Scott Douglas Wins Inaugural AMSOIL Cup in Crandon, Wis.
For the past 25 years, Labor Day Weekend at Crandon International Raceway in Crandon, Wis. has meant Cup racing. The top professional drivers in both the Pro 4x4 and Pro 2wd classes traditionally battle it out together (with the Pro 2wd trucks afforded a 12-second head start) for the largest purse of the year and, more importantly, off-season bragging rights.
However, the Cup racing tradition at Crandon was in jeopardy this spring. Long-time sponsor BorgWarner decided to step away after 17 years, and a new sponsor was sorely needed to keep the tradition alive. AMSOIL stepped in, and the company couldn’t have written a better script for the inaugural AMSOIL Cup race, the final event of the 2010 TORC Series season.
“Winning Cup races hooked us to off-road racing,” said AMSOIL Race Program Manager Jeremy Meyer. “Scott Douglas won his second in 2006, and Mike Oberg took home the Baldwin Memorial Cup later that year. Big races like the AMSOIL Cup bring out the sport’s best, and this was a great opportunity to step up and show our support to off-road racing at its highest level of competition.”
The company’s commitment to the sport and its Cup sponsorship were rewarded in the inaugural race when AMSOIL Pro 4x4 driver Scott Douglas won the AMSOIL Cup, beating a huge field that included the best talent in the sport, including NASCAR’s Robby Gordon, three-time BorgWarner Cup winner Rob MacCachren and 2010 TORC Pro 4x4 champion Johnny Greaves.
In front of a record crowd of well over 50,000 fans, Douglas pushed through turn one with the lead over the rest of the Pro 4x4 crowd. Within just a few laps, Douglas caught the back of the Pro 2wd class trucks and closed in on race leader Jeff Kincaid. (It was Kincaid who beat Douglas by a mere .259 seconds for the Crandon Cup in June.)
By lap six, both Douglas and fellow Pro 4x4 driver Rick Huseman passed Kincaid, but Huseman’s truck quickly broke down, giving Douglas sole possession of the lead with five laps remaining. The battle with Huseman and Kincaid gave precious seconds back to the field as both Greaves and Steve Barlow quickly found themselves behind Douglas. For the next five laps, Douglas kept both trucks behind him and took the historic win.
“It’s always great to end the season with a win, and they don’t come any bigger or better than this,” said Douglas. “I’m proud that we could kick-off the AMSOIL Cup tradition with a victory for the AMSOIL family of employees and Dealers – this one is for them.”
The TORC Series airs every Thursday night on HD Theater. Check with satellite and cable providers for times and channel information.
