Phend wins again at Michigan State Championships Rd. 6

 

 

On Saturday July 7th, the series traveled to Northern Michigan for round 6 hosted by NMRCC (Northern Michigan RC Club) in Gaylord, MI. Lots of people made the drive North and there was a great local crowd present as well. Unfortunately the weather was not good on Saturday morning and around 7AM the sky opened up and rain came down hard. By 10AM, the rain had stopped and by 10:30 AM, the NMRCC crew already had the track in drivable conditions. The track shaped up well shortly after that and by noon racing began! As the first track in the series that does not use clay as the track surface, most were chasing setups to handle the rough track that was offered.

1/8th Scale Nitro Buggy
Even though TLR/Orion/Proline sponsored Dakotah Phend already clinched the championship title, he still traveled North to attend round #6 of the series. Fresh off a second place finish at the 2012 Fuel Offroad Nationals, Dakotah was on fire and set a blistering TQ pace in the first round. The start of the main was a little chaotic, but everybody settled into their positions early on, with Dakotah in the lead. Even though the NMRCC crew had done some track maintenance before the main started, the track was changing every lap. Consistency was key and Dakotah managed his race very well to claim victory at the end. Second place finish was a tight battle between Serpent America/VP Pro Fuels sponsored Scott Ullig and O'Donnell Racing Fuel/Futaba/OS Engines sponsored Edwin Hartman. Scott Ullig climbed through the racks after qualifying 6th and experiencing a flame out early in the race, but driving conservative helped him move through the pack.
 

 
Results:
1. Dakotah Phend
2. Scott Ullig
3. Edwin Hartman
4. Mike Sontag
5. Caleb Henry

 
Current Standings (2 out of 3 drops taken into consideration):
1. Dakotah Phend (608 points) – Champion
2. Scott Ullig (579 points)
3. Michael Weihl (579 points)
4. Mo Denton (574 points)
5. Mike Sontag (573 points)

1/8th Scale Nitro Truggy
TLR/Team Orion/Proline sponsored Dakotah Phend was on fire in the truggy class. The local spectators were in awe when watching Dakotah navigate his TLR 8ight-T around the very rough track with ease. The truggy main came down to nutrition, as several people dropped out early with different mechanical problems. In the end, it was Dakotah Phend with a comfortable lead over second place Christopher Stroh and local NMRCC racer Steve Marien claimed third place when the 30 minute main concluded.
 

 
Results:
1. Dakotah Phend
2. Christopher Stroh
3. Steve Marien
4. Dylan Gilbert
5. Mike George
 
Current Standings (2 out of 3 drops taken into consideration):
1. Dakotah Phend (608 points) – Champion
2. Mo Denton (594 points)
3. Scott Rapoport (581 points)
4. Mike George (565 points)
5. Bill Bridges (561 points)

1/8th Scale Electric Buggy
Team Tekin sponsored Nick Vasquez traveled North in the hopes to claim the electric 1/8th scale buggy title for 2012 and he managed to set the TQ pace and claimed the number 1 spot on the starting grid. Nick got off to a great start and lead the main early on, followed by Mike Raaz. Unfortunately bad luck struck for Nick Vasquez on lap 9 when he had to retire with machical issues and handed over the lead to Mike Raaz, who would hold on to the lead until the end of the 10 minute main. Second place was claimed by Zak Giese closely followed by third place Buddy Pardo.
 

 
Results:
1. Mike Raaz
2. Zak Giese
3. Buddy Pardo
4. Edwin Hartman
5. Ron Jackson

 
Current Standings (2 out of 3 drops taken into consideration):
1. Nick Vasquez (608 points)
2. Scott Rapoport (595 points)
3. Mike Raaz (576 points)
4. Brian Trammel (557 points)
5. Christopher Stroh (539 points)

2WD Short Course
The very rough track showed challenges in all classes, but especially in the 2WD short course class. However, the man that has been on a mission lately, Panther/TrakPower sponsored Johnny LoGuidice managed to claim the top qualifying spot. After taking the hole shot in the main, Johnny set the pace up front and slowly started to pull away. Mike Raaz was initially in second place for several laps, but the rough track caused Mike to make some mistakes, which dropped him back to 4th place, making room for 2nd place finisher Frank Honson, who was battling with Russ Bryant all the way until the end of the race.
 

 
Results:
1. Johnny LoGuidice
2. Frank Honson
3. Russ Bryant
4. Mike Raaz
5. Mike Jeffrey

 
Current Standings (2 out of 3 drops taken into consideration):
1. Johnny LoGuidice (608 points)
2. Russ Bryant (594 points)
3. Jimbo (571 points)
4. Bryan Boucher (568 points)
5. Russell Chester (568 points)
 
4WD Short Course
The 4WD Short Course championship battle continues and with some of the title contenders missing, this was the chance for some others to gain some valuable points. J-Dubb clearly showed up prepared and he was standing on top of the results at the end of qualifying. J-Dubb got off to a clean start, but Mike Raaz managed to sneak by on the first lap and the battle was on. J-Dubb and Mike Raaz swapped positions several times until J-Dubb made a mistake and lost a bit of time. Mike Raaz managed to hold on to the win, followed by J-Dubb and Orion sponsored Mike Sontag.
 

 
Results:
1. Mike Raaz
2. J-Dubb
3. Mike Sontag
4. Kurt Tedford
5. Brian Trammel

 
Current Standings (2 out of 3 drops taken into consideration):
1. Mike Sontag (601 points)
2. Scott Rapoport (588 points)
3. Steve Culbert (585 points)
4. Tony Carnes (585 points)
5. Mike Raaz (564 points)
 
Novice Class
The novice class was full of great racing for kids that just are starting out. Several novice racers showed up to battle with each other and the very rough track. Mike Valentine Jr managed to be the fastest qualifier to start out front in the main. Even though Mike came off the line cleanly in the main, a few mistakes during the first lap dropped him back to 3rd place. As being almost a veteran in the novice class, Mike managed to climb back up to claim victory at the end of the race. Second place went to Nick Chester, closely followed by Reese Maul in third.
 

 
Results:
1. Mike Valentine Jr
2. Nick Chester
3. Reese Maul
4. Rylie Carter Jr
5. Jordan Brown

 
Current Standings (2 out of 3 drops taken into consideration):
1. Mike Valentine Jr (594 points)
2. Austin Weihl (589 points)
3. Hayden Heath (587 points)
4. Nick Chester (567 points)
5. Brayden Bridges (539 points)

The organizers of the Michigan State Championship Series would like to thank everybody for coming out and supporting the series and helping it grow into the ultimate off-road series of Michigan. A very big thank you as well to the series sponsors: O'Donnell Racing Fuel, Duratrax Performance Tires, Team Losi Racing, M2C Racing, Dirtburner Racing, Twisted RC and VP PowerMasters Fuel.

Round #7 of the Michigan State Championship Series will be at the Stateline R/C Raceway in Fremont, IN on August 11th 2012.

For more race results and information about the Michigan State Championship Series, visit www.michstatechampseries.com.

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