Elk River, Minn. August 3, 2016 – TORC: The Off Road Championship Series traveled to the U.P. of Michigan for rounds 9 and 10 of the series, the very place where the Carlson family was introduced to the sport of short course off-road truck racing just four years ago. Unfortunately, the string of tough luck that Carlson Moto encountered at the beginning of the 2016 season returned once again despite strong efforts from Pro Light driver Andrew Carlson.

Between Saturday and Sunday’s racing, the 151 truck made more passes than any other driver in the class, methodically driving through the pack in hopes of securing another podium finish with blistering fast lap times. After a third-place finish at Crandon International Raceway for round 6 and a win at home track ERX Motor Park for round 7, Carlson seemed poised for another trip to the podium in round 9 of the Atturo Tire Pro Light class. Carlson started from mid-pack and immediately began the process of working his way to the front.  After climbing to fourth place and with his sights set on third, a blown right rear tire caused Carlson to meet team mechanics in the hot pits, essentially ending his hopes for another podium spot.  A quick tire change by the Carlson Moto crew got Carlson back on the track quickly, but without a yellow flag on the track he was forced to re-enter the race in dead-last position and simply ran out of time.

“There’s just not much that you can say about tough luck like this…other than that’s racing,” a dejected team owner Chris Carlson said.  “Perhaps the toughest part about it is that we had a fast truck all weekend and Andrew was really driving well,” he added.  “Hopefully this will be the last of the tough luck as we move into the final rounds.”

Round 10 brought nearly identical track conditions and tough luck as the Michigan sun shone down, the same as it had the day prior. To the team’s dismay, a blown right rear tire on Sunday for round 10 once again placed Carlson towards the back of the top-10.

Even with the less than ideal finishes last weekend, Carlson is currently sitting inside the top-10 in the championship points race. With five rounds remaining in the 2016 season, there is plenty of racing left before one driver will be crowned champion.

The Throwdown in the U.P. can be viewed online On Demand at TORCseries.com/videos. Coverage will be aired on Fox Sports 2 on Thursday, August 18.
The famous Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway will host the next round of racing during The Showdown in Charlotte. As with all TORC events this season, live coverage can be found at TORCseries.com/live, streaming in high definition.

Follow Carlson Moto throughout the season on their website, CarlsonMoto.com, and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @CarlsonMoto #CarlsonMoto.