“AMSOIL Rider Nabs AX Championship”
Lange goes “Green” for series title
 Minneapolis,
Minn. ~ The
AMSOIL foray into Arenacross racing has proven to be a major
success this winter. Thanks to the strong riding of Team
Babbitt's/AMSOIL rider Darcy Lange, AMSOIL can add another rider
to its growing list of champions.
Two weeks ago, the Kawasaki backed team headed to Guthrie, Okla.
to take part in the BooKoo Arenacross Series. Lange, who was
the front-runner in the season long points championship, was
looking to extend his lead in the Sooner state. Lange was able
to win all of his heat races on Friday and Saturday night in
both the 250 and 450 classes. He then took both finals in the
250 class and was able to win the 450 class on Friday night,
before finishing in second on Saturday.
Lange then
headed into the final weekend in Minneapolis last Friday and
Saturday with a chance to secure the overall points
championship. Lange not only secured the title but almost put
together another perfect weekend inside the Target Center.
In the 250 class on Friday, Lange took the checkered in the
qualifier and went on to win the main. He then switched to his
bigger Kawasaki and took the Friday night sweep by winning both
the heat race and the main in the 450 class.
On Saturday, Lange was looking for his perfect weekend to
continue. In the 250 class, he once again swept the two rounds
of racing. With the 450 class still to run, Lange had the
championship, but still wanted perfection. He would almost get
there, winning his heat race, but finishing a close second to
Tyler Bowers in the 450 main.
For the season, Lange has won 12 races in the 250 class and
another 11 in the 450 class. His 23 wins were 17 more than the
closest competitor. Lange has only missed six podiums in the 36
finals he's raced in this season.
There are two rounds left in the BooKoo Arenacross Series. On
February 9 and 10 the Series will be in Unacasville, Conn. at
the Mohegan Sun Arena.
“Johnson
To Miss Rest of AMA AX Season”
Defending champ out with injury
Saginaw, Mich. ~
The AMSOIL sponsored
Junior Jackson Racing team will be on the track this weekend in
Saginaw, Mich. for the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series. Michigan
native Nick Adams and teammate Nate Tiearney will be riding in
the AX class for the final two rounds of racing in 2007.
The duo will look to pick up the reigns for defending Series
champion, Chad Johnson. An MRI showed that Johnson has torn the
groin muscle completely and the tear is dangerously close to a
main artery. Doctors have indicated that he needs two months of
complete rest and an additional two months of rehabilitation.
Despite
missing last weekend’s race, Johnson still sits sixth overall in
the AMA AX standings. The Rhinelander, Wis. native had two wins
on the circuit this year.
“Grant
Returns To Form”
Supercross rider back on top after early
season injuries
 Anaheim,
Calif. ~
Team AMSOIL
Supercross “Lites” rider Josh Grant has successfully shaken off
the effects of an early season crash that cost him valuable
points during the first two rounds of the AMA Supercross Lites -
West Coast Series.
Grant, who
crashed during the first two rounds of the Series, is getting up
to speed with the other top riders in the class. Two weeks ago,
the Series continued its California swing with a race in San
Francisco. Grant quickly found his groove on the muddy SBC Park
track. The Californian rode a spectacular race, pushing his
Honda 4-stroker into second place, just one spot ahead of AMSOIL
teammate Jake Wiemer. The strong finish pushed Grant into the
top10 in the season long points battle.
Last
weekend in Anaheim, Grant proved he was healed from his earlier
injuries, once again grabbing a second in the Lites main event.
Wiemer, meanwhile, was just off the pace set by the leaders,
finishing sixth. Wiemer still holds the edge over Grant in the
Lites class, sitting third overall to Grant’s fifth.
In the
supercross class, veteran superstar Kevin Windham has been
battling the top riders in the class all season long. Windham
finished tenth in San Francisco and improved to seventh at last
weekend’s Anaheim race. Teammate Travis Preston finished
seventh in San Francisco, but a crash in practice left him out
of the main in Anaheim.
The AMSOIL
team will be in Houston, Texas this weekend. The event will air
on CBS (see below).
“AMSOIL
Finds Silver In Rockies”
Freestyler
whips snowmobile to record setting leap
Aspen, Colo. ~
With all of the
snocross hype that entered this year's Winter X Games, it turned
out that it was a snowmobile freestyler that would bring home a
medal for Team AMSOIL.
In its first year as an official X Games event, freestyle
snocross was a popular event with athletes and fans. Aired live
on ESPN and ABC, the event featured death-defying stunts on
400-pound snowmobiles. AMSOIL linked its name to young rider
Aleksander Norgaard in hopes of bringing home a Winter X medal.
After
running a great qualifying round, Norgaard went into Sunday
night's final as the number two qualifier. That put him
head-to-head in the first round with the number three qualifier.
The young Swede would pull off two straight back flips to
advance to the final. A strong run would mean gold and Norgaard
gave it his all, finishing with a 93.66 score (out of 100). But
he was up against the top qualifier, Chris Burant and Burant
pulled off a 96 for the gold.
Check out video of Norgaard in action here on
ESPN.
While
Norgaard was celebrating, AMSOIL snocross riders DJ Eckstrom and
Shaun Crapo were left hoping for a medal next year. ESPN ran
four heats of eight riders on Friday night, with the top two
heading directly into Saturday night’s finals. Eckstrom was up
first and ran a strong race, but finished out of the top two
with a fourth place finish. Crapo would run the third heat, but
was also unable to get into the top two, finishing in third.
On Saturday, both riders would try to get one of the four final
spots by running in the Last Chance Qualifier. In their heats,
each would battle 10 other riders for two spots. Both riders got
off to great starts in each of their respective heats, but a
compression problem bogged down both sleds, side-lining both
riders before the half-way mark.
Eckstrom
and Crapo will be in action this weekend as they continue their
quest to win a WPSA championship. They will be following the
series to Buffalo, N.Y. for the fourth round of Pro Stock and
Pro Open racing. The WPSA airs weekly on SPEED.
“Wanderscheid Battles Foes, Freezing Cold”
World
champ finding sledding rough on oval ice
Sauk Centre, Minn. ~
The lack of snow and
cold weather early in the winter has played havoc with race
promoters trying to host snowmobile races in 2007. Numerous
events were canceled or postponed due to the lack of snow and
ice. The weather has definitely changed and that means teams
will be cramming in a season full of races in a short period of
time before spring begins and the snow and ice fade away into
summer.
PJ
Wanderscheid has been on the road battling both a highly
competitive field of racers and the brittle cold that can settle
on the Midwest during the winter months. Two weekends ago,
Wanderscheid loaded his Arctic Cat up and headed to two separate
races in northern Wisconsin. Friday meant a full day of racing
in Plymouth, Wis. In the 600 Open, Wanderscheid pushed his 440
Cat to a third place finish. He then battled with Terry Wahl in
the Champ 440 final, finishing in second.
On
Saturday, the Wanderscheid/AMSOIL team unpacked the trailer in
Wausau, Wis. for a full weekend of racing. While Wanderscheid
pulled a holeshot in the 600 Open final, handling issues pushed
his sled back to fifth by the time the checkers fell. In Champ
440, the same handling gremlins would pop up and pushed the
three time World Champion into sixth.
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