Carlson Motorsports Earns Three ISOC Regional Wins

There’s no place like home was evident this past weekend as Team Carlson Motorsports blistered the ERX Motor Park track during ISOC Regional action to claim three victories against some of the best riders in the sport. While it may have said regional on the ticket stubs, it looked at times like a national at the line as several top level drivers including Garth Kaufman, Kyle Pallin, Cody Thomsen, and John Stenberg among others, competed at the national caliber ERX track.

After battling through flu like symptoms a week prior at Canterbury Park, Johan Lidman attacked the track with a level of ferocity not seen since last season and it paid huge dividends. During Saturday’s Pro Open action, Lidman went 1-2 in qualifying then battled through the field during the 8-lap final to eventually overtake Kaufman and drive away for the win. What’s more, Lidman charged to the front of the field on his bone stock practice sled, while other competitors rode their national prepped, modified snowmobiles . In Pro Stock action, where Lidman raced head-to-head with teammate Andrew Carlson, a poor start hampered by heavy snow dust and flat light, forced the Swede to settle for second.

The following day, Lidman picked up where he left off with another win, this time coming in the Pro-Stock class where he grabbed the lead after exiting the first turn at the start of the race and never looked back.

Not to be outdone by his teammate, National Pro-Lite rider Andrew Carlson reveled at his home track, where he competed in both Pro-Stock and the regional based Pro 16-29 class. With fierce competition, Carlson put in an epic ride in the Pro 16-29 class, out-riding both Stenberg and Muller, and putting his Arctiva/Polaris atop the podium.

With confidence building, Carlson hoped to nab another podium on Sunday, but was tripped up by one of the massive craters that had developed under the warm sunshine, ending his bid for another win. Carlson finished the day with a 6th in Pro Stock and just missed the podium with a fourth place ride in Pro 16-29.

“It was a great weekend for the team,” says Chris Carlson, team owner and manager. “We hope to carry this positive momentum forward as we head to Eagle River, Wisconsin this weekend for the World Championships, and eventually New York.”

With more testing to take place early this week, the team will depart for the World Championships in Eagle River to compete both Friday night and Saturday at one of the most storied snowmobile racing venues in the sport. The Farmington, New York ISOC National is slated for Feb. 3-4.