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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com
Race report from Michigan State Championship Series:
www.michstatechampseries.com
Opening round of Michigan State Championship Series of 8th Scale Off-road racing
Article by: Tom Erickson
Photos by: Alex Vande Berg
The MSCS crew kicked of the 2016 season at Dirt Burner Raceway and Hobbies this past Saturday April 23rd, 2016. Five Championship classes had 66 entries with Nitro Buggy being the largest with 25 entries. Electric Buggy and Nitro Truggy were also well attended with past series champions and visiting top drivers from all over. The Electric Truggy and 4x4 Short Course Truck classes also made enough to run. Racing action was intense on this indoor short track that included a large triple and double on the outer lanes and an infield that was technical.
Nitro Buggy Class
Qualifying showed that the visiting drivers were on point to claim top finishing positions. TLR driver Collin Weatherholt and Team Associated driver Tyler Jones grabbed early heat victories and good qualifying points but it was Tyler that secured the Top Qualifying position. Richard Saxton, visiting from California, secured the 2nd spot on the grid ahead of Collin in 3rd. Many of the top Michigan drivers filled the remainder of the field of 11 cars. As the start flag was raised Tyler jumped off to an early lead as cars tangled together in the carousel turn and drop down. AE local driver Brian Borle was able to get through the carnage to begin the chase behind Tyler. This was short lived as Saxton and Collin came charging through. By lap 20 Tyler was enjoying a large lead with Collin working to reduce the gap. 2015 Series Champion Mike “Chedda” Legue had passed Saxton for 3rd setting up a battle for the 4th spot with Brian. Collin passed an upside down Tyler to claim the lead on lap 37. Richard Saxton regained 3rd after Chedda clipped the tube on the drop down jump. He ended upside down and dropped to 5th. Richard, Brian, and Chedda changed positions until the middle of the 30 minute main. On lap 73 Tyler entered the pits and never returned allowing Collin to take over the lead. At that point Richard was in 2nd, Chedda in 3rd, Brian in 4th leaving Kyle Gough and Michael Weihl battling for the final podium spot. Michael was the victim of the early lap tangles that sent him to last place. He drove his Mugen MBX7R hard and battled back to secure the final 5th spot on the podium.
TQ: Tyler Jones - Team Associated
Nitro Truggy Class
The tight indoor track at Dirt Burner Raceway was designed as best as possible to fit 8th scale Truggies. Even so it was a challenge for these drivers to maneuver the infield especially with 9 vehicles at the start of the event. Michael Weihl secured the TQ after only two rounds taking the win in each. Mike Marshall started from the 2nd position ahead of last seasons Champion Mike “Chedda” Legue. The 30 minute main event started with all vehicles getting through the infield without trouble. Michael was able to get out to an early lead building a small gap on Mike Marshall. Chedda charged hard in the early laps to get by Mike and set his sites on Michael. Roger Wendling caught Mike Marshall changed positions almost every lap until a mishap caused Roger to fall back to the middle of the field as Michael Weihl’s main event ended with mechanical issues. The field shifted with Chedda taking over the top spot and Mike holding the second spot. Russell Chester moved to the 3rd spot until Roger regained his momentum. By the 15 minute mark the order was set to the finish with Chedda taking the win, Mike Marshall in 2nd, Roger in 3rd, Russell in 4th and Steve Marien holding off Joe Gates for the final spot on the podium.
(TQ): Michael Weihl - Mugen Seiki
Electric Buggy Class
The opening laps of the Electric Buggy class had the top four drivers take off in order without mishaps. Collin Weatherholt secured Top Qualifier to start in the first position. Kris Norlock, Kyle Gough, and Alex Watzke in chase from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions. The drop down after the first turn was full of tangled cars behind them. The marshals cleared the wreckage quickly but another wreck took out Alex and Kyle. R.j. Hart and Chad Sosnawski moved up the field from the lower starting positions. After 8 laps Kyle had regained 2nd place as Collin built a huge lead. Chad made his way to 3rd, Kris held on to 4th, and R.j. in 5th. Kris would not settle for 4th. First Chad and Kris came up behind Kyle creating a 3-way battle for 2nd. Chad got ahead of Kyle and then Kris passed both Kyle and Chad to take 2nd place through the infield carousel and take off as Chad and Kyle tangle. Chad came out ahead and put a small gap on Kyle. The order was solidified at this point as each driver worked hard without success to reduce their gaps. Collin won wire-to-wire with Kris in 2nd, Chad in 3rd, Kyle in 4th and R.j. in 5th.
Electric Truggy Class
The electric Truggy class is always great to watch especially on a tight technical track like Dirt Burner Raceway. Five eTruggies entered the program for this round including last season’s Class Champion R.j. Hart and #2 Ben Belote. These guys battled it out last season and it looks like this season will be the same. R.j. grabbed the TQ after qualifying and lead the field through the carousel turn at the start and clipped a tube flipping his TeknoRC Truggy which landed on it’s wheels. This maneuver allowed Ben to slip by to take the early lead. The opening lap also caused some trouble for #3 seed Doug Wendling which allowed Ken Gentz and Brayden Hart by sending him to the back of the pack. All 5 drivers were charging hard in the opening laps vying for improved positions. R.j. quickly began to press Ben for the lead. Ben blocked as much as possible but a slight rub of the tube slowed him enough for R.j. to get by to take over the lead. After five laps of bumper to bumper driving between the leaders Ben could not keep the pace and the lead gap began to grow. Behind the leaders Doug Wendling quickly returned to the 3rd position with Ken pressing hard. Ken would get ahead of Doug twice before the midpoint of the 10 minute main but could not hold him back. The second half of the main had large gaps between everyone on the track. At the finish it was R.j. for the win, Ben in 2nd, Doug in 3rd, Ken in 4th,and Brayden in 5th showing that he plans to race hard in this class this summer.
Sportsman Class/4x4 Short Course Truck
The entries for both 4x4 Short Course Truck and Sportsman Class had too few entries to run on their own. The merged class had a good mix of vehicles as was the idea of the Sportsman Class for the 2016 season. Participants can run any vehicle in this class but one of the Championship class vehicles are recommended. Monster Trucks are also more than welcome. The merged class was still exciting to watch. In the 4x4 Short Course Truck Class Young Logan Wendling showed that his skills have greatly improved over last season by capturing the TQ and the overall Win wire-to-wire. His speed was on par with much older drivers. Mark Thompson was chasing Logan in the opening laps as Ken Gentz was pressing to pass him. Ken was able to pass Mark early on but it was only for a single lap. Mark charged through flying his TLR truck over the triple every time. Ken would have to settle for 3rd this round. In the Sportsman Class Austin Weihl drove his 2wd Short Course Truck smooth and steady staying ahead of Drew Wendling in his 8th Scale Buggy securing the win.
The MSCS Crew is growing to support and improve our program. Tom Erickson has assumed the Program Director role leading the team of 5 that includes; Ben Belote and Mark Thompson in Track Operations, Alex Vande Berg and Jake Cantrell in registration and communications, and Joe Gates in Scoring and Timing. Thanks to the entire team! And a special thanks to our series sponsors; Nankin Hobbies, Dirt Burner Raceway and Hobbies, Team Associated, AKA, JConcepts, Tekin, Novak R/C, TrakPower, and SMC.
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