Getting to the CORR of the Matter

This is the tale of two teams and their weekend racing adventures. A demonstration of the agony and ecstasy of racing. How on one day a team can stand on the precipice while another faces the flames of despair, only to persevere and see a reversal of fortunes the next time out.
Dresser, Wis. hosted the first two rounds of the CORR season. Dan Vanden Heuval is a top Pro-2 class driver. He has been for years. On the track he is a fierce competitor respected by his peers. Off the track he’s amiable and will sign autographs until the ink in his pen is gone. Then, he’ll go get another pen. Mike Oberg is very much of the same cloth. He’s a former champion of the Sportsman-2 class and the favorite again this season. The track on this May weekend was tight and short. Drivers knew there would be some heavy banging in the corners. There’s never been a shortage of paint-swapping in Championship Off Road Racing. CORR Pro-2 class racing is about as good as it gets. Two rounds are run in a weekend. The two-wheel drive trucks get a heap of television coverage on SPEED Channel and the action always brings the crowd to its feet.Vanden Heuval had his AMSOIL/Kumho Tire truck firing on all cylinders. Off the start in round one action, the trucks barrelled into the first corner. The cataclysm left one truck on its roof. A favorable restart had Vanden Heuval’s Chevy in the lead. By the midpoint of the race the track looked like a salvage yard obstacle course. With all the banging of a demolition derby, Vanden Heuval yielded his lead. It didn’t take long for “The Flying Dutchman” to find his groove again. With a little tap and tuck-under move, he regained the lead and captured victory.Vanden Heuval’s remarks in victory lane came straight from the heart, with one of the first thanks going out to AMSOIL.With the stage set for another AMSOIL win, Mike Oberg prepared his black AMSOIL/ Duromax/Kumho Tire Chevy for the green flag. Television cameras were in position for all the Sportsman-2 action. Off the start, Oberg seized control, moving the truck where he wanted when he wanted.Inexplicably the truck began to slow. Was it his brakes or his transmission? Heartbroken and unable to continue, Oberg pulled off the front chute. A couple of seconds passed. Suddenly a fireball erupted inside the driver’s compartment. In practically one motion Oberg pulled the pin on the onboard fire extinguisher, extricated himself from his safety harness and fell out backwards from the truck window. He suffered second-degree burns to his wrists. Remarkably, the truck was relatively intact. The fire’s cause was diagnosed as a blown transmission seal which sprayed fluid on the engine.

Working feverishly, the Oberg crew replaced the charred parts and came back to win round two the very next day. This, despite a rollover in practice. From worst to first in less than 24 hours. Vanden Heuval followed up his previous victory with a third-place finish. Lap traffic kept him at bay off the leaders. There are 12 rounds of action on the CORR circuit. With the way the fates change, at least the teams can count on the consistent performance of their AMSOIL products.

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You’ve probably heard the old joke about the doctor who has bad news and good news for his patient. This has its bad and good news, too . . . it’s no joke, but there is a punch line. In this case the “Bad News” is the monster truck owned by Bruce and Jami Haney of Clearwater, Fla. The good news is the team uses AMSOIL products provided by his Dealer.

Maintenance has always been foremost to the Haneys. So, when Swendson and the team began talking about a sponsorship back in August 2002 there was a bit of skepticism. Before AMSOIL synthetic lubricants went in the truck, approval was needed from the engine and transmission builders. Dixie Performance, who built the motor, said unequivocally there was “no better oil on the market.” Coan Transmission echoed the sentiment. AMSOIL Series 2000 20W-50 Racing Oil was added, as was a bypass filter system. The transmission was switched over to AMSOIL Supershift and AMSOIL 75W-140 Gear Lube was put in the differentials. “I immediately noticed a difference in the noise level. Everything seemed much quieter,” said Haney.

The “Bad News” truck can be seen at Clear Channel Entertainment Monster Jams across the country. Before the Haneys switched to AMSOIL, they were changing oil on the 540 ci, big block, alcohol-injected Chevy engine once a week. Now they’re running three times longer.

“The oil has no visual signs of breakdown due to heat or methanol contamination.” The transmission fluid was at 48 passes with at least 30 freestyle competitions with no problems at 11 weeks and still counting.

The team has been so pleased, they’ve installed a Dual-Remote Bypass system in their semi/motorhome.It’s a good thing they did. One night there was a fire in the motorhome. They quickly realized they had no power, no heat. It was 24 degrees below zero. Still, the truck turned over with one hit to the starter. “With a conventional oil you would have had to grind the starter forever,” said Haney. “We check the oil often. It’s amazing, 10,000 miles on the diesel with AMSOIL products and its (oil) is cleaner than before at 500 miles with the regular oil.” Haney added, “Being an ASE certified master tech for over 20 years I can honestly say I’m sold on AMSOIL.”

The punch line here is if a vehicle owner doesn’t count on the performance of AMSOIL products, the joke’s on them.

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