Cavalieri's buggy double led Team Associated to five wins at Top Gun Shootout

0 Dec. 22, 2015, 11:39 a.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Race report from Team Associated:
www.teamassociated.com

Top Gun Shootout Victories For Team Associated

For the first time at its new location, SD/RC Raceway hosted the 4th annual Team Associated Top Gun Shootout. As one of the final races on the calendar, the event drew competitors from as far as New York looking to partake in the casual, yet competitive event. With the sounds of jet fighters making test runs from nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar filling the air, it was clear where the event got its name. However, the best action was on the 105' x 65' high-grip, indoor clay facility provided by SD/RC, not on the airfield.

Of course Team Associated was on hand to compete in and support the event lead by World Champions Spencer Rivkin and Ryan Cavalieri. In the premier classes of 2WD and 4WD Modified Buggy it was these two and the rest of the field. Setting lap times sometimes 0.5 second faster than the field, it was impressive to see these two drivers go head to head.

When qualifying settled it was the B5M and B44.3s of Ryan Cavalieri who would start first, with Spencer Rivkin starting a close second. In A1 of 2WD, Rivkin got by Cavalieri to take the victory, with Cavalieri getting the victory in A2, setting up a winner-take-all A3. For the first few minutes Rivkin stalked Cavalieri until a small mistake allowed Cavalieri to gap the reigning World Champion to take the overall title.

In 4WD Modified, A1 and A2 played out much like A3 of 2WD, with Rivkin shadowing Cavalieri for the start of the races until Cavalieri was able to just break away to take the overall title.

Also taking TQs and victories for Team Associated with their Reedy-powered vehicles were the T5M of Brent Thielke in 2WD Modified Stadium Truck and the B5M of Jeff "Humpty" Helms in the triple A Mains of 17.5 2WD Buggy. Additionally, the SC5M of Kyle Davis took the victory ahead of the Team Associated Top Qualifier driver, Christian Toic.

Special thanks to SD/RC Raceway for hosting the 4th Annual Team Associated Top Gun Shootout and to the other event sponsors -- Pro-Line, Schelle, Tekno, and UpGrade R/C -- for their continued support of the event.