SCOTT DOUGLAS FINISHES 2009 SEASON 3rd IN POINTS – 1st IN STYLE

Las Vegas, Nevada—The final race laps of the inaugural Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway were dramatic in many respects, but none more spectacular than the way Scott Douglas turned up the heat on the competition.

Wide-open on the back straight closing on the race leaders, the Douglas Motorsports AMSOIL Kumho Ford F-150 burst into flames in a heart-stopping fireball. Spectators in the Red Bull hospitality pavilion said they could literally feel the heat as Douglas flashed by. Scott steered the number 7 AMSOIL Kumho F-150 to the infield wall, where the safety crew quickly put out the raging fire.

Racers had to contend with dry and dusty track conditions on Friday so the track crew ripped the surface and watered all night to work moisture into the desert soil. Dust was better on Saturday, but heavy, sticky mud became the challenge. That mud quickly clogged radiators and made visibility a problem for all drivers. Douglas Motorsports has the radiators in the silver and black AMSOIL Kumho F-150 well protected, but in this case, the muck found its way to the front of the transmission cooler.

“All the temperature gauges were pegged,” stated Scott Douglas after the race. "Normally I would pull in, but we were running up front and had a good shot at winning the race. I was amazed how the truck kept running. The AMSOIL held up and kept us going even with the extreme temperatures. When I came back onto the oval after the infield section and stood on the gas, one of the lines connecting the transmission to the cooler finally let go. We run expensive, ultra-high temperature transmission cooling lines, but they were no match for heat we were putting through them. AMSOIL Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid kept us going under these extreme loads and temperatures to the extent we pushed another part to failure that we’ve never had a problem with.”

Surviving the dusty conditions in Friday night’s round 15 race, Scott earned his ninth podium finish of the season with a third. The strong finish was impressive considering Douglas ran more than half the race with two flat tires. Heavy contact in the low visibility cut both left side tires. Since he was running up front and challenging the leaders for position, Scott elected to stay out, run on the inner-liners and not pit to change tires.

“Kumho makes a really tough tire, but it’s amazing the punishment those tires took here tonight” stated Douglas after the race. “We are putting 900 horsepower through those tires and they stayed together and allowing the inner-liner to do its job and making it possible for me to finish on the podium.” And when it comes to horsepower, nobody delivers it like Bill Schlieper and Pro Power Racing. Just as they did in Crandon on Labor Day weekend, Pro Power Racing Ford engines swept the Las Vegas round 15 Pro 4x4 podium.

Douglas Motorsports would like to thank all their great fans and sponsors, including; AMSOIL, Kumho Tires, Sycuan Resort & Casino, Ford Trucks, Fox Shox, Walker Evans Racing Wheels, KC Hilites, Raceline Oil Pumps, Miller Electric, BorgWarner, ProFab Motorsprts, Pro Power Racing, Ringers Gloves, Stewart Warner, Hawk Performance, MasterCraft Seats, Howe Performance Power Steering, J&H Transmission, McKenzie’s, MSD, Peterson Fluid Systems, and Phil’s Inc. The Las Vegas race will air Sunday November 8th at 1:30 pm on ABC – it’s worth watching for the highlight reel alone.
-Todd Kaho tkaho@kahomedia.com