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AE sweeps Spring Classic at 80/35

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Mike Garrison

0 April 24, 2012, 7:52 a.m.

Main Photo: AE sweeps Spring Classic at 80/35

4/24/2012

By Mike Garrison

LiveRC.com

Team Associated Race Report:

Report by Bubba Boggs

Event Name: Spring Classic
Event Location: 80/35 Raceway in Grimes, Iowa
Event Date(s): April 13, 2012 to April 15, 2012

The indoor medium-to-high-bite track brought in close to 90 racers from as far away as South Dakota and Minnesota, all wanting to bring home some hardware (and bragging rights) from this first annual race. The format was three rocket rounds with triple 6-minute A-Main features. With classes ranging from novice to 1:8-scale E-buggies, there was plenty of racing going around.

I ran three classes this weekend, Mod SCT, Mod truck and 4WD Buggy, so it was a busy weekend. In the Mod Truck class luck was definitely not on my side, breaking out the first two qualifiers. It was all up to the third qualifier; being the rocket-round style, all I needed was one good run. And I did just that -- getting into the A Main getting sixth overall. Come time for the mains, Team Associated driver Chris MacKenzie dominated the class, taking TQ and winning A1 and A2, with myself ending up in the seventh spot.

Mod SCT was a completely different story. With the track being a tight and technical, I knew it had the possibility to get ugly. But my FT SC10 was on a rails, easily taking the TQ and top spot, winning A1 and A2.

Team Associated driver Chad "Rico" Karstens brought home the TQ and first place in both Mod Buggy and Mod 4WD. Chad's B44.1 was untouchable, winning both A-1 and A-2. With the win out of the way I battled it out for a respectable fourth-place finish.

Chad and his B4.1 were in a great three-main battle with fellow Team Associated driver Mack Vanderbeek. With both having wins in A1 and A2, it all came down to A-Main three, which was the race to watch. The two swapped leads a few times and they weren't more than a car length apart the whole race. But at the end Chad edged Mack out for the overall win.

All in all, it was a very fun tight race. With great food on hand, good racing, and Team Associated drivers taking home the wins, we had a very successful weekend.