Dudley – who won the 2003 FLW Tour Championship on the James River outside Richmond, Va., thereby boosting his career earnings from FLW Outdoors to a record $1,592,068 – has anchored Team Castrol’s bass-fishing efforts for the last two seasons.
Dudley and returning team members Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla., and Bobby Curtis of Siloam Springs, Ark., will be joined next year by newcomers Mike Surman of Boca Raton, Fla., and Carl Svebek III, also of Siloam Springs.
“The addition of Mike and Carl gives Castrol an even stronger presence on the FLW Tour,” said Samuel Reid, Castrol’s sports properties manager. “I think it demonstrates Castrol’s long-term commitment to FLW Outdoors and gives the team a great chance of winning the Team of the Year title.”
Dudley, 28, an ocean-fishing specialist drawn to the FLW Tour because of the lucrative purses, already has won the two biggest first-place prizes in the sport: the FLW Championship, for which he earned $500,000, and the 2002 Ranger M1 tournament, which paid a record $700,000.
An active fishing guide, Dudley finished second in the 2003 FLW Tour Angler of the Year points race, the highest finish of his career.
Robertson, a rancher and businessman who transformed his hobby into a second career, also has two major wins: the 1999 FLW Tour Championship and the inaugural Ranger M1. He and Dudley are the only two anglers to have won the two richest events in fishing.
The newest Team Castrol anglers, Surman and Svebek, also have FLW Outdoors victories to their credit. Surman won the FLW Tour stop on Lake Okeechobee (Clewiston, Fla.) in 1996 and Svebek won EverStart Series and Texas Tournament Trail events on Sam Rayburn Reservoir (Jasper, Texas) in 1998 and 2001, respectively. Surman has FLW Outdoors career earnings of $137,682, and Svebek has won $223,656. Surman owns Gambler Lures and also produces and stars in his own fishing show, “All About Fishing,” which is broadcast on the Outdoor Network. The show airs Sunday mornings and each episode airs three times per week.
In addition to its direct support of five tour anglers, Castrol has posted a contingency award for the Oct. 29-Nov. 1 EverStart Series Championship in Gallatin, Tenn. The award includes a $500 Wal-Mart gift card and $500 worth of Castrol products for the winning pro.
As presenting sponsor of the FLW Tour Championship, Castrol rewarded the tour’s 2003 Co-angler of the Year – Quint Bourgeois of Knoxville, Tenn. – with a $2,500 gift card to Wal-Mart and a year’s supply of Castrol marine oil. Castrol also distributed a gallon of its marine oil to each championship angler and rewarded the co-angler winner with a $1,500 Wal-Mart gift card.
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