Dinsmore Closes Points Gap at ERX Motor Park Twin Cities Takedown Event

After a great run at Crandon, the team set their goals high heading to the new track in Elk River Minnesota - ERX Motor Park. With an 18 Point gap between the first place truck of Kyle Hart and Travis, the team prepped and set the truck for podium finishes. When the truck hit the track for practice at the beautiful rolling groomed ERX track Travis and the #43 showed promising speed on this new technical race surface. “I like it “ Travis said.

Qualifying would put the Atturo Tires, Sle-Co Ford on the front row for the start of Saturday's race. When the green flag dropped Travis chased the first place truck, Atturo teammate Andrew Carlson #151 for the whole race, challenging him a couple times but unable to safely make the pass stick. As the race progressed the track with its new surface began to rut up really bad causing many teams to have problems forcing them further back in the field. With 4 laps left the #43 team decided to take it easy and bring the truck to the checkers in one piece in a comfortable 2nd place finish.

  

Saturday night saw heavy rain fall which helped to bond the track dirt together, the track design allowed water to drain away so the track was perfect and ready for Sundays race.

Sunday would see Travis and the #43 Pro Light start in the 3rd row. When the race started the Atturo Tire / Sle-Co Ford fell back a little to 8th place as the race sorted itself out and Travis avoided harmful contact from hard chargers in the opening laps. Travis worked his way to the 5th position by the mandatory caution as was ready for his charge. In a caution filled second half of the race the #43 was driven with precision through the field and wrecks. With 3 laps left Travis had worked his way into the second spot but another caution forced him back to his last lap position of 3rd with 2 laps left.



When the race restarted Travis drove with winning in his eyes, he managed to get around 2nd to take the spot and closed in on 1st place during the last lap. Travis drove hard through the rhythm section to the last corner before the checkers going hard to drive inside the #27 of Shawn Morris trying to take the win. As he entered the corner he biked the truck on 2 wheels leaning it against Morris for a thrilling dash to the flag. When the flag waved it was Morris 1st and Travis second. “I had to go for it, if it hadn’t have biked I would of had him, needed 1 more lap” Travis exclaimed “I ate a lot of dirt and went through almost a roll of tear off in the Mud Muncher”.

The team and Driver have worked hard and managed to click off a few more points they are looking forward to another fast track at Bark River Mi. July 30-31st.

All races can be watched live the day of the race at www.torcseries.com

CARLSON EARNS FIRST TORC VICTORY IN FRONT OF HOMETOWN FANS in ATTURO PRO LIGHT CLASS

Elk River, Minn. July 18, 2016 – How sweet it is, and for Andrew Carlson’s first win in The Off-Road Championship (TORC) series at ERX Motor Park in Elk River, Minnesota, it couldn’t get much sweeter. Racing on his home track in front of his hometown fans, friends, and family, Carlson broke through to the top of the box with a commanding Atturo Pro-Light Class win Saturday afternoon.

The build up to Carlson’s win was a culmination of perseverance, preparation, hard work and perhaps most importantly a love for racing by the entire Carlson Moto organization. After a successful rookie season where Andrew netted a handful of top-five finishes and his first podium, the 2016 season started out with unexpected setbacks. Yet the team pushed forward and momentum swung in their favor in Crandon, Wis., where Carlson earned a third-place podium finish.

Buoyed by those results and the energy coming from thousands of fans cheering their hometown racer on, Carlson ran the best TORC final of his blossoming off-road racing career, passing Pro-Light top gun Travis Dinsmore #43 early and then holding him off and pulling away from the rest of the field despite several caution flags early in the race.



“I don’t even know what to say,” an emotional Carlson said after he exited the truck in victory lane. “Everyone on our team has worked so hard…I know how much work went into making this race happen. Travis (Dinsmore) kept me honest…in my dreams this is the kind of race I wished for…hats off to my guys they were awesome.”

Part of that dream was a track and an event that was nearly two years in the making. Featuring a one-mile track sculpted into the natural rolling terrain of the 300-acre park, Andrew’s father Chris Carlson and his business partner Todd Plaisted, along with the help of hundreds of employees and volunteers, created a track unlike any other on the TORC circuit. Featuring huge fall-away jumps, sand wash moguls, and banked turns reminiscent of the famed Talladega Speedway, the track presented a new challenge for all drivers with its constantly changing make-up and multiple racing lines.

On Sunday Carlson attempted to repeat his podium results. Starting in the 8th position Andrew climbed through the pack as high as 4th, but a series of full-course cautions and contact in the closing laps spoiled his back-to-back podium bid.


With victory filling in their sails, the team will now turn their attention to rounds 9 and 10 in Bark River, Michigan July 30 and 31.

Twin Cities Takedown Highlights from Atturo Driver #43 Travis Dinsmore

Travis Dinsmore sent us some terrific highlight pictures from the Twin Cities Takedown - part of  TORC: The Off Road Championship Series.

Enjoy!

Atturo Tire grabs first 1-2 finish in TORC Atturo Tire Pro Light!

Atturo Tires got its second win of the 2016 TORC season at ERX Motorpark last weekend and its first-ever 1-2 podium in the Atturo Tire Pro Light class! Additionally, the win was the first for driver Andrew Carlson. Travis Dinsmore finished second and already has 3 career wins on his Atturo Trail Blade M/T tires.

Congratulations to our race teams for a great weekend, proving once again that Atturo tires are built tough and built to win! 

Coming up next is the THROWDOWN IN THE U.P. 

The Atturo Trail Blade M/ T is the official tire of the Atturo Motorsports team... For more information on this terrific mud terrain tire please visit here. 

TIRES 101: Proper Wheel Width

Have you ever noticed most tire manufacturers publish various specifications for each of their sizes? Those specs can include overall diameter, tire weight, tread depth and load specifications. One of the specs you normally see is "Approved Rim Width." This informs you of the allowable wheel widths for a given size.

Typically, tires that are mounted on the narrower end of the approved range provide more ride comfort, while the same size can offer increased cornering capability when mounted on the wider end of the scale. A tire mounted on a width in the middle of the range will offer a balance of ride comfort and handling.


WHY ARE THERE APPROVED WIDTHS?

When tires are designed and developed, it is important that the sidewalls remain mostly perpendicular to the ground to achieve optimum performance. Tires are not designed to perform on wheels outside of the approved range. Mounting tires on too narrow or too wide wheels will put undue stress on the shoulder and/or bead area. Over time, the tire may develop cracks or fail in those areas. Tires installed on improper width wheels can develop an irregular wear pattern as well. Typically, the taller the sidewall, the wider the range of wheel widths are allowed.


"Mounting tires on too narrow or too wide wheels will put undue stress on the shoulder and/or bead area."


"STRETCHING"

A popular fad at the moment is called "stretching." This involves mounting a tire on a much wider wheel than is approved. The result is a stretched look to the sidewalls. Mounting tires on wider-than-approved wheels can be dangerous for shop technicians. The extreme angles could cause the bead to rupture upon seating, resulting in injury or death.

Over time, the extreme angles of the sidewalls can cause fatigue in the shoulder and/or bead area, as mentioned earlier. This can result in catastrophic tire failure and could cause injury or death to the occupants of the vehicle. Additionally, stretching can result in belt separation as the tire will have a tendency to put more stress on the edges of the tread instead of a flat contact patch. In either case, tires that fail due to being mounted on wheels too wide are not eligible for warranty consideration. Is your shop prepared to handle the liability?

We recently saw 35x12.5R20s mounted on 20x14 wheels. The maximum approved width is 20x12. Don't do this!

"PINCHING"

Pinching most often occurs when tires are mounted on wheels that are too narrow for the size. This is often the result of the customer wanting to upgrade to a wider tire, but wanting to save money by keeping the factory wheels. Before mounting wider-than-stock tires on the factory wheels, you must confirm the original equipment wheels are wide enough for that size tire.

A common mistake is mounting 33x12.5R20 on factory wheels. Atturo, like most other manufacturers, requires an 8.5 inch wide wheel for this size. Mounting tires on wheels that are too narrow can cause a "wallowing" sensation for the driver as the sidewalls are no longer perpendicular to the ground. This condition is especially true of lower profile tires. Additionally, rapid center wear can occur due to the additional pressure in the center of the tread. And as mentioned before, bead and shoulder fatigue can occur over time.

While pinching and stretching may be fun to do to a baby's cheeks it is downright dangerous for tires. Your technicians' and customers' lives depend on you fitting their tires to approved width wheels only. While customers may want to install the wrong size tire for their wheels for style or budgetary reasons, taking some time to educate consumers about the dangers can avoid potential problems down the road.

Visit our Dealer Locator to find your local Atturo Tire Dealer who will help you fit the right Atturo tire properly. 

TORC CRANDON RACE RECAP FROM DINSMORE RACING

After battling it out in Chicagoland the Sle-Co, Atturo Tires Pro Light team returned to headquarters in Ontario to re-prep the truck and repair minor fuel problems that had begun at the end of round 4 in Chicago. When Travis hit the dirt for practice on Friday, it was clear the team had worked hard to set the truck up right for the high speeds of Crandon Raceway, Dinsmore was only 0.02 seconds off the fastest lap. The #43 truck was consistent and during qualifying the following day Dinsmore earned the team a 4th starting position for Round 5.

Round 5 commenced with Travis Dinsmore rounding turn one in the 4th position. As the race progressed the #43 battled it’s way towards the front of the pack. Kyle Hart and Travis Dinsmore gave the spectators a great show battling it out for the number one position and by the mandatory caution Dinsmore was in 2nd place. When the flag dropped for the restart Kyle was in the lead with Travis hot on him. The two drove away from the pack with Travis diving in hard a couple times to try and take the front spot but could not safely make the pass. When the checkers flew it was Travis in second.

At the end of Round 5 the data obtained from the #43 truck indicated unfavorable transmission and engine temperatures. Travis said “the transmission was 426degrees and the engine was 258, this we will have to address” The team worked to fix overheating issues, flushing the plugged coolers from all the dirt that got thrown at the truck, ducting some more air in and making minor set-up adjustments.

When the green flag dropped on Sunday, Travis and the #43 Ford were not intimidated by the legendary land-rush start that Crandon International Raceway is known for. Dinsmore hit the first corner of Round 6 in the lead position and continued to lead a flawless race. At the mandatory caution Travis had achieved just over a 5 second lead. The restart came and Travis got the jump rocketing the truck towards the finish. Travis commanded the race and at the checked flag the #43 was in first by just over 7 seconds.

“Not sure how we got that hole shot but did those Atturo Tires dig and the Pro Power engine was flawless” commented Travis.

The team is excited to leave Crandon and head to Minnesota. After their great weekend with a win and a 2nd place finish, Travis now sits in second place in the points

Report from the Chicagoland Slam!

The Pro light #43 Team headed to Chicago for rounds 3 and 4 hoping to build on their success and work on their short track setup.

Track conditions for qualifying were favorable but very different form the previous days testing. The team decided it was better to try different lines with a different approach to the truck setup and it took all three laps of qualifying to get comfortable in the truck with the changes. This approach gave us the worst qualifying position for the race nevertheless we learned were the #43 was fast.

 

Starting dead last for Friday nights race, the #43 Ford powered Pro-Light was glued to the track and immediately started to advance to the front.

As the race progressed Travis drove clean through the pack and by the mandatory caution he had been saving the truck enough to make a hard charge through the field to challenge for the podium.

Multiple cautions in the second half kept the leaders close as Travis battled through more competitors putting him in 3rd place with a green white checkered to finish.

A hard fought battle in the remaining laps saw him advance past 3rd. When the checkered waved Travis had managed to position the Sle-Co, Atturo Tire, sponsored #43 on the podium in 2nd place.
The following day had the team fighting fuel issues causing an early finish to practice, the team worked hard and when the race came they were confident they had resolved the problem.
During the first half of the race Travis worked smart putting the #43 Pro Light with in striking distance again for the podium.

When the flag dropped on the restart the truck was on rails and advanced to the 4th position, as the race progressed the fuel issue emerged and the truck slowly fell of the pace.

Under powered on the last lap while running 6th Travis was forced off the track ending the race with heavy damage to the truck.

Happy Independence Day!

Atturo Tires Race Team grabs first Pro Light win of 2016 in Crandon, WI! Returning to the scene of his historic first win for Atturo Tires, Travis Dinsmore continued his winning ways in Crandon, Wisconsin last weekend. The #43 SLE-CO/Atturo sponsored truck captured a second-place finish on Saturday, but the sophomore racer was not to be denied a win. On Sunday, Dinsmore was determined to take home gold in what has become his favorite track. Dinsmore scored 1st Place, giving Dinsmore and Atturo each their first Pro Light win of 2016! #151 Andrew Carlson joined Dinsmore on the podium Sunday with a 3rd place finish and a first-ever podium with 2 Atturo-equipped drivers. It was an outstanding weekend for Atturo! Crandon is the "Talladega of dirt tracks" as the teams put it, and drew in over 20,000 people to watch the races over the course of two days. As we fast approach the July 4th weekend, we want to wish all of our customers, dealers and friends a safe and happy Independence Day weekend. Atturo will be closed Monday, July 4th in observance of the holiday. We will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, July 5th.

   

Happy 4th of July!