Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/472327
58 | Overdrive | March 2015 CUSTOM RIGS ticipation. One of the four founding partners of the series, Bruce Ha- nusosky of Bruce Transporters, oper- ates a million-square-foot fabrication shop in Painesville, Ohio, that builds ChampTruck's stock racers. The series itself buys them and transforms them into race trucks, which then are either sold to race teams who want a truck or leased to competitors who want to do "an ar- rive and drive," Condren says. Hanusosky also can build racers for competitors who supply their own trucks. Or he can aid teams who build their own, as he did with adding the required safety equipment for Boles and Morgan. ChampTruck also owns and maintains three trucks built by Hanusosky, available for lease during the 2015 season. The ChampTruck idea sprouted when Condren visited a Truck Race Organization race in Europe a few years ago. Condren, a longtime motorsports enthusiast who's been involved in racing in some form for 45 years, struck up a friendship with TRO owner and operator Fabien Calvet. The two eventually developed blue- prints for ChampTruck. They added partners Hanusosky and Mike Ryan, a truck racer and stunt truck and car driver. Ryan says the series will be a great avenue to promote trucking advo- cacy and for outreach groups to gain exposure. "It will give the industry the chance to talk to the general public – specta- tors and fans – and be eff ective in getting some of its messages across," he says. The series also off ers a one-of-a- kind experience for race fans, Ryan says. "It's amazing to see them out on the track because they're huge and they're coming at you fast." The supporting French Cup series acts as a development league for the Truck Race Organization series. Here, French Cup racers await entry to the Le Mans track to compete between the TRO races. Catch video of European races on OverdriveOnline.com Visit OverdriveOnline.com/champtruck to see videos of European truck races in action, along with more photos and stories about the upcoming ChampTruck series.