Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Wanderscheid Opens Season in Top 5

Three time AMSOIL Eagle River World Champion PJ Wanderscheid opened up the 2007-08 oval ice racing season in Beausejour, Manitoba last weekend.

Wanderscheid and his AMSOIL team worked hard in the off season to develop a Pro-Stock 600 snowmobile by utilizing Arctic Cat's new 600 Pro-Stock Sno-x racer. In past years, Wanderscheid found success in the 600 class by using a modified 440 chassis. The team hopes to unveil the new sled in Rock River, Iowa this weekend and went into Beausejour competing with a 440 in both classes.

In Beausejour, about 50 miles north of Winnipeg, the temperature dropped to -15 degrees, cold even for oval ice racing in December. On Saturday, the AMSOIL team competed in three heats, finishing in either third or fourth in each. In the 600 final, Wanderscheid battled with Gary Moyle. While the team continued to work on the new sleds handling, the team found great speed on the straightaways. When the checkered flag fell, Wanderscheid cross the finish line in fifth.

The temps warmed up on Sunday and Wanderscheid pushed the AMSOIL sled in position to grab the holeshot. Unfortunately he was unable to hold the line and was sent into the hay bales. Once restarted, Wanderscheid maneuvered his AMSOIL/Arctic Cat into a final finishing position of fifth.

"It was actually a very promising weekend of racing for the AMSOIL team," said Wanderscheid. Our sled was fast and very bulletproof as we continued to dial in the handling, The sled was very predictable and responsive to our changes. We are looking forward to getting on the track at Rock Rapids, Iowa this coming week. It will allow us to race on a track that closely resembles the track at the AMSOIL Eagle River Derby."

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