JBRL Round 4 - Maifield's bad luck, Moller's magnificent drive, and Cavalieri's new car

0 July 29, 2014, 3:33 p.m.

7/30/2014
By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

Round four of eight of the nitro series for the Jimmy Babcock Racing League rolled into Heritage RC Park in Chula Vista, CA last weekend - leaving racers to fight for the few remaining hotel rooms available north of the Mexican border and pay exorbitant prices as Comic-Con International brought tens of thousands of people to the San Diego for a completely different reason. Over 150 entries were treated to a fast and technical track layout built by HRCP's Don Vinkemulder, a talented nitro racer in his own right, along with a clean and spacious facility surrounded by palm trees and bathed in the sunshine.

Eight divisions in total raced at Heritage R/C Park, like any other JBRL nitro round - Sportsman, Intermediate, and Expert divisions for 1/8-scale buggies and trucks, plus a 40+ Buggy class and an Electric 1/8-Scale race. Here are the highlights.

Expert Buggy

The most prestigious class of the day saw plenty of action, with Ryan Maifield setting TQ (repeating the feat in the Expert Truggy and Electric 1/8-Scale classes as well.

He was joined in the final by a world-class supporting cast, including teammate Adam Drake, former IFMAR World Champion Cody King, and two-time ROAR National Champion Ryan Cavalieri - who was driving a "Frankenbuggy" of sorts.

Though surely not AE's newest prototype buggy, which we've yet to see in action, it's interesting to see what Ryan was running in Chula Vista - a Frankenbuggy based on the now-discontinued RC8.2. It looks as though everything from the center diff and radio tray forward is standard RC8.2, save for the AVID front shock tower and what looks like possibly the Hot Bodies D812 fuel tank.

This photo from Neobuggy (left) shows the rear end of Maifield's RC8.2 from the ROAR Nationals with the Kyosho rear end installed. Looks pretty similar, doesn't it?

Behind the radio tray, a receiver box from the 1/10-scale GT2 nitro stadium truck is mounted very close to the engine to keep it close to the centerline. Kyosho MP9 shocks are installed at both ends and, like the Team Associated vehicles at the ROAR Nationals, Ryan's car also uses the rear suspension from the MP9 buggy mated with the AVID rear shock tower for the RC8.2.

The marquee race of the day had plenty of hype heading in, with Ryan Maifield edging a very close field to take Top Qualifying honors. At the tone for the 20-minute main, Ryan shot out into the lead with Drew Moller in tow, and the two quickly pulled away from everyone. About a quarter of the way in, Ryan crashed and Drew got by - and never looked back.

Ryan's race, however, only went further south after that. A flame out on the first pit stop was followed by two more after that, and with the main event long gone he decided to call it a race.

Ryan's TLR compatriots Adam Drake and Cody Smith took advantage of the opportunity to race onto the podium, but Drew was long gone by then.

Drew Moller
Adam Drake
Cody Smith

Expert Truggy

Ryan Maifield had no such issues in the Expert Truggy main event, speeding off from the TQ position for a wire-to-wire victory to salvage his first official day with TLR at a nitro race. Once again, Drew Moller was the closest competitor as he finished second ahead of Cody King.

Ryan Maifield
Drew Moller
Cody King

Electric 1/8-Scale Buggy

Disaster struck for TQ Ryan Maifield once again in Electric 1/8-Scale Buggy as he made it just past the halfway point in the 10-minute final. That left Adam Drake and Ryan Cavalieri to duke it out for the overall win, getting by the line for a final lap duel that ended with Cavalieri beating The Drake to the line by just a quarter of a second. Third place went to the furthest traveled racer of the day, North Carolina native John Michael McGinty.