On Saturday May 12th, round #4 and the first outdoor round of the Michigan State Championship Series was held at The Track in Carleton, MI. The weather forecast was not great, but still 104 entries showed up ready to finally race outdoors and they were treated with beautiful weather all day and plenty of racing action on one of the premier racetracks in Michigan.
1/8th Scale Nitro Buggy
The man to beat all weekend was TLR's Dakotah Phend, who was the only one to get an 11 lap qualifier and thus taking TQ in the class. With only 12 seconds between the 3rd qualifier and the 10th qualifier, the main was expected to be full of battles. Due to technical issues, 2nd place qualifier Mo Denton was not able to make it to the grid, so it was going to be a field of 10 cars ready to battle. Dakotah got a clean start, but behind him there was carnage in the first turn with several cars tangled up. At the end of the first lap, Dakotah already had a 1.5 second gap on Nick Vasquez in second and the rest of the field following closely. Several laps later, the position changes settled down a little bit and the running order was Dakotah Phend in first, followed by Tony Carnes in second and Nick Vasquez in 3rd. Throughout the 30 minute main, battles were going on for 3rd through 8th place. In the end, it was TLR's Dakotah Phend taking the win with Tony Carnes in second and TLR's Mike Marshall, who worked his way up from a 10th place qualifying position, in third.
Results:
1. Dakotah Phend
2. Tony Carnes
3. Mike Marshall
4. Michael Weihl
5. Nick Vasquez
Current standings in the series (no drops taken into consideration):
1. Dakotah Phend (608 points)
2. Michael Weihl (570 points)
3. Tony Carnes (564 points)
4. Mike Marshall (548 points)
5. Nick Vasquez (547 points)
1/8th Scale Nitro Truggy
With round #4 finally being outdoors, the truggies finally felt at home a lot better on the big track that The Track provided. Just like in the nitro buggy class, TLR's Dakotah Phend was the only one able to get 11 laps in qualifying and that put him at the front of the grid. In the main, Dakotah got a clean start and started checking out. Behind him, it was Mo Denton in second and A Main Hobbies' Scott Rapoport in third. Most of the battles throughout the main were behind the top three and positions were swapped every lap. In the end, it was TLR's Dakotah Phend who took the win, followed by Mo Denton and A Main Hobbies' Scott Rapoport in third place.
Results:
1. Dakotah Phend
2. Mo Denton
3. Scott Rapoport
4. Shane Snyder
5. Justin Hughes
Current Standings in the series (no drops taken into consideration):
1. Dakotah Phend (608 points)
2. Mo Denton (585 points)
3. Justin Hughes (537 points)
4. Caleb Henry (521 points)
5. Scott Rapoport (434 points)(-1 race)
1/8th Scale Electric Buggy
The leader in the points coming into this race, Tekin's Nick Vasquez, had decided to switch rides and showed up with an RC8.2 at The Track, hoping that it would turn out in his favor. He managed to take TQ after the 3 rounds of qualifying and was looking good and ready for battle. After quite a chaotic start of the main, Mike Raaz found himself leading the pack for the first 2 laps, until A Main Hobbies' Scott Rapoport managed to slip by and take over the lead. Meanwhile, Tekin's Nick Vasquez had to battle back from 6th after an horrible start. Nick managed to take over the lead after lap 11 from Scott Rapoport, but Scott was not planning on giving up the lead that easily. The duo battled back and forth for several laps until Nick Vasquez was able pull a small gap after Scott Rapoport made a mistake. Meanwhile behind this epic battle, Terry Jonas with his rent-a-ride for the weekend managed to climb all the way from 8th place to third. In the end, it was Tekin's Nick Vasquez taking the win, followed by A Main Hobbies' Scott Rapoport in second and Sumo's Terry Jonas in third.
Results:
1. Nick Vasquez
2. Scott Rapoport
3. Terry Jonas
4. Bryan Boucher
5. Scott Brigham
Current Standings in the series (no drops taken into consideration):
1. Nick Vasquez (594 points)
2. Brian Trammel (535 points)
3. Christopher Stroh (528 points)
4. Kevin Myers (509 points)
5. Caleb Henry (502 points)
2WD Open Short Course
Panther sponsored Johnny LoGuidice was the only one who managed to qualify with 9 laps and thus taking the TQ spot. 2nd place qualifier, Paul Edwards, broke his car during one of later qualifiers and did not manage to get it repaired in time. Right from the start, Panther's Johnny LoGuidice took off like a rocket and never looked back. Due to the track size, the battling behind Johnny was minimal. In the end, it was Panther's Johnny LoGuidice taking the win with Bryan Boucher in second and Russ Bryant in third.
Results:
1. Johnny LoGuidice
2. Bryan Boucher
3. Russ Bryant
4. Jimbo
5. Gregory Atkins
Current Standings in the series (no drops taken into consideration):
1. Russ Bryant (449 points)(-1 race)
2. Jimbo (433 points)(-1 race)
3. Paul Edwards (432 points)(-1 race)
4. Bryan Boucher (430 points)(-1 race)
5. Russell Chester (422 points)(-1 race)
4WD Open Short Course
Mike Sontag managed to take TQ with less of a second over 2nd place qualifier Tony Carnes. With only 6 seconds between TQ and 4th place qualifier, the 4WD Short Course main was set to be a great battle for the lead. After a clean start, Mike Sontag was in the lead, followed by A Main Hobbies' Scott Raport and the rest of the field. Man on the move early on in the race was Kevin Morales, climbing up from 6th place all the way to third place. In the end, it was Mike Sontag taking the win over Steve Culbert in second and Kevin Morales in third.
Results:
1. Mike Sontag
2. Steve Culbert
3. Kevin Morales
4. Scott Rapoport
5. Tony Carnes
Current Standings in the series (no drops taken into consideration):
1. Steve Culbert (585 points)
2. Tony Carnes (583 points)
3. Brian Trammel (537 points)
4. Mike Sontag (449 points) (-1 race)
5. Scott Rapoport (441 points)(-1 race)
Novice Class
For many of the novice class racers, this was the first time they were racing on a large outdoor track. Austin Weihl, who has been at the top at every round all year, managed to take the TQ honors and start at the front of the field in the main. At the start of the main, 2nd place qualifier Richie Bauer managed to slip by Austin Weihl to take the lead and slowly gap himself from the field. Behind Richie Bauer, Mike Valentine Jr and Austin Weihl battled over the 2nd place until the end of the race. In the end, it was Richie Bauer taking the win, followed by Mike Valentine Jr in second and Austin Weihl in third.
Results:
1. Richie Bauer
2. Mike Valentine Jr
3. Austin Weihl
4. Brayden Bridges
5. Nick Chester
Current Standings in the series (no drops taken into consideration):
1. Austin Weihl (588 points)
2. Hayden Heath (587 points)
3. Kody Culbert (439 points)(-1 race)
4. Mike Valentine Jr (433 points)(-1 race)
5. Brayden Bridges (403 points)(-1 race)
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 and Twisted RC.
Round #5 of the Michigan State Championship Series will be at The Backyard Track in Oxford, MI on June 2nd 2012.
For more race results and information about the Michigan State Championship Series, visit:
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