Dustin Evans wins Reedy International Off-Road Race of Champions!

0 Jan. 30, 2011, 1:20 p.m.

La Mirada, Calif. - Perhaps the most historic race in the history of R/C racing has returned to the scene in 2011, and with its rebirth came the coming out party for one of America's top up-and-coming talents- Dustin Evans.

Evans, who has been a ROAR Nationals A-finalist, had yet to earn a career-defining victory at the top pro level. That all changed on Sunday.

Tied with Jared Tebo, Ryan Cavalieri and Ryan Maifield coming into the final race of the weekend, Evans shot out to an early lead and was able to stay clean and fight off a brief challenge from Tebo. After winning the final leg of 4WD, neither Evans nor the rest of the crowd knew who took the overall title.

Evans and Tebo both had eight points, which required tie-breakers to determine the winner. However, both Jared and Dustin had four first place finishes, two second place finishes and no thirds. This meant that we would have to go the next tier of stats to break the tie, which was combined laps and time from your fastest single run from each class.

In the last race, Dustin was the first person this weekend to turn 16 laps in 5 minutes- which ultimately gave him the victory.

"I knew I had to win to get on the podium; that was my goal," said Evans moments after his champagne bath. "I ended up winning the whole thing. It is just unreal. I'm speechless!"

Evans has been working hard lately, spending time in Southern California to test Team Losi Racing's new '22' electric buggy. He showed that practice pays off this weekend, combining raw speed with an ever-critical dose of consistency- which is a vital component to any successful drive at the Reedy Race.

"I'm a really consistent driver, so I think that helped me." said Evans. "I started from the back a few times and had to just stay clean and work my way to the front."

With the victory, Evans becomes the 13th Reedy Race Champion in the event's 17 runnings. This year's event hosted some of the best international talent in the world, and was perhaps the largest gathering of international drivers in the United States for an electric off-road race in over a decade.

LiveRC.com wants to congratulate Dustin on his historic victory. We'd also like to thank the crew at West Coast R/C Raceway for being amazingly accommodating hosts, and for building one of the sickest facilities we've ever seen. Special thanks also go to Brent Thielke and Scotty Ernst for organizing and running the event- they truly did an amazing job.

And last but not least, we would like to thank Mike Reedy. He is one of the most important figures in the history of R/C racing, and much of the industry today has been directly influenced by him. And of course, we would not have this amazing event if it were not for him and the vision he had so long ago.

This is our first Reedy International Race of Champions, and we think that the format Mike created is probably the most exciting way to watch racing there is. Being in the video broadcasting game, this format really makes for exciting viewing. We hope that this race continues on for many more years to come, and that Mike Reedy's dream of having all of the world's top talent gather together to battle head-to head can be realized by many more generations of racers to come.