- Oberg
Motorsports - TORC Bark River I Race Report
Eagle River, WI (July 12, 2010) -
The Oberg Team arrived in Bark River Michigan for Rounds 3 & 4 with a
lot of ground to cover after a not so good showing in Crandon Wisconsin
for Rounds 1 & 2. The Team was sitting at 8th in points out of 9
competitors in the TRAXXAS TORC Series presented by AMSOIL. The Team
knew they could do better so they had a lot to prove. Many changes were
made going in to this weekend and we all hoped those changes would pay
off and they did.
The first practice on Friday started out with a little shake-up for the
Team. Only half way through the first lap, the truck drifted out to far
and struck a berm sending Mike into a roll. The truck rolled completely
over once and landed on its wheels. This was all Mike needed. The truck
refired and Mike went back to his laps turning some pretty good times
for Bark River. Once back in the pits, the crew went to work looking to
see if any major damage had been done to the AMSOIL Chevrolet. Nothing
major had been compromised so it only took some minor adjustments to get
the truck back out for the next round of practice. Mike looked even
faster and the times showed this. He timed in 6th out of the nine, and
with the top 6 inversion, this placed him on the pole position for Round
3 on Saturday.
Saturday proved to be a very hot and humid day. The Team was worried
about running high temperatures as the truck did run warmer than usual
during practice on Friday. We know that the AMSOIL Products we use will
withstand the heat. The Team was eager for a win since we hadn't seen
one since the 2006 season, and when that green flag flew, Mike got the
jump on everyone. He was out front from the get go so he was able to run
his own line. This allowed him to gain roughly 10 truck lengths over 2nd
place by the time the mid race caution flag came out. Mike knew he would
need to get the jump on the restart. He knew the BFG's would give him
all the traction he needed. When the green flag flew, he did get the
jump, but the other guys were just as hungry for that win so Mike was in
for a battle. The first to challenge him was the Monster Truck of Jeremy
McGrath. McGrath went for the inside pass and made it after ramming the
AMSOIL Chevrolet. Luckily there was no damage to the Oberg Truck but
McGrath damaged his own. The Monster Truck never made another lap before
succumbing to the damage. The next one to challenge Mike was the Traxxas
Truck of Jeff Kincaid. Kincaid came in too hard on the inside and
actually landed on top of Mike's left rear tire. They were temporarily
connected but Mike was able to shake him off. We were worried about Mike
getting a flat but the BFG Tires held strong. This was the last
challenge of the race for Mike and he took the win. This was also Mike's
40th career win. This is what the Team needed to boost our moral and get
us back in the game.
The guys worked late getting the truck ready for Round 4 on Sunday.
Nothing major had to be done to get ready. After taking a win in Round
3, Mike was to start in 6th position for the Sunday run. Kincaid then
was moved out of 5th position due to having to bring out his back-up
truck and this moved Mike up one position. Mike knew he would really
need a good jump to get a great position for the start. That didn't
happen. He came out of the 1st turn in 6th position. An incident with
Dan VanDenHeuvel later in the race knocked him back to 8th place. Mike
still battled on and made his way back to 6th position before the end of
the race. That was a tough run but we were all happy with the weekend at
Bark River.
Taking that win did a lot to move us up in points. We are now in 5th
position with only 4 points separating 3rd, 4th and 5th place. We are 29
out of 1st but that isn't beyond our realm yet. We just have to keep
pushing on.
Next stop will be at Oshkosh Wisconsin for Rounds 5 & 6 on July 23 & 24.
Oshkosh was always good for us and we know that will be a short,
technical track for everyone. The horsepower may not help. Stop on out
and hang out with the Oberg Team, our friends from AMSOIL and get an
Oberg M-80 T-Shirt for yourself and an Oberg/AMSOIL Chevrolet Tattoo for
the kids. We will all have some fun, Guaranteed.
Gilly Out
P.S. Check out the Oberg Team on FaceBook. We will be posting daily and
answering all of your questions.
|
Website
best viewed with Internet Explorer 6.x @ 1024x768 pixels
Website designed and maintained by:
MTG
|