Rayls, Flint and Clark dominated outdoors at ROAR Region 5 championships

0 Aug. 21, 2015, 2:17 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Race report from Adam Rayls:

ROAR Region 5 Champions Crowned - August 15, 2015

Summit RC Raceway in Fort Wayne, IN was the site of the 2015 ROAR Region 5 Championship! Summit RC has been host of this event 3 prior years in its 10-plus year history and the fourth would not disappoint!

The outdoor off-road track being a perfect size for all 10th scale racing is accompanied by the indoor pit area with a/c, a stocked hobby shop and an indoor carpet track.

Friday the 14th was all open practice and the first opportunity for participants to lay down laps on a fresh layout. The track crew kept the track prepped and watered throughout the day and such was the plan for race day. However, Mother Nature had other plans and gave us overnight rain!

Early Saturday morning the track crew and some very dedicated volunteers got out on the track to relieve standing water and coat the track in peat moss. Their hard work paid off and the weather cooperated and with only a 2.5 hour delay the race was a go!

The format was to be 3 rocket round qualifiers and a single main. Qualifying was off to a fast start and it was becoming evident that soon more prep and water was needed as the day got hotter and hotter. It was struggle for the crew to keep up with so after a difficult round 2 a vote was taken among the racers to decide if we were to keep trying to water the track or let it go dry and groove up. By a staggering margin we voted for dry and groove.

This decision got all racers scrambling for tires and some setup changes. This is what outdoor off-road racing is all about! Change and your ability to adapt. To no ones surprise the racing got better and better and after round 3 of qualifying there were many more smiles around the pits!

For the mains lights were set up and the track had an awesome groove in it and racers were flying setting all new fast laps around the course! This led to some very close racing and exciting main events! The day had many ups and downs for everyone but the Summit RC track crew and racers together went to work and it made for a great event!

Podium results: