Eckstrom, riding his Polaris Mod sled, made it a perfect Friday night of Winter X Games qualifying by winning all three of his qualifying heats in convincing fashion. Teammate Shaun Crapo also qualified well after finishing second, third and picking up a win in the third round. The WPSA held two Winter X Games finals with Eckstrom in the first race and Crapo in the second. Eckstrom continued his dominating run by grabbing the hole shot and leading the field by more than five seconds on his way to the win.
Crapo then followed Eckstrom's lead, and line, winning the second final of the night and securing a spot in the 2008 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. Polaris/Dupont/AMSOIL rider Ross Martin, a medal winner at the 2007 games, did not have to qualify, but his Judnick Motorsports teammate Matt Judnick was able to advance with a fourth place finish on Friday night.Eckstrom and Crapo continued to ride well on Saturday. Eckstrom was dubbed the fourth qualifier in the Pro Stock class after three rounds and Crapo finished seventh. Martin, riding his first races of the 2007 season, finished as the number two qualifier. In the final, Martin grabbed an early lead, but Eckstrom quickly
closed the gap. Eckstrom had to battle from the number eight spot to catch Martin, the defending Pro Open champion. The two battled for 22 of the 24 laps before Eckstrom was tied up in lapped traffic. When the checkered flag dropped just before eight o'clock, AMSOIL had picked up a win (Martin) and a second (Eckstrom). Former Scheuring Speed Sports rider Mike Schultz finished third. Crapo, who crashed early in the race, recovered to finish 11th. Judnick finished 10th.The WPSA Pro Open class will be held on Sunday afternoon.
Until then, we'll see you at the races,
Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Program Manager
