Minneapolis TRV Review

TRV's Schroeder and Volk Finish What and Where They Started Sunday in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS, June 28 - Toledo, Ohio's TRV Motorsport team and drivers Jeret Schroeder and Tom Volk finished the USRRC portion of Sunday's Sprint PCS Grand Prix of Minnesota exactly where they started: eighth overall and fifth in the Can-Am class.

Their Supreme Exhaust System Products/Purity Farms/Summit Packaging Chevy Kudzu circled the 1.6-mile temporary street course in downtown Minneapolis 75 times in the one-hour, 45-minute enduro.

Schroeder, of Vineland, N.J., was at the wheel for the start and he made it a good one, jumping into sixth overall and fourth in class on the first lap.

"There was room on the outside in the braking zone through turn one, which put me in a good position coming out of the chicane and I was able to pass them," Schroeder said.

The more powerful cars were able to catch up though, and 10 laps into the contest he was seventh overall and fifth in Can-Am.

Doc Bundy and Johnny O'Connell's Riley & Scott car spun on lap 31 to advance the TRV troope into sixth overall, but still fifth in Can-Am. The Riley & Scott pitted and resumed the hunt moments later, passing Schroeder on lap 37 to push him back to seventh overall and fifth in Can-Am.

Pit stops were then the name of the game. Volk took over for the rest of the race and the Blissfield, Mich.-based driver kept things progressing smoothly, taking the checkered eighth overall and fifth in Can-Am.

"The car ran great," Schroeder said. "It was hot out there, but the race was just a matter of endurance."

"The car ran fine; it was slippery out there though; that's all I can say," concurred Volk. "Jeret's fastest lap was a 1:19.765 [an average speed of 72.212 mph], which was faster than we ran in qualifying.

"There were no yellows to speak of, nobody broke, and the lap times varied based on traffic," Volk added. "We were very consistent, which was good."

The event was won by England's James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger of State College, Pa.

Volk praised the TRV Motorsport crew for the ingenuity they showed during the event, not only with the car but also with their equipment.

"About five minutes into the race they discovered that the fuel hose in the pits had a crack in it," he related. "We think it had gotten run over accidentally, but it was definitely cracked and fuel was running out into the pits. Our one and only pit stop was scheduled for about 40 minutes later, so they had about 40 minutes to figure out what to do about it.

"They ended up sawing off a piece of awning support from our tent back at the trailer in the paddock to create a splint for the fuel hose," Volk continued. "They came back into the pits then and cut off the leaking part and spliced it. They made it with about 10 minutes to spare before our pit stop, and saved the day once again."

The event benefited the Children's Cancer Fund and the Minneapolis Children's Hospital. Although figures won't be released for months, an estimated $300,000 was raised.

Schroeder and Volk visited with some of the children at the hospital on Friday as part of the pre-race activities. Schroeder's father, Bill, is originally from Wells, Minn., and his mother was raised in Eagle Lake.