Maifield and Cavalieri topped two each at rain-soaked Hot Rod Hobbies Shootout

0 July 20, 2015, 12:25 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

While the rest of drought-stricken Southern California tried desperately to soak up every drop of rain over the weekend, over 230 entries braved the elements to enjoy the 18th annual Hot Rod Hobbies Off-Road Shootout in Saugus. Just a few heats into the program on Saturday rain washed away the third and fourth qualifying rounds on Saturday, which meant that the main events had to be determined based on each driver’s best result in the first two rounds on Friday and bump-ups were implemented for Sunday’s lower main events. Based on Friday’s early action, Jared Tebo earned TQ in 2WD Modified Buggy, Ryan Maifield did the same in 4WD Modified Buggy, and Ryan Cavalieri earned the front row in both Stadium Truck and 2WD Modified Short Course.

In the 2WD Modified Buggy division, TLR’s Ryan Maifield won both A1 and A2 to win the overall title ahead of Ryan Cavalieri and Jared Tebo.

Ryan Maifield
Ryan Cavalieri
Jared Tebo

In 4WD Modified Buggy, two-time defending national champion Ty Tessmann won the first A-Main, TQ Ryan Maifield won A2, and Kyosho’s Naoto Matsukura won the third A-Main. Using the combined times tiebreaker, Ryan Maifield nicked Matsukura for the overall by less than a second with Tessmann finishing third.

Ryan Maifield
Naoto Matsukura
Ty Tessmann

In 2WD Modified Stadium Truck, TQ Ryan Cavalieri took the win over Team Associated teammate Steven Hartson, with TLR’s Dustin Evans finishing third.

Ryan Cavalieri
Steven Hartson
Dustin Evans

Cavalieri completed the same feat in 2WD Modified Short Course, winning the title ahead of teammate Spencer Rivkin with Serpent’s Mike Truhe rounding out the podium.