Doug Sutton is the Canadian Off-Road racing starter in Baja California
It was a good day at the track followed by a bad day for Paris’ Travis Dinsmore.
The local 20-year-old won the 1-2 1600 Buggy series class in front of a hometown crowd at the Paris Fairgrounds on Saturday. He finished in second place following heat action, but won the 10-lap feature event. Luck wasn’t on his side Sunday. After a broken shock in the front suspension during the heats, Travis’ crew worked diligently to repair the car for the main event. Travis led six of the 10 laps before blowing a right rear tire. Despite the unfortunate turn of events, Travis still leads the Paris Off Road Race Series in points.
Saturday and Sunday’s Off Road Race Series also featured talent from the Class 10 Unlimited Buggies series, the Class 7 Four Cylinder Trucks (including a special ladies’ race) and the Class 4 Open Modified Trucks. ATV side-by-side mud races put a show on the track, despite three feet of water.
The founder of off-road racing in Canada, Doug Sutton, attended the races. He participated in the 1967 Baja 1000 in Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. This was the second of four appearances in Paris for the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
Travis, who is sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, is heading to Michigan this weekend to compete in the USAC Tork Series. “This race is like going from Flamboro to Daytona. It’s very, very competitive with 30 some cars on the field,” said Dad Greg Dinsmore, who is also the promoter for the off-road series in Paris. “These are big-budget buggies but we made it to eighth last year. We hope to run in the top five this year, but Travis says he wants to win.”
The 20-year-old Paris driver is fresh off a dream season in 2008 where he was tripled crowned for collecting the most overall points and most points in the 1-2 1600 Buggy Series and Class 10 Unlimited Buggy Series. He also plans to run one more American race on Labor Day weekend in Crandon Wisconsin.