AMSOIL Finds Silver in Aspen

Aspen, Winter X Games 11

With all of the hype that entered this year's Winter X Games in regards to snocross, it turned out that it was a Snowmobile Freestyler that would bring home a medal for Team AMSOIL.

On Friday night, AMSOIL snocross riders DJ Eckstrom and Shaun Crapo put their Polaris sleds on the starting line for a chance at the Winter X Games finals. ESPN ran four heats of eight riders on Friday night, with the top two heading directly into Saturday nights finals. Eckstrom was up first and ran a strong race, but finished out of the top two with a fourth place finish. Crapo would run the third heat, but was also unable to get into the top two, finishing in third.

On Saturday, both riders would try to get one of the four final spots by running in the Last Chance Qualifier. In their heats, each would battle 10 other riders for two spots. Both riders got off to great starts in each of their respective heats, but a compression problem bogged down both sleds, side-lining both riders before the half-way mark.

With both Eckstrom and Crapo out of the final, that left it up to freestyle snowmobile rider Aleksander Norgaard to bring home a Winter X medal. After running a great qualifying round, Norgaard went into Sunday night's final as the number two qualifier. That put him head-to-head in the first round with the number three qualifier. The young Swede would pull off two straight back flips to advance to the final. A strong run would mean gold and Norgaard gave it his all, finishing with a 93.66 score (out of 100). But he was up against the top qualifier, Chris Burant and Burant would pull off a 96 for the gold.

Congratulations to Norgaard and all of the AMSOIL sponsored riders at Winter X 11. Check out video of Norgaard in action here on ESPN.

See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

AMSOIL Freestyles In Aspen

Aspen, Colo. ~ With Team AMSOIL snocross riders DJ Eckstrom and Shaun Crapo waiting for their turn at Winter X glory, Thursday marked the qualifying round for the freestyle snowmobile riders. AMSOIL and its sponsorship partners, the AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby, got together to sponsor one of the sports up and comers. Aleksander Nordgaard rides out of the H.M. Hentges camp, which runs a pro snocross team. In qualifying, Norgaard pushed his Polaris towards the top of the qualifying order. Only four riders will be allowed to advance to Sunday nights final, and Norgaard will be one of them after picking up the second best score on Thursday. The final will air at 9:00 p.m. January 28 on ESPN.

Winter X Success Calling Team AMSOIL

Aspen, Colo. ~ Duluth native Dennis “DJ” Eckstrom and AMSOIL teammate Shaun Crapo (St. Anthony, Idaho) will be looking for podium finishes at Friday night’s Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. The ESPN extreme games will feature the sports top riders and will air live on ESPN and ABC this weekend.

Crapo, who finished second the WPSA Pro Open race in Brainerd two weeks ago, will be looking for his first Winter X Games medal. Crapo finished second at the Winter X qualifier at the AMSOIL Duluth Nationals in November. Crapo finished 12th at last years games.

Eckstrom will head to Aspen with hopes to carry on his winning ways. He has a bronze and a silver medal from previous X Games performances.

“With ESPN beaming the race worldwide, you always want to do well,” said Eckstrom. “The track is one of the best we’ll see and winning in Aspen is a great accomplishment for your team, sponsors and family.”

The Winter X Games airs live starting Friday, January 26. The Snocross races will be aired live on Friday and Saturday nights. For a complete schedule of race times and television times go to: http://www.amsoil.com/snocross/2007/schedule/winterx.aspx.

Supercoss, AX Back In Action

The Supercross and Arenacross teams took part in some high flying racing last weekend.

At the Anaheim 2 SX event last weekend, it was AMSOIL rider Kevin Windham looking to find his groove after a couple of off weeks. Kdub ran solid in his heat race and finished in the top ten in the main with a sixth. That marks the second week in a row Windham has been in second and he now sits seventh overall in the AMA SX Series. Teammate Travis Preston is currently 8th overall after not making the main event.

In Lites, Josh Grant was able to shake off the crashes that plagued him during the first two rounds. He finished fourth in Anaheim and moved into the top 20. Teammate Jake Weimer finished sixth in Anaheim and now sits seventh overall. The AMA SX series will be in San Francisco this weekend.

In Arenacross, defending champion Chad Johnson moved closer to defending his AMA crown this year. In Dayton, Ohio, Johnson rode to a fourth on Friday night and a second on Saturday. Johnson now sits in second overall. New teammate Jimmy Albertson finished tenth on Friday night. The AMA AX will be in Denver, Colo. This weekend.

In the BooKoo AX series, Darcy Lange continued his dominance atop the AMSOIL sponsored Kawasaki in Ft. Wayne, Ind. Lange won both Friday and Saturday nights 450 class and Saturday nights 250 class. On Friday night, he took second in the 250 class. Lange leads both series and has won six out of the past eight races he has entered. The Babbitts Racing team will follow the BooKoo series to Guthrie, Okla. this weekend.

AMSOIL Eagle River Derby - AMSOIL World Championship

AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Track, Eagle River, Wis.

After three days of exciting racing at the AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Track, the big show has finally arrived. Today marked the AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby and Team AMSOIL rider PJ Wanderscheid was looking to make history.

Qualified to start on the front row for the 25-lap final, Wanderscheid was in great position to win his fourth World Championship race, and in turn, becoming the only person to win the race more than three times.

After a strong start, Wanderscheid was running in third. Handling issues, however, caused the three time champ to struggle on the fast oval ice turns. Wanderscheid would drop to sixth and battle for fifth for the remainder of the race. While the checkered flag was flying for the race leaders on the last lap, Wanderscheid's handling issues caught up with him and sent the Arctic Cat into the hay bales. Wanderscheid would be unable to finish the race.

Gary Moyle won his second AMSOIL World Championship and ran a strong race. AMSOIL thanks all of the riders and teams for competing at the AMSOIL Derby Track this year and we can't wait for 2008's version.

Next weekend, check out the AMSOIL Racing Blog as we will be writing in from the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. Find out how snocross riders DJ Eckstrom and Shaun Crapo do in the big air of Aspen.

See More Photos from Eagle River


See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

AMSOIL Eagle River Derby - Day 3

AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Championship

Saturday marks the qualifying round for Sunday's AMSOIL Eagle River World Championship. Two AMSOIL riders started the day out with hopes of making the 44th version of the event. AMSOIL rider Jason Smith out of New York was running hard before a ski caught in the rut sending his Arctic Cat into the bales. Smith would have to leave the track after he broke his foot in the crash.

Meanwhile, it was three time champion PJ Wanderscheid who was making a charge towards history. In his first heat race he missed not having to run in the second round after finishing third. Wanderscheid responded with a win in his second heat race. In the second round, Wanderscheid battled with the leaders for the first half of the race before finishing in third. The top three finish meant an automatic bid into Sunday's World Championship race. If PJ wins tomorrow afternoon, he will be the first rider in the events 44-year history to win the WC four times.

Sunday's big race will begin around 3:00 pm so check back to see if AMSOIL has helped make history.

See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

AMSOIL Eagle River Derby - Friday Night Thunder

Eagle River, Wis.

Friday Night Thunder is here and the crowd at the AMSOIL Eagle Derby Track is stretching from corner to corner along the 1/2 mile oval ice track.

The night started with a spectacular fireworks display and a Harley Davidson trying to burn its tires off. Quite a show for near zero temperatures.

The first race of the night featured Team AMSOIL rider PJ Wanderscheid atop his Arctic Cat 440. The race was a Formula 1 open class that feature 600 and 440 sleds. Wanderscheid got a great start at the beginning of the race and was sitting in second before a crash brought out the red flag. On the restart, PJ again got a great start, round the first turn in second. He would drop back and finish the 10-lap final in fourth.

Wanderscheid has one more race tonight, a dash for cash type race to end the evening.

See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Eagle River Derby - Day 2

AMSOIL Eagle River Snowmobile Derby Track


The cold weather that's been gripping the upper Midwest the past week or so is in full force in Eagle River, Wis. today. The wind is whipping pretty good across the AMSOIL Derby Track for day two of the AMSOIL Snowmobile Derby.

A full slate of racing got underway early today and just after noon the Formula 1 qualifying began. AMSOIL riders PJ Wanderscheid and Jason Smith raced head-to-head in the same heat. Wanderscheid took second, with Smith behind him in third. Both riders will advance to tonight's F1 final.

In the Carlisle Pro Open snocross class, it was AMSOIL rider Mike Bauer who has been impressive. Bauer rides in the WPSA semi-pro class, but the Derby is allowing semi-pro's the opportunity to ride in the pro class. In his first heat, Bauer took third and followed that ride up with a second.

We'll be back tonight to let you know how PJ and the rest of Team AMSOIL fared at the Friday Night Thunder.

See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

AMSOIL Eagle River Derby - Day 1

Eagle River, Wis.

Today marked the beginning of the AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby at the AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Track. AMSOIL signed a three-year deal with the Derby Track this summer to be title for the long-running (44 years) event.

Day one consisted of unveiling the new look track with AMSOIL signage visible throughout. Along with some snocross, the oval ice racers took to the track early and often. One of those riders is sponsored by AMSOIL, three time World Champion PJ Wanderscheid.

Wanderscheid took part in the Pro 600 open class, which a rider can race either a Champ 440 sled or a 600 mod sled. PJ only runs a 440. Wanderscheid went through the time trials, qualifying eight. In his heat race, he finished second, advancing to the final. In the final, Wanderscheid finished third, behind two 600.

Tomorrow is the unheralded Friday Night Thunder. Wanderscheid will be racing in two events on Friday night. We'll have more from the AMSOIL Derby Track tomorrow.

See you at the Races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

AMSOIL Goes Dirt Track Racing

AMSOIL is proud to announce that the company will become the title sponsor of the third largest stock car sanctioning body, WISSOTA. All sanctioned events at WISSOTA's more than 50 American and Canadian member tracks will now be a part of the newly named AMSOIL Dirt Track Series.

The series will include a variety of divisions, including dirt track Street Stocks, Mod Fours, Midwest Modifieds, Super Stocks, Modifieds and Late Models.

AMSOIL sees this as a fantastic opportunity to market its product line not only to the nearly 3,000 competitors who race at WISSOTA member tracks but even more importantly to the more than 1.5 million spectators who will attend exciting weekly racing and special events across the expansive WISSOTA auto racing region. In 2006, there were WISSOTA member tracks in seven states and two Canadian provinces, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Manitoba and Ontario.

For more information on WISSOTA and its member tracks, go to www.wissota.org.

See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

Windham, Preston in Top Ten

Phoenix, Ariz.

Kevin Windham and Travis Preston battled for position at the second round of the AMA Supercross series in Phoenix on Saturday night. The AMSOIL sponsored teammates went head to head in their qualifying heat as well as the main event.

In the heat race, Windham got the best of Preston, finishing second to Preston's fourth. Advancing to the main, K-dub and Preston fought for about five laps for the fourth position. Preston eventually got the better of Windham and held on to the fourth spot for the rest of the race. Windham dropped back a couple of spots and finished eighth. For the season, Preston is fourth overall and K-dub is 8th after two rounds of racing.

In the Lites class, Josh Grant took a second in his heat race, but two crashes in the main put him out of the race early. Teammate Jake Wiemer finished seventh in his heat race, but only 14th overall in the main.

Phoenix Final Results

The AMSOIL team will be racing this weekend in Anaheim, Calif. Catch the race on CBS January 21 at 12:00 p.m. EST.

See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

Crapo Lands On Podium

Brainerd, Minn.

The proverbial monkey has been somewhat lifted off of the backs of the AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports team. In the final race of the double header weekend, the team turned the page on what has been a slow start to the 2006-07 snocross season.

First year rider Shaun Crapo took the Pro Open class by storm. The Idaho-native grabbed two wins in qualifying, grabbing the third qualifying spot for Sunday's final. There he turned in his best race of the season, pushing race leader Robi Malinoski the entire 20-laps. Crapo finished second despite the snow dust and extreme cold at the Brainerd International Raceway track.

Teammate Eckstrom, meanwhile, continues to find bad luck. DJ went sixth, fourth and seventh in qualifying after getting bumped off the track in two of his heats. In the Last Chance Qualifier, Eckstrom's skis got tangled with Blair Morgan in turn three, breaking a spindle in the process. Eckstrom failed to make the final.

In Pro Stock, Eckstrom took a second and third in qualifying to start in the front row. He again got bumped off the track and ended up 14th. Crapo failed to make the final after getting his skis tangled with another sled during the start of the LCQ.

Crapo's podium put him back in the points race as he currently sits in sixth. Eckstrom finds himself out of the top 20 for the first time in more than five years.

The team will back in action at the Winter X Games in two weeks. ABC and ESPN will cover the events live.

Brainerd Results and Points Standings

See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

Eckstrom, Crapo Battle Foes, Snow

Brainerd, Minn.

Day two of the Polaris National in Brainerd, Minn. brought a morning full of finals and an afternoon full of snow dust for Team AMSOIL.

the WPSA held the finals for the Pro Stock and Pro Open class in what is being considered the second round of the season. Veteran rider DJ Eckstrom missed both finals after mishaps during Friday's qualifying. Eckstrom missed the Pro Stock class after a goggle broke during one round of qualifying. He missed the Pro Open class after a chain broke during the LCQ.

While Eckstrom sat this morning, teammate Shaun Crapo took part in both finals. In the Pro Stock final, the first year AMSOIL rider made it through the first corner in tenth in and moved up to ninth by the time the checkered flag dropped. In Pro Open, Crapo finished 12th after getting caught up in the first turn. All day the riders faced a large amount of snowdust hitting both their sleds and their faces.

The WPSA did hold the Pro Stock qualifying in the afternoon for round three of the season. Eckstrom and Crapo ran well early. Eckstrom took a second in the first heat and a third in the third round, but a seventh in round two nearly cost him a front row starting spot in the final. Crapo went fifth, fourth and fourth in his heats, and missed a front row spot by one point. In the LCQ, he was unable to get out of the first corner when the skis to his sled caught the skis of another sled. Crapo flew over the handle bars and was unable to advance to Sunday's final.

We'll be back on Sunday for a recap of the Pro Stock final and the full day of Pro Open racing.

See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

WPSA Back On Track

Brainerd, Minn.

The World PowerSports Association found enough snow in central Minnesota to go racing this weekend. After canceling their event scheduled for December in Gaylord, Mich. and moving this weekends event about three hours north of the Twin Cities, the WPSA will be running a double national starting today.

That leaves it up to the AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports team to get back in the groove after almost two months off. So far today, DJ Eckstrom and Shaun Crapo are wiping off the rust. Both riders have been competing in the Pro Stock division. In his three qualifying heats, Eckstrom finished seventh, third and fifth. Crapo went fourth, eighth and second in his heats. Both riders will attempt to make it into the final through the Last Chance Qualifier this afternoon.

The Pro Open class is scheduled to begin this afternoon as well, with finals scheduled for tomorrow morning. Saturday afternoon will mark the start of round three of the nationals with both classes competing.

Check back throughout the weekend for more race updates.

See you at the track,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

Strong Start to Supercross

Anaheim, Calif.

SPEED Channel broke out three-plus hours of live supercross coverage on Saturday night as part of the AMA Supercross series season opener in Anaheim, Calif. AMSOIL was well represented at the first race of the year, with Kevin Windham, Travis Preston, Josh Grant and Jake Weimer representing the Factory Connection/AMSOIL team.

In the Supercross class, it was Preston showing his speed early and often. The veteran rider took his Honda CRF450 to a third in his heat race and a fouth in the main. Windham battled slow starts but was able to finish fifth in his heat and ninth in the main.

In the Lites class, Weimer stole the show from championship favorite Grant. Weimer worked into the lead in his heat race, finishing one spot ahead of Grant. In the main, Weimer worked his bike into fifth place by the time the checkered flag dropped.

Despite the second place ride, Grant's night was cut short due to injury. The young rider suffered a lung injury during practice and was unable to race in the final. Team representatives hope he will be able to ride this weekend in Phoenix.

All forms of racing are getting going again now that the holidays are over. This weekend marks the return of snocross in Brainerd, Minn. Oval ice racing gets underway at the AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Track, and the arenacross series will be back with a round of racing in Baltimore.

Anaheim 1 Final Results

See you at the track,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator

Weather Moves Snocross Event

Happy New Year, Race Fans!

The World PowerSports Association (WPSA) has announced that due to unseasonably warm weather in the Twin Cities area, the January 12-13 pro national scheduled for Canterbury in Shakopee, Minn. has been postponed until March 3-4.

Instead, the WPSA will be moving to the Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn. The BIR race will be a double header, featuring Pro finals on both Saturday and Sunday, with Pro qualifying on Friday.

The WPSA has also announced the Team AMSOIL rider, D.J. Eckstrom has earned a spot in this months Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. Eckstrom received a provisional and will join teammate Shaun Crapo at the ESPN/ABC sponsored event on January 26-28. The snocross races will be aired live on ESPN and ABC on Friday night and Saturday night. Eckstrom is a two-time medalist at Winter X.

Next week, AMSOIL will also be sponsoring the Eagle River Derby Vintage Weekend at the AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Track in Eagle River, Wis. The following weekend, January 18-21, the AMSOIL World Championship race will be held with Team AMSOIL rider PJ Wanderscheid looking to become the only four-time winner of the event. The AMSOIL Blog will be bringing you updates on all of these events in January.

See you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Coordinator