Ross Martin Earns Third Place Pro Open Podium at AMSOIL Duluth National
After more than six months of hard work and preparations, the 2008-2009 AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series kicked off in Duluth, Minn. on Thanksgiving weekend. Featuring the largest track in the 17-year history of the AMSOIL Duluth National and plenty of man-made snow, the record crowd of 36,500 was treated to three days of intense, hard-charging racing action.

Leading the Team AMSOIL charge was pro racer Ross Martin of Judnick Motorsports, who earned a third place podium finish in Sunday’s Pro Open final. Martin also earned a position in Saturday’s Pro Super Stock final, but a broken shock on the first lap took him out of the race early. Martin’s teammate, Matt Judnick, finished 10th in the Pro Open class and 11th in the Pro Super Stock class.

Team AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports racers D.J. Eckstrom and Shaun Crapo also put together strong performances in Duluth. Both finished in the top three in their respective Pro Super Stock heat races to advance directly into the final, where the teammates battled back and forth all race long before Eckstrom finished ninth and Crapo 10th. In the Pro Open final, Eckstrom was riding in the top five for the first third of the race before getting bucked from his sled. He finished the day in 11th, while Crapo finished seventh.

The AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series continues its national schedule in Ironwood, Mich. December 13-14.

AMSOIL Amateur Wins Three Titles at Mini O's
AMSOIL/Factory Connection amateur rider Justin Barcia displayed an aggressive riding style on his way to three titles at the 2008 Winter National Olympics (Mini O's) at Gatorback Cycle Park in Alachua, Fla. last week. Barcia, one of the top amateurs in the United States, swept the 250 A/Pro-Am Stock class by winning both motos. In the 250 A/Pro-Am Modified class, Barcia won his first moto, but a crash in moto 2 put him fourth overall.

The Cairo, Ga. native also raced in three supercross classes, winning twice. Barcia won all three of his heat races and won both the 250 A/Pro-Am Stock and Modified finals before wrapping up the weekend with a fifth in the Open A/Pro-Am Modified final.

Barcia is joined in the AMSOIL trailer by young Eli Tomac. The Cortez, Colo. native was dominant in the youth ranks and is now finding success in the amateur classes. At the Mini O's, Tomac raced in three motocross classes and three supercross classes. In motocross, Tomac took two moto wins, one each in the 250 B Stock and the 250 B Modified classes. A second place finish in the stock race gave him a second overall in that class, and he finished 12th in the second moto of the modified race for 9th overall. In the Schoolboy (14-16), Tomac went 2-3 for third overall.

In supercross, Tomac piloted the #43 AMSOIL Honda to a second place finish in the 250 B Modified main, a third in the Schoolboy (14-16) final and a fifth in the 250 B Stock class.

Tomac and Barcia will both be looking for return trips to Loretta Lynn's Amateur Nationals presented by AMSOIL. Area and regional qualifiers begin in February 2009.

Reardon Shines Down Under
Team AMSOIL supercross rider Dan Reardon has been busy tuning up for the upcoming AMA Supercross Series.
Reardon, a member of the GEICO/AMSOIL/Honda team, has been racing in the Australian Supercross Series, where the Australian native has been battling some of the sport’s top names, including Chad Reed and Jeremy McGrath. Last weekend in Brisbane, Reardon went head-to-head in round seven of the series with supercross champion Reed. Reardon finished second to Reed, but beat out Jay Marmont and legendary supercross rider Jeremy McGrath.

The 2009 AMA Supercross Series begins January 3 in Anaheim, Calif. AMSOIL is the Official Oil of the AMA Outdoor Nationals.

Ask Kevin Windham a Question
Racer X Illustrated offers a monthly feature called 10Q in its magazine. The feature allows 10 readers to conduct an interview with a top personality in the world of motocross and supercross.

Racer X Illustrated has lined up GEICO/AMSOIL/Honda star racer Kevin Windham for its March 2009 feature. Here's your chance to contribute to the next issue of Racer X by posing a question to Kevin. It's easy. Just think of a great question and submit it to Racer X. If you really want your question to have a chance of making the cut, be respectful, keep it short and come up with something unique or interesting. Got a question for Kevin? Click here to ask.

Wanderscheid Set to Hit the Ice in Beausejour, Manitoba Team AMSOIL ice oval racing star P.J. Wanderscheid, who recently signed a new three-year contract extension with AMSOIL, begins his championship quest this weekend in Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada, the first of nine races on the 2008-2009 Ice Oval Racing circuit:
DATE	LOCATION
December 6-7, 2008	Beausejour, MA - Canada
December 13-14, 2008	Rock Rapids, IA
January 10-11, 2009	Plymouth, WI
January 15-18, 2009	Eagle River, WI
January 24-25, 2009	Wausau, WI
February 7-8, 2009	Forest Lake, MN
February 14-15, 2009	Garrison, MN
Feb 28 - Mar 1, 2009	Superior, WI
March 7-8, 2009	Beausejour, MA - Canada

Picture of the Day
As title sponsor of the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series and the AMSOIL Duluth National, AMSOIL hosted several fan contests at the event, including the first AMSOIL Tough Block Race, where three young snocross fans raced down a hill aboard AMSOIL tough blocks. This young man took home the win and a free AMSOIL Winter Jacket.