“Wanderscheid Pro 600 Champ”
Team AMSOIL rider repeats title effort
 Sauk
Centre, Minn. ~
Team AMSOIL oval ice racer PJ Wanderscheid is the first to call
the 2007 USSA season a “struggle.” The Arctic Cat rider spent
the entire year working on handling issues, and was surprised to
find out that he had a chance at a season points title when he
landed in Ontonogan, Mich. last weekend.
Wanderscheid was the top qualifier in Saturday's Pro 600 Open
final. He won all of his heat races, and a great start in the
final pushed him to the front of the pack. The Sauk Centre,
Minn. native led from start to finish, winning his first race of
the year. The great day of racing meant Wanderscheid had gained
enough points to win the USSA Pro Open 600 points championship.
While out of contention in the Champ 440 class, the three-time
world champion was hoping for a strong finish to the season in
Michigan. He started the final in third, but finishing would be
an afterthought after a local rider crashed into his sled after
the second lap. Wanderscheid suffered a broken ankle and was
unable to finish the race.
“East
Coast Riders Get Their Turn”
Sipes, Laninovich join Windham, Preston on SX
Tour
Team
AMSOIL Supercross lites riders Ryan Sipes and Billy Laninovich
showed off their riding abilities two weeks ago in Daytona, Fla.
The pair of young riders had struggled during their early rounds
of the East Coast Series, but they were able to lay down strong
qualifying runs in Florida.
Sipes got the night of racing off on a strong note. He came out
of the first turn of his heat race in second, but quickly took
over the lead. By the start of the second lap, Sipes had the
lead and checked out, leading the rest of the race for the win.
Laninovich struggled in his heat race. A poor start did Lano in
as he got tied up in a first turn crash that claimed numerous
riders. Laninovich rebounded well, starting the LCQ in second.
He made quick work of the leader and was never challenged for
the remainder of the race.
Fast starts were necessary in the Lites main. Laninovich proved
his gate ability with a strong push off the line. The
Californian would battle in the top five for much of the race,
finally finishing in fourth. Sipes also ran strong and was able
to cross the finish line in ninth.
In the Supercross class, Kevin Windham posted a third in his
heat race. Teammate Travis Preston also advanced into the main
with a sixth place finish in the same qualifier. In the main,
KDub ran strong and finished in fifth. Preston finished 20th.
Windham currently sits in fourth in the Supercross points race
and Preston has dropped down to tenth.
Last
weekend saw the AMSOIL sponsored team sticking around Florida as
the AMA series moved south to Orlando on Saturday. Fans also
saw Laninovich continue his fast starts, both in qualifying and
in the main event.
In the
second “Lites” heat race, Lano got a great start, entering turn
one behind Suzuki rider Ryan Dungey. Laninovich quickly slipped
around Dungey to take the lead. The two battled back and fourth
the entire race with Dungey getting the qualifying win by a mere
second over Lano. AMSOIL teammate Sipes finished ninth in the
heat race and both riders advanced to the main.
In the
final, Laninovich was able to rely on some early luck to put him
into position for another holeshot. With 22 riders lined up for
the start of the race, Lano missed grabbing the holeshot. A bad
crash in turn three, however, brought out the red flag and
another restart. This time, Laninovich capitalized by grabbing
the holeshot and led the field for the next six laps. Lano was
pushed wide near the finish line turn and had a battle on his
hands with Ben Townley. Townley would crash, but the battle
gave other riders a chance to catch up. Lano quickly dropped
from the lead to fifth, where he would end the race. Sipes was
unable to make the restart and finished last. For the season,
Laninovich is eighth overall in the East Coast Lites points
race.
In
Saturday’s Supercross class, Kevin Windham had another strong
night of racing. In his heat race, Windham finished third
behind Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed. The speed would level
off when the final came and went. K-Dub rode hard, but finished
out of the top five with an eighth place finish. For the
season, Windham sits fourth overall. Teammate Travis Preston
has been battling injuries and despite missing the final on
Saturday night, still sits in tenth.
The AMSOIL
sponsored team heads north this weekend to the RCA Dome in
Indianapolis. The AMA Supercross Series airs on CBS and SPEED.
“Season
Comes to Close for Snocross”
Team AMSOIL looks toward improved 2007-08
season
 Lake
Geneva, Wis.
~ The ups and downs of
the WPSA snocross season can level out now that the circuit has
come to a close after the Grand Finale in Lake Geneva, Wis. The
tough luck continued for Team AMSOIL riders DJ Eckstrom and
Shaun Crapo at the final event of the year.
Eckstrom was the number 10 qualifier for Sunday's Pro Stock
final. The Duluth, Minn. native got a great start and was riding
in fifth for most of the race. Trouble would loom about mid-race
as Eckstrom broke a trailing arm while descending one of the
large hills. That pushed Eckstrom out of the race. Crapo,
meanwhile, started in the back row and wasn't able to get a good
start, eventually finishing ahead of Eckstrom in eleventh. For
the season, Eckstrom finished 11th in the Pro Stock class and
Crapo finished 13th.
In Sunday's Pro Open, Eckstrom again was a top qualifier after
grabbing two fourth place finishes and a third in qualifying.
Crapo had to go into the LCQ to try and qualify for the main,
but a competitive run pushed the rider into seventh and out of
the final. In the last race of the year, things started poorly
for Eckstrom. After the green flag dropped, Eckstrom got bumped
on the starting line by another rider, pushing his Polaris on
its side. Eckstrom remounted and worked his way to 11th by the
end of the race. For the season, Eckstrom finished 15th in Pro
Open, the first time he's been out of the top 10 since he was
injured four years ago. Crapo missed the top 10 in Pro Open
after finishing 11th overall.
www.snowweek.com
Scheuring
Speed Sports will begin testing for the 2007-08 season with a
hillclimb event in Biwabik, Minn. in two weeks. The team will
also be at AMSOIL University in May.
AMSOIL
Late Model Series Returns in 2007
Local fan favorite back after one-year hiatus
 Superior,
Wis. ~
AMSOIL will be bringing its popular AMSOIL Late Model Series
back to northern Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2007. The Series
was put hold in 2006 due to track and sanctioning conflicts,
matters that have been resolved by the four participating
tracks.
“Canceling
the Series in 2006 was not an easy decision,” said Jeremy Meyer,
AMSOIL Racing Coordinator. “AMSOIL is excited for the Series
return and extremely pleased with the ability of all four tracks
to work together. For the past year, fans and racers have asked
for the Series return, and we have worked hard to bring back the
best racing series in the region.”
The AMSOIL
Late Model Series will return to Hibbing Raceway, ABC Raceway
(Ashland, Wis.), Proctor Speedway and Superior Speedway. The
series will feature the top late model drivers from the Midwest
and Canada in a six-race format. The Series will begin in
Superior, Wis. on May 20 and will wrap up in October as part of
Proctor Speedway’s ProctOberfest.
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AMSOIL Late Model Series schedule |
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Monday, May 21 |
Superior Speedway |
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Tuesday, June 5 |
Hibbing Raceway |
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Friday, July 27 |
ABC Raceway (Ashland, Wis.) |
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Sunday, Sept. 2 |
Hibbing Raceway (Labor Day Shootout) |
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Saturday, Sept. 8 |
Superior Speedway (Northern Nationals) |
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Friday, October 5 |
Proctor Speedway (ProctOberfest) |
Pat Doar
of New Richmond, Wis. won the last AMSOIL Late Model Series in
2005. It was the first AMSOIL championship for the AMSOIL
sponsored driver. The Series will run under WISSOTA rules.
AMSOIL is the title sponsor and official oil of WISSOTA and the
AMSOIL Dirt Track Series.
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