Supercross Season a Success for Team AMSOIL
Canard crowned champion, Windham fights to the end

The 2008 AMA Supercross series was one of the most successful seasons of racing for Team AMSOIL.  The Torco Racing Fuels/AMSOIL/Honda team (newly named the Geico Motorsports/AMSOIL team) wrapped up its first championship since Travis Preston won in 2002.

Trey Canard was the biggest story, and surprise, for the AMSOIL sponsored team this year.  Racing in his rookie supercross season, Canard took the AMA East Coast Lites class by storm.  The 17-year-old bolted out of the starting gates by winning three of the first four rounds.  Canard would have to fight defending champion Ryan Villopoto down to the final laps of the finale.  The young rider was able to take his fourth win of the year in St.  Louis and wrap up the championship.  In the series finale in Las Vegas, Canard put the 1e number plate on his Honda CRF250 and battled the top Lites riders in the East/West shootout, taking home a third.

"When I started racing professionally I never thought a championship would come, especially so soon," said Canard in St. Louis.

Kevin Windham was the talk of the supercross class, riding his Honda CRF450 to a second place overall finish.  Windham gained momentum as the season reached its second half.  K-Dub was the only rider in his class to finish in the top five in every round and just missed the title by 16 points. His 12 podiums included four wins and four runner-up positions.  Windham will be running a limited outdoor schedule in 2008.

“Obviously, I wanted to win out the season,” said Windham. “That would’ve been a great streak for me. It would’ve been three [in a row], and it would’ve matched my all-time wins in a season at five. My consistency this season was second to none. I’m the only guy who finished in the top five at every race, so I’d have loved to have gotten nothing but thirds, seconds and firsts – that would’ve been great – but it just wasn’t in the cards.”

Josh Grant had an up and down season that showed great promise and untimely accidents.  He finished on the podium three times, including a great race against Villopoto in Minneapolis.  In the East Coast Lites class, Grant finished fifth overall.  He also picked up a sixth place finish in the supercross class in Seattle.
“That’s my goal now, just to get a win, stay healthy and consistent, and work on what’s coming up, which is the outdoors,” Grant said. “That’s all I can do right now.”

Jake Weimer was also hit-and-miss in 2008.  He was great in the second round of the West Coast Lites series, winning the Phoenix event.  His only other podium would come in Houston, where he finished third.  An accident during practice kept him out of racing and the top 10 at the end of the season.

Newcomer Dan Reardon showed consistency in the West Coast series.  The Australian only missed the top 10 once in eight races.  He had three finishes in the fourth spot and ended the season seventh overall.

“I definitely gained a lot of experience this year,” Reardon said. “I did think I would do a little better, but it’s hard to know what you’re up against from just watching it on TV. It’s going to be good for next year, and I feel well-learned, and I feel like I can take what happened this year into account when training and preparing for next year.”

The Geico Motorsports/AMSOIL team will be back on the track shortly.  The AMA Outdoor Nationals (motocross) season starts May 25 at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Calif.  AMSOIL is the Exclusive Official Oil of the AMA Outdoor Nationals.

Teague on Winning Track in 2008
Two events brings home two wins for off-shore powerboat team

Two events have equaled three podiums for Bob Teague and Paul Whittier in 2008.  The off-shore powerboat team pushed their #77 AMSOIL Skater to the front of the pack at a pair of early season races in Arizona and Mississippi.

Teague opened the season at the annual Smokin’ the Sound in Biloxi, Miss.  The race course consisted of two, long straight-a-ways that exited into Gulf of Mexico.  Teague and Whittier were able master the nine-mile course, battling out front with top boats such as Team Peppers and Team Propstop.  Steering problems early in the race caused Team AMSOIL to drop out of the lead, but Teague and Whittier were able to hold on to a second place finish, more than a half lap in front of the third place boat.

Team AMSOIL headed west for round two of the Off Shore Super Series (OSS) and a Pacific Off-Shore Series race in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. 

Saturday’s race was for Pacific Offshore points and Sunday’s race was for the OSS national circuit. Extremely windy conditions made for a late start on Saturday due to difficulties with setting the buoys on the course. Team AMSOIL looked strong and kept a lead on the fleet with little drama in the race except for having to maneuver around the collision of two V-bottom boats a couple laps into the race.

On Sunday, the Team competed in a fierce battle between and Peppers starting on the first lap. The Cat Lite teams approached the final turn of the first circuit to find the end scene of a collision between a pair of Super Cat 850 boats. AMSOIL drove a hard inside line to avoid the stalled boat, as Peppers pulled wide. AMSOIL had a slight lead on the Peppers boat as they both drove down the next straight-away. As the race continued, AMSOIL increased its lead each lap on Peppers and was able to secure their second win of the weekend.

Next up for Team AMSOIL will be a tentative OPA race in Ocean City, Md. June 6-8 and a secured OSS race in Sunny Isles, Fla. June 20-22.

Smith Impressive in ‘99’ Victory
Team AMSOIL Late Model driver picks up first win of 2008

Team AMSOIL late model driver Brady Smith powered past Darren Miller on a lap 20 restart and never looked back as he scored his first career win at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway on May 3. Smith in his AMSOIL Monte Carlo earned $9,999 for his win in the Third Annual "99" extravaganza.
Bart Hartman led the first lap until Miller passed him for the lead on lap two. Miller then led until Smith, who started third, made a mad dash to the point passing Miller on lap 20. Smith then withstood five caution flags over a 10 lap period as he went on for the win.
Smith also finished in the top 10 at the World of Outlaws race at the Monett (Mo.) Speedway on May 4.

“What a great weekend for our AMSOIL #2 team,” said Smith.  “Our Bloomquist car ran flawlessly on Saturday night at Kentucky Lake and it was great to win against that kind of competition.  The track was in awesome shape and it feels good to get that first victory under our belt.  We would have liked to have run further towards the front on Sunday at Monett, but we redrew an eight and the track was really hard to pass on during the feature.  But overall, I am very pleased with the one feature victory and the two heat race wins and hopefully we can put together another strong weekend during the Diamond Nationals at Wheatland.”

Douglas, Hord Highlight CORR Opener
Team AMSOIL brings home five podiums in Pomona

AMSOIL officially entered the 2008 Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) series with a bang this past weekend at the L.A. Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. Along with exceptional live coverage on SPEED, AMSOIL was well represented on the track by numerous race teams.

Pro 4 and Pro Lite proved to be the most successful races for AMSOIL. AMSOIL/Kumho Tire Super Team member Scott Douglas pounced all over the competition in a pair of fierce battles in the Pro 4 class. Douglas qualified third on Saturday and second on Sunday. In Saturday's race, Douglas powered his AMSOIL/FORD F-150 to a third place finish in front of a packed grandstand and a nation watching live on SPEED. Sunday saw Douglas lead the Pro-4 race early on, battling for second at the mid-point and finally wrapping up his second third place finish of the weekend. Douglas left Pomona tied for second overall with Rick Huseman.

Pro Lite showcased a newcomer to Team AMSOIL, Chad Hord. On Saturday, the Felch, Mich.-native showed off the speed that brought him the 2006 CORR Pro Lite Championship. Starting mid-pack, Hord was able to work his way around the tight track and through the tough competition for a third place finish. Qualifying in the top five on Sunday meant less traffic early for Hord. The defending WSORR Pro Light champion pushed his four-cylinder truck into a tight battle with defending CORR Pro Lite champion Robert Naughton. The race was so close that the two trucks drove down the final straight-away toward the finish line literally door-to-door with Hord edging out Naughton by less than four feet.

In the Pro 2 class, AMSOIL grabbed another podium on Sunday when Red Bull/AMSOIL driver Rickey Johnson finished second to Rob MacCacheren. Team AMSOIL Super Team driver Mike Oberg, the 2006 CORR Pro 2 Rookie of the Year, struggled in the California heat (100 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday). On Saturday, Oberg finished 14th after one of his front shocks was damaged. He rebounded well on Sunday, moving from a 16th starting position to 11th when the checkered flag dropped.

CORR, AMSOIL and all of their drivers will return to the race track on May 17-18 in Primm, Nevada. Sunday's Pro 4 and Pro 2 race will air on a tape delayed basis on NBC on Sunday, May 25.  Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL racing and AMSOIL synthetic lubricants and learn more about the CORR NBC and SPEED television airings.

Lovell’s Win XRRA, WeRock Openers
Team AMSOIL starts with pair of victories

Brothers Brad and Roger Lovell have been winning races and championships for much of the past five years.  With new series and strong competition, the team is focusing its 2008 efforts in both the XRRA and WeRock series. Add in two full time trucks and the Lovells are ready for the competition.

The Lovells opened  the Xtreme Rock Racing Associations season in Moab, Utah with Roger Lovell debuting his revamped #32 DirtLogic/AMSOIL Ranger alongside Brad’s recently constructed #232 Fabtech/AMSOIL Ford. The brothers went up against 40 of the nation’s top rock racers to see who would rise to the top.

While Brad rolled on the first run, good luck helped Roger set the fastest time on the first pass.  He then marked another quick time by raking the truck through the rock trench that claimed his brother earlier in the day and was sitting fifth as the afternoon session came to a close. During the final race of the day, however, bad luck struck. The bell housing fractured, wedged itself against the flywheel, and immediately disabled the truck.

Meanwhile, Brad and co-driver Mark Hayward were tearing up the track with the 400 HP Pro-Formance Unlimited Ford motor.  Their strategy of gaining season points turned out to be a blessing for this event as the pair began shaving full minutes off of the competition. At the end of regular racing, Roger’s misfortune made room for Brad in the finals as the Fabtech Ford slid into sixth place with less than a 10 second margin.

Brad and Mark suited up for two more rounds of racing. In the first lane, Brad was fast but overshot a double jump that cost precious time. This effort was only a second faster than his previous time. He would fair well in lane 2 with a well paced clean run. Brad finished the day with a total time of 15:52, over 40 seconds faster than second place.

“We came from last place to first place,” adds Brad, “I am amazed by what this truck can do, and it is blistering fast. I am exceptionally proud of our team, sponsors, and family for building this vehicle and getting a win our second time out.”

On April 10, the Lovell’s went from rock racing to rock crawling as they teamed up for the first 2008 WE-Rock event and were victorious in the highly competitive Pro-Mod class. All the previous stars returned for 2008 and the class saw the addition of many veteran Super-Mod competitors such Tracy Jordan and Jason Scherer. The Pro-Modified was by far the largest class in the Perris, Calif. event with 24 entrants.

 “I never felt that I pushed it harder than I needed to," said driver Brad Lovell. "I quickly developed faith and felt right at home in the driver’s seat.”

The WeRock victory gives Lovell Racing back to back wins and a season points lead in both XRRA and WE-Rock, all in the same vehicle.  Their next We-Rock event will be May 16-18 in Cedar City, Utah.

Monster Truck Champions Crowned
Sudden Impact Racing and Doug Noelke take early season honors

AMSOIL can now add monster truck champions to its growing list of accomplishments. Both the Sudden Impact Racing teams, led by the AMSOIL T-Maxx truck, and Doug Noelke, led by Big Dawg and TailGator, have taken home early season championships this year.

SIR was able to win the 2008 Monster Truck Winter Nationals title this past winter. The team wrapped up the championship in Pocatello, Idaho. AMSOIL/T-Maxx driver Sean Duhon entered the event with just a three point lead over Bearfoot #15. SIR teammate Kevin King was fifth overall and would help Duhon push the T-Maxx truck into the championship.

Doug Noelke, owner and driver for Big Dawg and TailGator, dominated racing brackets all year long on the Monster Nationals Tour.

The long-time AMSOIL sponsored driver clinched the series championship in Erie, Pa. on April 29. Noelke won both races in Erie, giving him the championship win with one weekend left on the tour.

Noelke will drive both trucks at the MAP Outlaw Nationals at the Miami Fairgrounds in Miami, Ok. this Friday and Saturday.

Martin Pro Rider of the Year
Crapo takes home series Most Improved

Team AMSOIL riders finished off an amazing year of snocross racing with some much deserved hardware at the annual WPSA awards banquet.

AMSOIL/Judnick Motorsports rider Ross Martin was named the series Pro Rider of the Year after winning the Pro Open class and finishing second overall in Pro Super Stock. Martin entered the Pro Open final in Lake Geneva, Wis. with a seven point lead thanks to his win one round earlier. Despite falling in the first turn, he was able to regroup and finish fifth. TJ Gulla, who was leading for more than half of the race, couldn't hold on to the top spot and Martin was able to take home the championship by a single point. AMSOIL/Scheuring Speedsports riders DJ Eckstrom and Shaun Crapo finished sixth and eighth overall in Pro Open.

In Pro Stock, both Martin and Eckstrom were taken over in the point’s race by Tucker Hibbert. Martin finished second overall and Eckstrom third. Crapo finished seventh overall and was named the WPSA Most Improved Rider at Sunday night's banquet.