Carlson Wins Big in Bark River! Racer's Debut in TORC Pro2 Class is 1st Place!

From the TORC: The Off Road Championship Series Website:




Elk River, MN based driver Andrew Carlson made his PRO 2 debut in Round 7, starting on the pole in Keegan Kincaid’s former truck. Carlson jumped out to an early lead as Eric Ruppel held off class favorites Brad Lovell and Luke Johnson for several laps. Lovell’s mistake on lap two allowed Johnson to speed by, and the top qualifier soon got around Ruppel as well. But by that point, Carlson had gapped out to a huge lead. Lovell, who had been plagued by overheating issues through practice and qualifying, dropped out and attempted to salvage some championship points.

The halfway mandatory caution brought Johnson right up to Carlson’s bumper, and most race fans expected the more experienced racer to pass the rookie quickly. But, lap after lap passed by, and Carlson held on to the lead, turning the Michigan fans and online viewers around the world into believers in the process. Johnson had a couple chances at the lead, but Carlson kept his composure and held the hard charger off to win his first PRO 2 race in storybook fashion.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming into the class. To get out and get the green flag all the way to checkered is awesome for me, because I could just run,” an emotional Carlson explained. “I’ve never run this truck behind anyone, ever, so I didn’t know what the PRO 2 roost was like. I was having a blast. This thing is so fun to drive.”

Carlson was also named the “Bad MoFo” of the day for his courageous debut performance. Luke Johnson, though disappointed with his second-place finish, came out of Saturday a big winner in the championship points race, jumping from third place to first due to mechanical struggles by the previous leaders.

Andrew Carlson is now doing double duty. The driver of the #151 PRO Light and PRO 2 by the same number further cements his team’s commitment to TORC Series competition – Andrew is the son of Chris Carlson, co-founder of ERX Motorpark, the site of TORC’s championship rounds.

Carlson Motorsports purchased the truck from Keegan Kincaid. It’s safe to say the truck is fast – Kincaid piloted it to multiple wins in 2016, including two Crandon Cup Race victories. Carlson is hoping to pick up right where Keegan left off, and he’s off to a good start. He posted the second fastest lap time in Friday’s practice, despite having no previous practice in the new truck.

“It feels awesome,” Carlson said after his second practice session. “It was more similar to the PRO Light than I thought it was going to be. The driving style is pretty much the same with the rear-wheel-drive. The biggest [difference] is probably the suspension. It feels a little more floaty, like riding around on a cloud. It hooks up a lot better. I definitely felt like the PRO Light was slow after I got out.”



Carlson races on the Atturo Trail Blade M/T tire - 265/75/16, the same tire you can find at your local Atturo Dealer.

NEXT WEEKEND!

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Bitter Sweet Results for Atturo Driver Travis Dinsmore at Bark River TORC Series

The weather at Bark River could not have been better for the 41st running of the Bark River race. The track was great and Travis and the Atturo Tires / SleCo #43 were excited to challenge this technical layout

The truck showed speed during Friday`s practice, running fastest lap in one practice session with Travis being able to position the truck where ever he wanted on the track ``I like the set up`` Travis said `` lets prep it and leave it``

Qualifying came Saturday morning and the team was ready, during qualifying the electronic transmitter that times the laps failed and was sending no lap times to USAC control, during this time USAC manually timed the #43 and Travis laid down the fastest lap. During meetings it was decided that manual timing could not be used for qualifying and the #43 would have to start at the rear.



In the start of the race Travis advanced forward quickly getting to 5th place in 3 laps when another truck forced him off the track, When Travis entered back onto the circuit he was now in 8th. The #43 ran flawless to the mandatory caution working its way back up to 6th. As the green flag flew again Travis and the #43 moved into 5th but luck would elude the team on the next lap, a power steering hose failure would erupt the truck into flames ending the day.




Quick response by the Track Safety Crew would extinguish the flames to cause minimal harm. The Cool It Thermo Tec heat barriers saved the valuable parts of the engine compartment and the team worked into the night to resolve the minor fire damage.

Sunday Travis started in the 3rd row and by corner 1 would have the #43 in the 3rd spot, as the next couple laps unfolded Travis was in second closing on 1st place when the mandatory caution came out. The second half of the race would prove to be one of the best fought battles in Pro Light in a long time. Kyle Hart, the points leader,  jumped into second place on the restart.

Travis, reluctant to give up this position and valuable points, raced Kyle clean and hard, passing him on lap 7 for the second spot. The following 3 laps had the stands on their feet as Kyle would get inside and outside of Travis but the #43 hotrod was driven with perfection to stay ahead of Kyle and race clean to a second place finish.



Hats off to these 2 drivers for racing so well and giving the fans a great race to watch!

Travis races on Atturo Trail Blade M/T tires.  Visit www.atturo.com for more information on this and our other great tires. 

TORC: Bark River Recap!

Bark River, MI recap August 15^th and August 16^th

Atturo traveled to Bark River, MI with both TORC: The Off Road Championship Series and with MORR, Midwest Off Road Racing Series for “Throwdown in the UP”. Atturo rolled away with a record setting weekend of 6 podium finishes! Atturo Sponsored drivers in the prolight series with TORC both had podium finishes! Travis Dinsmore took a 3^rd place finish on Saturday giving him his 4^th podium finish this year! Rookie Andrew Carlson took his FIRST ever podium in TORC with a 3^rd  place on Sunday! In the MORR series Dale Chestnut with Double D Racing took first place on both Saturday and Sunday! Garritt Bancroft finished with a 2nd place on Saturday and Dan Baudoux with Dan Baudoux Motorsports took first place on Sunday!

Travis Dinsmore-43:

After a short turnaround from Sturgis our team worked hard and got the truck perfect. With a great setup right from the start we came out and qualified 1st by over half a second. With a 3 truck invert we started in the second row inside and held the second spot for most of the race before settling for third in the end. A penalty had us start at the rear of the field on Sunday with a lot of work to get to the front. After charging through the pack up to 7th we suffered a flat from a large rock mid  corner. The team worked hard all weekend and gave me a flawless truck and we came home with another podium to our credit. We're looking forward to returning to Crandon and are confident we will dominate the field.

Andrew Carlson-151:

151-Andrew Carlson visited Bark River for a trip with his family a few years back as spectators. Andrew had the vision there to one day race in the series. After a few years and creating a pro light truck and team Andrew revisited, only this time racing in the series. Rookie Andrew Carlson’s determination for the podium was apparent as he qualified and practiced among the top! After a rough first day in Bark River on Saturday,  the team regrouped and it was obvious as he hit the track on Sunday morning for practice he was ready to be among the top that day on the podium. At competition caution had made his way all the way to 5^th place! Andrew made his way up two spots finishing only 1.35 seconds behind Doug Mittag! Andrew raced in with a well-deserved 3^rd place and his first podium!

What an incredible weekend in Bark River for all our teams, stay tuned for “Keys to the Big House” in Crandon, WI on September 5^th and 6^th! For More information about Atturo Tires visit www.atturo.com.

Carlson Misses TORC First Podium by Narrow Margin in Sturgis

The hills of Sturgis, South Dakota rumbled during the 75th Anniversary of the legendary biker rally. Yet none of the chrome laden V-Twin bikes were as loud, as raucous, or more exciting than the trucks competing at the Battle at the Chip during The Off-Road Championship (TORC) short track truck racing series. Providing plenty of the thunder was TORC rookie Andrew Carlson, who continued to rapidly progress in the series, narrowly missing the podium by just a fraction of a second.

After a tough weekend of racing in Charlotte a few weeks prior, the team regrouped and met the challenging Sturgis track head on. Despite being the only Pro-Light driver to never have competed on the track, Andrew adapted quickly and the crew did the same, making several key adjustments to the truck over the course of the weekend.

Carved into the hills on the outskirts of Sturgis, the track features huge elevation changes, several tight corners and off-camber hairpins. Carlson was forced to “learn-on-the-fly”, navigating the challenging track at speeds in excess of 70-mph.

A hard fought 8th place finish on the opening day was deemed a study day for driver and crew alike. The lessons from the day were applied to both truck set-up and driver technique in an effort to put it all together in the follow up round.

“It’s all about traction…it’s really that simple,” said team owner Chris Carlson. “We’re constantly looking for ways to improve “hook-up”, both under acceleration and in the corners. Our Atturo Tires have been fantastic, and now we’re learning how to adjust our suspension for the massive fluctuations in track conditions.”

Apparently the crew nailed it as Andrew charged from deep in the field during the second day of racing. Logging nearly equal lap times as the top three trucks, Carlson quickly moved from 10th to 4th and from there he battled with Cam Reimers for the final podium spot. Carlson finished just 0.698 seconds behind Reimers, but the results were a season highlight to this point. It was Carlson’s fourth top-five finish of the season, an impressive feat rarely achieved by a rookie driver.

“My crew did a fantastic job with the truck. They made some key changes before the race that worked incredibly well,” said Carlson. “Something really clicked with me during that race…I just felt more confident…probably more than I have all season. I’m understanding how the truck is going to respond in different situations, and I can consistently push it (the truck) to the edge.”

“I feel like we took our program to a new level this weekend,” said Chris Carlson. “The team is gelling…truck set-up is improving…Andrew is gaining confidence…we’ve shown we’ve got the speed…we’re ready for Bark River!”

Bark River, Michigan, August 15-16, is next on the TORC schedule. The Battle at the Chip will be broadcast on Fox Sports – Round 11: October 8th at 9:00pm Central and Round 12: October 15th at 9:00pm Central. Visit the TORC website for exact dates and times for broadcasts, past videos, point standings, and the latest team news. You can see Andrew and other Atturo racers in the TORC or LOORS series by going to www.atturomotorsports.com

New Atturo Tires with Ultra Wheels Continues the Winning Streak for #613 at Bark River

The first question everyone had when the #613 Double D Trailer Sales & Services/Off-Road Fraternity/Control Solutions/Mueller Graphics/Atturo Tire Classix racer was unloaded at Bark River was "Where's Dale?" The driver and owner of the familiar blue Bronco was on an Alaskan vacation. Even without Dale driving, the team never missed a beat as the truck finished both days on the top of the podium.

So the next question was, "So who's driving?" Earlier in the year Dale convinced Super Stock Truck racer Nick Byng to be his back-up driver knowing there would be a conflict with the planned vacation. Friday afternoon in Bark River, Byng took the time to get familiar with truck as the next morning; he ran the three-lap practice session. The brief time in the truck saw Byng turn some very competitive laps.

There was another change to the familiar race truck. The team switched to Atturo Tires and Ultra Wheels, as Bark River would be the first test of the new combination.

Then a couple of hours later, Nick Byng suited up to take on the rest of the Classix racers. The race saw the blue Bronco start from the back of the field and at first glance many wondered if Byng could keep the team's win streak alive.

It took the back-up driver three laps to get to the front and when the field went back to racing after the lap four mandatory caution, Byng built up a comfortable lead to take the win.

The next day was literally a carbon copy of Saturday's race. The new tire and wheel combination worked flawlessly as Byng brought the truck home without any damage and on top of the podium for the second time during the weekend.

 "First off I have to thank Dale and Rob for this great opportunity," noted Nick Byng. "The Bronco has a shorter wheelbase, but it has more horsepower, more suspension and made it is sure fun to drive. The guys on the radio definitely helped me a ton. The truck was so much fun to drive, they had to remind me to take it easy more than a few times during the weekend. Hopefully I gave enough feedback on the new Atturo Tire - Ultra Wheel combo. The truck really seemed to be hooked up."

FOR MORE EXCITING RACE ACTION WITH THE ATTURO TIRES TEAM PLEASE GO TO WWW.ATTUROMOTORSPORTS.COM