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- BARK RIVER – THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Bark River, Michigan (August 18, 2010) —After finishing first
and second in rounds five and six of the TRAXXAS TORC Series
presented by AMSOIL in Oshkosh, Wisconsin the Douglas
Motorsports team was clearly on top of their game heading back
to Bark River International Raceway for rounds seven and eight.
Douglas has only missed the podium once this season and that was
in round four when hard contact from another truck took the
number 7 AMSOIL Kumho Ford out of the race.
In practice Friday afternoon, Douglas only got one lap in before
the primary race truck lost an engine. Typically, that would
mean a long night of work by the crew to replace the engine, but
Douglas Motorsports is one of the few professional short course
teams who come prepared with a backup truck for just such
circumstance. The backup truck has actually already won a race
this season; other than a few minor differences, Scott is quite
comfortable jumping from one truck to the other.
Douglas started round seven fourth on the grid and was able to
stay out of the fray through turns one and two and on the first
lap picked off Steve Barlow for the number three spot. Bark
River’s high speed sections make it a very difficult place to
pass. Scott challenged the leaders several times but was unable
to advance finishing the race in third.
“We had a great run going and our plan was to be in the top
three before the mandatory yellow so we could go dicing with
whoever was left. That worked out and I was right there with
them on the restart. The roost off the rear tires from one truck
is bad, but the roost of two is even worse. I had to try
different lines and do what they weren’t doing. Sometimes that
works and I thought that was my only chance but unfortunately
wasn’t an advantage this time,” commented Douglas on his sixth
trip to the podium in seven rounds of TORC Series racing.
In practice Sunday morning, Scott broke a spindle in the rhythm
section ripping the right front tire from the truck. Bark River
has a reputation for being hard on equipment and that was
certainly proving to be the case this weekend. The Douglas
Motorsports crew replaced the right front suspension assembly
and were confident that the few minor adjustments they made from
Saturday’s setup would deliver more speed on Sunday.
 Douglas
started round 8 on the inside of row two and quickly moved into
the lead on the first lap. Coming into turn one on the second
lap, the number 7 AMSOIL Kumho F-150 was slammed with a one-two
punch from the Toyota’s of Johnny Greaves and Rick Huseman.
Greaves slid into the right rear of Douglas’ truck in the slick
corner, turning him. Then Huseman hit the right front breaking
the fender and front bumper pushing his way past. Fortunately,
the damage was mostly cosmetic and Douglas got back on the gas
to chase down Huseman.
The contact was just the first of three times Douglas would be
spun by other trucks causing the loss of position. Each time
Scott gathered it up and moved back to the front. Douglas was
running in second on the final lap with just four turns to go
when he was hit and spun for the final time dropping him back to
fourth just off the podium.
Understandably angry at the outcome, Scott commented “It’s a
shame that almost every pass today was made on heavy contact.
The hood and fenders have been on this truck for the past five
races, we don’t drive that way. These trucks are $250,000 pieces
of art and they are out here driving like we are in demolition
derby cars.”
Rounds 9 and 10 of the 2010 TRAXXAS TORC Series presented by
AMSOIL are scheduled for August 25th and 26th at the Route 66
Speedway in Chicagoland, IL. Douglas Motorsports would like to
thank all their great fans and sponsors, including; AMSOIL,
Kumho Tires, Baileigh Industrial, KC Hilites, MasterCraft Seats,
Fox Shox, Walker Evans Racing Wheels, Raceline Oil Pumps, Miller
Electric, BorgWarner, Ringers Gloves, Hawk Performance, Howe
Performance Power Steering, J&H Transmission, MSD, Peterson
Fluid Systems, and Phil’s Inc.
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Editors—High-resolution digital images of Scott Douglas and the
AMSOIL Kumho PRO 4x4 are available by contacting Kaho Media, Inc
at: tkaho@kahomedia.com or by calling 740-746-9099.
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