Elk River, Minnesota (January 12, 2016) – No one said it was going to be easy as both Carlson Motorsports drivers made the jump to the elite Pro Open class for the 2015-16 International Series of Champions (ISOC) AMSOIL Snocross tour. Both riders have shown the speed and skill necessary to affirm they belong amongst the best snocross racers in the world. With riders and crew making gains through testing and practice, a new elevated starting line was unveiled at this past weekend’s Canterbury Park national tour stop in Shakopee, Minnesota; placing a new hurdle to overcome at the iconic racing venue.
Snowmobile racing has become a wintertime fixture at Canterbury and the crowds this past weekend were huge, with fans filling the thousands of indoor and outdoor viewing areas for two days of premiere snocross competition. The indoor seating was especially welcomed as temperatures dropped throughout the day on Friday and hovered near or below zero for much of the day Saturday.
The team had spent much of the time in the weeks leading up to the race working on holeshots with the help of Bikeman Performance, and felt good entering the weekend. However an all-new starting line that was perched 8-feet in the air and “dropped” riders onto the track took preparation and tuning mostly out of the equation and resulted in a game of chance when the green dropped. Despite the unexpected new starting configuration, both Andrew Carlson and Ryan Springer found quick lines around the huge, jump filled track on Friday…both making the main event by way of the Last Chance Qualifier. Forced to start in the back row of the 15-rider field on a track where holeshots were extremely coveted, Springer finished 9th and Carlson close in tow at 11th.
With the temps even colder on Saturday, both riders were bitten by tough luck on the track, and despite their best efforts to regain ground, neither found themselves at the line for the final.
“Our equipment was solid all weekend,” said team owner and manager Chris Carlson. “We had no major issues and both Andrew and Ryan are healthy…which is always important in a season as long as ours. We have a full week of testing ahead of us before we head to the “bull ring” (Deadwood, South Dakota)…our results were not want we wanted at Canterbury, but our team is getting stronger, our equipment is dialed in and our riders continue to show improvement with each race.”
The Carlson team knows it’s a long season and progression is the name of the game. Continued improvements from every aspect of the organization have the team on track to improve its results and confidence remains very high. The U.S. Air Force Deadwood Snocross at the Days of ’76 Rodeo Grounds is scheduled for January 22-23 and fans can watch all the action as it unfolds online at Livestream.
You can also watch both nights of racing from Canterbury on CBS Sports January 16th at 10:00am and January 23rd, 2016 also at 10:00am. You can follow Carlson Motorsports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as on CarlsonMoto.com.