TORC Series Readies for Perris Auto Speedway

After a battle at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, the top off road racers in the world are ready to square off for rounds 2 and 3 at the new and improved track at Perris Auto Speedway, in Perris, Calif.

Joining the three PRO Truck classes on the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL circuit, are several other sportsman classes: PRO Super Buggy, 1600 Buggy, UTV, and both 250 and 450 Off Road Karts. SRT classes will be running a West Coast Triple Crown where three races will constitute a championship, and be awarded at the USAC banquet at the end of the season.

The festivities begin at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday night at Chuy’s in Corona, with a TORC kick off party. Trucks, teams, and sponsors will be on hand as well as Dirt Newz’s own Tim Sanchez broadcasting live from the event. TORC then moves to PAS Friday at noon for Media Day, shortly followed start of what will be an action packed weekend. Fans can look forward to not only lots of fender banging, truck racing; there will also be plenty of action in the pits, as well as the Traxxas “Try Me Track,” where fans can test out an array of Traxxas trucks.

AMSOIL Super Team members Scott Douglas, Mike Oberg and Chad Hord will be joined by the sports top drivers in front of the ABC cameras (airs June 7). Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster and can be found by going to http://www.tix.com/. Gates open Friday at 3:00pm.

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

Team AMSOIL Starts Strong At MX Opener

The GEICO Powersports/AMSOIL/Honda team rolled into Glen Helen for the opening round of the 2009 AMA Pro Motocross Championships last Saturday with high hopes, and they delivered, with all four of the team’s 250cc riders finishing in the top 10 in the day.

One of the highlights of the day for the team was the phenomenal rookie performance of Justin Barcia in his first professional race. Groomed through his latter amateur years by the Factory Connection Racing team before graduating to FC’s pro team, everyone had high hopes for Barcia, but few could’ve expected what he actually did.

In the first moto, Barcia started right behind his teammate Trey Canard, but quickly passed his more experienced teammate and took over the lead. Barcia led the first half of the 14-lap race before succumbing to arm-pump and falling back to an eventual ninth-place finish. In moto two, after starting about third, Barcia again busted out to an early lead, but this time he pulled out nearly 10 seconds on second place. Barcia ended up leading 10 of the 13 laps in the moto before being passed by 2009 Lites West Supercross champ Ryan Dungey and 2008 MX2 World Champion Tyla Rattray. Barcia finished third despite again running into issues with arm-pump.

“Coming in, I definitely wanted to be in the top 10, and I was happy with my finishes,” Barcia said. “In the first moto, I wasn’t very happy, honestly, because I wanted to be up front further, but I got some pretty bad arm-pump. But the second moto, I was really happy with my finish because I got third, and that was awesome for me. I was pumped. Coming in, I felt like I had the speed, but I didn’t know how aggressive those guys would be and everything. I was comfortable where I was, and I didn’t feel like I was riding over my head or anything, so it was a good start.”

His 9-3 finishes were good for sixth overall, just behind Canard.

Canard got the holeshot in the first moto before it was red-flagged, then got the holeshot a second time on the restart and ran second to Barcia for quite a few laps but couldn’t pass his teammate. Meanwhile, he had Dungey and Christophe Pourcel on his tail, and the two 2009 SX champs passed Canard on the sixth lap, then passed Barcia barely more than a lap later. Canard followed them by his teammate and eventually finished third in the moto. In the second moto, Canard started just inside the top five and slid little by little to eighth, which he was not happy with.

“That’s the roughest motocross track I’ve ever ridden, so that’s probably going to be the toughest race of the year,” Canard said. “I didn’t feel like myself really all day, and in the first practice, I was like 12th, and I know I’m better than that, and I know I’m better than the way that I rode, so if that’s a bad day for me, then it looks like we’re on the right track.”

Canard finished fifth overall.

Brett Metcalfe, in his first race back since injuring himself in Atlanta, still isn’t completely healed up, but despite a very sore wrist that kept him from doing even one full-length moto prior to the opener at Glen Helen, he had a strong showing.

In moto one, Metcalfe started outside the top 10 and began moving forward, eventually finishing a strong seventh after running as high as sixth. In moto two, Metcalfe started fifth and then fought it out around that position for the rest of the race, eventually finishing a strong sixth. He finished seventh overall..

And finally, Blake Wharton, also in his first Glen Helen National (like his teammate Barcia) rode strong all day, but had a couple of mistakes cost him. In moto one, Wharton started out seventh and ran sixth for much of the race before falling. Still, he recovered for a strong eighth. In moto two, he started 11th, fell back to 12th, then moved up to ninth before he stalled his bike. He still recovered for a strong tenth by moto’s end, though. He also finished tenth overall.

In the 450cc class, Dan Reardon took to the track for the GEICO Powersports Honda team. He started sixth in the first moto, but a fall on lap two put him back in 16th. Still, he worked his way forward to an eventual 10th-place finish. However, he dropped out of moto two with a bent front-brake caliper carrier, ending the day with 17th overall.

From here, the AMSOIL team heads north to Prairie City SVRA for the Hangtown Motocross Classic, round two of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

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

Team AMSOIL Offshore Dominates in Kentucky

The AMSOIL Offshore Racing Team led both of its races from start to finish in the fierce OSS Cat Lite competition in both Cat Lite heats held at Lake Cumberland, Ky. on Sunday, May 10. The Team AMSOIL 368 Skater was re-fitted with new Mercury 525 EFI engines and components just prior to the trip from California.

The new equipment was tested on Saturday by Bob Teague and Paul Whittier logging over 160 miles trying different set up combinations. The extensive testing combined with the newly prepared boat paid off by a dominant performance during Sunday’s two races in which the finish points of each race were combined to determine the final winner.

Team AMSOIL started on the pole position in each Cat Lite heat and battled in the beginning of each race with Team Propstop through the first couple of turns until gaining the lead. In each race, Team AMSOIL continued to extend the lead. At the end of the second race, Team AMSOIL established a lead on the rest of the fleet of nearly one-half lap.

Team AMSOIL credits the winning performance and reliability of its boat to the outstanding lubricants used in the engines and all systems in the boat. The new 15W50 Dominator Racing Oil allowed Team AMSOIL to log over 4000 racing miles on its Mercury Racing engines last year with not one engine problem. The Team has also proven that the absolute best oil for a Mercury dry-sump VISSM drive is AMSOIL “MCF.” After two years of racing, Team AMSOIL’s VISSM drives are still in new condition.

Next stop for Team AMSOIL is the OPA Race in Ocean City, Md, on May 30-31.

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

Traxxas TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL Television Debut

The Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL, the premier short-course off-road racing series in the nation, is broadcasting its races on ESPN2 and ABC throughout the 2009 race season. Five rounds will air on ESPN2, with three additional rounds airing on ABC, including a live telecast of the Crandon 40th Anniversary of Off-Road Racing.

Marty Reid, lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN on ABC’s coverage of the Indianapolis 500 and selected NASCAR races, will call all of the TORC Series events on ESPN2 and ABC. Assisting is long-time extreme sports announcer Tes Sewell, with former Miss USA Kimberly Pressler as the roaming pit reporter.

Last weekends first race from Texas Motor Speedway will air this Sunday, May 24 at 11:00 a.m. EST on ESPN2. Watch as Team AMSOIL took home eight podium finishes. Click here for the full broadcast schedule.

TORC will be back on the track next weekend at the Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, Calif. May 29-30.

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

Pegram On The Move at Infineon Raceway

As a productive weekend comes to an end, Team Foremost/AMSOIL/Pegram Racing leaves Infineon Raceway with two top five finishes, advancing rider Larry Pegram to sixth overall in the championship.

Following Saturday’s battle, (which ended in a third place finish), Pegram set his sights on overall advancement in the American Superbike Championship. As the crew made several changes to his Ducati 1098 R Superbike, Pegram set a goal of leaving Infineon sixth in the championship.

Sunday's race was held in comparable heat to Saturday’s scorcher, and when the flag dropped Pegram immediately propelled his Ducati 1098 R to fourth position, riding aggressively in pursuit of the number one spot. A failed overtaking maneuver on Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden enabled Geoff May and Josh Hayes to sneak through; dropping Pegram to sixth place. Pegram then twisted the throttle on his Ducati and put his head down, enabling a pass on May for fifth position. Once the Ducati got past May there was a significant gap to Hayes in fourth, which Pegram fought to the end to close. When the checkered flag fell Pegram took fifth position, and more importantly reached in his goal of sixth in the championship.

“Needless to say I’m really happy with what we have accomplished this weekend,” commented Pegram. “My team has been great and the Ducati ran strong all weekend. Leaving Infineon a solid sixth in the championship is a great feeling, and I’m ready to start fighting for fifth at Road America.”

The AMSOIL sponsored rider now heads back to their Ohio race shop, where the Ducati 1098 R will be rebuilt in preparation for round six of the AMA Pro Racing American Superbike Championship. The next race will be held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. June 5-7. AMSOIL is the Official Oil of AMA Pro Road Racing and the presenting partner of the Daytona SportBike class.

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

Douglas Battles Out Front at TORC Opener, Team AMSOIL Nabs 8 Podiums

Scott Douglas hasn’t forgotten the way his 2008 short course season ended, (a hard crash and multiple broken bones in his leg, ankle and feet), but that sure didn’t make him take his foot off the gas. A strong proponent of the new Professional Drivers Group (PDG) and Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL, Douglas Motorsports went all in with the new short course series and attacked with a championship-winning attitude. That aggressive approach landed Douglas back on the winner’s podium with a second place finish in round two of racing at Texas Motor Speedway.

And track conditions at the Texas Motor Speedway’s dirt track oval were very different than anything most teams have encountered. The Texas clay was not only heavy and thick, but also extremely sticky and changed rapidly as temperatures cooled down for the night race under the lights.

“This new Kumho tire is going to be great for a lot of the tracks we race on, but out here, it simply stuck too well," said Douglas. "I couldn’t rotate the truck in the corners the way you need to on a course like we have here in Texas.

Despite the handling challenges, Douglas finished fifth in round one, delivering valuable points toward the 2009 TORC championship chase. The crew made critical adjustments to the truck for Saturday night’s round two of racing, and then the rains came.

Saturday morning, the racecourse was literally under water, but when the rain eased early in the afternoon the track crew went to work draining and peeling back the thick Texas clay. By the time the lights came on and the stands began to fill, TORC had a track that was race ready.

Douglas started the race on the outside of row one, and dropped back to fifth before making a charge. After the mandatory red flag to clean up of the track, Douglas diced through the pack giving the fans great action and lead changes through the second half of the race. Staying out of trouble, he brought the AMSOIL Kumho Ford F-150 across the finish line in second earning a trip back to the winner’s circle podium, his ninth podium in his past twelve races.

Douglas wasn't alone on the podium for Team AMSOIL over the weekend. In total, AMSOIL sponsored drivers took home eight out of a possible 18 podiums, including two wins. AMSOIL drivers Jeff Kincaid and Chad Hord finished second and third respectively in Friday nights Pro Light truck race. Pro 2wd say a pair of wins for AMSOIL with Ricky Johnson winning on Friday night and Scotty Taylor taking the checkered on Saturday. Johnson also finished second on Saturday. Jeremy McGrath put his Monster Energy/AMSOIL truck in the second spot during Friday's Pro 2wd race while teammate Johnny Greaves took a third in Friday's Pro 4x4 race.

(Complete Results)

The Texas opener will air on ESPN2 this Sunday, May 24 at 11:00 am. Rounds three and four of race action from Perris Auto Speedway on May 29 and 30 are scheduled to air Sunday June 7 on ABC at 5:00 pm.

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

Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL Underway

The Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL is now officially underway. The gates opened at 3:00 pm at Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth, Texas for a full night of pro racing. The top professional drivers in off road, short course racing will take part in the two day event. Team AMSOIL drivers Scott Douglas, Mike Oberg and Chad Hord will headline the most talented field in off road racing history.

Complete Event Schedule

AMSOIL is proud to announce the debut of the Ultimate AMSOIL Off-Road Super Team Super Fan contest this weekend at the TORC opener.

The Ultimate AMSOIL Off-Road Super Team Super Fan contest is open to all fans in attendance of a TORC race in 2009. Simply collect all 10 AMSOIL trading cards; bring them to the AMSOIL Display Trailer underneath the grandstands and sign up to win great prizes, including AMSOIL Traxxas R/C trucks, a complete door panel from an AMSOIL-sponsored driver, autographed hats, shirts and a complete AMSOIL oil change kit. The Texas opener will feature a race-used door panel from Traxxas driver and Texas native Mike Jenkins. A different door panel from an AMSOIL-sponsored racer will be given out at each event.

Each round of the 2009 Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL will claim more than 25 winners. At the end of the season, all of these winners will be placed into the Ultimate AMSOIL Off-Road Super Team Super Fan Prize Pack drawing where one lucky winner will take home the ultimate prize pack, including AMSOIL products, a Traxxas R/C Slash, a set of Kumho Tires, a Makita 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Impact Driver Kit and VIP access to the 2010 BorgWarner Weekend at the Big House in Crandon.

Grab a flyer at the front gate or when you buy your pit pass at Texas Motor Speedway and collect all nine cards from AMSOIL-sponsored drivers, including Scott Douglas, Mike Oberg, Chad Hord, Jeremy McGrath, Johnny Greaves, Steve Barlow, Mike Jenkins, Mark Jenkins and Ricky Johnson. Get your final card, a complete TORC Series schedule, at the AMSOIL booth and sign up to win.

The Texas race will air on ESPN2 next sunday from 11:00 - noon (EST). The next TORC race will be May 29-30 in Perris, Calif.

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

BUY AMSOIL Douglas/Oberg Traxxas Trucks Now!!

Watch Lovell's Near Record Run

The world of off-road racing is opening doors for the top rockcrawlers. Not only can they crawl, but they can now also race on rocks, in the desert, and participate in hill climbs.

Team AMSOIL/Torchamate "rockcrawlers" Brad and Roger Lovell took in their first hill climb last weekend. They showed up Friday night and saw everything from rally cars to methanol burning open wheel monsters. Needless to say, the #232 AMSOIL/Torchmate Ford Ranger stuck out like a sore thumb.

Being that the rock racer class is new to CHCA, the organizers let the trucks make the first run up the hill. Brad Lovell was lucky enough to be the first victim in line. He pinned the gas and hoped for the best. He quickly learned how important it is to be smooth with the steering wheel as he flung the AMSOIL Ranger all over the road. His second run went much better as he started to figure out the hairpin turns. He set the low practice time for the truck class of 3:39.

Race day consists of two timed runs, the best of which becomes your official time. Lovell was cautious on the first run, but went for broke on the second. The result was a 3:38 run and a lead in the class. For the final run, he stayed on the throttle and pushed through turn one, hitting 94 mph and setting a near record time.

"When I reached the top, I knew I had a good time, but the smile on (eventual winner's) JT Taylor’s face let me know he had a good run as well," said Lovell. "At the end of the day, Taylor had bettered my time by a mere 6/10ths of a second."

Photos courtesy of Jud Leslie.

AMSOIL Shock Therapy on display at TORC Opener

AMSOIL, the Exclusive Official Oil and Presenting sponsor of the Traxxas TORC Series, will have a special guest on hand for the opener of the 2009 season at Texas Motor Speedway.

Monster Jam’s 2009 “Rising Star” winner Jon Zimmer will be on hand to sign autographs and the AMSOIL Shock Therapy monster truck will be on display during the TORC Series opener on Friday and Saturday. Zimmer will be joined by Sudden Impact Racing teammate Kristy Edge and the Excalibur truck. Zimmer and Edge will sign autographs at the AMSOIL booth, located under the grandstands, starting at 4:00 pm on Friday and 6:00 pm on Saturday.

Gates open for the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL at 3:00 pm on Friday and Saturday at 5:00 pm. Tickets are available at http://www.torcseries.com/tickets.php.

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

TORC Series Presented by AMSOIL Preview (video)

The Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL is just three days away and the final preparations are underway for what is expected to be a packed house at the Texas Motor Speedway on Friday and Saturday night.

Before the door-to-door racing begins Friday afternoon, TORC and Red Bull will be hosting the Red Bull Kick-off Party at City Streets Forth Worth. TORC's biggest names, including AMSOIL Super Team members Scott Douglas, Mike Oberg and Chad Hord will be on hand to sign autographs starting at 8:00 pm. The event is open to the public and is a great way to kick off the 2009 season.

AMSOIL will have a strong presence in Texas, including AMSOIL Shock Therapy Monster Truck driver and Monster Jam's 2009 "Rising Star" winner Jon Zimmer on hand for autographs both days. Fans can also win great prizes by collecting the 2009 Team AMSOIL Trading Cards from your favorite AMSOIL drivers (in the pits) and registering at the AMSOIL booth underneath the grandstands.

Gates open on Friday at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Buy tickets now.

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

AMSOIL, TORC on ABC, ESPN2

The Traxxas TORC Truck Series presented by AMSOIL will appear on ESPN2 and ABC in 2009, TORC officials announced late Thursday. This premier short-course racing series with
the top stars in off-road racing has caught on with both extreme sports athletes and traditional racing enthusiasts alike. With commitments from the top off road racers in the world, including AMSOIL Super Team members Scott Douglas, Mike Oberg and Chad Hord, this series promises to deliver the most authentic and exciting off-road racing in the United States.

The 2009 season features eight weekends of “Extreme Truck” racing. ESPN2 will air five rounds with three additional rounds to appear on ABC, including a live telecast on ABC of the Crandon 40th Anniversary of Off-Road Racing. The season begins at Texas Motor Speedway, under the lights on May 15-16 and will be shown on ESPN2 on Sunday, May 24 at 11 am EST. The second round from Perris, Calif. will be shown on ABC on Sunday, June 7th at 5 pm EST.

Marty Reid, lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN on ABC's coverage of the Indianapolis 500 and selected NASCAR races, will call all of the Traxxas TORC Series events on ESPN2 and ABC. Assisting will be long-time extreme sports announcer Tes Sewell with the outstanding Kimberly Pressler as the roaming pit reporter. Pressler is a former Miss USA and has an impressive background in motorsports.

“I have raced all my life,” said series co-founder, TORC Truck Series CEO and AMSOIL sponsored driver Ricky Johnson. “I went pro in motocross at age 13 and had a great career winning seven major championships. I’ve raced NASCAR, ARCA, Off Road and several other forms of pro racing but nothing touches the adrenaline that flows in short-course off-road racing and the fans are going to love it. ESPN2 and ABC will be great forums to spread the excitement from the track to motorsports and extreme sports viewers.”

The Traxxas TORC Truck Series presented by AMSOIL has its roots in the Midwestern states but has found many followers in the off-road and desert racing communities of the West Coast. By combining the heritage of the Midwestern short-course drivers with the passion and knowledge of desert racers, a strong and viable race product has evolved into a nationwide series with fans from coast-to-coast.

“We look forward to bringing the Traxxas TORC Truck Series to our audience,” said Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice president, programming and acquisitions. “We’re pleased to be able to add this exciting series to our lineup.”

Complete Race/Television Schedule: (all shows 1 hour and EST)

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW for the opener at Texas Motor Speedway on May 15-16.

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

AMSOIL/Torchmate Team Dominates Utah We-Rock Event

Some weekends everything comes together just the way it was planned. When the AMSOIL/Torchmate team hit the road for the second round of the We-Rock series in Cedar City, Utah, everything came together better than planned.

The AMSOIL/Torchmate Racing team fought hard, took many risks, and the results were what the team hoped for: Jesse Haines took first in the Unlimited class, Brad Lovell was first in Pro-Modified, and Bill Kunz finished second in Pro-Modified. A new benchmark has been set for the team which will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to surpass.

Jesse Haines went to work over two days against the top drivers in the unlimited class. We-Rock penalizes rear steering vehicles but the feature allows #199, and others like it, to pull off some amazing maneuvers. One small slip on the first day put Haines and Howard in 3rd but the competition was less than half over. While the pair remained in third, they managed to close the gap on the leader to a mere six points. A lot can happen in the shootout and the pressure is always intense. Haines kept a cool head and put together an amazing run scoring a minus-15. It was all anyone could do to try and beat him and the closest was a minus-9 which put Haines in a tie for the win. This is as close as it gets and the rules state that the tie-breaker is the shootout course. Haines brought home his first win this year and set the stage for an epic Torchmate finish.

Sunday was intense as a radio problem caused the #232 AMSOIL/Torchmate Ranger to hit a couple cones on the first run. This immediately cost the Lovell's their huge lead and the hunt for the lead was on. As 22 Pro-Mod teams rotated around the courses, the AMSOIL sponsored rigs remained upright and between the cones. A strong effort by Kunz assured the #28 truck its first trip to the finals.

“I knew it was going to be tight,” recalled Brad Lovell, “I was really worked up about a bonus climb that nobody had made. I was asking anyone and everyone if we should try it. We did and that is the only reason we had a lead at all. It was a good gamble.”

The teammates lead was so great over the rest of the field that Lovell and Kunz had the top two spots wrapped up before they even started the shootout. With nothing to lose, the only thing to be settled was a rivalry inside the team. Kunz entered the rocks and tried hard to slip through a daunting bonus. With no luck, he hit the cone but continued to work the machine skillfully through the course, once again setting the low score. The Lovell's only needed to repeat the run to end with a victory. While #28 beat them by two points in the shootout, the #232 AMSOIL/Torchmate Ford took home its second We-Rock win this year and a strong lead in the 2009 series.

“We did well because everyone on the team worked hard and found a way to contribute,” said Bill Kunz, “It is a great bunch of people and a great sport. I am really thankful to everyone out there who pitched in and helped us fix our car.”

Torchmate Racing remains in high gear as Brad and Roger Lovell prepare to race their first CHCA Hillclimb this weekend while the #7231 desert truck is prepped for the legendary Baja 500 in early June.

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

Photos without watermark are free for use and credit should be given to Jud Leslie.

Canard Third in East/West Shootout

The 2009 AMA Supercross finale was highly charged, and the Dave Coombs Sr. Lites East/West Shootout nearly held to the pattern of wins by underdogs, as GEICO Powersports /AMSOIL/Honda’s Trey Canard put on a charge.

In the main event, Canard started just behind teammate Blake Wharton, in second place, took the lead on lap two, and began to pull away slowly from both the East and West champs. He would lead until lap thirteen of the fifteen lap race when he lost traction in a turn, throwing his timing off for an entire section. That allowed Ryan Dungey and Chris Pourcel to take advantage and put the 2008 East Coast Lites champion in the third spot, his finishing position for the third year in a row.

As was previously mentioned, Wharton grabbed the holeshot in the main, but he struggled in the whoops all night, eventually going down in them while running fourth.

“I got the start, which is good,” Wharton said. “I got the holeshot, and I came down that big straightaway in first with a big lead for the start, which is cool, and I did the first lap in the lead, but there was one set of whoops where I was struggling, and on the second lap, they came up on me, and Trey got me in the whoops right there. I got sideways a little bit and went down in there, and that was pretty much the end of it."

Wharton finished 11th, just in front of his replacement teammate Daniel Blair. Blair won the LCQ to go to the main, then rode a strong race on his way to 12th.

In the 450cc class, Kevin Windham put in a charge from a so-so start to grab fourth pretty early in the race, where he would eventually finish.

“The start wasn’t that good, and with Reed and James playing that cat-and-mouse game, I wish I could’ve gotten up to them, but it was just kind of a fitting end to my season, you know?” Windham said.

Windham finished out the supercross season fifth in points, one point out of fourth.

From here, the AMSOIL sponsored team will get some final testing done before the AMA National Motocross Series, which kicks off on May 23 at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Calif. There will be four riders underneath the awning, with Canard, Wharton and Brett Metcalfe racing the 250cc class while Dan Reardon tries his hand in the 450cc class.

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

On Board with the AMSOIL Shock Therapy Monster Truck

The AMSOIL Shock Therapy monster truck, driven by John Zimmer, recently had an extra passenger, an on board camera. Take a ride with the AMSOIL truck as it completes a practice lap and heat race against Bigfoot.

Sudden Impact Racing will have two trucks, the Cult and Sudden Impact, at the May 16 show in Meridian, Miss. The AMSOIL Shock Therapy, along with Excalibur, will be at Guelph, Ontario May 22 and in Ottawa, Ontario May 23.

The AMSOIL Shock Therapy and Excalibur will also be on display at the opening round of the Traxxas TORC series presented by AMSOIL, May 15-16 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

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

Rinker Grabs Pole, Finishes Second at AMSOIL Grand Prix

Floridian Shaun Torrente showed that maybe patience will be his new strategy for winning his first title as he took advantage of Tim Seebold’s engine expiring on the 17th lap and held on to win the opening 50 lap feature event for the 2009 F1-ChampBoat Tour presented by AMSOIL in front of thousands of spectators in Southeast Texas.


The race began with the five time champion Seebold grabbing a great start off the start pontoon ahead of pole sitting defending champion Terry Rinker of the AMSOIL Team and Torrente who quickly moved into the second. Seebold, who built up a comfortable margin early was dictating the pace until his engine let go in spectacular fashion catching fire and forcing the driver from Missouri to put the fire out by sinking the back transom of the hull before the rescue team could arrive.


For Torrente, it was a case of being patient once the race began and finally taking a great win, his first of the season and his fifth overall as he starts his fourth full time season on the tour.


“We did everything we needed to in order for us to win this weekend,” said Torrente. “We are happy with the victory and will take this momentum to the next event next in Evansville, Indiana and look for a win on the Ohio River on the weekend of the 20th and 21st of June. It’s a great way to start our pursuit in winning our first F1-ChampBoat title.”


Second went to defending series champion Rinker as his AMSOIL sponsored machine. Rinker did a great job in qualifying on Saturday, but was just a tick off during the 50 lap AMSOIL Grand Prix final. The Tampa resident, who is looking for his record setting fifth championship in 2009, battled to stay up in the top three for the first third of the race, finishing second once the Seebold boat went down. Rinker


“We were a bit disappointed with our start after having such a great day yesterday, but we hung in there and the bottom line is we crossed the finish line on the podium and are just behind in the points championship,” said Rinker. “The AMSOIL Team this season will be even more prepared at Evansville. I love the race site on the Ohio and am looking for a win in my home state when I return there in June.”


The second round of the 25th Anniversary Season of the F1 ChampBoat series heads to the Ohio River and the lovely south Indiana town of Evansville on June 20-21.

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

Team AMSOIL Prepares For Busy Start to May

Many of your favorite AMSOIL sponsored race teams are starting May either wrapping up a long winter or kicking off a new season.

ChampBoat Presented by AMSOIL

AMSOIL is the new presenting sponsor of the F1 ChampBoat Series. The season starts this Saturday in Port Neches, Texas. AMSOIL driver Terry Rinker looks for his fifth championship in popular tunnel boat series.

Supercross

After picking up his first win of the 2009 Supercross season, 2008 Lites champion Trey Canard will look to take home the title of 2009 East/West Shootout champion as the GEICO Powersports/AMSOIL/Honda team heads to Las Vegas for the final round of the AMA Supercross Series on May 2 inside Sam Boyd Stadium. There will be five riders underneath the team's awning, with Kevin Windham, Canard, Dan Reardon, Blake Wharton and Daniel Blair all taking part in the event.

AMA Pro Road Racing

AMA Pro Road Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. AMSOIL is the Official Oil of AMA Pro Road Racing and the presenting partner of the Daytona SportBike class. AMSOIL is also the sponsor of Ducati's Larry Pegram in the AMA Pro SuperBike class. The AMA returns to action this weekend at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. May 1-3.

AMA ATV Motocross

The AMA ATV Motocross series will spin its wheels in Walnut, Ill. May 2-3. Go catch the top stars in ATV racing as round three starts on Saturday. AMSOIL is the Official Oil of the AMA ATV series.

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