Elk River, Minnesota (May 20, 2015) – With confidence growing and his speed increasing with every lap, Andrew Carlson made a successful 2015 debut in The Off-Road Championship (TORC) short course racing series in St. Louis, MO. Despite a weekend that started out with persistent rain, a challenging muddy track for Sunday’s double header of racing, and limited practice, Carlson proved to himself and the rest of the Pro-Light field he is a bona fide competitor in the series.
While it wasn’t Andrew’s first time behind the wheel of his AMSOIL, Best Western truck, (he competed at the end-of-season race in Crandon, WI last year) the weekend marked the debut for Carlson Motorsports in the TORC series for the 2015 season; one in which they look to compete in for the remainder of the year. The TORC Rumble at the River event was held at the new Gateway Motorsports Park Dirtplex, a new stop on the TORC tour featuring a challenging track none of the drivers had seen before.
With two days of racing crammed into one, the pressure was on for Andrew and the Carlson Motorsports team to perform under challenging conditions. They proved to be up to that challenge, with Andrew getting a feel for his truck and the slick track in the opening race, thanks in part to the team’s newest sponsor, Atturo Tires. With a calculated start, Andrew grew faster with every lap, and in the process made the most passes of any competitor during the race.
With some seat time under his belt, the second race of the day (Round 4) had Andrew driving with more confidence. Despite a mechanical mid-race that kept him pinned down in second gear, his speeds increased with each subsequent lap, and his lap times were within a second of the podium finishers. By the end of the 16-lap race, Andrew was battling with the top drivers in the field, and finished in a very respectable sixth, just 2-seconds out of the top five.
“Overall we had a great weekend in St. Louis,” Carlson said through a mud-framed smile at the end of the race. “We (the team) learned a lot, and I felt like we showed everyone we are the real deal. I got faster with every lap and I feel like I’m adapting quickly to the truck and the style of racing it takes to compete in TORC.”
The Chicagoland Slam, June 18-19, at the Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago IL, is the next stop on the TORC tour. The weeks leading up to the race will give the Carlson Motorsports team more time to dial in the truck, and for Andrew to gain more valuable time behind the wheel at his hometown practice track (ERX Motor Park) in Elk River, MN. Both rounds of racing from St. Louis will be broadcast on Fox Sports – Round 3: June 25th at 9:00pm Central and Round 4: July 2nd 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 follow the Carlson Motorsports team throughout summer season on their website www.carlsonmoto.com or follow them on Facebook @CarlsonMoto or Twitter #CarlsonMoto. You can also follow TORC Pro-Light racer Andrew Carlson via Twitter @151Carlson.