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- Oberg
First Two-Wheel Drive Finisher in the Chairman’s Cup Showdown
Eagle River, WI (June 24, 2008) - Mike Oberg and his #80 AMSOIL Kumho
Tire Chevrolet Silverado came back to his home track in Crandon,
Wisconsin looking to get back on the podium and win the fifteenth
running of the Heavy Metal challenge known as the FCP Chairman’s Cup.
Oberg Motorsports is coming off its best CORR race performance of the
year. In Round Six of the 2008 CORR PRO-2 season, Mike took a sub par
qualifying performance, eighteen fastest, and made the best of it.
During the 15 minute race, the #80 AMSOIL Chevy made up twelve positions
to finish sixth out of twenty four PRO-2 trucks.
“We have been fast in earlier rounds, but the racing is so intense that
contact is a given,” noted Mike Oberg. “We just haven’t had any luck go
our way. In Round Five I got into someone in a very fast section of the
track and my Chevy took the brunt of the hit and took me out for the
day. Round Six saw start us start way back and we made our way towards
the front without a major incident. We just ran out of time before we
could challenge for a podium.”
The Eagle River, Wisconsin native makes his home less than an hour from
Crandon and always enjoys the competition and the fans that always come
to watch some of the fastest off-road racing on the planet.
After Saturday morning’s practice session, Mike knew something wasn’t
quite right in the drive train. Mike and crew chief Cory Lambert put the
team to work replacing the transmission just to be safe.
Saturday Round Three
Mike took a conservative approach to the usual wild land rush start.
After cleanly exiting Turn One, the #80 AMSOIL Chevy was in sixth place.
About midway through the race Mike and #21 Hoek were exchanging
fiberglass for the fourth spot. Mike knew something wasn’t quite right
on the rear suspension, but he continued to pressure Hoek. On the final
lap the Kumho tires made the pass stick, and the #80 crossed the finish
line in fourth place.
Once the team got the race truck back to the transporter, Cory and the
crew found a broke rear sway bar. Then the link somehow got into the one
of the rear shocks, damaging that as well. Both were quick fixes as the
team continued with the usual between race maintenance.
Sunday Round Four
The start saw the PRO-2WD lineup go four wide as they headed out of Turn
One. Mike and his #80 AMSOIL Kumho Tire Chevy was fourth in line looking
to chase down the leaders. After a change for lead on lap two, the top
four racers never changed their positions. Mike Oberg finished the race
in fourth place.
Now Oberg Motorsports went work prepping the #80 Chevy Silverado for the
big money Forest County Potawatomi Chairman’s Cup. The fastest
four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive trucks are handicapped for an all
out ten lap shootout where the winner can take home over $30,000.
The weather saw intermittent rain showers come through the area, but
about an hour before the Cup start, heavy rain began to fall. Now the
muddy track would give the four-wheel drive trucks a definite advantage.
Luckily the rain stopped just as the trucks were lining up for the start
of this annual event. The half lap head start the 4x2 trucks were given
didn’t seem like enough considering the sloppy track conditions.
This event would be a race of survival, the driver with the fewest on
track mistakes would like take home the big money.
The race also pays money for the highest finishing two-wheel trucks in
the race as well as a nice payback for the top four winners overall. The
overall winner of the event was Kent Brascho in his Chevy powered
PRO-4x4. The Alabama driver ran a quick mistake free race, never putting
a wheel wrong the entire run.
The race for the two-wheel drive title was between #8 Taylor and Mike
Oberg. The two swapped positions a couple times with Mike grabbing and
holding the top stop the last four laps to the finish. Mike Oberg was
fourth overall finisher as well.
“We came back home to run the Chairman’s Cup,” explained Mike Oberg.
“The points races helped us set the truck up for the big one, but once
the rain came, everyone’s setup went out the door. During the Cup race
we really had our hands full with Taylor. Then I had the hood fold back
blocking my vision. For a couple of laps, my spotter was steering the
truck. Eventually some of the hood moved or fell off and I could see
again. Heck it even kept some of the mud off of me. Even with all this
mud, AMSOIL came through again, keeping our engine and drivetrain
running cool. The Kumho Tires really worked well this weekend, as usual.
Dry, muddy or underwater, their grip is awesome…. I hope the winnings
cover the cost of a new body and any other damage the mud did to the
truck. I bet there’s an extra 1000 pounds of mud stuck to that truck!”
Oberg Motorsports’ next race; July 26-27, CORR at the QUARRY, Chula
Vista, California.
Oberg Motorsports is attending the 35th Anniversary AMSOIL Convention in
Superior, Wisconsin, July 16-18, 2008.
Oberg Motorsports thanks all its sponsors including:
AMSOIL, Kumho Tire, Fox Racing Shox, Hawk Performance, J & H
Transmission, Lund, Mastercraft, Millwright Services, MSD Ignition,
Oberg Filters, Peterson Fluid Systems, Precision Gear, Raceline Oil
Pumps, and Stewart Warner Performance.
-Mike Reusche, marketing, MTG –
mike@mt-graphics.com
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