ADVERTISEMENT | ADVERTISE WITH US
0
Oct. 24, 2013, 12:17 p.m.
10/24/2013
By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com
The winter months are upon us, and here in the midwest the cold weather is beginning to set in. The summer racing season is coming to an end, and along with it comes the 2013 Short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour finale! Scotty Ernst Productions has traveled the nation this year providing some of the best short course R/C racing we've ever seen. The 2013 Nationwide Tour has one final stop this weekend, as short course racers from the north, south, east, and west gather one final time to do battle at the one and only HobbyTown USA HobbyPLEX Raceway in Omaha, Nebraska.
On behalf of LiveRC, my trusty companion/father "Homer" and I are packing our bags and headed to the monster indoor offroad facility to bring you all of the action play-by-play all weekend long!
Stay tuned right here to the daily LiveRC Race Blog to keep up to date on everything taking place on AND off the race track including photos, pit stories, new products, race reports, and more!
Event Schedule:
Friday - October 25, 2013 - Practice
Saturday - October 26, 2013 - Heads Up Qualifying
Sunday - October 27, 2013 - Mains
The live event broadcast will feature live video using the stationary track cam (no moving cameras or All-Access Passes), live announcing by the one and only Scotty Ernst, and live event scoring!
Friday, October 25, 2013 - Practice Day
UPDATE - 4:46PM
After hours of nothing but open cornfields and farmland, we have finally arrived at the enormous HobbyTown USA HobbyPLEX facility in Omaha, Nebraska. This is not our first visit to "The Plex," however, we always find ourselves in shock of the overall size of the hobby shop, the indoor pitting, the carpet track, and of course the monster size indoor offroad track. By far, the HobbyPLEX facility is the largest track on the Short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour.
This year the track layout is a combination of VERY high speeds, smooth-flowing sections, and big air. The traction level is comparable to running on that of a sugar coated track, however, instead of sugar, constant water and cool temperatures are keeping the moisture levels high all day long.
The field is already stacking up with the faces of Team Associated's Scott Brown, Jason Hills, and Kraig Krueger, JConcepts Dave Duncan, AKA's Greg Hodapp, TLR's Alex Sturgeon, and many more. As usual, the event sponsors have displays set up with the latest and greatest products. At the AKA tent is the new EVO buggy wheels, and Slingshot tires. At the JConcepts pit, "Double Dee" is showing off all of the latest bling from JC as he displays his super trick SC10B.
(Right - The new AKA EVO buggy wheel on display, next to the standard style buggy wheel.)
(Homer has upgraded his stock Slash with the new JConcepts Nissan Titan body - Thursday Testimonials durability testing at its finest.)
Racers are filling the pits fast, and a lot of drivers look to be on top of their game for the final Short Course Showdown event of the year. With such a wide open and fast track, the stock class racers are all reaching for taller gears, and dialed lines to make up time. The mod drivers are also looking for more horsepower, while also adapting to such high traction conditions.
No official lap-times have been recorded as of yet, however, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that there a LOT of drivers only tenths of a second apart on the track.
UPDATE - 6:24PM
As more and more racers are rolling through the door, it appears as though we may have a record number of short course buggy racers on our hands! Rumors are 20+ entries in the growing SCB class, which IF the rumors are true, will be a Short Course Showdown class record!
(Dave "Double Dee" Duncan has been a force to be reckoned with all year long in SCB.)
With just under two hours left of practice, the driver's stand is packed full, and drivers are continually getting faster and faster. In the mod classes, it would appear early on that the drivers to keep an eye on include A Main Hobbies driver Scott Rapoport, Associated's Scott Brown, Kraig Krueger, and Jason Hills, AKA's Greg Hodapp, and X Factory's Chris Gould. In the stock truck classes, it is still anyone's guess as ALL of the drivers are running so close on lap times. As for short course buggy, it would appear that the heavy hitters right now include JConcepts' Dave Duncan, A Main Hobbies Scott Rapoport, AE's Will Brinton, TLR's Alex Sturgeon, Kyosho's Dillan Voelker, and a long list of local SCB racers who aren't afraid to bang wheels with the big guns.
(Scott Rapoport has a pretty impressive lineup of matching vehicles in all shapes and sizes.)
As we are getting set to pack up for the night, it just so happens I ran across a little friend "sleeping" outside the track entrance. I decided that on that dirty floor, with a chance of getting stepped on, is no place for him. I carefully placed him in a much safer place...Greg Hodapp's pits.
(Greg's new friend Marty the Motor Spray Mouse.)
(Scotty introduces himself to new racers.)
The track is getting set to close down for the night, Scotty finalizes entries with racers and the track crew is prepping the track with fresh water, paint, and banners. For the rest of us, we are headed to the hotel for a good night's sleep to prepare for a long day of qualifying tomorrow. Stay tuned as racing gets underway bright and early!
Saturday - October 26, 2013 - Qualifying
UPDATE - 9:49AM
After possibly oversleeping by just a few minutes (we were supposed to arrive at the track at 7am, and it is now 9:50am) we were pleasantly surprised that racing does not start until 10am. We strolled in just in time to look "fashionably late", and join in the driver's meeting. The track looks great this morning, as last night the final touches were put down including sponsor logos painted on the track.
Drivers are getting set to go for Round 1 of qualifying. Scotty Ernst made another surprise announcement as three rounds of qualifying will be run today, with a bonus round tomorrow morning! Tune in live as Round 1 gets under way!
UPDATE - 11:11AM
Scotty Ernst is without a doubt, one of the most famous race promoters on the planet. After serving in the Navy, he became interested in R/C cars by attending his local track in 1988 with no knowledge of R/C racing. A young man, only 12 years old at the time, taught him the in's and out's of racing including the basics such as simply setting his gear mesh. Week after week this young man helped Scotty learn more and more about R/C racing. 25 years later, after turning R/C into his lively hood, Scotty has been re-united with Demetrius Pitchford...the 12-year old boy who helped start it all for Scotty Ernst in 1988. Rumor has it, we will be seeing Demetrius again soon, as the "racing fever" has set in after spending the morning here!
UPDATE - 12:26PM
Round 1 is officially in the books! The top 8 drivers are sitting on A-Main runs, however, with rocket round scoring it is still anyone's game. In SCB, it was ALL Dillan Voelker. The kid flat laid it down, scoring the only 12 lap run in the class. Stock Short Course was close, but JConcepts Dave Duncan held it together to top the field. Mod 2wd SC was the AKA show, with Greg Hodapp and John Walentia setting the pace ahead of local Dillan Voelker. Mod 4wd SC was dominated by Pres Ilog, setting a TQ time 5 seconds faster than Scott Rapoport who looked phenomenal in yesterday's practice sessions. Perhaps the highlight of Round 1 is the Traxxas Stock Spec Slash class. My own father, "Homer", not only decided to join in and race this weekend, but he also stole the TQ spot for the class!
Below are the official results from Round 1. Stay tuned as Round 2 is under way!
UPDATE - 2:32PM
Round 2 is complete, and without a doubt the track continues to get faster and faster. TLR's Alex Sturgeon is the man on a move right now as he set new TQ in Short Course Buggy AND Modified 4wd SCT. "Double Dee" once again put in an impressive run to top the field in Stock Short Course Truck. After an INTENSE battle in Stock Spec Slash, Greg "Homer" Garrison would once again come out on top the field with Kirk Wiggs a close second. Modified 2wd SCT once again belongs Greg Hodapp.
Here is your top 10 for each class after Round 2:
Short Course Buggy
- Alex Sturgeon
- Dillan Voelker
- Will Brinton
- Scott Rapoport
- Dave Duncan
- David Fast
- Sam Gengenbach
- Don Drozd
- Jay Fairchild
- Cole Henriksen
Stock Short Course Truck
- Dave Duncan
- Jay Fairchild
- Nick Migliazzo
- Mark Smith
- Brian Valles
- Cole Henriksen
- Jason Andrews
- Tom Rinderknecht
- Dustin Rashid
Traxxas Stock Spec Slash
- Greg Garrison
- Kirk Wiggs
- Marvin Henriksen
- Adam Kohler
- Tom Dolezai
- Jason Dutton
Modified 2wd SCT
- Greg Hodapp
- Scott Brown
- John Walentia
- Pres Ilog
- Dillan Voelker
- Chris Gould
- Jason Hills
- Derek Wood
Modified 4wd SCT
- Alex Sturgeon
- Pres Ilog
- Scott Rapoport
- Scott Brown
- Greg Hodapp
- Jason Hills
- Chris Gould
- John Walentia
- Derek Wood
- Mike Garrison
UPDATE - 5:07PM
Round 3 of qualifying is complete, and it turned out to be by far the most exciting round of the day. After three rounds in the books it is still TLR's Alex Sturgeon with the double TQ in Short Course Buggy and Modified 4wd SCT. Novice belongs to Travis Hizar with a huge TQ 11 seconds ahead of second! Stock Short Course truck is still in the hands of Dave Duncan, who was the only driver to successfully run a 12 lap run. Jay Fairchild missed the 12 lap run by .043 seconds on his final run of the day. Stock Slash was once again an all out brawl between Greg Garrison and Kirk Wiggs. Kirk would win the round, but miss TQ by 2 seconds. Last but not least, Modified 2wd SCT came right down the wire as Greg Hodapp and Scott Brown finished .4 seconds apart. Hodapp secures TQ for the day, with Brown and Walentia in second and third.
The real story of Round 3 is some moron driving the Modified 4wd SCT class. He started 10th in the A-Main resort, started working his way up, and ran a path of destruction for the next 4 minutes. First he was cleanly passed by John Walentia, and one corner later he t-bones him...does he wait for him? NO! What an idiot! Then a few laps later he is racing with the legendary Greg Hodapp, decides jumping the triple straight into the back end of Hodapp, crashing them both, is a good idea as well! He was driving like someone who had never driven an R/C car before! Luckily, karma caught up with the guy as he went down the straightaway, caught a mysterious hole, flipped, and smashed the body of his truck into the rear tires...stopping his truck dead on the track. Truck #10 in race 15...you sir, are an idiot. Who is that #10 truck anyways???
I truly apologize to both John Walentia and Greg Hodapp, as I'm not sure where or why my whiskey throttle finger kicked in...but I owe you dinner after that race.
Racing is over for the day, and there is one final round of qualifying tomorrow morning. After three rounds, your top 8 drivers in each class are as follows:
Novice:
- Travis Hizar
- Dylan Hartshorn
- Chase Henriksen
- Bailey Uleberg
- Emerson Sturgeon
- Hudson Frank
- Rylan Pummel
- Tom Dolezal
Short Course Buggy:
- Alex Sturgeon
- Dillan Voelker
- Chris Gould
- WIll Brinton
- Dave Duncan
- Scott Rapoport
- David Fast
- Sam Gengenbach
Stock Short Course
- Dave Duncan
- Jay Fairchild
- Nick Migliazzo
- Cole Henriksen
- Mark Smith
- Jon Berding
- Brian Valles
- Evert Shiever
Traxxas Stock Spec Slash
- Greg Garrison
- Kirk Wiggs
- Marvin Henriksen
- Adam Kohler
- Tom Dolezal
- Jason Dutton
Modified 2wd SCT
- Greg Hodapp
- Scott Brown
- John Walentia
- Dillan Voelker
- Pres Ilog
- Chris Gould
- Jesse Burkhardt
- David Fast
Modified 4wd SCT
- Alex Sturgeon
- Pres Ilog
- Scott Rapoport
- Scott Brown
- Greg Hodapp
- Jason Hills
- Chris Gould
- John Walentia
That is all for this evening, however, don't forget to tune in LIVE tomorrow!
Sunday - October 27, 2013 - Final Qualifying Round and Mains
It is Sunday, Sunday, Sunday here at the HobbyPlex! Outside the weather is freezing, inside the racing is on FIRE! Round 4 of qualifying changed things up tremendously for more than just a few drivers. Dillan Voelker put in the run of a lifetime, stealing away TQ from Alex Sturgeon. In Stock Short Course Truck it was a strong battle between Dave Duncan and Cole Henriksen for the start of the race, but after a few mistakes from Henriksen, Duncan would take the win and secure the overall TQ spot. Traxxas Stock Spec Slash was a wild ride as the Greg Garrison and Kirk Wiggs would drop off their pace from yesterday, and Marvin Henriksen would dominate the final round, narrowly missing the overall TQ. Modified 2wd SCT was wheel-to-wheel each and every heat race, but in the end it would be Greg Hodapp holding onto the overall TQ spot. Modified 4wd SCT belongs to Alex Sturgeon setting TQ time in Round 4.
Steve Javorsky, local professional photographer, made his way out yestersday to shoot some great photos from all the racing action. See them ALL by CLICKING HERE.
Racers and spectators are now anxiously waiting for the spectator and racer raffle getting set to take place soon!
Meanwhile here is your A-Main lineup for each class. 2 drivers from each lower main will be bumping up, to fill the grid with 10 cars in each main.
Short Course Buggy
- Dillan Voelker
- Alex Sturgeon
- Chris Gould
- Will Brinton
- Dave Duncan
- Scott Rapoport
- David Fast
- Sam Gengenbach
Stock Short Course Truck
- Dave Duncan
- Jay Fairchild
- Nick Migliazzo
- Cole Henriksen
- Brian Valles
- Mark Smith
- Jon Berding
- Evert Shiever
Traxxas Stock Spec Slash
- Greg Garrison
- Kirk Wiggs
- Marvin Henriksen
- Adam Kohler
- Tom Dolezal
- Jason Dutton
Mod 2wd SCT
- Greg Hodapp
- Scott Brown
- John Walentia
- Pres Ilog
- Chris Gould
- Jesse Burkhardt
- David Fast
Mod 4wd SCT
- Alex Sturgeon
- Pres Ilog
- Scott Rapoport
- Scott Brown
- Greg Hodapp
- Jason Hills
- Chris Gould
- John Walentia
Get ready as the mains are getting started LIVE NOW!
UPDATE - 3:00PM
What an AMAZING weekend of racing in Omaha, Nebraska. Whether it was the E main, or the A main, the racing action did not disappoint!
Novice A-Main
The Novice class drivers were back and forth all weekend long, laying down some fantastic laps. Your top qualifier for the class, Travis Hizar, was the man on a mission this weekend as he set a dominating TQ time in qualifying, and went on to win the A-main 14 seconds over the field. The battle for second came right down to the last lap as Chase Henriksen, Dylan Hartshorn, and Bailey Uleberg were back and forth for position. Uleberg made a small mistake, dropping back to 5th. Meanwhile young Chase Henriksen would fight off the hard charging Dylan Hartshorn to hold onto second place overall.
Novice A-Main Results:
- Travis Hizar
- Chase Henriksen
- Dylan Hartshorn
- Ryan Pummel
- Bailey Uleberg
- Emerson Sturgeon
- Hudson Frank
- Bryson Pavel
- Tom Dolezal
- Jake Wiggs
Traxxas Stock Spec Slash
In the Stock Spec Slash class, it was an all out brawl between TQ Greg Garrison, Kirk Wiggs, and Marvin Henriksen. Garrison got out front early on and stretched his lead out to 9 seconds, and appeared to be checked out for the race. Kirk Wiggs and Marvin Henriksen battled back and forth for 2nd and 3rd, and caught up to Garrison in the lead position for drag race to the finish. Wiggs would make the pass on Garrison, but after a mistake on the double, Garrison would take back the lead. The tone sounded and it was Greg "Homer" Garrison taking the victory!
Traxxas Stock Spec Slash A-Main Results:
- Greg Garrison
- Kirk Wiggs
- Marvin Henriksen
- Adam Kohler
- Jason Dutton
- Tom Dolezal
Short Course Buggy
A record breaking turnout of short course buggy racers this weekend, and some of the fastest competition we've seen so far. Alex Sturgeon and Dillan Voelker swapped the TQ spot back and forth throughout qualifying, however, when it came down to the main event it was the "Voelker Show," as Dillan checked out winning by over 10 seconds on the field. AE's Will Brinton, and Dave Duncan would swap paint as they battled hard for second and third, while Alex Sturgeon struggled and found himself in the back of the pack. In the end Brinton would take the second place spot .4 seconds ahead of Duncan with X Factory's Chris Gould taking fourth, and Sturgeon fifth.
Short Course Buggy A-Main Results:
- Dillan Voelker
- Will Brinton
- Dave Duncan
- Chris Gould
- Alex Sturgeon
- Scott Rapoport
- David Fast
- Mark Smith
- Sam Gengenbach
- Jay Fairchild
Modified 2wd SCT
An intense battle ensued as the modified drivers hit the track. Starting in the second place spot, Team Associated's Scott Brown would jump out front on lap one and never look back. Behind him, AKA's Greg Hodapp and AE's John Walentia would battle it out for second and third. Hodapp looked strong in second, but on lap 11 he would make a slight mistake allowing the stealthy John Walentia make his move. He dived into second and would finish 2 seconds ahead of Hodapp as the crossed the line.
Modified 2wd SCT A-Main Results:
- Scott Brown
- John Walentia
- Greg Hodapp
- Pres Ilog
- Chris Gould
- Dillan Voelker
- Jesse Burkhardt
- David Fast
- Derek Wood
- Jason Hills
Stock Short Course Truck
When someone says, "Double Dee," there are a thousand different things that come to most people's mind. When I hear the words, "Double Dee," I simply thing Stock Short Course Truck. JConcepts Dave "Double Dee" Duncan dominated qualifying, and continued his win streak as he started out front and finished out front! Jay Fairchild kept Duncan honest as their average laps were only .2 seconds apart. In the end, Duncan would take the win 6 seconds over Fairchild, with Nick Migliazzo putting in an impressive third place finish.
Stock Short Course Truck A-Main Results:
- Dave Duncan
- Jay Fairchild
- Nick Migliazzo
- Cole Henriksen
- Tom Rinderknecht
- Brian Valles
- Jon Berding
- Evert Shiever
- Jason Andrews
- Mark Smith
Modified 4wd SCT
The final race of the day was a barn burner! TLR's Alex Sturgeon started on the TQ spot, with AKA's Pres Ilog right behind him. Ilog looked to being playing a game of chess as he strategically waited for the right time to make his move. A phenomenal pass on the far side would put Pres Ilog out front and Alex Sturgeon in second. The two would continue swapping positions banging bodies all the way around the track. Rappoport would work his way up midway through the race into the number three spot. Pres Ilog and Alex Sturgeon had the crowd screaming as they battled in and out of every turn. With a slight bump, Sturgeon would wait and allow Ilog to take the lead on the last lap. A wide open drag race to the finish with AKA's Pres Ilog taking the overall win mere milliseconds ahead of Alex Sturgeon. A truly phenomenal finish to a great racing weekend!
Modified 4wd SCT A-Main Results:
- Pres Ilog
- Alex Sturgeon
- Scott Rapoport
- Scott Brown
- Greg Hodapp
- Chris Gould
- Jason Hills
- Derek Wood
- John Walentia
- Dion Denison
Race Blog Wrap Up
2013 has been an amazing season of racing as the Scotty Ernst Short Course Showdown Tour has made its way across the country. Some of the most amazing racers, amazing races, and amazing memories have come from this unique tour of events. The season ended on a perfect note here in Omaha, Nebraska, and my hat is off to the ENTIRE HobbyPlex crew, all of the racers, and of course Scott Ernst for yet another fabulous event.
A huge THANK YOU goes out to all of YOU the viewers for joining us this weekend! We are already counting down the days to the 2014 Nationwide Tour opener!
For additional event photos visit the Short Course Showdown Facebook Page HERE, or visit the Steve Javorsky Photography page HERE!
Photo Gallery
Eng / Usd
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Recent comments