AMSOIL Shock Therapy Monster Truck Unveiled
AMSOIL Dealers get first look at AMSOIL U

Superior, Wis. ~ AMSOIL continues to make a splash in the wide world of motorsports.  On Tuesday, May 23, in front of 400 AMSOIL Dealers, employees attending AMSOIL University, AMSOIL unveiled the AMSOIL Shock Therapy monster truck. 

The truck is owned and operated by Paul Shafer Motorsports out of Indiana.  AMSOIL Race Coordinator Jeremy Meyer drove out the truck from its hiding spot.  He quickly handed over the throttle to James Tique, III, the driver of Paul Shafer’s Bearfoot.  Tique made a few laps in front of the energized crowd, crushed cars and attempting to ride a wheelie.

“What an unbelievable site,” said Meyer.  “The Dealers were so excited when we rolled out the Shock Therapy truck.  We had a number of our race teams on display, but no one has every seen anything like this at AMSOIL U.  This truck is going to catch a lot of eyes in the years to come.”
The Shock Therapy truck will tour the nation through events set up by Paul Shafer Motorsports.  It will make its competitive debut in Popular Bluffs, Missouri next week.

Other race teams in attendance at AMSOIL U included snocross rider DJ Eckstrom and Scheuring Speedsports, oval ice champion PJ Wanderscheid, AMSOIL Super Team members, Scott Douglas, Dan Vanden Heuvel, Mike Oberg and Dan Vanden Heuvel, Jr.  Also in attendance were stadium truck driver Jeff Dedick of Autumn Woods Racing, late model driver Brady Smith and 2005 ChampBoat series champion Terry Rinker.

Click here to visit the Paul Shafer Motorsports page and see more photos and video of the AMSOIL Shock Therapy monster truck (video may take a few minutes to download.)

Team AMSOIL Inks Shaun Crapo
Snocross rider to team up with Scheuring Speed Sports

Aurora, Minn. ~ Team AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports team owner Steve Scheuring has announced the signing of professional snocross rider Shaun Crapo out of St. Anthony, Idaho to a two-year contract.  Crapo will join Duluth, Minn. native and long-time Team AMSOIL rider Dennis “D.J.” Eckstrom on the Polaris-supported team.

“I am extremely excited about bringing Shaun on board,” said Scheuring. “We now have two racers that can win consistently and race for the championship”

Crapo has been racing for the past eleven years, most of that time spent with Team Arctic Cat.  In 2005, the young rider finished third overall in the Pro Stock class and fifth overall in the Pro Open field.  Riding the number 3 sled in 2005, Crapo was able to pick up two wins, including his first career Pro Open win at West Yellowstone.

“Signing with AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports and having D.J. as my teammate is one of the most exciting things to happen in my race career,” said Crapo.

Super Team Opens Season in San Diego
Team gains major exposure at opening round of CORR

Chula Vista, Calif. ~ The AMSOIL/Kumho Tires “Super Team” unveiled its new members to the racing community this past weekend in Southern California.  The opening round of the Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) series kicked off in the rolling hills of Chula Vista, Calif. with newcomers Scott Douglas and Dan Vanden Heuvel, Jr. joining holdovers Mike Oberg and Dan Vanden Heuvel.

Click image to view photo gallery

In the Pro-2 class, Scott Douglas brought his Ranch/AMSOIL Ford to the starting line brandishing the AMSOIL logo for the very first time on Saturday.  After qualifying for the front row on Friday, Douglas was hoping for a good start to round one on Saturday.  Douglas started out strong, getting through turn one clean and sitting about mid-pack.  After lap three, Douglas worked his way into sixth.  After the mandatory yellow flag at the halfway mark, Douglas took advantage of miscues and mechanical problems by the leaders and pushed his way into third place and a podium spot.

In the Pro-4 class, Douglas showed off his AMSOIL/Kumho 4WD for the first time in front of a race crowd.  The team is still dialing in the new truck and was hoping for a strong showing in round one.  After qualifying sixth on Friday, the team was very optimistic.  As the race progressed, Douglas was running in sixth and battling with Curt LeDuc.  On lap 6, LeDuc made contact heading into turn 2, causing Douglas to roll.  He was able to finish the race, but the damage was done to the truck as Douglas finished 11th overall.

Sunday brought round two to the series and the determined Douglas Motorsports camp.  Unfortunately, the bad luck would continue for Douglas.  In Pro-2, he made contact with Scott Taylor, causing the right front wheel to break, ending his day.  He was credited with a 15th place finish.

In the Pro-4 class, Douglas was running in ninth when he again found trouble.  On lap 2, he made the pass for eighth. Suddenly as he entered turn three, the #20 of Jim McKenzie hit the right rear corner of his truck, sending it over. It took three laps for the truck to get over turned and refired.  The damage was assessed and, unfortunately, their day again ended early.

“The first weekend of racing brought out a lot of aggressive driving,” said Douglas.  “By the time we get to Crandon, the AMSOIL PRO-4 truck will be sorted out and will challenge for the win. The AMSOIL products that we use in the engine and transmission kept the engine and transmission running cool.”

Dan Vanden Heuvel was also looking for a strong showing.  In the only visit to Chula Vista in 2005, Vanden Heuvel owned the course, winning the two points races held at the track.  The Flying Dutchman rolled his Pro-2 truck to the line on Saturday after qualifying fifth the night before.  All 20 trucks hit the turn at the same time, and the Dutchman came out in fifth.  By the end of lap one, there was a five truck breakaway for the lead with everyone battling.  At the end of lap 2, the driver in front of Vanden Heuvel lost control-causing contact with the front end of the 77 truck, tearing the spindle/wheel assembly off.  Vanden Heuvel was able to make it to the pits on three wheels, but the crew determined the truck to be unfixable and his day was done.

On Sunday, Vanden Heuvel was on the starting line 9th out of 19 trucks for round two.  That fact must not have bothered the Dutchman because by the time the Pro 2’s got to turn one, number 77 had passed 15 of them.  Vanden Heuvel was in a three way battle for second for several laps before securing third. It only took a few more laps to run down second place and make the pass.  Vanden Heuvel was clearly gaining on the leader when a huge flame shot out the exhaust right in front of the packed Chula Vista grandstands.  A fireball followed this from the intake and a lot of smoke as the engine expired.  Once again, bad luck would end his Pro-2 day.

Mike Oberg is also driving in the Pro-2 class after spending much of his career in the Sportsman classes.  Oberg was running strong all weekend long.  On Saturday, he was running in the top five for most of the race.  Unfortunately, he broke an axle and was unable to finish the race.  If the bad luck hadn’t occurred, he would have picked up a podium in his first career Pro-2 race.  On Sunday, he was once again running with the leaders.  But just before the halfway mark, Oberg slowly pulled off to the side of the track.  It was determined that a large chunk of dirt had worked its way between a belt, causing the belt to come off and shutting down his powerful Chevy engine.

Dan Vanden Heuvel, Jr. also made his pro  racing debut in the Pro-Lite class.  Vanden Heuvel, Jr. took his Nissan 2WD into the tenth spot in the front row on Saturday.  He came out of the 30-truck mess in turn one in ninth place, narrowly avoiding a rollover.  There were no problems until making a pass for fifth, when Junior came dangerously close to being taken out when a truck lost control and flipped several times.  He kept his cool and was on his way to a top three finish, but one more truck rolled right in front of him in the final laps. The # 77 Pro Lite was forced to come to a complete stop to avoid this wreck. Several trucks got by and JR had to settle for a sixth.

The team was looking to improve on a solid finish from round one.  After some fine-tuning of the truck along with a new untested tire design from Kumho, Junior pulled second place out of the first corner.  With a six time champ in front, and last year’s runner up on his heals, he was turning heads.  For the next four laps, the crowd was on their feet as the young rookie ran down the leader.  Disaster would strike the team again when junior started to slow.  A pit stop determined that a broken linkage in the transmission caused the young driver to lose third and fourth gears.  The team decided that he continue with only first and second gear to finish the race and collect valuable championship points.

The next CORR event will be held at Antigo, Wis. June 10-11 and will be Sportsman only. Crandon, Wis. will hold the next Pro event on June 24-25 and the entire AMSOIL Super Team will be on hand for the annual showdown.

Smith Continues Improvement as Summer Nears
Strong showings translating to confidence for young driver

Solon Springs, Wis. ~ The Brady Smith Racing team, with young dirt late model pilot Brady Smith behind the wheel of the AMSOIL #2 MasterSbilt from Mars / Pro Power Monte Carlo, registered a pair of 17th place performances in the two NARA Late Model Dirt Series shows last weekend.  Smith finished fourth in his heat race and second in his B-Main at the Farley Speedway in Farley, Iowa on Friday, May 19 before running 17th in the $10,000 to win A-Main.  At the LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle, Ill. the following evening, the "Deuce" ran second in his heat race before the seventeenth place run in the 50-lap feature event.  Smith is now ninth in the current NARA Late Model Dirt Series point standings and second to Steve Casebolt in the Rookie of the Year point battle.

“We had a competitive car all weekend, but suffered a couple of flat tires that really hurt us,” said Smith.  “It was pretty hard to pass at Farley on Friday, but we were holding on our own before suffering a flat.  Then at LaSalle, I was inside of the top ten before tire problems.  It is encouraging; however, that our cars are getting better as the season goes along.”

The Solon Springs, Wis. based Dirt Late Model team will compete next this Sunday evening, May 28 at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. 

The Sunoco American Late Model Series (ALMS) will sanction a $2,000 to win event at the 1/2-mile, high-banked dirt oval, which is owned and operated by defending NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart.  The race will serve as a final tune-up for the $100,000 to win ‘Dream 100’ held at the “Big E” on June 9-10. 

TEAM AMSOIL Motocross Results

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 G-2074 and send it the AMSOIL Racing Department.  Teams who were 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.