Heading Outdoors

Sacramento, Calif. ~ The indoor season is long gone and Team AMSOIL/Chaparral/Honda's Kevin Windham's hard-fought road to a third place finish is over. Now the big rider brings his Honda 450CRF outdoors and was looking to build off his late season supercross momentum with a strong showing during round one of the AMA Outdoor Nationals in Sacramento, Calif.

Things got off to bad start for Windham on Sunday. On the first lap of the outdoors first moto, K-Dub found himself picking his bike up off the dirt as the crowd of riders raced on by. A damaged shift lever caused him to make an early pit stop to replace it. When he did get back on track, Windham would finish the first moto in 21st place.

The second moto at the Hangtown Motocross Classic brought better results for the Mississippi native. A strong start and his usual smooth ride returned for the second moto. After passing Yamaha's Chad Reed early in the race, Windham was able to finish the race in second. The Cajun left the weekend behind the leaders in ninth overall, but was able to pick up some valuable points on day two.

A ¾ Turnout

Sacramento, Calif. ~ Josh Grant finished his rookie season in the AMA Supercross Series in style. After starting in the back of the pack at Las Vegas, the young 125cc rider found himself sitting under the bright lights of Sam Boyd Stadium on the podium with a third place finish. The confidence continued as the night racing shifted to daylight for the Outdoor Nationals.

Grant, who is entering his second year on the outdoor circuit, is no longer able to sneak up on other riders. The target on his chest is growing bigger everyday, as he is on course to become one of the sport's biggest stars and the rider to beat. How the young gun deals with that pressure will be key to his future success.

In 2004, Grant exploded on the 125cc scene at Hangtown by grabbing the holeshot over veterans like James Stewart and Grant Langston. Grant, trying to replay that moment started the first moto with the holeshot and was able to extend a lead over the field. By lap five, however, Broc Hepler had tracked him down. The move stole some of Grant's thunder and he moved all the way back to seventh, where he would finish the day. Moto 2 would be a little better. Although he missed the holeshot, he would nab a sixth. That was good enough for the 19-year-old to finish fifth overall for the weekend.

Meanwhile, things were a little worse for the wear for the remainder of the AMSOIL/Chaparral/Honda 125cc team. Juaqium Rodrigues got tangled up with a slew of other riders in the fast first turn of the second moto. The Portuguese native crashed hard and was transported to the Asterisk Mobile Medical Unit. Team officials say he re-injured his already tender ankle that was banged up in Las Vegas. J-Rod should be back for the next race. He currently sits in 24th place overall.

Billy Laninovich had a good start to the weekend before falling off in the second moto. Lano finished the first moto in ninth, picking up 12 points in the process. But the second race of the day proved discouraging as he finished 19th. Overall, the young rider sits in 15th position for the AMA Outdoor title hunt.

The AMA Outdoor Nationals will be televised on the Outdoor Life Network this coming weekend. The Hangtown Classic, the first of 12-championship events, will air Saturday, May 28 at 3 p.m. (EST). The next AMA Outdoor National will be held May 28-29 at the High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Penn.

Super Introductions

Lake Odessa, Mich. ~ P.T. Barnum was 60 years old when he said, "We ought to have a big show. The public expects it and will appreciate it." Of course the king of the sideshow was talking about the circus and not Off-Road Racing. However, after last weekend's debut of the AMSOIL/Kumho Tires "Super Team", ole Phineas Taylor may as well have been.

For the first time at a Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) event, the "Super Team" of Dan Vanden Heuvel, Steve McCrossan and Mike Oberg unleashed their big show on the world of racing. The three haulers and race trucks were the center of attention in Lake Odessa, Mich. for the first weekend of the 2005 season.

"It was amazing," said Vanden Heuvel on the amount of fans and media that stopped by to check out the AMSOIL red, white and black-checkered set-up. "I felt like I spent more time in front of a camera than I did with the truck."

Sportsman 2 was the first race of the day on Saturday. Mike Oberg started third in the Lemans style startand rocketed his way to second. The fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants driver did this while driving completely blinded by a torn fender blocking his windshield. On the last corner before the checkered flag, Oberg made contact with a huge loader tire, which resulted in a spectacular rollover. He finished Saturday's event in fourth.

Dan "the Flying Dutchman" Vanden Heuvel was next on the track in his Pro 2 machine, starting ninth in the line-up. When the green flag dropped, he moved his way through the field to third and was on his way to challenging the leaders for the top spot when another truck spun out in front of him. After making his way around the incident, he lost several positions and finished the race in fifth.

Steve McCrossan, in his Pro 4 Chevrolet, was next on the line for the action packed race. The Toronto-native started seventh and had worked his way up to fifth when a rock dislodged the belt that runs the trucks engine oil pump. He was able to drive the AMSOIL/KUMHO Tire Pro 4 off the track to safety, and fortunately the AMSOIL series 2000 20W-50 in the engine prevented any serious damage. He finished Saturday's race in seventh.

Sunday's events were just as busy as the AMSOIL /KUMHO TIRE SUPER TEAM hurried to complete a photo-shoot for a centerfold display of Dirt Sport Magazine. Steve, Dan, Mike had their crews and race trucks displayed for the photo shoot, and no sooner did they finish when the rain came.

Due to the rain delay, Vanden Heuvel was the first on the track in his pro 2 Chevrolet. The muddy trackmade for a chaotic start and he was forced to the outside of corner one and ended up in the back of the pack in the field of 12 trucks. Well known for his expertise of racing on a muddy track, the Dutchman worked his way through the field to fifth, until he got tangled up with another competitor. CORR officials gave Vanden Heuvel a penalty for the minor incident, and he finished the race in sixth.

McCrossan was the next "Super Team" truck on the track and was in a great position for the start of Sunday's race when CORR officials put Steve to the rear of the nine-truck field for making contact with another truck during Sunday's practice. Due to the extreme mud, he had a hard time working his way through the field and finished fifth.

Finally, when Mike Oberg started eighth on Sunday, he was on a mission to get the checkered flag. Unfortunately Mike broke a steering knuckle and was unable to finish the race. Mike still ended up finishing 10th in his AMSOIL/ KUMHO TIRE Chevrolet.

Hold on tight because the AMSOIL/ KUMHO Tire team is gearing up for a stellar weekend at the Langlade county fair grounds in Antigo Wis. on June 11-12. Steve, Dan and Mike will be putting their machines to the test on their quest for the championship. And as P.T. Barnum said, "every cloud has a silver lining."

Showing Off His New Ride

Solon Springs, Wis. ~ Late model star Brady Smith recently signed a three-year sponsorship with AMSOIL to make the synthetic oil company his title sponsor. And as expected, the Solon Springs native is off to a good start.

Smith posted two top-five finishes last weekend in Farley, Iowa. He drove his AMSOIL #2 Masterbilt / Pro Power Monte Carlo to a second place finish in his heat race to earn an outside second row starting spot for a $10,000 feature event win. "The Deuce" struggled a bit in the early stages of the 50-lap affair before turning up the heat. A red flag situation near the end of the race allowed him to head pit-side for changes without losing his spot on the racetrack. The team made the correct changes and the #2 charged to a runner-up finish.
The LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle, Illinois was the next stop for the Brady Smith Racing team. Smith won his heat race and started fourth in the $10,000-to-win Jeff's Enginemasters 'Spring Shootout.' Smith was able to stay in the top-five throughout the 50-lap event, but his effort was hampered after making contact with an inside utility tire while battling for position with Brian Shirley. Smith regrouped and landed a solid fifth place finish on the 1/4-mile, high-banked oval.

"It was a great weekend for us, to say the least," said the 2004 WDRL PolyDome Late Model Series Champion and Rookie of the Year. "Anytime you can run against that kind of competition and run that competitively, that is a good sign for your race team. I feel like our car was good enough that we were capable of winning both of those shows. It is great to get AMSOIL some exposure on national television, as well. I think the fans are going to really enjoy watching those two races on ESPN2 because they were highly competitive."

As a result of his solid performances, he has climbed into 10th position in the Late Model Dirt Series point standings, despite missing two events.

The team will make its first trip to the West Plains Motor Speedway in West Plains, Missouri this weekend. O'Reilly Auto Parts will present the 13th Annual 'Show-Me 100' this Thursday through Saturday at the WPMS. The action kicks off on the 3/8-mile, red clay oval on Thursday with an open practice session. Time trials, a Manufacturer's Dash and a Past Champions Race will highlight the Dirt Late Model portion of the racing action on Friday evening. Saturday will feature heat races, last chance events, and the 100-lap, $39,000-to-win 'Show-Me 100.' The mega-event will pay $3,900 just to start the feature race.

Following West Plains, the team is scheduled to make the overnight trip to the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway in Dubuque, Iowa to compete in a $6,000-to-win SPI Open Shootout event on Sunday evening. This will be Smith's first trip to Dubuque this season.

Checkered Flag Notes

· P.J. Osmer has been busy closing out the school year and the competition. On May 13 in Hanford, Calif., he placed second in his heat race and second in the main in the 85cc class. He then moved up to the 125 4-stroke class, where he placed first in the heat and the main.

Last weekend was more of the same for the young motocross rider. Back at Hanford, Osmer picked up another second in the 85cc class and another first in the 125cc class. On Sunday, he traveled to Caruthers, Calif. and picked up a third place heat finish to go along with his second in the main. In the 125cc class, he found the podium again with firsts in the heat and the main event. He was also able to hop on his YZF 250 to pick up a second in the heat race and first in the main.

· Bender's Racing's T.J. Strutts made a wonderful comeback last weekend. Stutts started 18th in the 25-lap feature. Using AMSOIL and sheer determination, he was able to move his way up to the podium with a second place finish. He currently sits in second place in the point's standings in the 358 Sprints Series at Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, Penn.

Picture of the Week

Lake Odessa, Mich. ~ The Super Team was grabbing all of the headlines last weekend at the first CORR event of the season. But it was another AMSOIL sponsored team that stole the show. Ben Wandasegha propelled his truck to a first place tie over the weekend in the Sportsman 2 class. He placed high despite starting in the back of the pack both days. And who says you can't win without a rear fender.