for sponsoring the series and for their support of this division. Rocket Industries stepped up in a big way by sponsoring the grand prize for the series, which was a XXX 600 Frame and Body kit. In addition, Senter Jr. would like to acknowledge Victorian Formula 500 Association for organizing the great series.
Last, but definitely not least, Travis thanks his good buddy, Peter Wickham, who was tragically killed just two months before Senter Jr. arrived in Australia. Travis comments, "Pete was instrumental in my previous two triumphs down-under and I know somehow he was looking out for me."
Travis Senter Jr. would also like to thank all of his sponsors, who made this trip possible, including Stallard Chassis,FTZ Engines, Accurate Machine Works , Keizer Wheels, Holthouse Farms, Xtreme Graphics, Fire Service Plus, ARS Shocks, Killer Coatings, Speedway Motors , Clayton’s Body Shop, Perry Farms, Senter and Son’s Gin, motorstands.com,Stren Flex , Intense Fabrication , Mettec Bolts, RaceBumpers.com, Ringers Gloves , ButlerBuilt Seats, Braille Batteries,Saldana Race Products, Conroy Pneu Control , Indico Pty Ltd , Raceseng Design , Indy Race Parts, Xtreme Fuel Stick, and MSRMafia.com Marketing Services.
For more information on Travis Senter Jr., please visit www.TravisSenter.com .
