Terry Rinker Wraps Up ChampBoat Series Championship

Team AMSOIL powerboat racer Terry Rinker entered the final race of the 2008 ChampBoat Series in East Naples, Fla. on the weekend of November 1-2 with a slim 53-point lead over second place racer Shaun Torrente, and all eyes were on the two frontrunners as they battled it out for the championship.  In order to preserve his points lead and secure the championship, Rinker had to either beat or finish very close to Torrente.

Upon the start, Tim Seebold jumped out to the early lead and led wire-to-wire, winning the race in front of a hard-charging Torrente.  With the advantage of holding the overall points lead, Rinker decided to take a conservative approach to the race in order to avoid any potential mistakes that might cost him the championship.  Battling lapped traffic for much of the 60-lap race, Rinker finished a strong fourth, winning his fourth ChampBoat Series championship in six years by a 23-point margin.

“It was tough,” said Rinker of his decision to avoid pushing too hard for the win.  “We were up close probably up through the halfway point of the race.  Then I got tied up with a back marker, really took some bad hops and got chopped pretty hard a couple of times.  I decided at that time that I was just going to pick my way around here.  It was tough seeing the leaders getting away from me at that point, but my team kept reminding me that the championship was in our hands and not to make any stupid mistakes.  As much as I like to win a race, winning a championship, I think, was the more important thing for our AMSOIL sponsor and for our team.”

The ChampBoat Series races begin airing on the SPEED Channel in early December.

Freestyle Tour Joins AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series

National snocross fans have another reason to look forward to the 2008-2009 AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series (ACSS) this winter as Monster Energy and Slednecks will bring their high-flying snowmobile freestyle antics fused with music and attitude to the national venues.

Featuring the biggest names in freestyle, the Monster Energy Slednecks Invasion Tour will further infuse the snocross series with aerial action and the world’s best snowmobile athletes.  With the recent success of the ESPN Winter X Games snowmobile freestyle competition, the International Series of Champions (ISOC) went right to the top of the food chain when it came time to bring the attitude of freestyle to the national snocross tour.

“The success of the Invasion Tour has been sick,” said John Keegan, president of Slednecks.  “With a couple of world record jumps in the books, we wanted to take the tour to the next level, and the ISOC national tour was the obvious choice.  Now we’ll have the best athletes in both snocross and freestyle together at the biggest snowmobile events in North America.”

The Monster Energy Slednecks Invasion Tour will showcase the talents of Slednecks team riders such as Chris Burandt and Aleksander Nrordgaard.  During the show, fans can grab free Monster Energy drinks and win free Slednecks and Monster Energy merchandise, while the riders will be available for autographs after the show. 

“We want to give our fans the best show possible,” said John Daniels, president of ISOC.  “Freestyle has become a huge part of the snowmobiling community, and we wanted to figure out a way to incorporate it into our snocross show.  Partnering with Slednecks and Monster Energy allows us to bring the best freestyle athletes in the world to the national snocross tour.  It’s going to be a snowmobiling circus that people will not want to miss.”

The AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series and Monster Energy Slednecks Invasion Tour kick off November 28-30 at the AMSOIL Duluth National at the Spirit Mountain ski area in Duluth, Minn.  The AMSOIL Duluth National will feature three days of racing, freestyle, music, fireworks and more.

Polaris Offers Free Snocross Pit Passes

Polaris is helping snocross fans get close to their favorite racers by offering a limited number of free pit passes at this season’s AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series (ACSS) races.  Race fans can acquire their free ACSS pit passes by visiting their nearest participating Polaris dealers (dealers within 200 miles of ACSS race events will each receive 25 passes).

The free pass is good only for access to the pit area and does not provide admission to the race track.  Once inside the race venue, fans can present the free pit pass coupons at the International Series of Champions (ISOC) will call window. At that time, each person must sign an ISOC liability waiver for admission to the pit area and must abide by ISOC race site regulations.  All fans will also be required to have a valid gate admission pass.

AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series pit passes provide fans with access to the pits, where their favorite Polaris race teams, including Team AMSOIL, park their transporters and prepare for races.  Fans will get a close look as drivers move between their transporters and the race paddock and see team technicians fine-tune and warm up the high-performance Polaris race sleds.

Visit your nearest participating Polaris snowmobile dealer today to get a free pit pass for an upcoming ACSS race in your area.

Upcoming events on the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series schedule:

AMSOIL Sandbox Arena Learn 2 Ride Program

For those who have had the itch to try motocross racing, but didn't have the proper gear or space, the AMSOIL Sandbox Arena in New Richmond, Wis. is ready to help.  The arena’s Learn 2 Ride Program is open to anyone over the age of four (including adults) who is considered a Level 1 or 2 rider.  The cost is $150 for the month-long program, with lessons taking place each Tuesday.  For more information, contact the AMSOIL Sandbox Arena via e-mail at info@sandboxarena.com.

The AMSOIL Sandbox Arena is the largest indoor motocross facility in the Midwest.  For a closer look at the facility, check out the following video from Motoplayground magazine:

Brady Smith Finishes Seventh in National 100

The Brady Smith Racing team returned to Dirt Late Model competition on the weekend of November 1-2 at the East Alabama Motor Speedway (EAMS) in Phenix City, Alabama.  The annual running of the National 100 took place at EAMS last weekend, where a $30,000 top prize was up for grabs.  On Saturday evening, Smith timed in eighth quickest in qualifying and later won his competitive heat race.

On Sunday, the Solon Springs, Wis. native rolled off from the outside of the second row in the National 100.  Although he quickly moved up to the second spot by lap 19, a shredded right rear tire broke his brake line and left the car without brakes for the remainder of the race.  Despite the damage, Smith returned to the speedplant and managed to salvage a seventh place effort.

Upcoming Race Schedule
November 7 | Boyd’s (GA) Speedway, Unsanctioned
November 8 | North Georgia Speedway, Turkey Rumble
November 9 | Cherokee (SC) Speedway, OSAS