California cops pull over Idaho race car driver for ‘haulin’ spud’ at racing event

Shaun Goodwin
·2 min read
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Weighing in at 44,320 pounds and 72 feet long, the Big Idaho Potato Truck trundles down the road with its 8,000-pound giant potato loaded on the back, and any Idahoan who witnesses it most likely will smile at the level of ridiculousness.

Unfortunately for the Big Idaho Potato Truck tour team, the California Highway Patrol isn’t as endeared by the 13-foot high tuber.

On a recent trip to the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in California, the truck was pulled over by CHP, and its driver, Indy Lights motorsport driver Sting Ray Robb, was given a citation.

What was the citation for?

For having straps holding down the giant potato, being about 12,000 pounds overweight, and for “haulin’ spud” at 63 mph in a 55 mph zone through the racing event’s fan village.

The video, posted on Twitter on Sept. 13, shows the CHP officer issuing a bemused-looking Robb the citation through the passenger-side door. The end of the video shows Robb holding up the citation, dated Sept. 10, with the vehicle license plate BIG TATER.

Sting Ray Robb displays the citation given to him for driving the Big Idaho Potato truck at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in September.
Sting Ray Robb displays the citation given to him for driving the Big Idaho Potato truck at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in September.

Robb, 21, is a Boise resident and attended Payette High School while racing go-karts and motorcars throughout his youth. He joined Andretti Autosport for the 2022 Indy Lights season — a step below the IndyCar Series — and finished 2nd place in the overall standings.

Robb took the incident in good spirits, writing in a social media post:

“It was an epic weekend at #montereygrandprix with the Big Idaho Potato Tour truck there to support & cheer for this #GrownInIdaho race car driver! Might have had a bit too much fun speeding through the fan village. Thanks to CHP for not throwing the cuffs on me.”

The Idaho-born driver certainly didn’t have an issue with speed on the track, taking first place in the first race of the weekend and second in the second race.

As for the truck itself, it’s back home in Boise for now. And if you were curious, the giant potato on the back is unfortunately not real.

But if it were real, the Idaho Potato Commission claims that the 4-ton spud would:

  • Take 7,000 years to grow

  • Produce 20,217 servings of mashed potatoes

  • Weigh as much as 21,562 regular-sized potatoes

  • Create 1 million average-sized french fries

The Idaho Potato Commission displays its six-ton tuber replica on the street in front of the Idaho Capitol in Boise. The Idaho Potato Commission says its traveling advertisement, the Great Big Idaho Potato Truck, could roll on indefinitely.
The Idaho Potato Commission displays its six-ton tuber replica on the street in front of the Idaho Capitol in Boise. The Idaho Potato Commission says its traveling advertisement, the Great Big Idaho Potato Truck, could roll on indefinitely.