With the 2021 Stadium Super Trucks season opener at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg less than a week away, Robert Stout has thrown his hat into the ring of championship hopefuls. On Monday, Stout announced he will run the full 2021 SST schedule in the #28 truck with sponsorship from Lucas Oil, Continental Tire, Fatheadz Eyewear, Impact Race Products, and The Skinny with Rico & Ken podcast.
In 2019, Stout won the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) Production 1000 UTV championship a year after receiving class Rookie of the Year honours.
“I was very fortunate to compete in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, much less win the championship,” Stout stated. “It was an incredible series filled with talent that we were all sad to see go but now I’ll lean on some of the skills learned in that series to compete against some incredibly talented drivers like Robby Gordon, Sheldon Creed, and Matt Brabham, to mention a few.”
Much of Stout’s career has been spent in sports cars, which includes regional and national titles in the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) and Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) before moving up to the Pirelli World Challenge, Rolex Sports Car Series, and other IMSA series. Since 2017, he has regularly competed in the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup with four total wins and a best points finish of third in 2017 and 2019. His 2020 campaign saw him finish sixth in the standings.
Like SST, the MX-5 Cup frequently races in support of the NTT IndyCar Series which will include the upcoming weekend at St. Petersburg. The street circuit served as the MX-5 Cup’s season finale in 2020, where Stout finished fourth and fourteenth in two races.
“I’ve competed in a number of IndyCar support series over the years so adding SST to the list just seemed to make sense,” he added. “The trucks put on such a great show and the exposure the series receives is a great return for our partners. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity and more importantly, ready to go racing!”
The son of racing broadcaster Ken Stout, the younger Stout’s résumé also includes asphalt sprint cars. In 2015, he won Rookie of the Year in the King of the Wing 880 HP division, a series founded by former IndyCar and SST driver Davey Hamilton. Hamilton’s son Davey Jr., who has also competed in SST, was Stout’s team-mate that year.
“We’re very excited to have Stout join us for the full season,” Gordon said. “He’s had success in both short course off-road and sports car racing on the very tracks we’re competing at. He’s a great fit for our series.”
Continental Tire joined SST as a tyre supplier in 2019 and fields its own truck that Creed will pilot at St. Petersburg. Lucas Oil, Fatheadz, and Impact have worked with Stout for over a decade.
“(Continental director of marketing) Travis Roffler is a long-time friend and we’ve worked shoulder to shoulder for years but it was still a last minute surprise to get the call from him to run the entire season in one of their trucks,” Stout commented. “It’s a perfect fit for me as Continental Tire is also a Team Lucas sponsor so we were able to keep it all in the family.
“I’m very proud of the long lasting relationship we’ve had with Lucas Oil Products. They’ve been behind me since day one and we’ve been able to deliver them three national championships along the way. We will proudly fly the Lucas Oil red, white, and blue colors throughout the season. They have great products they stand behind and support our industry.”
While the Australian counterpart began its year this past weekend, the American SST season will kick off on 23–25 April at St. Petersburg; it will be the series’ first weekend at the street course since 2017. Other drivers confirmed for the weekend so far include Gordon, Brabham, Creed, Bill Hynes, and Jett Noland.
