Elk River, Minnesota (December 17, 2014) – The weekend started off with a series of qualifying wins for the trio of Carlson Motorsports athletes as the 2015 AMSOIL Championship Snocross series completed rounds 3 and 4 in Fargo, North Dakota. Pro-Lite riders Andrew Carlson and Ryan Springer, along with Sport National racer Andrew Lindholm, combined to take 5 of 6 wins; earning themselves top slots on the front row of their respective finals. Yet in the finals, all three racers battled a deteriorating track that was challenging and dished out plenty of “tough-race-luck”. Unfortunately for Carlson Motorsports, all three riders collected more than their fair share of the misfortune.
Exceedingly warm temperatures made for a track that was more than challenging, forcing the best racers in the world to “roll” several sections and get “up-ended” in others. It was as team owner Chris Carlson put it, a “character building” weekend for the entire team.
Despite the strong qualifying efforts, all three riders crashed in the finals, and while each remounted and attempted to make a charge to the front, the difficult track, and ongoing sections of yellow flags, made it difficult at best to mount a surge to the front.
While the team has been known to “bounce back” with vigor for the following day’s race, the riders once again showed moments of intense speed followed by struggles in the finals. In Saturday’s Pro-Lite final, Springer nailed the holeshot and was leading the field until an untimely off pitched him to the ground, in tumble, Springer re-aggravated his throttle hand which he had severely sprained during the previous day’s final.
“It was a tough weekend,” said Chris Carlson. “Some riders managed to get through the chaos better than others. We had the talent and the speed, but we just came up short on luck when we needed it. I’m just happy no one was seriously injured.”
Springer’s injury is a sprain to his thumb, but he should be fully healed for Canterbury, the next national stop after the holiday break. Both Lindholm and Carlson are nursing a few bumps and bruises as well, but both are expected to be 100-percent for the next race.
“We’re excited to get back home…get back to work, and continue testing to make our Polaris sleds even better,” said Chris. “We’ve had a lot of success at Canterbury in the past, and we are feeling good about our chances.”
Racing highlights from the weekend will be televised on CBS Sports with complete day one (round #3) coverage airing December 28th at 8:00am and 2:00pm (central); and day 2 (round #4) broadcast January 4th at 8:00am and 9:00pm.
The team will spend the next three weeks preparing for Canterbury National in Shakopee, Minnesota – January 9 and 10, 2015. You can stay abreast of all the team happenings through their website www.carlsonmoto.com or follow them on Facebook @CarlsonMoto or Twitter #CarlsonMoto. You can also follow Pro Lite racer Andrew Carlson via Twitter @151Carlson.