Windham Wins Again

As the 2008 AMA Supercross series goes down to the wire, Torco Racing Fuels/AMSOIL/Honda’s Kevin Windham continues to close in on his possible first national supercross championship. The question at this point is more about timing than performance, as Windham has won the last two races, but still trails by 10 points going into the season finale in Las Vegas.

Supercross Class

Windham won the opening heat race of the night, just in front of Davi Millsaps and AMSOIL teammate Josh Grant, who was making his 450cc debut. At the start of the main, Andrew Short got to the official hole shot line first, but Windham had the lead shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, points leader and championship rival Chad Reed went down in the first turn.

After leading the first two laps, Windham got too close to a tuff block and got the cover lodged in his rear wheel, forcing him to stop, get off of his bike, and dislodge the banner.

“I got a little close to the side [of the track],” Windham said. “That was a track where, with all of the rocks, sometimes you get a little offline and you had to sort of ride from bale to bale, and that’s what I was doing, but I kind of got a little too close to the bales, and the thing sucked up into my rear wheel, and as I was coming out into the first rhythm section, the thing just completely bogged, and I almost killed myself. "

Windham remounted at the tail end of the top five, and by then, Reed was only a couple of spots behind him. Windham went to work, first passing Grant for fourth, then chasing down Tim Ferry for third, Millsaps for second, and finally retaking the lead from Short on the 18th of 20 laps.

“I was really thinking, ‘Man, this might be the whole championship. What if I can’t get this thing out of my rear wheel?’” Windham said. “It was just two extremes of emotion in four laps, and then to get back after it again, I was wondering, ‘Can I catch these guys?’”

Windham ended up taking his fourth main-event win of the season, but Reed recovered for second, minimizing Windham’s points gain for the second-straight week.

“As I was going, I was looking at Chad, and I was watching him pick them off one by one, and it was a bummer,” Windham said. “These three-point weekends, they’re not going to get it for me.”

There is one more race to run, and Windham needs to make up 10 points in the finale to win the championship.

“Let’s go!” Windham said. “I’m ready! Let’s go to Vegas right now. I’m ready right now. Let’s go.”

Grant had an impressive 450cc debut. After twisting his ankle in practice, he had it taped up, and then had to have the brake pedal raised up a bit so that he could use it with his immobilized right ankle. Then, he went out and grabbed third in his heat race, and ran in the top five for most of the main event, eventually finishing sixth.

Lites Class

In the Lites class, Phoenix winner Jake Weimer didn’t make the trip to Seattle as he was still recovering from a recently broken collarbone. He will be in Las Vegas for the East/West Shootout, though. His teammate Dan Reardon was in attendance and started out the night with a heat-race win.

However, in the main, he didn’t have the good fortune of being out front with a clear track, and it cost him, as he got sucked up into a pileup on the opening lap, which ended his night.

“The main event lasted for two straights,” Reardon said. “There was a pileup with about six or eight guys in it, and I was one of them, and that was it for the night. I couldn’t continue."

From here, the team heads to the AMA Supercross Finale in Las Vegas on May 3 inside Sam Boyd Stadium, where Windham will try to snatch the title. Eastern Regional Lites Champion Trey Canard, along his Lites teammates Weimer, Grant and Reardon will take on the Lites East/West Shootout.

Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL racing and AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants.

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

Douglas, Hord Highlight CORR Opener

AMSOIL officially entered the 2008 Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) series with a bang this past weekend at the L.A. Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. Along with exceptional live coverage on SPEED, AMSOIL was well represented on the track by numerous race teams.

Pro 4 and Pro Lite proved to be the most successful races for AMSOIL this weekend. AMSOIL/Kumho Tire Super Team member Scott Douglas pounced all over the competition in a pair of fierce battles in the Pro 4 class. Douglas qualified third on Saturday and second on Sunday. In Saturday's race, Douglas powered his AMSOIL/FORD F-150 to a third place finish in front of a packed grandstand and a nation watching live on SPEED. Sunday saw Douglas lead the Pro-4 race early on, battling for second at the mid-point and finally wrapping up his second third place finish of the weekend. Douglas left Pomona tied for second overall with Rick Huseman.

Pro Lite showcased a newcomer to Team AMSOIL, Chad Hord. On Saturday, the Felch, Mich.-native showed off the speed that brought him the 2006 CORR Pro Lite Championship. Starting mid-pack, Hord was able to work his way around the tight track and through the tough competition for a third place finish. Qualifying in the top five on Sunday meant less traffic early for Hord. The defending WSORR Pro Light champion pushed his four-cylinder truck into a tight battle with defending CORR Pro Lite champion Robert Naughton. The race was so close that the two trucks drove down the final straight-away towards the finish line literally door-to-door with Hord edging out Naughton by less than four feet.

In the Pro 2 class, AMSOIL grabbed another podium on Sunday when Red Bull/AMSOIL driver Rickey Johnson finished second to Rob MacCacheren. Team AMSOIL Super Team driver Mike Oberg, the 2006 CORR Pro 2 Rookie of the Year, struggled in the California heat (100 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday). On Saturday, Oberg finished 14th after one of his front shocks was damaged. He rebounded well on Sunday, moving from a 16th starting position to 11th when the checkered flag dropped.

CORR, AMSOIL and all of their drivers will return to the race track on May 17-18 in Primm, Nevada. Sunday's Pro 4 and Pro 2 race will air on a tape delayed basis on NBC on Sunday, May 25.

Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL racing and AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants and learn more about the CORR NBC and SPEED television airings.

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

In the Pro 2 class, AMSOIL

AMSOIL Live on SPEED for CORR Opener

AMSOIL will enter its Official Oil sponsorship with Championship Off Road Racing this weekend with LIVE coverage on SPEED.

AMSOIL has signed a three year sponsorship agreement with CORR to be the Exclusive Official Oil. The opening two rounds of racing will take place this Saturday and Sunday in Pomona, Calif. Saturday's Pro 2 and Pro 4 action will garner two hours of LIVE coverage on SPEED. Coverage on SPEED starts at 3:30 p.m. EST, but the racing will begin at noon at the LA Fairplex.

Along with the television coverage, AMSOIL will be well represented on the track with AMSOIL/Kumho Tire Super Team members Scott Douglas (Pro 4) and Mike Oberg (Pro 2).

Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL racing and AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants and learn more about the CORR NBC and SPEED television airings.

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

Trey Canard: Rookie Champion

Trey Canard accomplished something even great riders such as Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto were unable to do, win a Supercross championship in their rookie season.

Canard, racing for the Torco Racing Fuels/AMSOIL/Honda team headed to the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis this weekend with a slim three point lead over Villopoto in the Supercross Lites East Coast class.

Despite winning three of the first four rounds this season, the 17-year-old Canard would need to dig down and beat the defending champion straight-up to win the title.

Canard started out with a win in his heat race, setting the tone for the main. Branden Jesseman took the hole shot in the final, but it was Canard and teammate Josh Grant holding down the next two spots. Villopoto was in fourth and charging on Grant.

Canard was able to get by Jesseman for the lead on lap five. Moments later, Jesseman also let Villopoto sneak by. The two points leaders battled in a high pressure, winner take all, format for the next few laps. The two came together briefly before the big finish line jump, and it was Canard who held the line, forcing Villopoto of the track.

Canard cruised to the win after that altercation, and Villopoto had trouble keeping his momentum moving forward. He eventually finished behind Jesseman and Grant.

"I'm speechless," said Canard on the podum. "When I started racing professionally I never thought a championship would come, especially so soon."

Canard finished ten points ahead of Villopoto in the championship point's race. Grant, after a slow start this season, rebounded to fifth overall.

Meanwhile, Kevin Windham took home his third Supercross win of the season in St. Louis. He now sits just 13 points behind Chad Reed with just two rounds left in the 2008 season.

Canard and Grant will take a week off from racing as the West Coast Lites class resumes in Seattle on Saturday. The East Coast and West Coast classes will meet up in two weeks at the season finale in Las Vegas.

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

Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL racing and AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants.

Lovell's Open We-Rock Series With Win

Team AMSOIL rock climbing racers Brad and Roger Lovell teamed up for the first 2008 WE-Rock rockcrawl and were victorious in the highly competitive Pro-Mod class. All the previous stars returned for 2008 and the class saw the addition of many veteran Super-Mod competitors such Tracy Jordan and Jason Scherer. The Pro-Modified was by far the largest class in the Perris, Calif. event with 24 entrants.

To the team’s delight, the newly developed Fabtech/AMSOIL/Ford Ranger remained stable and predictable throughout the day.

“I never felt that I pushed it harder than I needed to," said the driver of the truck, Brad Lovell. "I quickly developed faith and felt right at home in the driver’s seat. My biggest concern was our competition. We had been following Tracy Jordan all day and developed a lead, but the running order would favor him on the second day.”

As the first day wound down, Brad lined the truck up for a tough climb on course B1. He pushed a front tire into the rock and the BFGoodrich Krawler obediently crawled to the top. As the second front tire approached, Brad repeatedly stabbed the gas pedal looking for traction. The right bounce finally launched the Ranger up the ledge but while Brad stayed focused on traction and throttle, he abused the power steering pump causing damage.

The start of the day two saw the brothers with a strong 21 point lead over a tie for second place between Jordan and Troy Bailey. Unfortunately, the Lovell's were first to run A4 and needed to decide whether or not to tackle the huge 20 point bonus ledge.

“You have one chance when going down ledges - you either land on your tires or your roof," said Brad. "I don’t think a driver out there wanted to do it but we knew we had to if we wanted to protect our lead. It was roughly equivalent to driving off of a house with only a bail of hay to break your fall. I was pretty nervous as Roger lined me up, I kept telling myself to trust my spotter and have faith in my suspension. Down I went and opened up all 400 horsepower as the front tires landed. Without a bounce the rear tires contacted the ground and I knew we just raised the bar for everyone behind us.”

Team Lovell twisted, turned, and climbed their way through the rest of courses and widened their lead to 26 points over Jordan and nearly 100 points over third place. As the pair approached the finals the realization came that the only battle now was between them and Jordan. The Jordan brothers worked their way through the final course and made it further than any previous team but were unable to finish. This handed the Lovells the win before the Fabtech/AMSOIL/ Ford Ranger even entered the course. Team Lovell skillfully worked the vehicle between the gates and became the only Pro-Mod team to finish.

The WE-Rock victory gives Lovell Racing back to back wins and a season points lead in both XRRA and WE-Rock, all in the same vehicle.

The next stop for the Lovells is XRRA Round #2 in Albuquerque, N.M. on May 3.

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

Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL racing and AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants.

Bob Teague Opens With Podium Finish

The AMSOIL Offshore Racing Team was the fan’s favorite at the annual Smokin’ the Sound Offshore Race in Biloxi, Miss. There were huge crowds present for the Offshore Super Series season opener as the City built a new dry pit area adjacent to the Isle of Capri Casino which added to the festive atmosphere.

Testing was held on Saturday with the races on Sunday. The race course consists of two long straight-a-ways right in front of the casinos and then an exit at each end into the Gulf of Mexico. Each lap is approximately nine miles long.

When the green flag dropped, it was Team Peppers, Team Propstop, and Team AMSOIL out front battling in heated competition. Team AMSOIL started experiencing steering problems early in the race. In spite of the problems, Bob Teague and Paul Whittier were able to hold on to a solid second place finish, 12 seconds behind Peppers and over a half a lap in front of the third place boat.

Next stop for Team AMSOIL will be at Lake Havasu, Az. for an OSS-POPRA double header on April 26-27. Until then, we'll see you at the races.

(note: Photo's courtesy of Sun Herald)

Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL racing and AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants.

Grant Podiums, Canard Leads Championship Standings

When combining both classes, the Torco Racing Fuels/AMSOIL/Honda team is easily the top team in the AMA pits so far this season. With two 450cc wins for Kevin Windham, one win in the AMA Western Regional Lites Championship for Jake Weimer and the early-series domination of Trey Canard in the Eastern Lites Championship that has him in the driver’s seat for the title, there isn’t a team to match it.

In Dallas last weekend, point's leader Canard’s night started out tough and got tougher, as he went down in the second turn of his heat race and was unable to restart his bike, forcing him into the Lites LCQ. There are no “provisional” qualifiers in the Lites class, so the LCQ truly had championship implications, but Canard left nothing to chance as he got the LCQ holeshot and went on to win in dominant fashion.

Still, that left Canard with the 19th pick on the gate. Even from there, he battled out front from the beginning, but then tangled with Billy Payne and championship rival Ryan Villopoto just after the first turn and quickly found himself dead last.

“In the main, I had a good jump, and I was in third, and Villopoto gave a little love tap to Billy Payne, and that kind of started the drama,” Canard said. “Before I knew it, I was down on a tabletop and had nowhere to go, so I had to do a little 180 and head the other direction. That was it.”

Canard rounded the first lap in 20th while Villopoto was out front. However, by lap five, Canard had maneuvered his way into seventh.

“To be honest, I don’t even remember it,” Canard said. “I guess when things like that happen, your natural instincts take over, and that’s what happens when your adrenaline gets going. It’s like a fighter’s mentality, and what you know how to do just happens.”

Late in the race, Canard passed Tyler Bowers for fourth, and got to within striking distance of third-placed Martin Davalos on the last lap, but was forced to settle for fourth for the second race in a row.

Canard still leads Villopoto by 17 points with only two rounds left to run, and it’s possible that Canard can wrap up the championship in Detroit with a little help from Villopoto, as a win by Canard and a fifth or worse from Villopoto will clinch the title early.

While Canard was fighting his way through the pack for the second race in a row, his teammate Josh Grant was also putting on a strong performance. The opening laps saw Grant trade the lead with Villopoto before a stall cost him the spot.

“I just came into a corner on the third lap and stalled it,” Grant said. “After that, luckily, I got it bump-started.”

Grant hung on for second in the main event, which paired nicely with his earlier heat-race win for a rather successful night.

“That’s my goal now, just to get a win, stay healthy and consistent, and work on what’s coming up, which is the outdoors,” Grant said. “That’s all I can do right now.”

In the 450cc class, Windham started the night out with an absolutely dominant performance in his heat race, where he won by a large margin over championship rival Chad Reed. However, the start didn’t work out quite as well in the main event.

“What happened was, I had two different types of dirt, and I picked the dirt that was best behind the gate, but worst in front of the gate, and I was hoping I’d get a good jump,” Windham said. “But I think my body positioning was such that on the tacky dirt, I was really forward, and I got a good jump, and then I got over the gate and it spun. I didn’t have time to slide back. I think I would’ve been better off to start off with a more neutral body position on the gate that would work on both sides. That was my downfall. I got down there horribly, but as good as I rode in my heat, I rode 10 times better than that in the main. That was one of the best rides that I’ve had. I don’t know that I made a mistake. I felt virtually on rails.”

Unfortunately, Windham started at the tail end of the top 10 while championship rival Reed was quickly into the lead, followed by Josh Hill, Davi Millsaps and Timmy Ferry. Windham got Ferry relatively early for fourth, but then couldn’t make any headway on Millsaps and Hill.

“Well, this was a track that had a lot of people doing the same lines,” Windham said. “It wasn’t the best track for passing. But we came through and we gave it our all. II’m trying to keep it close, but it’s just not happening. Two races in a row, we’re giving points. Anything’s still possible, but it’s starting to get to a point where it’s going to take a mishap on Chad’s part. He’s done it a couple times, so we’ll wait and see how it works. I’m not going to quit what I’m doing. I enjoyed tonight’s racing, and the fans were behind me so much. At the end of the day, I really can smell a championship, and when you lose points like that, it hits you in the stomach.”

Windham now trails Reed by 27 points with only four rounds left to run, but has a full 55 points on third place in the championship.

Windham, Canard and Grant will travel to Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. this weekend for round 14 of the AMA Supercross Series. The race will air on Sunday, April 13 on SPEED Channel (6:00 p.m. EST).

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

Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL racing and AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants.

CORR Tickets Available On-Line

With the launch of Championship Off Road Racing’s brand new website comes an all new and improved ticketing system for 2008. For the first time CORR fans can pick their seats, purchase and print tickets online at www.corracing.com. Online tickets sales are now open for the first CORR event of the 2008 season.

Fans will now be able to choose the best seat in the house when purchasing a premium ticket. You’ll be able to pick your seats from an online seating chart. Reserved seating will guarantee your seat all day, giving you the option to walk down vendor row or grab an autograph. Every person who buys a ticket online will be able to print their ticket at home; eliminating waiting time and ticketing lines.

CORR’s 2008 season kicks off on April 26-27 at the Fairplex in Pomona. AMSOIL/Kumho Tires Super Team drivers Mike Oberg and Scott Douglas are looking to start the new season off with wins in Pro 2 and Pro 4, respectively. So wear your AMSOIL clothing and watch the largest Pro classes in CORR history test their skills out against the best competitors in the business.

Gates open at 8:30AM on Saturday and Sunday. General Parking is located at Gate 17 on Fariplex Dr.

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

AMSOIL T-Maxx Wins CFR Championship

AMSOIL can now add monster truck champion to its growing list of accomplishments. The Sudden Impact Racing team, led by the AMSOIL T-Maxx truck, took home the 2008 Monster Truck Winter Nationals championship over the weekend.

The event, sanctioned by Checkered Flag Productions, was held in Pocatello, Idaho. AMSOIL/T-Maxx driver Sean Duhon entered the event with just a three point lead over Bearfoot #15. Teammate Kevin King was fifth overall and would help Duhon push the T-Maxx truck into the championship.

King started well, qualifying Sudden Impact with the fastest time. After two rounds of racing, both the T-Maxx and Sudden Impact had won their respective heat races and would face off in the final. Duhon would power the AMSOIL T-Maxx truck past King's Sudden Impact ride in the final and was able to clinch the championship. King would get even in the freestyle event as he finished second to Duhon's third.

Sudden Impact Racing will be racing again on Saturday, April 12 in Homestead, Fla.

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