Triple win for Pittman at Kelowna Chill Out

0 Feb. 13, 2017, 8:20 a.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Race report from XRAY:
www.teamxray.com

The Kelowna “Chill Out” 2017 race went down on in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. The Chill Out is an annual race that has been happening for a number of years and has always been a favorite of many from BC and Alberta. Unfortunately due to bad weather and being right after WCICS Victoria and just before Snowbirds the attendance was slightly lower than years past, but the racing was as close and exciting as ever and XRay Driver Luke Pittman made the trip from Victoria, BC to get in on the action. As it turns out Pittman had a very successful weekend and a great time fending off some of BCs fastest drivers.

In all three classes – Touring Stock, Touring Modified and 12th Scale Stock – Pittman was able to set and re-set TQ every round, setting the stage for a possible domination of the mains, however that wasn’t quite the case.

In Touring Stock Jason Melnyk was able to turn equally fast lap times and was a constant threat to Pittman, however he had some bad luck and wasn’t able to stay on pace. RC America/XRay driver Earl Towson also had a strong showing once he was able to take a few minutes away from hosting the race to work on his cars. Local racer Dustin Quanstrom was also on fire this weekend, especially considering this was his return to onroad after a year hiatus. After all was said and done, Pittman was able to take his MOTIV MC2 powered T4 ’17 from tone to tone for mains 1 and 2, securing the overall win.

TC Stock Top Three:

Luke Pittman – XRAY T4
Jason Melnyk
Dustin Quanstrom

The closest racing of the weekend definitely happened in 12th Scale Stock with various drivers all leading at times throughout each of the mains. In A1 Pittman led the pack from the tone, but Alex Pate was within an arms reach for the first half of the race. Eventually Pittman was able to pull a bit of a lead and finish the race uncontested. A2 was another story though as an opening lap pile up changed things drastically. XRay driver Earl Towson was able to squeeze through the mess and get out in front, with Pate hot on his heels. Pittman fell back a few spots and began a charge to catch back up but had various run-ins with back markers. Towson ended up taking A2 which set the stage for an exciting A3. A small mistake from Pittman in the opening minute of A3 saw him slide back into third with Alex Pate out in front, followed by Jason Melnyk. If Alex was able to hang on and take the win it would have meant a 3 way tie for first. Pittman charged back and eventually got by Melnyk and attached his car firmly to the back tires of Pate’s car. After a few failed attempts at a clean pass, Pittman decided to just apply pressure and force Pate into a mistake, which ended up working and he was able to get by with only a minute left and held that position until the final tone to secure the win and the overall win. Big shout out to Alex, Earl and Jason for the excellent racing!

12th Stock Top Three:

Luke Pittman – XRAY X12
Earl Towson – XRAY X12
Alex Pate

Touring Modified was also close, with Pittman, Pate and Melnyk all battling it out for the top 3 podium spots. Pittman was able to wheel his T4 out in front from tone to tone in both A1 and A2 securing the top podium spot, leaving the rest of the field to battle it out in A3.