HobbyTown USA Hobbyplex 1:8 Winter Series Rd.1 report

 

On November, 3rd 90 entries filled the heat sheets for the first round of the 1:8 Winter Series at the HobbyTown USA Hobbyplex in Omaha, NE. The Hobbyplex is one of the few indoor tracks that can safely hold a 1:8 nitro and electric race in the winter time. The A-mains were filled with some familiar faces, while several upstarts looked to make a statement for the new season.

1:8 Truggy
Truggy qualifying went back and forth all day between Intech’s Chris Marrant and Mugen Driver Randy Romanik. Chris finally nailed down the TQ and led the first half of the main event until a broken front end part eliminated him from the race. Randy took advantage and cruised to the win. The rest of the truggy main was a battle of attrition. Half the field was gone by the midway point and only four trucks finished. Jason Duffy drove a smart and safe race and finished second, while Cory Tannhill wrapped up the top three. With last year’s champ Devon Mcgee not racing truggy this year, this class looks to be wide open.
 
Pro-4 SCT
The Pro-4 class continued its great turnouts from the summer. TLR driver Alex Sturgeon put the fast time down in the final round of qualifying. A-main’s Scott Rapaport and Hobbyplex local hot shoe Derek Wood started behind him. At the tone, Alex held off an early charge by Derek who got around Scott on the first lap. The order of the top three wouldn’t change for the rest of the 8-minute main event. Alex Sturgeon first, Derek Wood second and Scott Rapaport finished third.
 
E-Buggy
The largest class of the weekend was electric eighth scale buggy. A-Main Hobbies driver Scott Rapaport led the field in qualifying with his 8ight 3.0. He then led the main wire to wire. Hobbyplex local Derek Wood continued his good day with another second place finish. Last year’s champ Sam Anderson starts off the year with a third place finish. Scott simply dominated the race. He never relinquished the lead and posted the fastest lap, fastest top five and was the only driver to get 25 laps.
 
Nitro Buggy
Nitro buggy was just a few cars short of beating out e-buggy as the largest class. Last year’s truggy champ, Devin Mcgee set the tone for the day by dominating qualifying. Xray’s Danny Bartholemew and Kyosho’s Dillan Voelker would start second and third. The strong qualifying by some of the young guns was quickly overshadowed by fuel mileage. After some initial jostling, Devin and A-Main Hobbies driver Scott Rapaport began a 30-minute game of cat and mouse. Scott’s 10-minute runs between fuel stops and almost no mistakes earned him his second victory of the day. Devin settled for second, one extra pit stop from making a closer race out of it. Sam Anderson quietly took third, getting there from seventh on the grid with great fuel economy.
 
Round two takes place December 1st. Back to back wins can go a long way towards a championship and a picture on the wall. Will somebody step up or will the current leaders start to pull away? 
 

   

 

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