Waldvogel Battles Hard in Oshkosh, Finishes Fourth

July 28th, 2008 (Fond du Lac, WI) - The WSORR (World Series of Off-Road Racing) made its debut visit to Oshkosh, WI at the Sunnyview Expo Center for rounds VII & VIII of the 2008 season over the past weekend. Races were held Friday and Saturday evenings, in a change of pace from the traditional Saturday/Sunday afternoon events. For the first time all season, the weather was sunny and dry for the majority of the weekend. The stands were packed for both nights of racing, and the crowd was treated to some of the closest racing that WSORR has seen all season.

The Bendix Pro-2WD driven by Dave Waldvogel came into the weekend 3rd in the Pro-2WD standings. Dave is a native of nearby Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, so there were plenty of hometown fans in attendance for both nights of racing action. The Pro-2WD class was the highlight of both nights of racing, running under the lights on the short, technical course which had been purposely constructed for the event.

At the start in Round 7, Dave carefully maneuvered through the first few turns; passing two trucks and pulling into the 3rd position at the end of lap one. On lap three, Dave made a move to pass the #99 truck of Kevin Probst through the infield straight. Dave and Kevin’s trucks’ made contact in mid-air over the first jump, sending the #10 Bendix® Brakes/Toyo Tires truck into a gnarly landing on the right front wheel. Although the pass would briefly stick, the upper A-Arm on the right front suspension had failed, forcing Dave to exit the track within the next lap, and ending the night prematurely for the Waldvogel crew.

With all the spare parts in hand to fix the truck, the crew was at the track at 8 a.m. Saturday morning to fix the damaged suspension and prepare for another night of racing. The truck was back together and ready to go for round 8. Dave had difficulty finding traction at the start, and by the end of the front straight found himself in about the 5th position. Within the next two laps, Dave dodged mishaps by two trucks, and passed another two to put the Bendix truck into the lead. Dave held the lead over points leader Dan VandenHeuvel until lap nine, when VandenHeuvel was able to make the pass stick through the rhythm section. Dave continued to battle, and looked to hold onto a 3rd place podium finish, but a hard charging Keith Steele beat him to the line on the last lap, putting the Bendix/Toyo Tires truck officially in the 4th position.

After the races on Saturday night, Dave commented:

“That was really a hard-fought race. I never had a chance to get in a rhythm because I was racing for position the entire time. Friday night’s race was probably more disappointing that tonight’s, because our truck was really fast last night. You’ve got to be aggressive in this class to win, and that bit us last night. Tonight the track was a lot drier and it was difficult to put the horsepower down. It was fun to race in the lead in front of the hometown fans. I’m disappointed that we couldn’t deliver another podium finish, but we’ll keep battling and they will come…”

After 8 of 12 rounds of racing, Dave holds the 4th position in the 2008 point standings. The next event will be in two weeks at the Boss Snowplow/Island Resort Off-Road Championships in Bark River, MI, on August 9th & 10th. Dave and his wife Stephanie will then be hauling the truck to the Woodward Dream Cruise in Pontiac, MI over the weekend of August 15th-17th to display at the Honeywell Consumer Products Group and Friction Materials display. Dave and his truck are also scheduled to visit the Honeywell Friction Materials corporate headquarters in Troy, Michigan on Thursday, August 14th for a meet and greet with some of the Bendix employees.

The Waldvogel Racing Team would like to thank all of their fine sponsors:

Bendix Brakes
Toyo Tires
AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants
Raceline Wheels by Allied
MSD Ignition
Fox Racing Shox
Phlox Auto
Flowmaster Mufflers
FRAM
Prestone
Autolite

For past race reports, photos, videos, team and sponsor information, visit the Waldvogel Off-Road Racing team on the web at www.waldvogelracing.com