Michigan State Series Round 2 report

ADVERTISEMENT | ADVERTISE WITH US

---

 

On Saturday March 3rd, the second round of the brand new Michigan State Championship Series was held at Dirtburner Hobby and Indoor Racetrack in Livonia, MI. Even though the track at Dirtburner is smaller than what was provided at the first round, it still provided for some very close racing.

 

With a record number of 161 entries from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and even Pennsylvania, it turned out to be a very long day of racing for all the 7 classes provided.

 

1/8th Scale Nitro Buggy

In the first round of qualifying, Hot Bodies driver Nick Vasquez set a very fast result on the charts with the first 19 lap run, not to be matched by anyone in the first round. In the remaining rounds, only TLR's Dakotah Phend was able to better that by a few seconds, giving Dakotah TQ for Nitro Buggy.

 

With 11 drivers in the A main on this very tight track, we expected some very close battles to go down in the 30 minute long main. Dakotah got a clean start and pulled away early, but battles were going on behind him until the end with positions changing almost every lap. In the end, it was Dakotah Phend in first place, Team Associated's Kevin Wilson in second and Mike Weihl in third.

 

1/8th Scale Nitro Truggy

In truggy qualifying, it was Mo Denton that set the initial fast pace in the first round. Dakotah Phend took over the top spot in round 2 with a blistering 19 lap pace and held on to the TQ spot, putting him first on the grid for the main.

 

The nitro truggy A main was a battle between Dakotah Phend and Mo Denton. At the end of the 30 minutes, Dakotah Phend came out on top, with Mo Denton in second and Xray's CJ Weaver in third.

1/8th Scale Electric Buggy

Just like at the first round of the series, Hot Bodies driver Nick Vasquez was the man to beat in the Electric Buggy class. Nick looked solid all day and took the win, with Ford Price in second and Scott Bostelman rounding out the podium in third place.

The 2WD short course class seemed to become a fairly easy win for Russ Bryant, as he had a comfortable lead of 10 seconds just a few minutes into the A main, but Paul Edwards climbed up through the field and closed in on Russ lap by lap. In the end Russ Bryant did take the one with less than 1 second ahead of Paul Edwards and Jimbo in third.

  

4WD Open Short Course

The 4WD short course class always provides for really close racing and round #2 at Dirtburner was no different. Battles were going on for every position throughout the A main. In the end, it was Panther's Johnny Logiudice that took the win with Steve Culbert in second and Dwight Alexander in third.

   

Novice Class

The novice, where kids of 12 years and younger can participate with their choice of 1/10th scale electric vehicle, always provides for great racing and you can already see some real talent develop at a young age. Hayden Heath took the win over Austin Weihl and Michael Valentine Jr finished in third. All the novice class racers were provided with a trophy, which were donated by Garrett Miller. 

 

The organizers of the Michigan State Championship Series would like to thank everybody for coming out and supporting the series and helping it grow into the ultimate off-road series of Michigan. A very big thank you as well to the series sponsors: O'Donnell Racing Fuel, Duratrax Performance Tires, Team Losi Racing, M2C Racing and Dirtburner Racing.

 

Round #3 of the Michigan State Championship Series will take place at Proving Grounds in Jenison, MI on April 21st 2012.

 

Photo Gallery