FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Mayo and Rivkin won inaugural Reedy Outdoor Off-Road Championships

0 Nov. 30, 2017, 3:24 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Everybody knows that Friday is meant for reminiscing old times. Each week we take you back in time as we flashback to some of R/C racing's greatest moments, products, drivers, and more!

Flashback: 2015

Mayo and Rivkin won inaugural Reedy Outdoor Off-Road Championships

Wednesday, November 29 marked the two-year anniversary of the inaugural Reedy Outdoor Off-Road Championships at Hot Rod Hobbies. The event was originally pitched as a return to the roots of off-road racing, with a watered dirt track requiring the use of tires with pins and lugs. The flyer even had a rear-motor 2WD buggy throwing roost:

The Reedy Outdoor Off-Road Championships was also intended as a replacement for the Reedy Truck Race of Champions, an electric- and nitro stadium truck-only program which had waned in popularity from its peak in the late 90s and early 2000s despite the addition of 1/8-scale truggies and short course trucks. By adding 2WD and 4WD buggies back into the mix, simplifying the class structure, and taking a break from dry, blue-groove conditions in favor of “real off-road,” along with the full support of the Team Associated/Reedy team, Hot Rod Hobbies hoped for a boost in entries.

None of it really worked. Just 74 racers totaling 142 entries competed across nine classes, even though the track looked killer.

And rather than reach for treads with big lugs, the track suited small pins. Team Associated team manager Brent Thielke did race a rear-motor B5 at the kick-off in 2015:

Most racers, however, stuck with their mid-motor buggies - including Hot Rod Hobbies local Jake Mayo.

Mayo won the Modified 2WD class and beat five other drivers in Modified Stadium Truck.

A DNF in A1 of 2WD cost Rivkin a shot at the podium in the both-mains-count double format, but he locked up the Modified 2WD Short Course title with a 2-2 score and won both legs of the 4WD class.

In 2016, despite a handful of Team Associated racers making the trip all the way from Australia, just 48 drivers totaling 92 entries competed across nine classes, only three of which had B-Mains. Again, the layout looked awesome.