Michigan State Championship Series Round 5 race report

 

On Saturday August 24th, several of the regional top racers made their way to the fifth round of the Michigan State Championship Series at The Stables Raceway, the Southwick of R/C racing. A brand new layout that was guaranteed to get rougher and rougher as the day progressed.

1/8th Scale Nitro Buggy
With challenging track conditions that almost changed from lap to lap, in combination with rocket round qualifying made it important to get a clean run in the first round of qualifying. This is exactly what VP PowerMaster Fuels/Upgrade RC sponsored Scott Ullig did to claim TQ honors. He actually decided to sit out the remaining rounds of qualifying to prepare his car for the main at the end of the day.

The start of the nitro buggy A main was chaotic and cars were going into all directions and positions were changing at an alarming rate. It was Schumacher sponsored Paul Edwards who had the best start, all the way from 9th on the grid, that took the lead and set the pace for the first 2 laps. He then made a mistake, which resulted that Team Durango/O'Donnell Racing Fuel/Pro-Line sponsored Edwin Hartman was able to take the home-turf advantage (the track is literally in his back yard) and take over the lead. While Edwin Hartman was slowly extending his lead over the pack, battles continued behind him between Kyosho sponsored Tyler Whittaker, Scott Ullig and the rest of the field. At the 16 minute mark, Edwin Hartman had a 13 second lead, but luck would run out when he landed the step up wrong and had to retire from the race, handing the lead over to Scott Ullig, who would put together a solid remainder of the race and claim the win. Behind Ullig it was all about surviving the very rough track conditions and in the end VP PowerMaster/Futaba sponsored Tony Carnes claimed second place and Schumacher sponsored Paul Edwards crossed the line in third.


Results:
1. Scott Ullig (VP PowerMaster Fuels, Upgrade R/C)
2. Tony Carnes (TrakPower Speed Equipment, Futaba, VP PowerMaster Fuel, M2C Racing, Dirt Burner Racing)
3. Paul Edwards (Schumacher)
4. Russ Heath
5. Shane Snyder

Standings after 5 rounds (2 drops taken into consideration):
1. Mo Denton (438 pts)
2. Scott Ullig (433 pts)
3. Tony Carnes (426 pts)
4. Tyler Whittaker (424 pts)
5. Scott Rapoport (422 pts)

1/8th Scale Nitro Truggy
Shane Snyder managed to put his Kyosho at the top of the board after 3 rounds of qualifying.

Throughout the race Shane Snyder showed to be a little too fast for the rest of the field and cruised to victory from start to finish. Boca sponsored Caleb Henry finished in second.


Results:
1. Shane Snyder
2. Caleb Henry (BOCA Bearings)

Standings after 5 rounds (2 drops taken into consideration):
1. Mo Denton (449 pts)
2. Shane Snyder (448 pts)
3. Mike Marshall (425 pts)
4. Caleb Henry (421 pts)
5. Chad Shorkey (417 pts)

1/8th Scale Electric Buggy
Schumacher sponsored Paul Edwards put down a very fast and consistent run in the second round of qualifying to take the TQ honors with a run that was almost 8 second faster than the second qualifier.

Paul Edwards got a clean start from pole position and was closely followed by Nankin Hobbies/Panther/DE Racing sponsored RJ Hart and local Sumo Racing owner Terry Jonas and the rest of the field. Edwards put in blistering fast laps and quickly pulled away from the field. Behind Edwards, it was VP PowerMaster Fuel/Upgrade R/C sponsored Scott Ullig that was moving through the field into second place followed by RJ Hart. In the last few laps, track owner and Team Durango/TrakPower/Pro-Line sponsored Edwin Hartman made several passes to climb up from 6th to 3rd.


Results:
1. Paul Edwards (Schumacher)
2. Scott Ullig (VP PowerMaster Fuel, Upgrade RC)
3. Edwin Hartman (Team Durango, O'Donnell Racing Fuel, Pro-Line, TrakPower Speed Equipment, Futaba, OS Engines, Advantage Racing Products, Darkside Designs)
4. RJ Hart (Nankin Hobby Racing, Panther Products, Punch R/C, DE Racing
5. Terry Jonas (Sumo Racing Products)

Standings after 5 rounds (taking 2 drops into consideration):
1. Nick Vasquez (446 pts)
2. Paul Edwards (442 pts)
3. Scott Ullig (439 pts)
4. Tony Carnes (429 pts)
5. RJ Hart (423 pts)

1/8th Scale Electric Truggy
It was Rocky Whittaker that managed to claim the TQ during the second round of qualifying by being the only one to put together a 10 lap run!

After the start of the main, it was 5th place qualifier Doyle Strappazon who jumped into the lead. Doyle managed to hold on to the lead until lap 11, when Nankin Hobby Racing/Panther/DE sponsored RJ Hart took over the lead, while Strappazon held on for second, followed by Ron Jackson in third. The battle was on for second place between Jackson and Strappazon and Jackson managed to make a pass stick to take over second. Unfortunately for Strappazon, bad luck would strike on lap 16 and his truck stopped running, handing third place over to Jeff Barney. At the end of the 10 minute main, it was RJ Hart claiming victory, ahead of Ron Jackson and Jeff Barney in third.


Results:
1. RJ Hart (Nankin Hobby Racing, BOCA Bearings, Punch R/C, DE Wheels, Panther Products)
2. Ron Jackson
3. Jeff Barney
4. Rocky Whittaker
5. Doyle Strappazon

Standings after 5 rounds (taking 2 drops into consideration):
1. RJ Hart (445 pts)
2. Rocky Whittaker (445 pts)
3. Ron Schwab (438 pts)
4. Joey Genovese (431 pts)
5. Justin Salamin (427 pts)

2WD Short Course
The rough conditions were especially hard for the 2WD Short Course class, but this didn't bother young George 'G3' Berridge as he had a lot of speed and claimed an easy TQ.

After the start of the main, George 'G3' Berridge took off like a rocket, followed by Team Durango/TrakPower/Pro-Line sponsored Edwin Hartman and young Hayden Heath in third. While Berridge was pulling away from the field, Hartman and Heath battled over second place for a while, until Heath made a mistake that allowed Hartman to pull a small gap. At the end of the race, it was George 'G3' Berridge that crossed the line ahead of Edwin Hartman and Hayden Heath in third.


Results:
1. George 'G3' Berridge
2. Edwin Hartman (Team Durango, Pro-Line, TrakPower Speed Equipment, Advantage Racing Products, O'Donnell Racing Fuel, Sumo, Darkside Designs, Futaba, OS Engines)
3. Hayden Heath
4. Jeff Barney
5. Tony Carnes (TrakPower Speed Equipment, Futaba, VP PowerMaster Fuel, M2C Racing, Dirt Burner Racing)
 
Standings after 5 rounds (taking 2 drops into consideration):
1. George 'G3' Berridge (449 pts)
2. Tony Carnes (445 pts)
3. Edwin Hartman (440 pts)
4. Gary Watts (432 pts)
5. Joey Genovese (429 pts)

4WD Short Course
Young George 'G3' Berridge put together a fast run in the first round, but TrakPower/Futaba sponsored Tony Carnes managed to go ½ a second faster in the second round to claim TQ honors.

Right after the start, it was George 'G3' Berridge that took the lead, just ahead of Tony Carnes and RJ Hart. After a few laps, Berridge and Carnes started to slowly pull away from the field in a battle on their own. Carnes tried several times to take over the lead, but George 'G3' Berridge held strong and managed to cross the line first, only 2 seconds ahead of Tony Carnes and RJ Hart crossed the line in third.


Results:
1. George 'G3' Berridge
2. Tony Carnes (TrakPower Speed Equipment, Futaba, VP PowerMaster Fuel, M2C Racing, Dirt Burner Racing)
3. RJ Hart (Nankin Hobby Racing, BOCA Bearings, Punch R/C, DE Wheels, Panther Products)
4. Stephen Marien
5. Doyle Strappazon

Standings after 5 rounds (taking 2 drops into consideration):
1. Tony Carnes (450 pts)
2. Scott Rapoport (450 pts)
3. George 'G3' Berridge (434 pts)
4. RJ Hart (426 pts)
5. Gary Watts (423 pts)

Novice Class
Unfortunately only Brayden Hart showed up to participate in the Novice class. He raced together with the 2WD Short Course class and held his own and finished 6th with the 'big boys'.


Results:
1. Brayden Hart

Standings after 5 rounds (2 drops taken into consideration):
1. Austin Weihl (454 pts)
2. Nick Chester (447 pts)
3. Brayden Hart (445 pts)
4. Kody Culbert (150 pts)
5. Zac Mittelstadt (145 pts)

The organizers of the Michigan State Championship Series would like to thank everybody for coming out and supporting the series and helping it grow into the ultimate off-road series of Michigan. A very big thank you as well to the series sponsors: O'Donnell Racing Fuel, Duratrax Performance Tires, Pro-Line Racing, M2C Racing, Dirtburner Racing, Team Durango, TrakPower Speed Equipment, VP PowerMasters Fuel, Sumo R/C Racing Products and Advantage Racing Products. Also a big thanks to the crew at Stateline R/C Raceway for providing a great facility for us to race on!

Round #6 will be at NMRCC in Gaylord, MI on September 21st 2013.
 
 

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