Ryan Maifield to make TLR nitro debut this weekend at fourth round of JBRL

0 July 24, 2014, 3 p.m.

7/25/2014
By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

Heritage R/C Park proprietor Don Vinkemulder confirmed that Ryan Maifield will be practicing at Heritage R/C Park in Chula Vista, CA today ahead of tomorrow's fourth round of the Jimmy Babcock Racing League nitro series. The race will be his first with the 8IGHT 3.0 buggy since joining TLR two weeks ago. His tenure with the new team got off to a good start when he won 2WD, 4WD, and Pro 2 Short Course at the JConcepts Summer Indoor Nationals on the sticky indoor clay at A Main Hobbies' Outback Raceway in Chico, CA. Expectations are similarly high heading into this next event as well, with the JBRL event being the perfect mix of a low-key atmosphere with plenty of high level competition to provide a measuring stick for how well Ryan and his new cars perform.

The electric success may not have been much of a surprise, but many fans (and critics) are most looking forward to how well he'll fare in nitro buggy heading into this year's IFMAR World Championships. Ryan set the bar quite high for himself going into the rest of 2014 after nearly winning the ROAR Nationals in his swan song with Team Associated and the RC8.2. Of course, his first race on an unfamiliar course without a serious title on the line won't mean much, but it is the first chance we'll get to see him wheel his Novarossi-powered 8IGHT 3.0. It won't be an easy road to victory, either, with an all-star lineup expected in the premier buggy class on Saturday headlined by current points leader Adam Drake. Cody King, Drew Moller, Mark Pavidis, Cody Smith, and Jeremy Kortz are all series regulars, having attended at least two of the three previous rounds in the best-six-of-eight championship that tours Southern California.

How will Ryan do? There's no way to know, but at least we'll finally have pictures of the buggy above in action, and on dirt instead of a wooden countertop!

TLR Ryan Maifield

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