Due six truck starting grid inversion, Douglas started on the inside of row two and by the time the field passed the start/finish line the first time, Scott was in second right behind the Monster Energy Drink Toyota driven by Johnny Greaves. Douglas kept the pressure on Greaves all the way to the mandatory yellow flag on lap 10. On the restart, Douglas turned up the heat and made a pass on Greaves stick. Once in clean air, Douglas able to drive his lines and maintain the lead all the way to the checkered flag.

This Perris track, while the same basic design, was considerably different than the one TORC raced on here last May. Ricky Johnson worked with track officials to add more jumps, alter the banking of the turns coming off and reentering the oval, and add more bumps to the infield rhythm section. “I love the changes that Ricky made to this track. It’s very technical and both driver control and proper truck setup are critical,” commented Douglas. “There are so many obstacles packed into this tight oval that you never have a chance to take a breather. Let up for a second and you open the door to a pass. Bill Smith, Jason Schampers,

Ted Kendall, Mike Schoffstall, and the entire Douglas Motorsports crew gave me a truck that I could drive on the ragged edge with complete confidence. Our engine program with Bill Schlieper and Pro Power Racing added the muscle to make the most of both the start and restart after the yellow flag lap.”

In Saturday night’s TORC round 14 race, Douglas was just as impressive. On the start, Scott dove to the inside on turn one, held the low line and was able to gain the advantage over pole sitter Steve Barlow over the back straight jumps. Douglas held the lead for the first three laps, but current points leader Rick Huseman was able to gain the advantage.

In second at the mid-race mandatory yellow lap, Douglas held off attempts to pass on the restart and challenged Huseman for the lead. The only way around Huseman was to try new lines and Scott pushed the AMSOIL Ford past the limit at times trying to find an opening. That allowed an aggressive Kyle LeDuc the opportunity to force his way by with just two laps to go. Douglas finished on the podium in third.

“I probably gave up second pushing too hard for first, but we’re in this to win races,” commented Douglas in a post race interview. The win on Friday and third on Saturday advanced Scott Douglas into third place in the PRO 4x4 points with just two races to go.

The final race of the 2009 Traxxas TORC Series season is scheduled for October 23rd and 24th under the lights at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Be sure to catch the Perris race when it airs Sunday October 4th at 11:30 am on ESPN2.

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-Todd Kaho tkaho@kahomedia.com