Oberg Overcomes Adversity to take 5^th in Round 4

 

Eagle River, WI (May 30, 2012) - Mike Oberg came to Red Bud MX looking to build momentum  for his #80 AMSOIL/General Tire  Chevy Silverado as the TORC race season makes it run through the Midwest. The first stop was the Red Bud Motocross facility in southwestern Michigan. The Oberg Motorsports team ran into to some bad luck early in the weekend, but the team never gave up and recorded a strong finish in the Sunday afternoon race.

 

Unlike last year’s torrential race storm that caused TORC to cancel the Saturday PRO races, the 2012 edition saw temperatures approaching one hundred degrees without a cloud in the sky. To say it was hot would be an understatement.

 

The track was redesigned as well. The course wound its way through the same valley the motocross fans are familiar with, but for 2012 the .75 mile track had fewer turns, but included bigger faster jumps that really tested man and machine.

During the first Friday practice session the AMSOIL/General Tire Chevy lost an engine. This put the team into overdrive hoping the powerplant could be replaced before the afternoon qualifying session. Unfortunately the team realized the engine swap would not be complete by qualifying, so the backup truck was quickly prepared so Mike could get a few more laps of practice before Saturday’s Round Three action.

 

The next morning the primary race truck was all set to go, so now the AMSOIL Chevy would start at the back of the starting grid for the sixteen lap race.

 

The third round of the TORC series ended after a couple of laps for Mike Oberg as an electrical problem caused the engine to shutdown leaving the #80 AMSOIL/General Tire PRO-2WD truck motionless.

 

Immediately crew members Matt and Brian went to work looking for the problem. After a few hours of diagnosis and repair, the Oberg Motorsports crew had the all black Chevy back together and ready for Sunday’s race.

 

The first portion of Sunday’s Round Four race had Oberg getting a feel for the race track. With all the team had gone through the previous two days, Oberg only had a handful of laps on the track so the first half of the race was run at a conservative pace.

 

After the mid-point mandatory caution period, Oberg opened up all the stops. The result was a hard fought, well run fifth place finish.

“We needed this finish today,” remarked Mike Oberg. “After everything we have been through early on this year, my team keeps on giving 110%. While part of the team worked on the engine issues, a couple of guys continued to work on improving our shock set-up. These guys never quit. I have to thank Mark from Raceline Oil Pumps who came out to support our team, and his expertise was needed when we changed motors on Friday. It’s awesome to have a crew like this.”

The next race for Oberg Motorsports is June 16-17 at “The Big House” in Crandon, Wisconsin.

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