PJ Wanderscheid is 27 years old, younger brother of Country Cat owners Mark & David Wanderscheid, started snowmobiling when he was only 3 years old on his Kitty Cat. He rode that until he got his first full size sled at age 8 on a 73 Cheetah. At age 10 he drove anything that Country Cat had sitting around from Pumas to Thundercats. PJ started racing at around age 11 on radar runs and quickly moved into grass drags at age 12 winning most of the classes he entered. At age 14 he tried his first Ice Lemans race and loved it. Next, at age 15, he won the Junior Championship for the 14-15 age bracket. The next year he moved into the Junior 16-17 class & Sport class. Mid-Season he had so many wins he was forced to move up into Semi-Pro class. His first week out in Semi-Pro he won both stock classes he entered and the rest of the year he took more wins.
Since he started his professional Ice Oval racing career in 2002 at age 18, PJ Wanderscheid and his team have won many championships. He has even won the coveted Eagle River World Championship 3 times, becoming 1 of only 3 racers in the world to be a 3-time Eagle River World Champion in its 47 year history. He has also won numerous points championships and other awards:
2002 WSA Pro Open Points Champion ~ 2002 WSA Pro 440 Points Champion 2002 Race Team of the Year ~ 2002 Eagle River World Champion 2003 WSA Pro Ice Overall Points Champion ~ 2003 Woody's Triple Crown Winner 2003 Eagle River World Champion ~ 2003 Snow Week Racer of the Year 2005 USSA Pro Champion ~ 2006 1st in Pro Champ 2006 1st in Pro Formula ~ 2006 WSA Pro Champion 2006 Eagle River World Champion ~ 2007 WSA Pro Open Points Champion 2008 WSA Pro Champ Points Champion ~ 2008 WSA Pro Open Points Champion 2009 WSA Pro Champ Points Champion ~ 2009 WSA Pro Champion 2010 Canadian Power Tobaggan Championships Champion ~ 2010 Central Wisconsin Triple Crown Winner 2010 ORA High Point Driver ~ 2010 Eagle River World Championship Runner-Up
Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
Wanderscheid Earns Second Place Podium in Oval Ice Opener
AMSOIL oval ice racer P.J. Wanderscheid started the WSA Pro Iceracing season strong with an impressive second place finish in Shakopee, Minn. The three-time AMSOIL World Championgrabbed the holeshot and battled back and forth with eventual winner Dustin Wahl before taking the second place podium. Wanderscheid will compete at the AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Track in Eagle River, Wis. January 14-17, where he will attempt to become the first man to win four AMSOIL Eagle River World Championships.
Polaris and the AMSOIL Derby Track are giving away a VIP Package to the 2010 AMSOIL Eagle River World Championships, including participation in the annual Derby Celebrity Ride on a new 2010 Polaris Rush. Click here for full details.
Wanderscheid Prepared for AMSOIL World Championship
The best snowmobile ice racers in the world braved below-zero temperatures at the USSA event in Amherst, Wis. on the weekend of January 2-3 to prepare for this weekend’s AMSOIL Eagle River World Championship Snowmobile Derby.
Team AMSOIL racer P.J. Wanderscheid, who already has three Eagle River World Championships, tested his AMSOIL/Arctic Cat Champ 440 sled in both the Pro 600 and the Pro 440 Champ classes. In the Pro 600 class, Wanderscheid qualified for the final with a fourth, a second and a third against the more powerful 600cc sleds. In the final, he started fifth and took part in a three-way battle for third for most of the race. With two laps to go, he passed into third and took the final podium spot. In the Champ 440 class, Wanderscheid won his first two heats and finished third in the final qualifier. As the number three qualifier for the final, Wanderscheid pushed into fourth off the start and battled for third the entire race. With just two laps to go, he made the pass into third on the final turn before the checkered flag, but after blowing a belt, he coasted across the finish line in fourth with an undriveable sled.
"We feel confident going into Eagle River that we have the pieces to put together a competitive performance there and win our fourth World Championship," said Wanderscheid.
AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby Starts Today
With over 800 entries and thousands of fans looking on, the annual vintage snowmobile race kicked off the 2010 AMSOIL Eagle River World Championship Snowmobile Derby last weekend in Eagle River, Wis. Attention now turns to the highly-anticipated world championship race. With forecasts calling for balmy temperatures of around 25 degrees, record crowds are expected to arrive today at the AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Track to watch this weekend’s racing action, where Team AMSOIL oval ice racer P.J. Wanderscheid will be looking to become the first four-time Eagle River World Champion.
Team AMSOIL Racers Come Up Big at AMSOIL Eagle River World Championship Snowmobile Derby
The 2010 AMSOIL Eagle River World Championship Snowmobile Derby took place January 14-17 in Eagle River, Wis., where the racing action kicked off with the Friday Night Thunder event, featuring two rounds of pro snocross and the Sweet Sixteen oval ice race.
The Sweet Sixteen places the top 16 oval ice riders into one final shootout race to determine who will garner the pole position in the feature AMSOIL World Championship race. Team AMSOIL racer P.J. Wanderscheid achieved the sixth fastest qualifying time and got a great start in the 15-lap final, leading the race from start to finish to take his first career Sweet Sixteen win.
With a weekend off from AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series competition, AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports snocross riders Robbie Malinoski and Andrew Johnstad traveled to Eagle River to compete in the AMSOIL World Championships. In the Friday Night Thunder Pro Stock class, Malinoski opened an early lead and took the win, while teammate Johnstad took second. Not to be outdone, Johnstad took the win in the Pro Open class, while Malinoski finished second.
Malinoski and Johnstad continued racing strong in the snocross finals on Sunday. Johnstad took second and Malinoski third in the Pro Stock class. In the Pro Open class, Malinoski earned second, while Johnstad held third for most of the race before a broken throttle cable took him out of the race.
In the feature AMSOIL World Championship oval ice race on Sunday, Wanderscheid shot out of his inside starting position and entered turn one just behind leader Matt Schultz. Continuing close pursuit of Schultz for much of the 25-lap race, lapped traffic eventually forced Wanderscheid several sled lengths behind, and he cruised to the second place finish.
