AMSOIL Finishes Strong In Antelope Valley

Lancaster, Calif.

Pro-2 proved to be a strong class to race in this past weekend during the CORR season opener at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds in Lancaster, Calif. AMSOIL Super Team member Dan Vanden Heuvel started eighth in the Le Man's style start, but a quick trigger moved him into the top five early on. The Flying Dutchman battled at mid-pack for much of the race and was able move into fourth when the final flag dropped. Vanden Heuvel also grabbed a sixth place finish in the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup race, despite getting spun out heading into one of the table top jumps. Also flying the AMSOIL logo was Red Bull driver Rob MacCachren. The former series champion grabbed his second podium of the weekend with a second in the Pro-2 points race. He was only able to finish seven laps in the cup race, finishing seventh.

In Pro-4, Scott Douglas was looking for a safe finish after flipping miraculously on Saturday. Douglas was able to miss a pile-up in turn one that took out defending champion Johnny Greaves. Douglas did have to pit before the restart to change a right rear tire. That meant Douglas started last, but a quick start reaction on the start and some strong driving pushed the AMSOIL Ford F-150 into the mix after just a few laps. Douglas battled in fourth before handling issues pushed him back a spot to his finishing position of fifth.

CORR will have a month off before returning to California for the third and fourth rounds of racing in Pomona. CORR will air 90 minutes of excellent race coverage on NBC next Saturday afternoon, on April 28. The CORR point races will air starting in September on SPEED.

Until then, see you at the races,


Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Racing Coordinator

Douglas Flips, MacCachren Wins

The opening round of the CORR season expected to be a physical one between the drivers, especially with the new, tighter track coming into play at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds in Lancaster, Calif.

AMSOIL Super Team member Scott Douglas experienced the highs and lows of racing in the sports premier class on Saturday. Douglas, who started third after gaining the spot in Friday's qualifying, got off to a great start. He pushed his Ford F-150 into third and battled for second for much of the race. After the half-way point, Douglas found himself battling for the lead with Johnny Greaves. He briefly took the lead going over a rhythm section. Douglas was on the inside with Greaves taking the high side heading into one of the high banked turns. With Douglas in mid-air, Greaves made a move towards the inside, in turn running into Douglas and sending the AMSOIL driver on his side a flipping him multiple times in a horrendous crash that sent him off the track. Douglas was knocked out of the race and he confronted Greaves as Greaves was heading towards the winners circle. Douglas finished 11th after everything was tabulated.

Douglas also raced in the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup qualifying race with his back-up truck on Saturday afternoon. The Cup race will air on NBC next Saturday afternoon. Douglas was running in third for much of the race and briefly held the number two spot when he broke his front differential coming over a rough rhythm section. He finished ninth in the cup race. AMSOIL sponsored driver Steve Barlow also debuted his Red Bull Pro-4 on Saturday, taking 10th in the first round and sixth in the Cup race.

Super Team member Dan Vanden Heuvel's day never really got started in the Pro 2 class. Starting sixth, Vanden Heuvel was battling with the from heading around the first turn when he got tangled with another driver, breaking his trailing arm and pushing him out of the race. Another AMSOIL sponsored driver, Rob MacCachren who made his return to short course racing a successful one. MacCachren is driving for the Barlow Motorsports team this season and set the fastest qualifying time on Friday. That speed filtered over to Saturday's race as MacCachren showed his great driving instincts and brought home the first win of the year.

On Sunday, Douglas will be back on the track for round two of the Pro 4 class along with Steve Barlow. Vanden Heuvel and MacCachren will be racing twice on Sunday, one being the second round of the CORR series and the second being the Pro-2 edition of the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup race.

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

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Racing Coordinator

AMSOIL Runs Strong During CORR Qualifying

Lancaster, Calif.

Team AMSOIL off-road truck drivers Scott Douglas and Dan Vanden Heuvel started their 2007 season off with a pair of strong qualifying runs during the opening day of the Championship Off-Road Racing series in Lancaster, Calif,

Douglas, who drives in the circuits four-wheel drive "Pro-4" class, set the fastest time during practice today. When Douglas hit the track for the two-lap qualifying run, he set the third fastest lap time at 52.637 seconds. His time was less than .2 seconds from the fastest lap time put in by defending champion Johnny Greaves. This gives Douglas the third starting spot for Saturday's Pro-4 race.

In the two-wheel drive "Pro-2" class it was AMSOIL Super Team driver Dan Vanden Heuvel's turn on the course. The Wisconsin native finished sixth with a 56.54. Grabbing the pole for tomorrow's Pro-2 race was Red Bull/AMSOIL driver Rob MacCachren, who turned in a lap time of 54.378 seconds. MacCachren's teammate and team owner Steve Barlow will be driving in the Pro-4 class tomorrow but did not take part in today's time trials.

A full day of racing on Saturday with two Pro-4 races as well as one Pro-2 race. The events will air on NBC and Speed in coming weeks.

AMSOIL Super Team member Mike Oberg will be driving in the World Series of Off-Road Racing this year in the Pro-2 class and select Pro-4 events. The WSORR begins racing on May 20 in Owatonna, Minn. Douglas will also be driving his Pro-4 in select WSORR events, and Vanden Heuvel will take part in the two Crandon races this summer.

If you are interested in live coverage of the event, Dirt Newz will be hosting live broadcasts both Saturday and Sunday. Go to http://www.dirtnewz.com/index.shtml for the details.

We'll be back tomorrow with results from the first day of CORR, until then, we'll see you at the track,

Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Racing Coordinator

Spring Racing Season Ready for Start

AMSOIL sponsored drivers gearing up for new seasons

The beginning of April is quiet month for racing, mostly because the seasons are switching over to the warmer weather. That means some AMSOIL sponsored race teams will finally be getting the chance to get on the track and others will be turning laps for the first time in three weeks this upcoming weekend.

Two AMSOIL Super Team drivers are starting the short course, off-road truck racing season this weekend. Scott Douglas and Dan Vanden Heuvel will be taking part in the opening round of the CORR series. Douglas will be driving in the Pro-4 class while Vanden Heuvel will be competing in the Pro-2 class. Time trials start on Friday with three rounds of racing beginning on Saturday. The events, which are being held at the Antelope Fairgrounds about one hour north of Los Angeles, will air on NBC in two weeks.

Team AMSOIL late model driver Brady Smith will be back on the track this weekend after spending the past two weeks out of action due to the poor weather across much of the country. Smith will be taking his AMSOIL backed Monte Carlo to Lowes Motors Speedway for the Colossal 100.

Pro Bass anglers Darrin Schwenkbeck and Glenn Delong are coming off a two week break and will be looking for big fish in Georgia. Delong made the final day of fishing in California two weeks ago, and Schwenkbeck is looking to make his first cut of the ESPN owned series this weekend in Evans, Ga. The Pride of Georgia tournament begins on Thursday, April 29.

The top Supercross riders in the world had a mid-season break the past two weeks and the teams will be gearing up for the stretch run this weekend in Detroit, Mich. There are only three rounds of racing in the AMA Supercross series. Kevin Windham and Josh Grant and the rest of the AMSOIL team will be looking for their first win of the season starting this weekend. The events air on CBS and Speed.

Until then, see you at the races,

Jeremy T. Meyer
AMSOIL Racing Coordinator

Lovell Racing Works Double Duty

Brothers Brad and Roger Lovell had a busy week of racing to start off the month of April. The rock crawling/racing team just returned from the second WE-Rock in Globe, Ariz., the Moab Jeep Safari, and the first round of the XRRA in Moab, Utah. The trip was fast paced and stretched out over 11 days.

The action started as Brad piloted the FABTECH/AMSOIL Ford Ranger through the technical courses laid out by WE-Rock. The brothers landed in first place at the end of day one. The brothers completed another death defying round on day two but simple communication errors would cost them the win. They fell into third place, only 2 points away from the runner-up spot. The Lovell's hold a strong lead in the WE-Rock Series.

The team then headed for Moab, Utah for the 41st Annual Moab Jeep Safari. The mammoth event is easily the largest in the rock crawling community and. The Lovell's ran during the media runs, but used the weekend as a marketing opportunity for their team.

Up next marked a first for the team as Roger moved from spotter to driver at the XRRA Moab Rock Race. The running order would prove unfortunate because Lovell Racing ended up first to run on two of the four courses laid out for the event.

“In rock crawling or racing it is really unfortunate to be first," explained Brad. "There is no chance to determine exactly how a vehicle will react to the terrain and courses generally become faster as the day progresses.”

Fate would cost the team about 20 seconds on the first run but Roger quickly recovered and was within three seconds of the fastest time on the second course. At the end of the day Roger stood in seventh, but was first amongst rookies.

The team is heading overseas for its next event. Brad will be participating in a rock crawl and trail ride in Chambon, France held April 28 – 29.

Until then, see you at the races,

Jeremy T. Meyer

AMSOIL Racing Coordinator

Autumn Woods Rolls Towards Second Place Finish

Autumn Woods Racing took part in the first round of racing for the 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals last weekend. Top driver and past champion Jeff Dedick joined up with AMSOIL teammate Ricky Brantley for a pair of top five finishes at the Fredericksburg, Texas event.

Dedick showed why he is a past champion by making it into the final of the 2-truck, Chicago style racing. More than 25,000 people watched Dedick roll his truck across the finish line for a second place finish. Brantley just missed the final pairing and ended up finishing fourth.

The Autumn Woods Racing duo will be back in action on May 5-6 as the Jamboree heads to Springfield, Mo.

Until then, see you at the races,

Jeremy Meyer

AMSOIL Race Coordinator