Welcome to Douglas Motorsports-CORR and BITD Champion

May 3

Douglas Motorsports CORR/ WSORR Double Duty Report

El Cajon, CA – (May 25, 2007) - The second weekend of racing in the 2007 Championship Off-Road Racing series saw competitors from all over the country descend upon the Los Angles Fairplex in Pomona, California. The long standing facility is famous for its NHRA drag racing facility, and is home to the NHRA Wally Parks Motorsports Museum. The Fairplex also hosts live thoroughbred racing and was once the primary venue for Mickey Thompson’s Off-Road Gran Prix. When it comes to racing the LA Fairplex is rich in its history.

In 2007, CORR wrote a new page of off-road racing history with its creation of a short course off-road event at the Fairplex. The entire event was held on the mammoth Fairplex parking lot. Jim Baldwin and CORR created an .88 mile “chunk of Baja” track and erected grandstands for 10,000 spectators. The track included the typical jumps and whoops from other track designs, but track designers included a section of pavement, giving the drivers a different surface to conquer.

Friday Practice and Qualifying
The track brought some new challenges with the addition of asphalt to the track as well as a very low content of clay in the actual dirt surface. In practice, the Douglas Motorsports #7 AMSOIL, Kumho Tires, Sycuan Casino, KC HiLites, Alloy, American Racing Ford F-150 was searching for a better way to handle this unique layout.

After practice, the crew went to work on some suspension changes, looking to gain some speed for qualifying. Scott’s qualifying run saw the truck pickup 1.5 seconds over his fastest practice time. This put him in the seventh spot for the Baldwin Cup Qualifier. The top eight PRO-4 trucks all qualified within two seconds of each other.

Saturday – Jason Baldwin Cup Qualifier
Scott knew he had his work cut out for him with this middle of the pack starting position. His biggest concern was getting cleanly through the first lap. The fast, but sometimes, narrow track did not leave much room for error.

After several laps racing in the middle of the back, Scott “got up on the wheel” and began a strong move through the field. At one point, the #7 AMSOIL Ford F-150 was challenging for the third position, until a lapped truck slowed down its progress. At the finish Scott Douglas came home in fifth place.

Afterwards Scott commented, “Our setup was just off today. Our suspension wasn’t quite right, and we probably picked the wrong grooving for the Kumho tires. We had a shot at podium finish today, but the combination of some lap traffic and catching a rut wrong moved us back a couple of spots. Bill Smith and I will get together to figure out how to get this hot rod back to the front.”

Overnight, crew Chief Bill Smith put the crew to work as seven different changes were made to the chassis. Douglas Motorsports has never tackled this many adjustments, while at the track, on its Douglas Motorsports PRO-4 Chassis.

Sunday – Qualifying
The Douglas Motorsports #7 AMSOIL, Kumho Tires, Sycuan Casino, KC HiLites, Alloy, American Racing Ford F-150 found some more speed, as the morning qualifying time dropped another second. Unfortunately, much of the competition worked hard through the night looking for ways to improve their race trucks as well. Once again, Scott Douglas would start from the seventh spot.

CORR Round 3
The fourteen lap affair saw Scott Douglas begin to make his move to the front on lap six. After riding in the fifth spot for several laps, Scott put the Pro Power horsepower to the Kumho Tires. By lap ten, the #7 AMSOIL Ford F-150 was in second place. Scott was looking to take the top spot away from the leader, Greaves #22. Unfortunately, Scott pressed too hard, got out of shape, allowing three trucks to get by. With time running out, Scott came home with a well fought fifth place. This round of racing was extremely competitive, as second through fifth place crossed the finish line within three seconds of each other.

“The wholesale changes we made to the truck were right on. The Kumho Tires worked well, AMSOIL kept our Pro Power engine running cool and strong, and my crew gave me a truck that had a shot at the win. Today was just awesome. There was a lot of passing, everybody raced clean, it was really fun out there today,” commented Scott Douglas. “When I got behind Johnny, I got a little greedy, and it cost me. When the checkers came out we were just in the wrong position. Considering where we were on Friday, to how we performed today, I’m pretty happy.”

WSORR – The Owatonna Nationals
While CORR was hosting a race in Ponoma, California, the World Series of Off-Road Racing (WSORR) held its season opener, The Owantonna Nationals, in southeastern Minnesota. Douglas Motorsports was competing at both locations.

Scott Douglas had fellow AMSOIL Super Team member, Mike Oberg drive his secondary PRO-4 truck in the WSORR event. Mike Oberg and his Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup winning ride are a regular competitor in PRO-2WD division. In a show of support for short-course off-road racing, Scott arranged for Mike to represent Douglas Motorsports, and their sponsors, at the Midwest event.

The track consisted of a .88 mile track set on and inside the Steel County Fairgrounds 1/2 mile banked dirt stock car track. The PRO-4 competitors were turning laps averaging 58mph.

Mike Oberg made Douglas Motorsports proud as he took the #71 AMSOIL, Kumho Tires, Sycuan Casino, KC HiLites, Alloy, American Racing Ford F-150 to victory in both rounds of racing at the Steele County Fairgrounds. Way to go Mike!!

Scott Douglas stated, “We felt that it was important to our sponsors and our sport, that Douglas Motorsport find away to compete at both events this past weekend. Fortunately, Mike Oberg and I have many of the same sponsors, so there wasn’t a conflict. Jeremy Meyer, motorsports coordinator for AMSOIL, like the idea, so we put it in motion. I think I said it before, but there’s tradition in this sport that needs to be respected. After the Mickey Thompson series ended, the Midwest off-road promoters really cultivated the short-course version of off-road racing. Now we are back racing on the West Coast, where it all began with Mickey. Hopefully, we can create a huge national traveling series that incorporates all participants.”

After a hectic weekend of racing, Scott Douglas and Mike Oberg transported both race teams to Superior, Wisconsin for the annual AMSOIL University Sales Conference. The teams arrived Tuesday afternoon, just in time to participate in the corporate gathering.

Next Race: June 9-10, 2077 - Championship Off-Road Racing - Chula Vista Raceway, Chula Vista, CA

Scott Douglas thanks all his supporters:
AMSOIL, Kumho Tires, Ford Trucks, Sycuan Resort & Casino, Alloy, KC Hilities, American Racing, BorgWarner, Howe Performance, Raceline Oil Pumps, Mastercraft Seats, Miller Electric, Stewart Warner, J & H Transmissions, Fox Shox, Ringers Gloves, Phil’s Inc., Pro Power Engines, Scott USA, and McKenzie’s.

The second round of the Baldwin Cup Qualifiers will be broadcast on NBC, this Sunday, May 27th, at 2pm eastern time.

The CORR divisional rounds of racing will be broadcast on SPEED at a later date.

For more information or schedule an interview you can contact Jackie Douglas - DMSpro4@aol.com .

Photos by J & L Photography

-Mike Reusche, Marketing - MTG