Sousa and Grayek win at The Big Apple OS Challenge

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By Tyler Hooks
LiveRC.com

Race report from XRAY:
www.teamxray.com

Race report by Mark Sousa :

This past weekend the Big Apple OS challenge in Chester Ny. This race saw up to 200 entries and the track was definitely a little different then some of the other ones. The track started off being pretty dry and dusty and getting some bumps in practice which is always a good time. 
The track crew decided that they were gonna try something new to make the track great for racing. They pull a long night and got the track good for qualifying and racing was awesome all throughout. In the first round I was able to drive really smooth and not make any mistakes and was able to TQ round one in truck I was leading until I starting have some weird electrical issues that made the truck glitch and wasn’t able to finish strong. Second round I was in a tight battle with Cole Ogden and got into the lead but made a mistake with 2 laps to go and got second for the round behind Cole. In truck I tried a different tire that I thought was gonna work well for the high bite surface and my truck was a little hard to drive and just made some mistakes and finished second behind Jamie Grayek who was the overall TQ after 2 rounds. Round three I was able to get out in front and get a clear track and my car was really good and easy to drive and was able to win round 3 with a comfortable gap and take overall TQ. In truck we made some changes and my truck was “amazing” and was super fast and was able to win the final round which would put me 2nd on the grid. 
As we are preparing for the mains the rain came down the second storm and the track was hit again so they had to do the race where you qualified and I won buggy with Cole Ogden in 2nd and Adam Johnson in 3rd. Got 2nd in truck with Jamie grayek in frost and Aaron Kothman 3rd The track owner decided to call the race a few minutes after that which was a shame because it was gonna be good and then weather but regardless I had great time and Rohan Grant, Kothman family, aswell as the rest of the  track crew did a amazing job getting the track ready after the first storm and thanks also for the great hospitality and thank you to the sponsors who have supported me all this time 



Big Apple OS Challenge - Chester, NY 
7/15/18 
Nitro Buggy - TQ and finished 1st 
Nitro Truggy - qualified 2nd and finished 2nd 

Buggy Podium 
1. Mark Sousa - XRAY XB8 
2. Cole Ogden 
3. Adam Johnson

Truggy Podium 
1. Jamie Grayek 
2. Mark Sousa - XRAY XT8 
3. Aaron Kothman