Washtenaw R/C Raceway Winter Series - Round #3
Article written by: Tom Erickson
Photos by: Dave Ferris
Another Round of the Washtenaw RC Raceway Winter Series is in the record books with some very close racing this past Saturday December 6, 2014. This program is located just south of Ann Arbor, Michigan at the Washtenaw County Fairgrounds.
The heated facility is a 100x52ft track with large driver’s stand and pit area. Race entries totaled 116 entries in 14 classes. Our nine race series allows two drops leading to the series title. In additional to the track and pit space there is a full-service Trackside hobby shop provided by Nankin Hobbies. See all details at
www.wrcr.biz.
At the start of the 2wd Mod Buggy A-Main it was clear that a battle between the top 4 on the grid was in the works. Top Qualifier Conner Stanley lead the field around with Forrest Remington in second. Forrest charged to the lead with Patrick Ferris right behind. Then Tom Erickson made a bid for the lead position. The lead would change almost every lap between these drivers. The last laps saw Conner Stanley and Tom Erickson battling with Tom holding Conner off to take the win.
2wd Mod Buggy Class
1st Place: Tom Erickson – Sponsors: Novak R/C, Nankin Hobbies
2nd Place: Conner Stanley (TQ) – Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies, SMC Batteries, DE Racing
3rd Place: Patrick Ferris – Sponsors: WRCR
Current Season Points:
1st Forrest Remington 290
2nd Tom Erickson 289
3rd Patrick Ferris 289
The 2wd Mod Short Course class is holding it’s own this season. The early laps were filled with crashes that bumped TQ Randy Drapinski to the back of the pack leaving Gio Enea in the lead. Randy quickly returned to his fast clean pace and by lap 7 regained the lead. After the mid point it was Randy in first, Mark Riegle in second, and Gio Enea in third. The remaining laps did not change the order as Randy extended his lead and his second win in a row.
Open 2wd Short Course Class
1st Place: Randy Drapinski (TQ)
2nd Place: Mark Riegle
3rd Place: Gio Enea
Current Season Points:
1st Zachary Kohler 290
2nd Randy Drapinski 202
3rd Gio Enea 197
In this third round of the series the Mod Truck and Master’s Truck classes were merged. This will be the case for the rest of the series. Qualifying was tight with Trevor West capturing the best qualifying time and the TQ honers. He was not able to hold off Conner Stanley and CJ Boka on the first lap as they powered by him. Conner relinquished the lead only briefly half way through the main event and took the win. CJ Boka finished a strong second. Third place was between Trevor West and Mark Thompson. Mark had recovered from his initial lap crashes and passed Trevor on the last laps to grab third.
2wd Mod Truck Class
1st Place: Conner Stanley – Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies, SMC Batteries, DE Racing
2nd Place: CJ Boka – Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies
3rd Place: Mark Thompson – Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies, SMC Batteries
4th Place: Trevor West (TQ)
Current Season Points:
1st Mark Thompson 295
2nd Tom Feis 288
3rd Conner Stanley 201
The 4wd Mod Buggy class has been a source for excitement as the top drivers in the area push these cars to the fastest laps of any class. Round #3 was no exception with qualifying was so close leaving TQ up for grabs. As qualifying concluded Conner Stanley would edge out Forrest Remington and Tom Erickson for the top spot on the grid with only 1.5 seconds between the three. As the tone sounded the pack fed into the big table-step-down and Conner missed the landing getting caught into a tube allowing Forrest and Tom to jump out to small lead. Within a few laps and a few mistakes by both Forrest and Tom, Conner was back in the lead. The lead was short lived as Forrest found a rhythm and powered past Conner and started to gap him. Tom fell back to 4th as Ben Belote smoothed out his laps. Both Ben and Tom would go a number of laps nose to tail until Tom took advantage of a roll over to get past Ben for Third. Forrest lapped all but Conner to take the victory and the lead in the series points.
4wd Mod Buggy Class
1st Place: Forrest Remington – Nankin Hobbies
2nd Place: Conner Stanley (TQ) – Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies, SMC Batteries, DE Racing
3rd Place: Tom Erickson – Sponsors: Novak R/C, Nankin Hobbies
Current Season Points:
1st Forrest Remington 299
2nd Tom Erickson 293
3rd Ben Belote 290
The 4x4 Short Course class continues to draw a full heat of entries. The day was dominated by Matt Lemorie with his MIP modified Losi ride. He captured TQ in qualifying with Randy Drapinski qualifying second. The start was very clean on the first lap but on the second the field behind Matt and Gio Enea clashed giving Matt and Gio a chance to extend the gap. Greg Shelton came out of the carnage in third for some laps. Randy and Cody Allen were switching positions behind Greg. Randy cleared some space from Cody and set his sights on Greg catching him at the midway point. The remaining laps did not change the finish positions with Matt taking the win and extending his points lead.
4x4 Short Course Class
1st Place: Matt Lemorie (TQ)
2nd Place: Gio Enea
3rd Place: Randy Drapinski
Current Season Points:
1st Matt Lemorie 301
2nd Greg Shelton 292
3rd Glen Handy 285
The Spec 2wd Short Course “Hand-Out motor and battery” class is on fire with very close racing and a very close points battle . The Duratrax 13.5 fixed timing motors and RC King batteries significantly normalize the action. Clean driving and tight lines are critical for fast lap times. Each round saw a new TQ with Conner Stanley taking the first round, Tom Erickson with the second round, and Ben Belote finishing the third round with an almost flawless run to take the top spot by only 0.5 seconds. That’s two events in a row where Ben ran very clean qualifying demonstrating his skills with his TLR 22SCT 2.0. The main event was poised to be another close battle with 7 minutes to determine the winner. The start was very clean with a single file line all the way to the start-finish line. In the infield Tom and Conner tangled sending them back a number of positions giving Ben a chance to walk away with the race. Mark Thompson would grab second spot but could not hold off Tom and Matt Lemorie who had made their way through the pack and soon it was a three way battle for second. Tom came out on top after a long 3 laps of back and forth and extended a gap going for the leader Ben. Conner was not out of the hunt either and was able to edge out Matt for third. With 2 minutes left the gap between Ben and Tom was less than 3 seconds after and roll over from Ben allowed Tom to close in. Then another roll over from Ben allowed Tom to pass for the lead with Ben very close. Both Tom and Ben would cross the line for one more lap with less than a second between them with Ben leading. Tom could not make up the difference and Ben was able to capture his first with in the class for the season and the points lead for the series. Three rounds and three winners!!!
13.5 Spec Short Course Truck class – Sponsored by Nankin Hobbies and Duratrax
1st Place: Ben Belote (TQ) – Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies
2nd Place: Tom Erickson – Sponsors: Novak R/C, Nankin Hobbies
3rd Place: Conner Stanley – Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies, SMC Batteries, DE Racing
Current Season Points:
1st Ben Belote 299
2nd Tom Erickson 298
3rd Matt Lemorie 287
The 2wd Stock Buggy class continues to grow with a full heat of entries for the third round. Nat Potter was running very clean all day and was able to stay ahead of Sean Carney for the TQ. The starting laps were smooth for both Nat and Sean but the rest of the pack were tangling leaving Jay Johnson in third. Jay held the third position for a few laps but Joe Ferris in her B4.2 regained her composure and caught up challenging for the position. Jay was not able to hold her off as she passed him. Mid way through the 7 minute main Nat had lapped the field with Sean holding a firm lead over third place Joe. With a flawless run, Nat Potter crossed the line with a commanding win. Sean in second and Joe held on for third place.
Stock 17.5 Buggy Class
1st Place: Nat Potter (TQ)
2nd Place: Sean Carney ‘007’ – Sponsors: RadioPost, Express Motorsports, Nankin Hobbies
3rd Place: Joe Ferris
Current Season Points:
1st Nat Potter 302
2nd Joe Ferris 289
3rd Sean Carney 199
Just like all other Stock classes, smooth and clean driving can be enough to win. This was very true in the 2wd Stock Truck at WRCR for the third round. Uncle Bob set the tone in the first round of qualifier with a class on driving clean and smooth and a time that was unbeatable. Then in the second qualifier both Uncle Bob and CJ Boka beat that time with Uncle Bob still top qualifier which would hold for the grid. Uncle Bob and CJ would jump out and lead the first lap. Dan Dresselhouse was able to get by CJ on the second lap but could not hold him back. The resultant gap allowed Uncle Bob to put it on cruise control. Uncle Bob took the win with CJ 7.5 seconds behind and Dan Dresselhouse in third another 7 seconds back with all three on the same lap.
Stock 17.5 Truck Class
1st Place: Uncle Bob (TQ)– Sponsors: Fantom Racing, B-Team,
2nd Place: C.J. Boka - Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies
3rd Place: Dan Dresselhouse
Current Season Points:
1st Uncle Bob 302
2nd Dan Dresselhouse 292
3rd Andy Dresselhouse 287
If Stock racing is all about smooth and clean driving it was not evident in the A-main for the 2wd Stock SCT class. After qualifying Uncle Bob came out ahead with a third round time that would take the TQ spot. The first lap was a mix of passing and rubbing tubes. The top four drivers would dice for position changing nearly every corner. The first lap would have Sean Carney in the lead followed by Tom Massel and TQ Uncle Bob was back in fourth. The next leader was Tom Massel who took an inside line on Bob and Sean to overtake and created a big gap which he could not hold against such competition. Dan Dresselhouse was in the mix as well in the lead group of four as they separated from the rest of the pack of nine cars. At the midway point Uncle Bob was able to get out front and put a gap on the rest leaving them to battle for second place. Dan and Sean would trade paint and positions for a few laps with Tom Massel close behind in fourth when lapped traffic slowed up Bob. The race was almost on again but Bob was able to hold them off. Another battle was waging in the 5th through 8th positions about a lap down with Jay Johnson coming out ahead after crossing the line in 8th place at one point. With one minute to go Uncle Bob had a small gap on Sean Carney with Dan Dresselhouse in third and Tom Massel in fourth both too far back to catch Sean. Uncle Bob leads the points with a perfect season so far.
Stock 17.5 Short Course Truck Class
1st Place: Uncle Bob (TQ)
2nd Place: Sean Carney ‘007’ – Sponsors: RadioPost, Express Motorsports, Nankin Hobbies
3rd Place: Dan Dresselhouse
Current Season Points:
1st Uncle Bob 303
2nd Tom Massel 291
3rd Greg Campbell 277
The fun continued in the Stampede class for the third round. The first round of qualifying would give the TQ to Ben Belote with a smooth run setting an unbeatable time. At the start of the main event it was Matt Lemorie that grabbed the early lead. He did not hold the lead for many laps before CJ Boka caught and passed him. CJ held the most laps led until late in the main where he caught a tube that gave the lead back to Matt. Ben’s early laps sent him back in the back retaining the third place finish at the end. This class has proven that you can be competitive and at the same time have fun. The drivers often come of the driver’s stand laughing. Monster Trucks are not formula one cars.
Stampede Class
1st Place: Matt Lemorie
2nd Place: C.J. Boka - Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies
3rd Place: Ben Belote (TQ) – Sponsors: Nankin Hobbies
Current Season Points:
1st Matt Lemorie 300
2nd Ben Belote 296
3rd Joe Gates 291
Last race the Powder Puff class had more drivers than previous races. In the third round we must have set a record with eight entries. Joe Ferris has dominated this class all year so far so she and Mackenzie Massel decided to race using the Traxxas Slash rental vehicles to make it even. What they both did not expect was Rachel Maatta who brought her stadium truck to challenge them. In qualifying Joe was able to get an edge on the other girls and grab Top Qualifier honors. Mackenzie and Rachel would battle each round with Mackenzie just edging out Rachel for the second spot on the starting grid. At the start Rachel jumped ahead of Mckenzie and challenged Joe for the lead and was able to get it for one lap. Joe was able to rebound and retake the lead and hold all the way to the finish. Mckenzie raced a great race and late in the event was able to pass Rachel to force the group to finish as they started. It was great to see so many new girls racing. Congratulations to Chana Buckley and Amanda Martin for doing well in their first ever race.
Powder Puff Class
1st Place: Joe Ferris (TQ)
2nd Place: McKenzie Massel
3rd Place: Rachel Maatta
Current Season Points:
1st Joe Ferris 303
2nd McKenzie Massel 297
3rd Kymm Thompson 291
The Novice class was full of bright eyed racers looking to take the win. The previous class winners were not in attendance so a new winner would be crowned. The Top Qualifier was Brendan Suriano who is looked like he had some experience already. Hunter Suriano started behind Brendan with Jason Jeppesen third on the starting grid. The first lap was rough sending a number of drivers back in the pack collecting Hunter and Jason. Cade Riegle was able to leap frog a number of drivers to get into second position early on. On his last lap Cade had some trouble and was caught at the line allowing Hunter to gain the second position. Jason recovered some from the early troubles to finish in fourth place.
Novice Class
1st Place: Brendan Suriano (TQ)
2nd Place: Hunter Suriano
3rd Place: Cade Riegle
Current Season Points:
1st Andy Finkbeiner 282
2nd Jason Jeppesen 196
3rd Hunter Suriano 196
The organizers at the Washtenaw R/C Raceway would like to thank everyone for attending. All points are calculated without any drops. We also would like to thank our sponsors:
And a special thanks to:
12/18/2014
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