In front of a record-setting crowd of 74,000 fans in Jacksonville, Team Amsoil Shock Therapy and Amsoil Excaliber shone the brightest. Among a field of 16 of the world’s greatest monster trucks, Carl VanHorn took the AMSOIL Excaliber to the racing victory.
"I qualified low in the bracket because I caught an edge, but I didn’t make any mistakes in the first round,” said VanHorn. “We got a huge victory and it was great to have a big victory for AMSOIL and team owner Brandon Lagarde; we have a great team.”
VanHorn took the final victory of racing by pushing the truck as hard as it would go, with his final jump giving him the edge for the win, but also twisting AMSOIL Excaliber sideways in the air. Being a veteran driver behind the wheel, VanHorn was able to power into the save and spun AMSOIL Excaliber from the sidewalls of the tires onto the nose, then back to earth for a spectacular save, a fitting end to the racing portion.
“I knew that I had a huge crowd watching me, and this show was also televised for SPEED Channel, so I needed to make sure I brought that thing back to earth,” said VanHorn. “I was happy we didn’t damage Amsoil Excaliber for freestyle.”
Freestyle was where Jon Zimmer and AMSOIL Shock Therapy made his statement. Zimmer drove the AMSOIL-sponsored truck with incredible skill as usual, hitting every obstacle full-speed, and keeping great momentum. AMSOIL Shock Therapy was well on its way to a freestyle victory when he took a final chance, attempting a cross-thread on the biggest obstacle in the track that came up just short, sending AMSOIL Shock Therapy twisting into a cartwheel and ending up with the truck on its roof. All 74,000 fans were on their feet screaming their approval for AMSOIL Shock Therapy.
“I always go all-out, and I had the crowd behind me, as well as AMSOIL,” said Zimmer. “The truck took everything I threw at it, and I could have flipped it back over and gone out and drove some more; it was still fine besides the body.”
VanHorn also had a spectacular run, filling his entire time and continuing the run even with a broken axle halfway through. Big air, donuts, and cross-threads were his staple, and both AMSOIL Shock Therapy and AMSOIL Excaliber finished in the top half of the freestyle field, nearly completing a weekend sweep on the biggest stage in Monster Jam.
This weekend, the team heads to Winnipeg. Until then, we'll see you at the races.
Bill Crow - Amsoil Direct Distributor
Team AMSOIL Picks Up Three X Games Medals
Monday, February 1 , 2010
Monday, February 01, 2010
Team AMSOIL Picks Up Three X Games Medals
The 2010 ESPN Winter X Games wrapped up last night with its newest event, Knock Out with Team AMSOIL rider Robbie Malinoski finishing fifth. The Scheuring Speed Sports rider just missed medal consideration by less than one inch. Not a bad finish for someone who never hit a freestyle ramp before that mornings practice.
On the snocross tracker earlier in the day, Team AMSOIL/Judnick Motorsports rider Ross Martin took home another X Games medal in snocross. Martin, who started in the back row of the 25-sled final, stormed from as far back as eighth place to finish with the silver medal. The podium was a bit of redemption for the current points leader in the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series after he broke his hip during the 2009 games.
"I had to really work for this one," said Martin. "It's a great track and it was tough coming back here after last years accident, but we found a way today."
Malinoski, who won the second round LCQ, crashed in the first turn of the final and rebounded for a ninth place finish. His teammate, Andrew Johnstad finished sixth on the highly technical track.
Team AMSOIL also picked up two medals in Adaptive Snocross. Mike Schultz piloted his AMSOIL/Ski Doo to the gold in the inaugural event. Schultz lost his left leg in December of 2008 during the national event in Ironwood, Mich. Jim Wazny, on board his AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports sled, was close behind Schultz in the final, taking home the silver.
The ACSS returns to national racing this weekend as the series heads on its East Coast swing. The next race will be held in Farmington, N.Y. at the Finger Lakes Casino.
Season Sweep for Teague and Team AMSOIL
Wednesday, November 18 , 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Season Sweep for Teague and Team AMSOIL
The AMSOIL off-shore powerboat team enjoyed a incredible season of success in 2009 by sweeping all of the possible championships available to them in several sanctioning bodies.
Bob Teague and Paul Whittier wrapped up the SBI/APBA World Championship in Key West, Fla. this past weekend. Team AMSOIL #77 took the win at the 29th annual event by defeating the All Jack'd Up team.
The win in Key West tops a near perfect season for Team AMSOIL. Team AMSOIL also won the 2009 High Points Championships in the Offshore Super Series, Triple Crown, and OPA series.
"This season has been a true testament to AMSOIL," said Teague. "Their support from a product standpoint has been phenomenal. We're going to bring these Mercury 525's in for and end-of-the-year looksee and they'll be just as powerful in 2010 thanks to the AMSOIL Dominator 15w-50."
The AMSOIL #77 boat will be getting some repair work done on the body in preparation for 2010, which is scheduled to start in March.
Back in September AMSOIL announced its sponsorship of the 2009 Hot Rod Drag Week which was kicking off in Muncie, Indiana. As usual, this year’s challenge proved to be full of excitement with a few mishaps along the way. From failed torque converters to blown transmissions, participant had their plates full with trying to keep their cars up to par during the challenge. For those who couldn’t, there was almost always a fellow competitor willing to lend a hand and get them back on the road.
Bragging rights for the Fastest Street Car in America went to Larry Larson in his ’67 Chevy II in the Unlimited class. Despite a lifter breakdown in the middle of a cornfield, Larson and engine builder Mike Moran ran the best time with an average E.T. of 7.25 and a speed of 204 MPH. For the second year in a row, Larry’s Chevy II beat out some of the best in the country.
Below is an overview of the major class winners.
Quickest Four-Cylinder: Jon Huber in his ’79 Ford Mustang is referred to as ‘The little Ford that could…and does.” Jon dealt with a failed torque converter early in the competition, but a group of racers helped him roadside to get him back on his way. His final timeslip turned out an average of 9.37 at 147 MPH for the class win.
Big-Block Naturally Aspirated: Steve and Gary Satterlee’s ’90 Ford Mustang had a 632ci Chevy engine installed, giving it the power it needed to take the title in this class. They built the car in 90 days with only the motor to start with, giving them their final average at 10.15.
Diesel Class: In a ’94 Ford Mustang with Duramax diesel installed, Mike Wood beat out some heavy trucks also competing in this class. With an average E.T. of 10.08 and 147 MPH, this ride also got 38 MPG. Now that is impressive.
Quickest Mopar: Michael Crow is known for exceptional sportsmanship, taking last years’ Spirit of Drag Week award. This year in his’73 Plymouth Cuda, his average E.T. of 10.38 at 131 MPH earned him the title of Quickest Mopar.
Big Block Power-Adder: A favorite among the crew, Mike Thompson and his ’68 Chevy Caprice took an average of 9.64 at 141 MPH in a car that had never made a pass before Drag Week.
Modified Naturally Aspirated: Jay Brown and his ’64 Ford Galaxie fought a good battle with the very close second place winner this year. Jay competed in 2008, and his car has been in feature stories. His average E.T. was 9.52, with second place right behind him at 9.58. A close call, but this modified ride ultimately had what it took.
Modified Power-Adder: Rick “Doc” Fox really is a Doctor, and drives his ’67 Corvette every day in his commute to the office. No stranger to Drag Week, this year Rick took the class win with an average E.T. of 9.02 and 149 MPH.
Pro-Street Naturally Aspirated: With another close call in his class running within a tenth of the second place driver, Curt Johnson and his ’94 Chevy S-10 truck took first place with an average E.T. of 9.13.
Pro-Street Power-Adder: Michael Roy and his ’71 Chevy Monte Carlo is no stranger to Drag Week, this year convincing his friends to join in with their cars. With an average of 8.65, this was Mike’s first class win at Drag Week and his friends were there to witness it.
Daily Driver & Spirit of Drag Week: Geoff Dugopolski in his ’78 Chevy Malibu not only won the Daily Driver bracket race, but the respect of his peers with the Spirit of Drag Week award. This award is given to the person that best exemplifies what it means to help others competing in the event. He helped more than a few of his competitors get back on track, while still ending with an average E.T. of 12.32.
Overall every participant showed a fierce drive and willingness to not only win, but help out their fellow drivers. As the official lubricant of this event, AMSOIL is proud to have played a part in each of their successes. The January issue of Hot Rod has an impressive spread covering this event, so be sure to pick one up and see for yourself why Drag Week is growing and shows no signs of stopping.
Below: David Paschall received recognition by tying for the Mickey Thompson Quickest Reaction Time as well as the Quickest Buick and Quickest E.T., Daily Driver
Teague Wraps Up OSS Championship in Missouri
Thursday, October 1 , 2009
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Teague Wraps Up OSS Championship in Missouri
One week after moving into the first place points position in the Super Boat International series in Morehead City, N.C., Team AMSOIL traveled to Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. to compete in the Offshore Super Series 2009 National Championships finale. Going into this race, Team AMSOIL had fought its way to a slight one point advantage in the season point’s battle. What this meant is that Team AMSOIL would have to win the race in order to secure its second consecutive OSS National Championship.
Bob Teague and Paul Whittier tested the boat extensively, timing laps on Saturday to find the best set up. In all, nearly 150 miles were covered during testing on the course. Teague also throttled a boat in the Pro Am Race in the P2 class with a local friend, Roger Neighbors, which provided more experience on the course.
The race format was established by OSS as two heats of about 45 miles each. At race time on Sunday, the conditions had changed a little with more wind from a different direction than Saturday. Team AMSOIL #77 elected to stay with the Saturday set up which proved to be not as good as the day before. When the green flag dropped, Team MHQ Financial in their 388 Skater took a slight lead. During the first heat, the 388 boat finished 9 seconds ahead of Team AMSOIL. During the break, Team AMSOIL worked to change its set up of the 368 Skater with a propeller change and balance adjustment.
When the green flag dropped for the second heat, Team AMSOIL and MHQ Financial again locked horns in a deck to deck battle. After a couple of laps, Team AMSOIL gained the advantage at turn six and seven and continued to stretch their lead. Teague and Whittier knew in order to win the Championship that they must beat the 388 boat by more than nine seconds in the second heat. Looking in their mirrors at Team MHQ Financial’s position kept Team AMSOIL on their game with no room for even the slightest error. Teague and Whittier continued to nail the turns and carry good speed down the straights and eventually crossed the finish line 12 seconds ahead of MHQ. The two heat times are averaged which gave Team AMSOIL the overall win by a mere three seconds after 90 plus miles of racing.
After starting the OSS season with a disappointing fifth place finish in Biloxi, Miss. due to a one lap penalty for damaging a turn buoy, Team AMSOIL #77 is proud to have had a perfect balance during the season in its fight back to the top position.
With the win at Lake of the Ozarks, Team AMSOIL has won its second consecutive National and High Points title in the Offshore Super Series, and is currently unbeatable in the Super Boat International points chase. Already secured for the 2009 season are the OPA Cat Lite Championship and first place in the Geico Triple Crown Series.
The next stop for Team AMSOIl is in Clearwater, Fla. at the SBI Championship Festival starting today with racing held on Sunday.
Back in September AMSOIL announced its sponsorship of the 2009 Hot Rod Drag Week which was kicking off in Muncie, Indiana. As usual, this year’s challenge proved to be full of excitement with a few mishaps along the way. From failed torque converters to blown transmissions, participant had their plates full with trying to keep their cars up to par during the challenge. For those who couldn’t, there was almost always a fellow competitor willing to lend a hand and get them back on the road.
Quickest Four-Cylinder: Jon Huber in his ’79 Ford Mustang is referred to as ‘The little Ford that could…and does.” Jon dealt with a failed torque converter early in the competition, but a group of racers helped him roadside to get him back on his way. His final timeslip turned out an average of 9.37 at 147 MPH for the class win. 
