Rinker Rocks Waves In Opening Win
Defending champion tames Bay City

Click Image for Photo Gallery

Bay City, Mich. ~ Team AMSOIL power boat driver Terry Rinker captured his ninth career victory to open the 2006 ChampBoat Racing Series last weekend in Bay City, Mich.  Rinker, the defending series champion, defeated Tim Seebold by two boat lengths in front of thousands of wildly cheering race fans at the 19th Annual Bay City River Roar on the Saginaw River on Sunday.

The AMSOIL sponsored driver came back to the front after the race was restarted after an accident on the 16th lap. The three-time winner of the event never looked back as Seebold chased him all the way to the checkered flag. It turned out to be a wildly exciting 50 laps around the four pin 1.25 mile course which was wind swept and very challenging to get right on the narrow walled race circuit that pushed every driver to their limits of skill and conditioning.

“This is a great way to start the season,” stated Terry. “We were hoping to get the job done after testing this winter in Florida and we really like the way the new boat handles.”

His brother, Randy Rinker, joins Rinker on the water this year.  The “other” Rinker is driving Terry’s old yellow tunnel boat and is working out of the same pits as his brother.  Randy Rinker finished ninth on Sunday.
 
The first race of the 2006 ChampBoat Racing Series is now in the books and the defending champion Rinker leads the points chase as the teams head to the Greater Cincinnati Grand Prix July 15-16.

Super Team Tackles Crandon
Team AMSOIL drivers start strong at popular race

Bay City, Mich. ~ It was more than one month ago when the AMSOIL/Kumho Tires “Super Team” of Scott Douglas, Dan Vanden Heuvel, Mike Oberg and Dan Vanden Heuvel, Jr. were basking in the southern California sun at the opening round of the Championship Off-Road Series (CORR).  The month was spent fixing, tweaking and getting ready for the first weekend of racing at the famed Crandon International Speedway in Crandon, Wis.

PRO-Lite

Click Image for Photo Gallery

Dan Vanden Heuvel, Jr. lined up with a stacked field of 23 Pro Lite trucks for Saturday’s round three action. Starting in the back row, Vanden Heuvel, Jr. managed to grab a fifth place start coming out of one of the fastest land rush starts in the world. He looked strong through the first lap but his goggles malfunctioned. He held on for two laps with limited vision, but with the lightly falling rain compounding his vision problems he was forced to make a pit stop to get some new eye protection. The rookie lost a lot of ground due to the stop and finished in a disappointing seventeenth.

On Sunday, Vanden Heuvel was better equipped to handle the vision problems that plagued him the day before.  Starting on the second row again, Junior came around the first corner in mid-pack. He worked the traffic and by the end of the first lap found himself in the top 10. He would push his Nissan the entire race with one of the top veterans in the class. On the last corner coming to the checkered flag, Junior had a run on the other truck, only to be cut off, wrecking both trucks at the finish line. He would finish in a solid eight place for the day.

PRO-2

The AMSOIL Super Team sports three drivers in the Pro-2 class.  Vanden Heuvel and Oberg both run the AMSOIL paint scheme, while Douglas runs his Rancho/AMSOIL backed Ford in the growing field.  The only thing holding these 800 horsepower trucks back from the Pro-4 class is their two-wheel drive set-up.  But the action was just as packed on both days, as more than 20 trucks rumbled out of the first turn.

Coming out of turn one, Douglas was leading the Super Team charge in seventh place, followed closely by Vanden Heuvel in eighth and Oberg rounding out the top 10.  Bad luck, however, would spoil the fun on Saturday’s racing for a major chunk of the Super Team.  Douglas found himself coasting around the track after his power steering pump stopped working, eventually finishing ninth.  Oberg, who had moved up into the sixth, had rear suspension trouble and left the competition early.   Vanden Heuvel, on the other hand, was putting on what was considered the best race of the weekend.

While running fifth, Vanden Heuvel was rammed and spun into a wall at the end of lap one.  After waiting for traffic to clear in the tight corner, he put his Chevy back into gear and rejoined the fight.  He quickly worked his way through the pack and within two laps was back in the top five.  When the white flag waved, signaling that there was only one lap left, Vanden Heuvel was working over fourth place and had set his aim on the third place truck.  He reeled the final podium spot in with only two turns to go.  On the tricky finish line corner, Vanden Heuvel found himself a little two wide, allowing the fourth place truck to duck under.  But Vanden Heuvel still had the better line and enough grip in his tires to push his truck over the finish line first for the third and final podium spot. 

On Sunday, the Super Team was ready to improve on their Saturday shortcomings.  Douglas started the campaign out strong, heading into the second lap in fourth. Vanden Heuvel was running just behind Douglas in sixth and Oberg started out in seventh.  Unfortunately a red flag stopped the race and a restart was in order.  The restart meant a loss of position for all drivers and the luck changed for the worse.  Douglas found damage and the inability to steer after a rock the size of a bowling ball broke his right rear shock shaft.  Vanden Heuvel was forced to pit after another truck hit him from behind in a corner and drove straight over the hood of his truck.  While the driver was penalized, Vanden Heuvel had to pit to get his hood removed so he could see the racetrack.  He ended up eighth.   Oberg, meanwhile, was able to avoid any major damage to his Chevy and battled through the pack, picking up a few spots, eventually finishing the race in sixth.

PRO-4

The four-wheel drive trucks are always the stars of the show, and AMSOIL was in the mix all weekend long.  Douglas changed his Rancho truck for his Pro-4 AMSOIL truck for the main attraction.  On Saturday, Douglas came out of turn one locked in a battle for second place.  He was able to push his Ford to the second spot and was chasing down the leader, Johnny Greaves.  On lap four, the output shaft from the transfer case broke, ending his day at the halfway point.  He was officially credited with an eighth place finish.

On Sunday, Douglas was again in contention for a podium and possibly his first win of the season.  At the drop of the green flag, he grabbed the hole shot and led the field down the front straightaway with Greaves on his rear bumper.  The two would battle it out for the next few laps, before more bad luck ended Douglas’ race day.  On lap five, he again found a problem with the transfer case, and crawled to the side of the track.

“We came to Crandon well prepared and ready to race,” said Douglas.  “Unfortunately both trucks suffered parts failure we have never experienced. It’s impossible to run at typical race speeds when your power steering has failed, but we were able to keep the Pro2 truck on the track and collect a few championship points. The AMSOIL Pro-4 truck really performed like we had hoped. The truck is able to compete with front-runners in the class.”

Oberg, Vanden Heuvel and Douglas also took part in the annual “Brush Run” race on Sunday afternoon.  The race pits Pro-2, Pro Lites and Pro-4’s against one another.  Eight Pro-2 trucks are allowed a lengthy lead before the Pro-4’s are allowed to leave the starting line.  Oberg and Vanden Heuvel were both on the front line for the start, while Douglas saddled into his Pro-4 truck for the delayed start.

Vanden Heuvel started the race in third, with Oberg just behind him.  After the delay, Douglas came around the first turn in second in the Pro-4 field.  With $25,000 up for grabs, drivers can sometimes be victims of aggressiveness by other drivers.  Douglas found that out when a competitor rammed into his front wheel, breaking his steering and ending his day.  Oberg also found problems, breaking a bolt on his suspension, and had to retire.  Vanden Heuvel, despite problems with his steering column, was able to hold off all but two Pro-4 trucks and finished the race in fifth.

The AMSOIL Super Team will only have a couple of weeks to fix their problems as the CORR series heads to upper Michigan for the Off-Road 100 in Bark River July 8-9.

Smith Back On The Road
Former champ returning too full-time in WDRL

Superior, Wis. ~ The Brady Smith Racing team took last weekend off from dirt late model competition, but will invade Iowa and Illinois this weekend for a pair of exciting events.  The World Dirt Racing League (WDRL) Series will sanction the two shows over the weekend, with both of them boasting $5,000 paydays.  Smith was the 2004 WDRL Champion and Rookie of the Year and will be looking for added success on the series trail this weekend.

The Echo Valley Speedway in West Union, Iowa will be stop number one for the

#2 team on Saturday evening.  The dirt-slinging action will then head over to the Bureau County Speedway in Princeton, Illinois on Sunday, July 2.  This weekend will mark Brady’s first appearances of 2006 at both Echo Valley and Bureau County.

Co-op Sponsorships

If you are a T-1 certified AMSOIL Dealer looking to sponsor a local racer through the AMSOIL Co-op Race Program, please fill out the Co-op racing Form (G-2074) and send it the AMSOIL Racing Department.  Dealers requesting sponsorship for teams they sponsored last year will need to fill out the form once again.  Also, please remember to send in your race results, as they will be included in the Checkered Flag.