Greg "Stumpy" Steltenpohl continued his climb to the top of the CCS Midwest region at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit, Illinois May 8 and 9. On the #256 Honda 600rr, Stumpy was back on the podium and in the top five in three other events as well as several top ten finishes.

Stumpy's best finish was third place in the 30 minute GTO endurance race. He battled for the third place spot with Anthony Connor on a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 for the entire race until Connor crashed out on the last lap. “It was a fun race,” said Stumpy. “Anthony and I were having a blast and really pushing each other. It’s too bad it ended for him the way it did as I wanted to go to the checkered flag right beside him.” Earlier that day, Stumpy rode up to 6th place in the 30 minute GTU endurance race after being down in the 11th place spot.

Saturday Stumpy started the day with a 5th place in the Middleweight Superbike race as he stayed with the lead pack of Shaun Conrad, Montez Stewart, Jeff Purk and SuperDave Rosno. “It felt like a frieght train out there for a while. I was so happy to stay with the group of veteran racers and get the experience of racing with them.” added Stumpy.

Stumpy found trouble later that day when he was dicing with Andy Feruerstahler for the 2nd place position in Heavyweight Superbike and the shock reservoir fell off his bike. “I felt the canister hit my chain as I was going down the back straight at a pretty fast pace, so I reached down, grabbed it and held it under my leg to finish the race,” explained Stumpy. “I didn’t know if I could finish or not, but, luckily, we were far enough into it that I could hold on.” Stumpy ended up in 8th place for the race.

After re-mounting the reservoir, Stumpy raced the $1,000 Speedscreen Unlimited GP and finished 12th after he felt his bike losing power. “I came in and realized my radiator fan was not kicking on and the bike was severly overheating in the 80 degree heat.” Team Stumpy kicked into high gear and held fans to the bike to cool it down so he could finish the last three races of the day. “My next race, Middleweight Supersport, was hard as I was worried about my bike and ended up running off the track and losing positions and ending in 12th place.”

Fortunately the bike cooled down in between races. Stumpy got his head back in the game and finished both of the last two races, Heavyweight Supersport and Unlimited Supersport, in fourth place. “I just wanted to run consistent races this weekend. I came away without crashing, so I’m really happy about that. To finish all nine races despite the mechanical issues is good enough for me--the top five finishes were bonuses!”

Team Stumpy will head to St. Louis, Missouri to Gateway International Raceway for the CCS Great Plains round May 16 to continue his bid for a regional CCS road racing championship. He is currently ranked in the top ten of the CCS Midwest and Great Plains regions.

Team Stumpy Racing is supported by Signs Unlimited, Woody’s Performance Parts and Accessories, Lockhart Phillips USA, Spy Sunglasses provided by Casualties Skate and Snow, Water Joe by Tasson Distributing, Viosport, Goodwin’s Auto, Seacoast Vitamins, Joe's Gym, Arai Helmets, Sharkskinz, Vesrah, Woodcraft, Oxtar boots, and Chicken Hawk Racing.

RACE RESULTS - 30 minute GTU - 6th place, 30 minute GTO - 3rd place, Middleweight Grand Prix - 7th place, Middleweight Superbike - 5th place, Middleweight Supersport - 11th place, Heavyweight Supersport - 4th place, Heavyweight Superbike - 8th place, Unlimited Grand Prix - 12th place, Unlimited Supersport - 4th place