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**UPDATE - MAIN DAY - 7/17/2011**
First and foremost we apologize for the delay getting our main day report to you, after a long day of mains and a long drive home, we discovered that we left our computer behind! Thanks to the friendly hotel staff we are now back in action!
Of all the misfortune from the weekend, our hat is off to the most determined racer and turn marshall of the weekend. One of our very own LiveRC photo contributors, Brad Shearer, would catch the worst of luck. While turn marshalling the intermediate buggy class, in an effort to quickly get a car on the back straightaway jumps, was struck in the face with a buggy. After a trip to the local hospital and 11 stitches, he was back in time for his main! We were sure glad to see Brad back at the track, and needless to say he was relieved of his turn marshalling duties for the rest of the day.
Sunday was full of excitement, unexpected events, and heat on and off the track. The unique pro double a-main format would prove to be double the action and double trouble for many.
Pro Arena Truck: A1 would see Ryan Lutz and his rent-a-ride Conwell Motorsports truck take the lead early on and cruise to victory. With bad luck striking in qualifying, Xray's Josh Wheeler would have to bump from the B-main, but would prove a strong competitor as he worked his way through the pack. While he worked his way up into 3rd, his teammate Josh Branham held strong in the 2nd place spot finishing 12 seconds ahead of Wheeler in third.
A2 was by far one of the wildest races of the day. As the drivers were getting setting for the "go tone", revving their engines, suddenly a giant BOOM from the TQ's, Ryan Lutz, truck! Something snapping internally on the truck ended his race and chance for the overall win before the race started. The race went on and it was Team Durango's Taylor James, also with a rent-a-ride truck, who would move to the front of the pack. At the 15 minute mark, hard charger Josh Wheeler, would once again be struck with bad luck as his race ended. Just when it looked as though James may pull away from the pack for the win, disaster struck. Landing the big triple on the front straight and making the turn, James' truck lost all signal and took off in a runaway, jumping pipes, cones, marshalls, and finally stopping after smacking into the track banners and fencing at the far end. A disappointed Taylor James made his way back to the pits to watch the rest of the race from the sideline. Your 2nd place finisher from A1, Jason Branham, was once again right there in the mix proving to be the most consistant and would secure the A2 win for the overall Pro Arena Truck win! Jimbo Kvidera and TLR's Sonny O' would finish up in the top three positions.
Pro 1/8 Buggy: A1 would be all Ryan Lutz, as he rocketed out front with his Durango DNX408. Getting out front and slowly stretching out his lead lap after lap. Behind him would be the battle of the local boys as JQ's Matt Gosch and Xray's Josh Wheeler would battle it out for the 2nd and 3rd place spots. In the end it would be Lutz with the win, Wheeler in 2nd, and Gosch in 3rd. An impressive run by Josh Branham for 4th and Justin Wheeler finishing a strong 5th.
A2 would see tough luck for several drivers. 3rd place finisher from A1, Matt Gosch, suffered a flame out dropping him back through the pack from the 4th place spot. It was the Durango's of Ryan Lutz and Taylor James who would run out front. While Ryan Lutz would prove the dominant force once again out front. It would be Missouri natives Taylor James and Josh Wheeler who would go wheel-to-wheel for the 2nd and 3rd place spots. In the end the Xray of Josh Wheeler would take over 2nd and James 3rd.
The overall finish for the 2011 Futaba / OS Nitro Challenge Pro Buggy would be Ryan Lutz, Josh Wheeler, and Jason Branham going 1-2-3.
Be sure to check out all of the awesome photos below from our good friends, racers, and photographers Steven Maxwell, Andrew "Moose Kane, and Brad "Stitch" Shearer!
**UPDATE - QUALIFYING - 7/16/2011**
With an extremely long day of qualifying finishing up at just past 11pm, the stage has been set for some intense racing in today's mains! Each class had it's own unique twist and turn of good and bad luck for drivers, making qualifying closer than ever.
In all 6 classes, we saw some wheel-to-wheel racing right down to the wire. As expected the pro classes were full of excitement, but no one expected the events that would take place!
Pro Arena Truck: The day would start off with Team Xray's Josh Wheeler and Team Durango's Ryan Lutz battling it out for round 1. As Team Durango has not yet released a truggy, Lutz was set up by Dirtburners track official, Chris Conwell, with his personal truck to run. With a little fine tuning, Lutz was right on pace. In the end round 1 would see Josh Wheeler ahead of Ryan Lutz by 1 second for the top spot. Xray teammate, Jason Branham would finish up in the third spot.
Round 2 started off with a bang as Wheelers XT8 launched across the track in warm-ups with a run away! Ending his run before it started, Wheeler was forced to sit out round 2 with technical difficulties. The only driver who would turn 16 laps in round 2 would be TQ Ryan Lutz. Finishing up a solid 2nd place for the round would be Team Associated's Michael Paige followed by Lutz's teammate Taylor James (also running a borrowed truck) in 3rd.
Round 3 set off under the lights with the resort in place for a top notch final round of qualifying. To everyone's surprise, and round 1 TQ's misfortunate, a hard hit once again in warm-up would break the truck of Josh Wheeler setting him out for round 3! Looking strong start to finish was Ryan Lutz, putting his high-speed drifting out front and in style. While Taylor James started out strong running a borrowed AE RC8T, a broken truck at the 3 minute mark would knock him out for the round. Xray's Jason Branham would secure the second place spot, followed by the consistant driving of Team Associated Michael Paige for the round.
A-MAIN STARTING GRID
Pro 1/8 Buggy: With the crazy turn of events in the pro truck class, we weren't really sure what to expect in the pro buggy class. Needless to say, we weren't disappointed as the drivers turned up the heat! With a lot of testing and development on the DNX408 recently, the Team Durango drivers caming out swinging for round 1. Ryan Lutz and Taylor James would be the only two drivers to reach the 16 lap mark, as 3rd place finisher Josh Wheeler would miss it by only 1 second for 3rd. Lutz crossed the line for Round 1 TQ 5 seconds over Taylor James.
Round 2 was a battle of the Missouri natives, as local driver Josh Wheeler would get out front early with his Xray 808. It wasn't long before Taylor James (Kansas City, MO) would work his way up to the top to give Wheeler's time a run! A few minor mistakes by James looked as though Josh Wheeler would secure TQ, when out of no where Taylor James clicked off some of the fastest times of the day to finish up 2 seconds ahead of Wheeler for Round 2 TQ. After a struggle in Round 1, Jason Branham managed to hold strong in Round 2 for a 3rd place finish.
Round 3 might have been the most exciting race of the day. Everyone getting out to a clean start, it looked as though there would be a 3 way battle between Wheeler, Lutz, and James. Bad luck would strike Josh Wheeler again, flaming out and dropping back in the pack. While all eyes were on the Durango's of Lutz and James, several minutes in it would be JQ's Matt Gosch who stepped up to take the lead. Putting in a very impressive run, Gosch held strong with the rising pressure of 2nd place Ryan Lutz closing in. With 2 minutes to go, a slight mistake from Gosch would give the lead to Lutz who secured Round 3 TQ. Gosch finished a solid 2nd place, followed by Branham and James.
A-MAIN STARTING GRID
Despite the long hours of qualifying, it was another awesome day at the 2011 Futaba Nitro Challenge. Futaba/OS set up displays with RealFlight 3D simulators to play, handed out t-shirts, and prepared for today's giant raffle giveaway. On hand was our friends of RC Car Action Magazine to cover parts of the event as well. It has been great to see the event grow even bigger, and bring drivers from all over the United States for some good ol' midwestern race action! We were also excited to see the return of Levi Jackson, after his "mini-retirement" from r/c after the ROAR Nationals at Thunder Alley.
Linking up with some of the local racers, we were able to get a pretty awesome selection of photos from today for you to check out as well! A BIG thanks to all of the photographers helping us out for the weekend! Check out the updated photos below, and stay tuned tonight for the LiveRC Main Day Report! More pics coming soon!!!
**UPDATE - FRIDAY PRACTICE - 7/15/2011**
Today kicked off a full day of practice for this year's Futaba/O.S. Nitro Challenge. While the turnout was expected to be high, no one expected the near 300 driver entries that showed up. In attendance amongst those drivers are Team Durango's Ryan Lutz & Taylor James, JQ's Matt Gosch, Xray's Josh Wheeler & Jason Branham, Mugen's Mike Battaile, Team Associated's Mikey Paige and many more!
The Dirtburner's track crew has put together an awesome track layout that brings speed, flow, and BIG air into the equation. The track features a big front straightaway triple that caused havoc for many as the day got started. The back straightaway consists of a jump on - jump on - jump off section that is proving to be a fun yet tricky section. Along with the big air time is strategically placed mogul sections, large elevation changes, and high speed straights.
Race sponsors have provided an incredible amount of giveaways and prizes, which included fuel, wheels, tires, and more being given away today during PRACTICE! The old saying "everyone is a winner" might just be true at this year's Nitro Challenge!
After a full 12 hours of semi-controlled practice the track quickly grooved up and saw some serious fast laps being laid down. On the track the Durango's of Ryan Lutz and Taylor James appeared to be setting the pace. Both drivers are said to be racing Pro Truck tomorrow using borrowed rides as well, however, we did not see them practicing with anything but their buggies today. The hometown boys of Josh Wheeler, Justin Wheeler, and Matt Gosch were looking very smooth all through the day, and while their laps may not have been quite the pace of last year's winner Ryan Lutz, their consistency was unmatched. AE's Mikey Paige showed off the new worlds parts for the RC8B in serious style also clicking off consistant fast laps. It's anyones guess as to who has the upper hand until racing officially kicks off.
All 3 rounds of qualifying will take place tomorrow, taking the best 2 of 3 rounds by qual points. With intense competition, and full classes across the board, this could be the biggest and best Futaba/O.S. Nitro Challenge yet! With a LONG day of qualifying ahead, don't forgot to check back tomorrow night for the LiveRC exclusive qualifying report!
Original Story:
While majority of the LiveRC crew is making their way to present you with unlimited live coverage of the IFMAR Worlds in Vaasa, Finland, those of us still here in the US are making our way to the 2011 Futaba Nitro Challenge hosted by Dirtburner's RC just outside of St. Louis, MO. Unfortunately due to no internet connection at the park, we will be unable to provide live coverage and scoring for the race, however, with several heavy hitters including Ryan Lutz, Taylor James, Josh Wheeler, Mike Battaile, and many more in attendance, we will bring you daily updates and reports of all the racing action!
Futaba and OS Engines have put together an unbelievable event, giving away hundreds of prizes including 4PK radios, OS Speed engines, and more. Fastlane Graphix has custom wrapped Duratrax pit mats for the winners of each class, and the Dirtburner's track crew has put together an awesome track for racing.
Friday practice kicks off in the morning followed by Saturday qualifying, and Sunday mains. Stay tuned daily for the updates and reports from this years 2011 Futaba/OS Nitro Challenge!
07/19/11
By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com
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