The Dirt Track @ Texas Motor Speedway is a very popular track for Scott Douglas as the AMSOIL sponsored truck has two victories at the track, including a Round 2 win in 2015.

 

The morning of race day saw heavy rains sweep through the Dallas/Fort Worth area, which not only changed the conditions of the track, but also threatened the cancellation of the Friday evening race program. Thankfully mother nature cooperated as Jeff Nordstrom and his crew performed a herculean effort get the TORC season underway as scheduled.

 

Friday night saw the AMSOIL Rusty's Off-Road Cooper Tire Walker Evans Racing KC HiLites PRO-4 truck start on the front row for the eighteen-lap race. Douglas took command of the race right from the start, leading the field for the first eight laps. Just before the halfway point of the race, the truck developed a stumble, which would periodically turn the engine off. The glitch affected the pace of the truck, and allowed a couple of competitors to make their way around the #7 AMSOIL truck giving the team a third place finish.

 

"The truck ran well tonight," remarked Scott Douglas. "We have to get a better handle on the track set-up, but the team will figure it out and be ready for Saturday night."

 

The next morning the team realized the track had much more grip than anticipated and the shock set-up was too stiff for track conditions. With the issue accessed, the crew went to work making chassis adjustments for Round 2.

 

Saturday evening's twenty-lap race had Douglas starting from the second row. When the green flag was waved, the #7 AMSOIL hot rod made a couple of quick moves to take the lead midway through the second lap.

 

On lap eleven the right rear tire began to lose its tread, which really dampened the speed of the truck in the left hand corners. Scott Douglas reduced the pace of the truck just enough to prevent a flat tire while still taking the checkered flag in third place.

 

"We had the tread on the right rear come apart," commented Douglas. "It's really disappointing to have a truck that checks out on everybody and then to have that (tread issue) happen...this just isn't one you forget. No way. You have a truck that fast and you lose.... My team gave me an awesome truck to race; the Goodwin engine and J & H transmission were running great. All the off-season changes are working so we are pretty excited for the rest season."

 

The next stop of the TORC Series presented by AMSOIL is June 10-11 at the Dirt Oval @ Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois.

    

If you can't get to Joliet for the next rounds of racing, the event will be live on the Interne t and streaming free at www.torcseries.com .