One Busy AMSOIL Weekend

AMSOIL and MX Sports are proud to announce that the Versus will air one full hour of coverage from the 26th Annual Air Nautiques/AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships Presented by Amsoil this weekend.

The show starts on Sunday, September 30 at 4 pm, and repeats Wednesday, October 3rd at 3 pm, and Thursday October 4th at 4 pm. Amsoil is providing title sponsorship, with the sights and sounds of the ranch providing the action.

AMSOIL rider Trey Canard will be featured during the telecast. See how he got there with an exclusive in-depth profile and interviews. Also featured will be Loretta Lynn's all-time champion and AMSOIL athlete Kevin Walker.

AMSOIL will also have a number of teams competing this weekend. AMSOIL Super Team members Scott Douglas and Dan Vanden Heuvel will be running in the CORR series in Chula Vista, Calif. on Saturday and Sunday.

Also racing will be the Lovell Rock Racing team of Brad and Roger Lovell. The team heads to Colorado Springs, Colo. for the two-day, XRRA finals.

Brady Smith will bring his AMSOIL late model to the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa on Friday and Saturday.

Finally, the WPSA ATV Championship finale from the Field of Dreams MX Park in Boswell, Penn. will air today at 3:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN 2. AMSOIL is the Official Oil of the WPSA ATV and Snocross series.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,


Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Program Manager

Autumn Woods Wins Again

Autumn Woods Racing wrapped up the Mickey Thompson Tough Truck Series by taking home two of the top three spots. Team AMSOIL driver Jeff Dedick won the series while first year driver Ricky Brantley finished third overall.

The AWR duo took to the course at the final weekend of racing at the Indiana State Fair Grounds. ESPN and Spike TV were on hand to record the event. Despite some tough competition, Dedick and Brantley qualify 2nd and 3rd, respectively in the weekend preliminary running.

Brantley would have an early exit from the bracket-racing format after breaking a front axle in the second round. Despite losing early, he was able to secure enough points for third overall in his rookie season.

Dedick made it to the final round after a close heat race in round three. Challenger Mark Noto took the line opposite Dedick and the two raced neck and neck. Dedick raced a quicker time that Noto, but he was penalized for touching a barrier in one of the corners, giving the race win to Noto and leaving Dedick in second. Dedick accumulated enough points for his fourth Special Events Season title and the sixth season championship of his career.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Program Manager

Douglas Double Podiums, Oberg Second Overall

Mike Oberg need a perfect weekend to get himself a championship ring in the World Series of Off-Road Racing, and teammate Scott Douglas was trying to end the season on a winning note in front of a fired up crowd in Wheatland, Mo.

Oberg entered the final two races of the year just 15-points out of the season points championship. He would have to finish well ahead of leader Scott Taylor in both races for a chance at his first Pro-2wd title. Oberg did his part early in Saturday's race, heading through the first turn in second. He quickly got by the race leader, but the tight racing meant a crowd of trucks and Oberg quickly dropped to third. Oberg and Taylor would get tied up on the second lap with Taylor coming out ahead. Oberg passed Taylor back on the next lap and held the third position for the next two, but a flat tire slowed the Super Team driver. Oberg had to pit to get his tire changed. Meanwhile, Taylor was having troubles of his own and pulled off the track. Oberg made up as much ground as possible and finished fifth, three spots ahead of Taylor and gained six points on the defending champion heading into Sunday's finale.

Oberg got another great start on Sunday, coming out of the first turn in third. The top two trucks butted heads and Oberg was able to take advantage, powering by Evan Evans into second. Oberg, with Taylor on his bumper, started to slow on lap six when a rear suspension problem. Oberg would give up his position and dropped to sixth when the checkered flag came out. Taylor had worked his way through the field and took home the win and the championship.

"We gave it our all this weekend," said Oberg. "We just had some bad luck out there with the suspension and yesterday with the tire going flat. The AMSOIL helped keep our engine running strong all weekend long. We've got the speed and the truck to compete at this level, and our congratulations go out to Scott and his team, they did an excellent job this year."

In the Pro-4x4 class, it was Super Team member Scott Douglas that was trying to reel in a pair of wins to wrap up his WSORR season. The El Cajon, Calif.-native started strong in both races, grabbing the holeshot on Saturday. He would battle for the lead the next few laps with Carl Renezeder. On lap four, Renezeder got into the back of Douglas, sending the AMSOIL truck spinning off the track. This allowed Johnny Greaves to take over the lead. Douglas rejoined the race in third, but was moved back into second after Renezeder was black flagged for making contact with Douglas. After more jostling for position, Douglas finsihed the race in third.

On Sunday, Douglas once again pulled the holeshot in his AMSOIL/Kumho Ford F-150. Douglas and Renezeder battled for the top spot the entire race. Renezeder would get by Douglas on lap five and the two would hold their positions for the remaining eight laps. Douglas finished the season fifth overall and picked up six podiums and two wins in WSORR.

"We ran our secondary truck this weekend as we were out of the points race and didn't want to ball up the primary truck," said Douglas. "But with AMSOIL and Kumho behind us, we didn't really lose that much this weekend. Two podiums is a great way to wrap up the World Series and now we have our sights set on next weekends CORR race in Chula Vista, (Calif.) and a shot at the championship."

Douglas and Super Team member Dan Vanden Heuvel will be piloting their trucks in the CORR series for the remainder of the season. Douglas currently sits second overall in CORR's Pro-4 class. Oberg is expected to join them for the final two races of the season and the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup race, in which Oberg was the inaugural winner in 2006.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Program Manager

Douglas Races Into Second

After a rough time at the BorgWarner Off-Road World Championships, AMSOIL/Kumho Super Team driver Scott Douglas and his crew were looking for some California sunshine to change their luck. The team headed cross country to the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds in Lancaster, Calif. for the second time this season. Before the team could head west, crew chief Bill Smith and his team went to work, reconstructing the '06' primary AMSOIL Kumho Tire race truck to its championship form.

During the Labor Day weekend event, Douglas survived a horrific Turn One crash, that basically destroyed much of the front and the rear of his truck. In four short days, Douglas Motorsports had the Ford F-150 loaded in the transporter, ready to take on the top PRO-4 drivers in the country.

On Friday, Douglas' qualifying run for round six of the Championship Off Road Racing series saw the #7 AMSOIL/Kumho Tire/Ford stop the clocks third fastest. This put the Ford F-150 inside of the second row, just behind the pole winner for Saturday's race.

The rolling start saw the top five trucks run close together. Just before the midway mandatory caution lap, Douglas had worked his way into third place. When racing resumed, the top three trucks, Johnny Greaves, Rick Huseman and Douglas, began to pull away from the rest of the field. The racing was close, but nobody was able to make a pass for position. Then with three laps to go, Greaves crashed out of the race. This put Huseman in the lead, with the AMSOIL truck close behind. At the finish,Huseman took the win with Douglas in tow. AMSOIL sponsored driver Steve Barlow had closed the gap and finished third.

"This was good clean racing," commented Douglas. "I was really having fun trying to get around Rick. The brake compound, Hawk Performance gives us, works awesome. It allowed me to dive into the corners deeper than I had ever before."

The second place finish moved Douglas Motorsports into second place in the CORR PRO-4 Championship Points standings.

On Sunday, the top Pro-4 drivers lined up for the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup Qualifier. Douglas took to the freshly watered track, first, for qualifying. Unfortunately, the muddy track made the conditions less than ideal to run a fast lap. The time posted for his run was eighth quickest in the session.

Starting towards the back of the field, Douglas knew he had his work cut out for him. By lap five, Douglas was in fourth, looking to move into podium contention. Then on the next lap, the a right rear wheel broke as it landed coming off of the turn 6 jump. The force of the landing, broke the right rear wheel, flattened the tire, and then caused the rear axle housing to tear away from the right side trailing arm. Officially, Douglas was credited with an eighth place finish.

"I thought we could get through traffic and be in contention by the mandatory yellow," stated Douglas. "The truck was working great. The Kumho Tires really gave us a great bite. The AMSOIL kept our ProPower engine and J & H transmission performing great. That jump has been really hard on the truck. Unfortunately, it bit us today."

In the Pro-2 class, Super Team member Dan Vanden Heuvel finished fifth in the point's race and fourth in the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup Pro-2 Qualifier. Barlow Motorsports driver Rob MacCachren had a very successful weekend in Pro-2 winning both the point's race and Baldwin Cup race.

Douglas Motorsports has a hectic schedule in front of them. This weekend, the team will be in Wheatland, Missouri for the final WSORR weekend of racing. Then the following weekend, the team will be in Chula Vista, California for the next CORR round of racing.

Douglas will be joined this weekend by teammate Mike Oberg, who is currently in second place in the WSORR points race. Oberg sits less than 15 points behind Scott Taylor with two races left, both of them this weekend.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Program Manager

Teague Goes Back-to-Back

The Pacific Offshore race circuit brought the AMSOIL Offshore Racing team to Pittsburg, Calif. on September 9 for the Delta Thunder Offshore Powerboat Race. 125,000 spectators enjoyed the roar of the offshore boats from mere yards away.

Team AMSOIL Throttleman Bob Teague and driver Paul Whittier finished first in the Cat Lite class and second overall, just seconds behind higher class entry Team Renegade, a 36 foot Skater Super Cat powered by twin Mercury 775HP engines compared to the twin Mercury 525 horsepower engines required in the Cat Lite class. AMSOIL completed a 10 lap course, racing a total of 75 miles.

A week after Team AMSOIL’s victory in the Delta, the Cat Lite Skater and other POPRA offshore race teams added to the fanfare of San Diego’s Mission Bay Thunderboat Championships. Team AMSOIL raced in two heats on both Saturday and Sunday. AMSOIL was the overall winner of all four heats and had a dominant presence on the race course that sat in front of 300,000 fans.

Up next, Team AMSOIL is off to the OSS National Championships at Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. on September 29-30.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Program Manager

Smith Takes On World

(photo's courtesy of Nancy Lane Felder/Split Second Sports)

Brady Smith and his AMSOIL team invaded the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio over the weekend for the 37th Annual 'World 100.' On Friday, September 7, Smith timed in twentieth quickest of the 203 entrants in qualifying. Following a victory by Mother Nature on Saturday, the high-banks of the "Big E" once again hosted racing action on Sunday afternoon, September 9.

Smith ran fourth in his competitive heat race, which was one spot out of a coveted transfer position. However, the Solon Springs, Wis-native earned his first 'World 100' start by virtue of his convincing B-Main victory. Smith rolled off 21st for the $40,000 to win A-Main, which was held on an ultra-slick racing surface. During the course of the 100-lap affair, Smith was able to pick up a few spots and was credited with a 15th place performance.

“It felt great to get into our first ‘World 100’ main event, but I wish we could have performed a little better,” quoted Smith via telephone this week. “We got dinged up a little bit in an early incident and our body suffered some damage. Even though the track was slick and the speeds were down, aero still plays a big part at Eldora. We salvaged a fifteenth place finish and now we turn our focus on the three World of Outlaws races this coming weekend.”

The Brady Smith Racing team will trek south to Kentucky, Missouri, and Illinois this coming weekend for a trio of World of Outlaws Late Model Series events.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Program Manager

Windham Wins Final 2007 Moto

The entire world of motocross has been witness to a resurgence of sorts by SoBe No Fear/Samsung/AMSOIL rider Kevin Windham the past few weeks. K-Dub didn't disappoint his legion of fans at the final round of the AMA Outdoor Nationals at the Glen Helen track in San Bernardino, Calif.

Windham finished the first lap of Sunday's first moto in third and was putting pressure on the race leaders. On lap nine, K-Dub was putting pressure on race leader Mike Alessi heading into the bottom of Yamaha Hill. Windham found trouble in the valley, getting cross-rutted and sending him to the ground. Windham would lose three spots in the crash and was able to salvage a fifth place finish.

In the second and final moto of the Outdoor Nationals, Windham made up for his earlier crash. K-Dub pulled in behind hole-shot artist Alessi. Windham was on a mission as he shifted and slung his CRF 450 into the lead. Once out front, K-dub was in control, pulling out a comfortable gap within two laps and cruised to his second win of the season. Windham finished third overall for the day and fifth in the final championship standings.

In the Lites class, AMSOIL rider Josh Grant looked to have regained his top-end speed, despite nursing and injured hand. He raced into third in the first moto, but was pushed off his bike when he washed out in turn number one. Grant would pull off the track and finished third overall in the Lites championship standings.

Rookie Trey Canard finished fourth in the first moto but couldn't duplicate his success in moto 2. The young rider finished 12th overall on Sunday. Teammate Jake Weimer ran solid in both moto's, finishing 6-7 for seventh overall. Weimer finished the season sixth in the Championship standings.

Much of the team is off until the U.S. Open in mid-October. The AMA Outdoor Nationals, in which AMSOIL is the exclusive Official Oil, will be aired on SPEED this week. The Lites class will air on September 11 and 18 @ 3 p.m. The MX class will air on September 15 at 8:30 p.m.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Program Manager

Oberg Podiums, Douglas Crashes at Crandon

Team AMSOIL Super Team member Mike Oberg left the World Championship weekend with a podium while teammate Scott Douglas left with a few bruises and some twisted steel.

Oberg, who drives the AMSOIL/Kumho Chevy in the Pro 2wd class, followed up a fourth place finish in Saturday's World Championship race with a second in Sunday's class race. Oberg led the field for the first few laps before overall point's leader Scotty Taylor took over the top spot. In the cup race, Oberg again grabbed a hole shot, and was the second Pro-2wd to finish, but with a full field of Pro-4x4 chasing him down, he was credited with a fifth place finish.

"We had to change our gearing on Saturday night to get some more bite," said Oberg. "We had some great starts this weekend, but Taylor was unbelievably fast in all three races. We feel confident that we can make up the final 13 points at Wheatland to take home the Pro 2wd championship."

In the Pro 4x4 class, Douglas was the show on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was for a monstrous crash in the first turn of the race. Douglas, who was holding the leading heading off the start, was slammed by Adrian Cenni, pushing the AMSOIL/Kumho Ford F-150 into the bank and starting a spinning, free-wheeling flip that send the truck over the k-rail. Douglas was able to walk away from the crash buy was not allowed to use his back-up truck on the restart.

Click Here to see a frame-by-frame photo gallery of the crash. (Flash Player Required)

"Adrian didn't see me, is what I figure," said a bruised Douglas following the race. "I had the line and he just scooted up into me and sent me spinning. Luckily we are one of the few teams with a back up truck as there is no way we'll get this one ready to go for Sunday. I'm a little sore in the neck area and have a couple of bruised cheeks, but we'll be ready to go tomorrow."

Douglas put his back-up truck on the line for Sunday and found a great start come off the land-rush starting line. Douglas was poised to grab the hole shot, but he got side-ways on one of the jumps and broke his forward drive. The move made his truck drive like a 2wd, thus losing valuable seconds in each tight corner. Douglas did finish fourth in the class race and followed that up with a fourth place finish in the BorgWarner Cup race, the event he won in 2006.

AMSOIL did receive a World Championship effort over the weekend. Dave Waldvogal took home the honors in the Super Stock truck class. Super Stock truck driver Dan Baudoux also ran well at Crandon, being the top running Super Stock truck in the BorgWarner Cup race.

Overall Results

The WSORR will continue with the final two rounds of racing being held in Wheatland, Mo. on September 22-23.

Douglas and Dan Vanden Heuvel will be representing the AMSOIL/Kumho Super Team at the NBC-aired CORR race on September 13-14 in Antelope Valley, Calif.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Program Manager

Rinker Roars To Second In Colorado

Defending ChampBoat Series champion Terry Rinker headed to the Roar on the Rockies in fourth place and was able to leave Colorado one spot closer to his third straight championship.

Rinker was positiioned in the third spot on the starting dock after finishing second in both of his heat races. That put him in great position to gain ground on pole sitter and point's leader Tim Seebold.

In the final, Rinker kept his third position after Shaun Torrente pushed to a large lead over Seebold. After a restart on the 17th lap, Torrente again moved into the lead ahead of Seebold and Rinker. On the 41st lap, however, a spark plug wire shook loose and sidelined the Miami driver. Seebold moved into the lead, but Rinker pushed his AMSOIL boat next to Seebold for some side-by-side racing. The two raced into the sharp, 135-degree turn four when Rinker skated wide and was never able to get close to Seebold for the remainder of the race. Rinker finished second but moved into third in the overall point's standings.

"We just couldn't get by that Bud Light boat today," said Rinker. "This AMSOIL team is gunning for its third straight championship and we were able to pick up some valuable points today. Two races left and we'll have to sweep both weekends for a shot at three straight."

Terry's brother Randy Rinker also ran a solid race, finishing sixth. He gained enough points this weekend to move into sixth overall in the standings.

The next round of the 2007 F1-ChampBoat Grand Prix Series heads off to Phoenix, Arizona and Firebird Lake for the weekend of September 29-30 with four drivers still having a chance to capture the title.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Program Manager

Smith Wins WDRL Event

Brady Smith and his AMSOIL #2 team collected their second win of the 2007 racing season last weekend at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. Smith was eighth quickest in World Dirt Racing League (WDRL) Series group qualifying and later ran second in his heat race. After a third place finish in the pole dash, the Solon Springs, Wisc. native rolled off third for the $5,000 to win A-Main. Smith moved up to second shortly following the drop of the green flag and set his sights on race leader Justin Fegers. Smith then moved past Fegers for the point in heavy lapped traffic and never looked back. At the conclusion of the 50-lapper, Smith had earned the big payday ahead of Denny Eckrich, Eric Pember, and Adam Hensel.

One night earlier, Smith found himself at the Farmer City Raceway in Farmer City, Illinois for the 'Farmer City 50.' Smith finished third in his competitive heat race to earn the eleventh starting spot for the $5,000 to win feature. During the course of the A-Main, which was shortened to only 40 laps, Smith was able to pass seven cars en route to a fourth place performance behind winner Dennis Erb, Wes Steidinger, and Billy Moyer.

Smith will be at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio for the World 100 on Friday and Saturday.

Until then, we'll see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Program Manager