Douglas Wins USAC Jack Flannery Award

December 17, 2012

CRANDON, Wis., (Dec. 17, 2012) – In past years, Team AMSOIL driver Scott Douglas' season in the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL PRO 4x4 class could very well have earned him a championship. Consistency reigned supreme with the Douglas Motorsports program this year as the team raced to podium finish after podium finish, missing only two podiums the entire year in their run to second place overall.

And because of this never-say-die effort, one that saw Douglas and his team overcome not only the challenges from the world’s premier short course off-road racers, but also the highly technical and sometimes fickle engineering aspects of design transition year for the race program, Douglas was named the third recipient of TORC’s prestigious Jack Flannery Award – given each year to the driver that best exhibits the determination and perseverance characteristics of the late/great Jack Flannery.

“I was real surprised with the Jack Flannery Award of excellence,” said Douglas, who joins past winners Mike Jenkins (2010) and Scott Taylor (’11) as the winner of the Jack Flannery Award. “Jack contributed a lot to the sport and was inspirational to the short course racers who knew him and raced against him. So to be put up on that level and recognized for my contributions over the years is just excellent.”

“This is an awesome award and it really blew me away when I received it.”

Flannery, the first Midwestern racer to be inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, was known for being a fiery competitor on the course, while at the same time being a good friend in the pits to those who he’d just banged doors with moments earlier on the track. Instrumental in building the renown Crandon (Wis.) International Off-Road Raceway into its premier standing in the world of short course off-road racing today, Flannery raced against Douglas hard back in the day – a fact that Douglas looks back on with fond memories.

“Jack was the type of guy who would race you super hard … meaning if you pushed and shoved on him he was going to give you that much – and more – back,” said Douglas. “Jack never held back on the track and always said what was exactly on his mind. But off the track he could be mad as hell at you for something that happened on the track, then a few hours later he’d be asking if you’re not doing anything next weekend to come hang out and ride motorcycles, go fishing and things like that. Jack was just a great guy that way.”

Evident in Flannery’s award is what Douglas means to the sport of TORC short course off-road racing. Since the final TORC race in Lancaster (Calif.) the Douglas Motorsports team has moved to a new race shop in Wisconsin and began thrashing on a new PRO 4x4 truck for the 2013 season. And much of what they learned during their podium-filled 2012 TORC campaign has been built into their new truck, to which Douglas credits the longstanding relationship he has with AMSOIL.

“We tried a lot of new things during the 2012 season, a new transmission and different suspension geometry and were able to still pull together consistent results throughout the season,” explained Douglas. “I strongly believe that the AMSOIL synthetic lubricants helped us push the truck to levels beyond which other companies’ lubricants would fail. So AMSOIL’s not just a very generous sponsor with Douglas Motorsports, it’s a big part of our R & D program and a product we couldn’t do without in always working to further our successes on the track.

For more information on Crandon International Off-Road Raceway, including tickets, camping reservations and sponsorship information, please visit our new website at www.crandonoffroad.com

Crandon Raceway Pat Schutte

Press Release

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