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Oberg Looks Strong Early @ Chicagoland/Rt. 66 Raceway
Eagle
River, WI (September 20, 2011) - After a great second place finish
during Round 10 at Crandon, Mike Oberg and his #80 AMSOIL BFGoodrich
Tires Chevy were looking for continued success at The Dirt Track at
Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. With only ten days to prepare
for the midweek event, Oberg Motorsports brought both of his PRO-2WD
trucks ensure nothing could prevent the team from competing in both
rounds of racing. The luxury of a back-up race truck became a
necessity as the team soon found out.
This was the second consecutive year that Route 66 Raceway hosted a
TORC event at the half-mile dirt track. The TORC track crew built a
real technical track that tested a short-course race truck’s
suspension, tires, and power plant. Then TORC officials determined
that the PRO-2WD truck would make seventeen laps before the
checkered flag would be waved, so each round of racing would also
test each driver’s ability to manage their equipment. The actual
layout of the track was near three quarters of a mile in length
consisting of a variety of jumps and tabletops, along with a mogul
field and a lengthy rhythm section.
On Wednesday afternoon, rain fell once again at a TORC event,
disrupting the scheduled practice sessions. Eventually the rain
subsided, but now the late afternoon qualifying session would also
serve as the only practice session for all the race teams. This
meant any changes to the race trucks before the night’s racing would
go untested. Oberg Motorsports relied on their notes from the
similar track at Charlotte to set their truck up for the evening’s
race. This approach to qualifying put the #80 Chevy sixth on the
starting grid. Looking for better traction crew chief Corey Lambert
made a quick sway bar and gear change just before opening
ceremonies.
The Wednesday night race, the Round 4 make-up, saw the #80 AMSOIL
Chevy run a very consistent first half of the race. When the field
went back to racing after the mandatory caution, Mike Oberg began to
make a challenge for a podium finish. For several laps, Mike’s Lap
times were some of the quickest in the race. By lap fifteen, the
AMSOIL Chevy was in fourth place, looking for a way around the third
place truck of Brendan Gaughan. Then with less than two laps to go,
the ring and pinion broke. Somehow Mike was able to ride out the
final lap and half at a reduced pace to finish in fifth place.
The next morning Corey and the team went to work replacing the ring
and pinion as well as performing the usual between race prep work.
Then as the team was ready to take the truck out for staging,
disaster struck, the starter broke. Without enough time to change
the starter, the team quickly prepared their back-up truck. Somehow
Mike was able to suit up just in time for driver introductions.
Thursday’s Round 11 race was extremely important as the SPEED
Channel was broadcasting the race live, as part of its extended
coverage of NASCAR Chase Week at Chicagoland Speedway.
Instead of starting on the front row, thanks to TORC’s inversion,
Mike Oberg had to start at the back of the field due to running his
back-up truck.
When the seventeen lap race began, Mike took a conservative approach
to the race making sure how the truck reacted to the track. As his
lap times began to improve, the truck began pulling to one side.
Then at the fastest point on the track, the right front wheel hub
exploded, nearly putting the AMSOIL BFG Chevy into the wall. Somehow
Mike kept the truck upright and eventually limped back to the pits.
Officially Mike Oberg finished eighth.
“You know we really a great run going on Wednesday,” remarked
Mike Oberg. “I really thought we had a shot at Brendan for the
final podium spot, but the rear gear didn’t make it to the end.
Then we really had our hands full just getting to the starting
line for Round 11. When it came time to fire up the truck, you
could hear the binding in the starter. Where that thing is located
makes it a hard job to replace. So hats off to my guys for getting
our back-up race ready in a matter of minutes. We didn’t quite
have the gearing we wanted and the suspension set-up was a little
off, but we made the best of it. Unfortunately a front hub broke,
and it took all I had to keep the truck off the wall and rolling
over. It could have been a real mess.”
The final race of the 2011 Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL
is October 15-16 in San Antonio, Texas.
The first of eighteen episodes of the Velocity (Discovery Channel’s
HD Theatre) docu-drama; TORC: The Off Road Championship will be
broadcast on September 21 at 6pm EST.
Mike Oberg Motorsports would to thank his partners, including:
AMSOIL – BFGoodrich Tires – King Shocks – J & H Transmission
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Peterson Fluid Systems – Raceline – MSD Ignition – Mastercraft
Safety
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Stewart Warner Performance
For more information about Mike Oberg Motorsports please email Mike
Oberg @
mike@obergmotorsports.com
