Canard Earns Third Place Podium in San Francisco

San Francisco, Calif.
The fifth round of the 2009 AMA Supercross season, and the fourth round of the Lites Western Regional Supercross Championship, was held January 31 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif.  After missing the third round in Anaheim recovering from a concussion, Team AMSOIL Lites racer Trey Canard was hoping to come back with a strong finish.  Starting the final in fourth, he soon moved into third and briefly held the second position.  He eventually finished in third, earning his first podium finish of the season.  Teammate Dan Reardon started the final outside of the top 15, but steadily worked his way forward throughout the race, finishing seventh.  In the 450 class, Kevin Windham started outside of the top 10, working his way up to a sixth place finish.

Anaheim, Calif.
The sixth round of the 2009 AMA Supercross season, and the fifth round of the Lites Western Regional Supercross Championship, was held February 7 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.  After finishing fourth in his heat race, Windham rounded the first turn of the main event in fifth, but lost a spot to defending champion Chad Reed.  Although he regained the fifth position by passing a fallen Josh Grant, Grant was able to recover, passing Windham to re-take the fifth position.  Late in the race, Windham pushed to make up ground on Ivan Tedesco for fifth before stalling his bike on the final lap.  He finished seventh.  In the Lites class, Reardon and Canard finished third and fourth respectively in their heat race before finishing seventh and 12th respectively in the final.

Round seven of the AMA Supercross season will be held Saturday, February 14 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif., where Windham will look to get back on the podium in the 450 class and Canard and Reardon will compete in the sixth round of the Lites Western Regional Supercross Championship.

Record Crowd On Hand at Brainerd Snocross Race

Round four of the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series was held February 6-8 in front of a record crowd at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.  The weekend started on a promising note for Team AMSOIL riders D.J. Eckstrom and Shaun Crapo as they turned some of the fastest laps in practice.  However, in his Pro Super Stock qualifier, Eckstrom was hit from behind, thrown from his sled and hit in his hip/back area as he was laying on the track.  Although he was sent to the hospital, Eckstrom suffered no broken bones, but was forced to cut his weekend of racing short.

Crapo qualified for both pro events.  In the Pro Super Stock final, he was running in the top five until he flipped going through the minefield, putting him at the rear of the pack.  He eventually finished 11th.  In the Pro Open final, Crapo came out of corner one in second place and looked like he was in a position to podium.  However, a couple of on-track incidents with other snowmobiles slowed him down.  He eventually finished 14th.

Team AMSOIL/Judnick Motorsports rider Matt Judnick finished 10th in the Pro Super Stock class and 11th in the Pro Open class.

The fifth round of the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series takes place this weekend in Farmington, N.Y.

Full Recovery Expected for Ross Martin
 
In an accident at the ESPN Winter X Games, Team AMSOIL/Judnick Motorsports rider Ross Martin dislocated his hip and broke the bone that holds the ball joint in place. Although he will miss the remainder of the season, Martin’s surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. was a success and doctors expect him to make a full recovery and be ready to go for next season.

Martin’s brother, Dylan, will be joining the team as a semi-pro rider. Dylan won the Semi-Pro Super Stock final at the AMSOIL Duluth National and currently holds third in the Semi-Pro Super Stock points standings, just six points out of first.

Brad Lovell Competes at Best in the Desert Parker 425
 
Team AMSOIL racer Brad Lovell was a co-pilot in Bill Kunz’s #7231 Torchmate Ford at the Best in the Desert Parker 425 on Saturday, February 6.  Consisting of three laps around a desolate 140-mile desert course in Parker, Ariz., the violent, bone-jarring race is an exercise of endurance.

Lovell co-rode with Kunz for the first half of the race before Greg Jones and Brad Bolton took over for the second half.  With visibility a challenge due to sun, dust and constant jarring from the course, Lovell settled into his role of calling out turns and hazards from the GPS map.  After careening down a sand wash and weaving around some bushes, the truck slowed to a stop, and the team discovered an entire wheel and tire were missing and the wheel lugs were damaged.  Calling their chase crew for help, they were back in the race an hour later and reached speeds of 100 mph as they broke free of the sand wash and reached the high land.  A rain downpour further challenged the duo as the water and mud slowed the race and caused visibility to become even more of a struggle, but they managed to limp the truck into Pit #3, where Jones and Bolton took over driving duties.  Eventually, a broken rear suspension link ended the team’s race.  In the end, only 76 of the 275 entrants finished the race, including only two of the nearly 20 in the 7200 class. 

Next up for brothers Brad and Roger Lovell is the February 27 King of the Hammers race.

Wanderscheid Earns Two Podiums in Forest Lake

Team AMSOIL oval ice racer P.J. Wanderscheid competed in Forest Lake, Minn. on the weekend of February 7-8.  The weekend started with the 600 open class heat races, with Wanderscheid finishing second, third and first in each of his three heats to earn the fourth position for the final.  Grabbing a good hole shot in the final, Wanderscheid was second to the corner behind Dustin Wahl and held the position for a lap before the more powerful 600 sleds of Gary Moyle, Brandon Johnson and Nick Van Strydonk passed him.  Wanderscheid moved up one position by the race’s end and finished fourth.

Sunday’s racing started with the make-up Champ 440 final from the weather-shortened Rock Rapids, Iowa event.  Grabbing a good hole shot, Wanderscheid cruised into second going into corner one and grabbed the lead before completing the first lap.  However, Wahl grabbed the inside line to take the lead on the next lap.  Wanderscheid came as close as a few sled lengths to the leader, but eventually finished with a second place podium.

Sunday proceeded with three heats of qualifying for the regularly scheduled Champ 440 final.  Wanderscheid dominated, sweeping all three of his heat races to earn the top qualifying position for the final.  Grabbing a hole shot, Wanderscheid came out of turn two with the lead, but was passed by Wahl on the second lap.  Upon a restart on lap nine, Wanderscheid got too wide coming out of turn two and was passed by Van Strydonk.  He finished with a third place podium.

Wanderscheid is scheduled to race in Garrison, Minn. this weekend, but track conditions and warm weather could factor into a decision to skip it.

AMSOIL Extends Contract with Eagle River Derby Track

AMSOIL has reached terms with the Eagle River Derby Track in Eagle River, Wis. on a two-year contract extension to continue as title sponsor of the oval ice racing facility. The AMSOIL Derby Track hosts the top oval ice racers in the world every January at the AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby, where AMSOIL-sponsored riders P.J. Wanderscheid and Brian Bewcyk have won a combined five AMSOIL World Championships, including three of the past four. Despite the annual bitter cold temperatures, the venue draws more than 25,000 fans for the four-day event.

AMSOIL Supports ALS Ride

Focused around the late owner and founder of SnowTrax Television John Massingberd, the AMSOIL-supported John Massingberd memorial snowmobile ride took place on the weekend of February 7-8 in Halliburton, Ontario, Canada. The event drew support from over 120 close friends and industry colleagues and raised over $18,000 in support of finding a cure for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), more commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease.