Elk River, Minnesota (June 22, 2015) – Andrew Carlson took another major step forward in his progression in The Off-Road Championship (TORC) short course racing series this past weekend at the Route 66 Raceway in Joliet Illinois. Carlson battled from a deep starting position to eventually tangle with current points leader Kyle Hart for a podium position in Friday’s final, finishing fourth and just one-half-second behind.
With only two other TORC races to his credit, Carlson can easily be classified as a “pure” rookie on paper, but his driving savvy and quick maturation on the track tells another story. In both finals (Thursday and Friday night) during the TORC Chicagoland Slam, Andrew adjusted to deep-field starting positions; starting in 11th place on Thursday and 9th place on Friday. In both races, Carlson showed speed equal to top-of-class drivers, and driving moxie that allowed him to work his way up through the field to battle with the front-runners.
While a mechanical issue forced Carlson to finish 7th on Thursday; he clearly showed he has the makeup of a future championship caliber driver on Friday, where he battled with the top drivers for much of the race. With all four drivers posting lap times within two-tenths of second of each other, they had the packed house at Chicagoland Speedway on their feet. Carlson was briefly in position to earn his first TORC podium of his career, as he passed Hart with a gutsy low-side move. However the pass would not stick as TORC officials deemed he was “too low” on the track and forced Carlson to relinquish the position back to Hart. With only two-laps remaining, Carlson was glued to Hart’s rear bumper but simply ran out of time to make another move.
Despite the near podium miss, Andrew was pumped up with the team’s weekend performance. “Everything really came together for us. The crew prepped the truck flawlessly and I’m feeling more and more confident behind the wheel with each race. I can’t wait to get to Crandon next weekend.”
Equally impressed with Carlson’s performance is Carlson Motorsports Crew Chief Keith Stamper. “We’re only two races into the season and he’s proven he can run with the top drivers in the class…that’s no easy accomplishment, especially given the limited seat time he’s had.”
The Carlson Motorsports Team traveled directly to Crandon Wisconsin at the close of racing to begin preparations for the Big House Brawl this coming weekend (June 27-28). With momentum continuing to fill his sails, Carlson will be looking to earn his first Pro-Light podium at the biggest and best track on the TORC circuit.
The Chicagoland Slam will be broadcast on Fox Sports – Round 5: August 13th at 9:00pm Central and Round 6: July 20th 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.