Team AMSOIL oval ice racer PJ Wanderscheid headed to Forest Lake, Minn. this past weekend to take part in the WSA oval ice series as well as a make-up final from the weather shortened Iowa race.
The weather was balmy, bringing mid 30’s temperatures both days at the track. Wanderscheid took part in the three rounds of qualifying on Saturday for the Pro 600 class. Racing on his 440 Arctic Cat, the Sauk Centre native ended up with second, third and first place finishes in the three heats. Starting the final as the number four qualifier, Wanderscheid was second to Dustin Wahl heading into turn one. He held is position for the first lap, but the more powerful 600 cc race sleds pushed by him on the large track. Despite the power difference, Wanderscheid finished fourth.
Sunday brought two days of finals, with the first one being a make-up race from Rock Rapids, Iowa. He again grabbed a good hole shot and was second heading into the first turn. He ducked under the leader and nabbed the lead down the backstretch completing lap one. The next lap saw Wahl give an awesome drive out of turn two and had the inside line going into turns 3 and 4, overtaking Wanderscheid. He came as close as a few sled lengths to Wahl but faded back at the finish for second.
The rest of the day consisted of qualifying for the scheduled Champ 440 final. Wanderschied swept all three heats, giving him the top qualifying spot for the feature. He had a good hole shot and again came out of turn two with the lead. That lead would be short lived when Wahl passed by on the second lap. He continued to pull away though the race running an outside line that our sled could not run. A restart on lap nine couldn't pull Wanderscheid closer to the leaders and he ended up with his second podium of the weekend with a third place finish.
"It was a good weekend of racing and it was nice to not race in sub zero weather for once," said Wanderscheid. "We battled handing issues all weekend that we could not zero in on fast enough. When the weather got warm it changed track conditions quickly and it was partial guessing game to hit it right. Overall we are happy with our weekend even though we would like to win them all it was not our weekend to accomplish that."
Wanderscheid was scheduled to race in Garrison, Minn. this weekend, but track conditions and weather could play a role in keeping the three time World Champion at home.
Until then, we'll see you at the races.
