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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com
Race report and photos by Tom Erickson:
www.michstatechampseries.com
AMS Custom Hobbies and Raceway hosted Round#1 of the Michigan State Championship Series last Saturday, March 21st, 2015. The event drew 170 entries in 8 classes covering Off Road Nitro and Electric, 8th scale and 10th scale vehicles. James Raupp called the event all day. The track layout was technical and challenging for all classes. Mike Sontag pulled out the victory in the Premier Nitro Buggy and Truggy classes. It was Bradley Rippee in the Electric 8th Scale Buggy and RJ Hart in the Electric 8th Scale Truggy classes claiming both TQ and the win.
The Nitro classes at MSCS have been historically the biggest. The Nitro Buggy class fielded 34 entries. After three rounds of qualifying many of the top 10 drivers from last season made the A-main with Bradley Rippee securing the TQ over Mike Sontag by only 0.29 seconds. Last season’s Champion Mike Weihl was seated in 6th behind Mike Legue(aka. Chedda), Chad Shorkey and George Berridge. At the start of the 30 minute A-main Brad lead the pack around with Mike Sontag and Chedda close behind. Brad and Mike Sontag started to pull away as George pressured Chedda. Mike was laying down fast laps breaking Brad’s fastest qualifying lap in the meantime. He was able to get by Brad to take over the lead by the first pit stops. Midway through the main event Chedda closed the gap to Brad passing him through the double-double section to take over 2nd place. Brad would retake the position for some laps but not hold off Chedda as Mike increased his lead. As the final fuel stops approached Chedda had closed the gap to Mike down to below 5 secs and began a charge for the win. Both drivers were on 94 lap paces and with 2 minutes to go they tangled together in the s-turn before the pit lane. The closing laps were some the closest wheel-to-wheel racing we’ve seen. Mike Sontag crossed the finish line ahead as the tone sounded catching Chedda at the line. Brad held onto his early success to secure 3rd place ahead of Jay Chura and George Berridge.
The Nitro Truggy class continues to grow with 19 entries in this season’s opener. Bradley Rippee opened up qualifying capturing the early TQ. Chedda (Mike Legue) waited until the 3rd qualifier to capture the overall TQ. Mike Sontag secured the 3rd spot on the grid. The start was very clean for 11 Truggys on a tight indoor track. Chedda took off right from the start allowing Brad and Mike space to drive hard from the start as well. In the opening laps Chad Shorkey and Tony Oh Boy were chasing the lead pack but not on the same pace. Through the first half of the 30 minute main Chedda was on fire increasing his lead every lap helped significantly by his pit crew on each fuel stop. The battle between Brad and Mike began just after the first fuel stops as Mike continued to accelerate his pace. Mike blew by Brad and never looked back. As the clock began to approach the final fuel stop Chedda’s pace had slowed and Mike was chasing. Mike caught Chedda and after a half lap battle Mike took over the lead all the way to the finish line. Jay Chura was able to clime to 4th place early on and hold the position the whole race without any challengers.
The Electric 8th Scale Buggy class was stacked with 35 fast drivers making it the largest class of the event. Qualifying was all about Bradley Rippee. His pace was unbeatable securing TQ with a full lap on the rest. Conner Stanley would out pace Paul Edwards and George Berridge filling the top 4 spots on the starting grid. The initial laps of the 10 minute main event were smooth as the top 5 drivers rounded the track. Conner had a series of difficult laps dropping him back to 6th place as Paul and George moved up together. George made his move quickly after that to overtake Paul to grab the 2nd spot and set a pace to try to catch Bradley. Russell Chester and RJ Hart were on the move vying for the 4th place spot. By the midpoint Bradley was already 2 laps ahead with George (G3) in 2nd spot nearly a lap ahead of RJ. Russell and Paul were able to get by RJ has he flipped his buggy requiring Marshal help. Russell held 3rd for a few laps until traffic caused trouble and sent him all the way back to 6th place. In 3rd place Paul was able to start to build a gap on his competition as Conner joined the mix again passing RJ and challenging Paul. Conner was able to take over 3rd briefly until another set back caused him to drop back to 5th place. RJ mounted a charge in the closing laps to get within 2 seconds as the last lap began. Paul was able to hold off RJ as they both crossed the line with less than a second between them. Bradley claimed the win with George in 2nd and Paul in 3rd.
The Electric Truggy class was well attended with 11 entries. RJ Hart was on pace all day with a TQ in every round and set the tone for the 10 minute A-Main. Doyle Strappanzon was also running fast securing 2nd each round behind RJ by 11 seconds. The 3rd spot was up for grabs during the day with Randy Krol taking it in the last qualifier. These high powered vehicles were easily clearing the big triple and slamming the brakes as they entered the tight switch back. RJ lead the group on the opening laps getting through cleanly setting a pace that was well ahead of the rest of the pack. Doyle caught the tubes on the switch back allowing Randy to get by and secure 2nd on the open lap. Dan Stebbins would also get by Doyle. This battle gave RJ the opportunity to build his gap driving very consistent laps. Doyle rebounded well and was able to overtake Dan after a few laps and then catch and pass Randy to retake 2nd overall. Randy Schroeder was watching from behind as the battle continued waiting for the right moment and passed Dan to secure the 4th spot. The tone sounded and RJ came home with the win with Doyle in 2nd and Randy Krol in 3rd.
With 30 Entries the 4WD Short Course class demonstrated it is one of the main classes for the MSCS. In qualifying four drivers were very close each round with only seconds separating them. George “G3” Berridge solidified TQ in the second round clocking the fastest lap as well. Russell Chester put down his best run in the 3rd qualifier to place himself in 2nd. Paul Edwards’ early TQ run was good enough to start 3rd with Conner Stanley behind him in 4th. When the tone sounded G3 was ready and on fire. He jumped to an early lead taking advantage of the TQ position. Russell did everything he could to chase G3 with clean track between them. Paul and Conner pushed hard to also get away from the pack but ended up tangling dropping them both to the back of the pack. This opened the door for Patrick DeGuise who jumped into third place. Up front G3 was increasing his gap on Russell both running smooth and without many errors. Paul was able to get back on pace and catch Pat and pass him through the s-turns. Conner was glued to Paul’s rear bumper and was able to slide into 4th place. With G3 lapping most of the field by mid race the rest of the podium spots were up for grabs. Toward the end of the 7 minute main Russell had a 8 second gap on Conner who was able to avoid the carnage that collected Paul sending him pack in the order again. Conner increased his pace focused on improving his position but it was not enough to reduce the gap. George “G3” Berridge would take the win with Russell in 2nd and Conner in 3rd.
A strong turn out for the 2WD Short Course class with 22 entries. Home track young gun Tator Sontag set the tone with the early TQ with Randy Drapinski and Doug Wendling rounding out the top spots. At the start of the 7 minute main event Doug was able to get past Tator through the switch backs crossing the finish line in 1st on the initial lap. Larry “Rebound” Williams was able to also get by Tator to take over 2nd spot. Tator regained his composure and was able to stay ahead of a charging Ryan Gardner. Tator quickly was able to get by Rebound and attempt to pass Doug for the lead. The two battled allowing Rebound to take advantage and get by both for the lead flipping the order. Then Tator rolled it going to the inside for the pass on Doug as Jordan Isselhard pressed into the top group and passed them both. Rebound was leading with a 4 second gap on Jordan and Doug when he flipped his truck requiring a marshal’s assistance. This mishap allowed Doug and Jordan to jump to the lead with Doug regaining 1st place. Ryan had been running a very consistent pace just behind the leaders which gave him the opportunity to capture 3rd with a gap back to Tator in 4th. Doug was able to put down solid laps increasing his lead each time he crossed the line. Jordan was able to avoid any further issues and Ryan worked to stay consistent and fend off the charging Tator Sontag. That is how they finished with Doug in 1st place, Jordan in 2nd, and Ryan in 3rd.
With the end of the winter racing season behind us the 4wd Buggy class has grown throughout Michigan. This class fielded 7 drivers all running very close lap times in qualifying. Ron Lupes set the early pace capturing the early TQ a lap ahead of Eric Dragun, Tom Erickson, and Erik Bacon. By the end of qualifying Ron held onto TQ with Tom Erickson in 2nd and Erik Bacon in 3rd. These guys were all very well matched with lap times so close that anyone could win it. At the start Ron, Tom and Erik all were able to get around the track in starting order. Tom was all over the back of Ron’s buggy and went for the pass in the tight off camber S-turn and stuffed it into the tube dropping him back to 4th place. Erik avoided Tom and was able to get a better line leading around the outside double to get by Ron for the lead. Eric Dragun was in a close 3rd. Tom came back after marshal help and passed Eric. Then Ron clipped the tube going through the triple spinning his car allowing Tom to pass into 2nd place. The top three were all very close as Tom moved in to pass Erik and take over the lead. Jordan Isselhard was increasing his pace and began to pressure both Eric and Ron as the leaders were battling. Tom cut a turn too close and again stuck his nose into a tube dropping back to 4th and collecting Erik as well. This mishap was to much for both Tom and Erik to recover from with only 2 minutes remaining. Eric Dragun assumed the lead with Ron reducing the gap every lap. Jordan was on a steady pace more than 10 seconds back. Ron reeled in Eric and assumed the lead to the finish with Eric in 2nd and Jordan in 3rd.
2wd Open Buggy:
With 18 entries the 2wd Buggy class ran two heats of qualifying to determine the overall TQ. Roger Wendling would capture the early TQ in round #1 and was able to stay ahead of Doug Wendling and Mike Weihl retaining his starting position. As they rounded the first lap Roger and Doug would cross the line in starting order with Ben Belote in 3rd and Justin “Kool-Aid” Gonzalez in 4th. Roger and Doug would connect and allow both Ben and Kool-Aid to pass. Then Ben would clip a tube spinning out allowing Kool-Aid to assume the lead. With only 2 minutes into the 7 minute final Kool-Aid was out in front with Doug in 2nd, Roger in 3rd, and Rebound in 4th. Mike fell back to 8th place in the opening laps and mounted a charge overtaking Rebound with 1:30 to go. Doug and Roger passed Kool-Aid as he flipped his buggy. Doug would hold his lead during the last minute of racing to capture 1st with Roger only 4.7 seconds back in 2nd. Mike was able to catch and pass Kool-Aid on the last lap to complete the podium.
The organizers of the Michigan State Championship Series would like to thank all that participated in our season opening event. We have made significant changes this season to continue the strive for excellence. Thanks to AMS Custom Hobbies and all our series sponsors for their support and confidence in our program. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next event at Dirt Burner Raceway May 2nd, 2015.
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