Dakotah Phend wins at Michigan State Championship Rd.7

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Mike Garrison

0 Sept. 17, 2012, 6:28 a.m.

Round 7 of the Michigan State Championship Series

Due to lots of rain in August, round #7 of the Michigan State Championship Series was rescheduled to Saturday September 15th. On Saturday September 15th, the series traveled to Northern Indiana for round 7 hosted by Stateline Raceway in Fremont, IN. Some people might wonder why a Michigan based series would venture to Indiana, but Stateline's location is as close to Michigan as you can get, actually located between the Welcome to Michigan and Welcome to Indiana signs! The racers were treated with a great track, amazing weather and awesome racing!

1/8th Scale Nitro Buggy

Results:

1.      Dakotah Phend

2.      Collin Weatherholt

3.      Joe Laws

4.      Shane Snyder

5.      Tyler Jones

1.      Dakotah Phend (760 points) – Champion

2.      Scott Ullig (720 points)

3.      Michael Weihl (717 points)

4.      Mike Sontag (711 points)

5.      Tony Carnes (703 points)

1/8th Scale Nitro Truggy

Since TLR/Orion/Pro-Line sponsored Dakotah Phend already clinched the Truggy title and is focusing on 1/8th scale buggy to prepare for the world championship later this year, he decided not to run truggy this weekend, providing the other racers with a chance to make up some points. Qualifying was very close between Shane Snyder and A Main Hobbies/AKA sponsored Scott Rapoport. Shane outqualified Scott by only 5 tenths of a second, which should results in a very close battle during the main. Scott Rapoport was able to take the lead at the start of the main, closely followed by Shane Snyder and Mike George. Unfortunately bad luck struck Shane on lap #4 and he had to retire. From there on, it was smooth sailing for Scott Rapoport to the finish. After crossing the line, it was Scott Rapoport in first, Mike George in second and Mike Marshall in third.

Results:

1.      Scott Rapoport

2.      Mike George

3.      Mike Marshall

4.      Chad Shorkey

5.      Larry Komisar

Current Standings (2 out of 3 drops taken into consideration):

1.      Dakotah Phend (760 points) – Champion

2.      Mo Denton (735 points)

3.      Scott Rapoport (731 points)

4.      Mike George (710 points)

5.      Caleb Henry (685 points)

1/8th Scale Electric Buggy

All year, the battle in the electric buggy class has been tight. After qualifying, A Main Hobbies/AKA sponsored Scott Rapoport was at the top of the list going into the mains. The current leader in the series, Team Tekin sponsored Nick Vasquez, recently switched to the Techno EB48 and was still trying to get up to speed on the large outdoor track. After a fairly clean start, Scott Rapoport was in the lead and started to inch away from the field. Behind Scott, the battle was on between Mike Raaz, Nick Vasquez and Ron Schwab, switching places several times during the race. At the end of the 10 minute main, it was Scott Rapoport in first, Mike Raaz in second and Ron Schwab in third.

Results:

1.      Scott Rapoport

2.      Mike Raaz

3.      Ron Schwab

4.      Nick Vasquez

5.      Chad Shorley

1.      Nick Vasquez (753 points)

2.      Scott Rapoport (747 points)

3.      Mike Raaz (724 points)

4.      Brian Trammel (691 points)

5.      Christopher Stroh (662 points)

1/8th Scale Electric Truggy

The 1/8th scale electric truggy class is not a common class at the series, but enough racers showed up to run it as a separate class. At the end of qualifying, Justin Salamin was at the top of the sheets and would start from pole in the main. The main got off to a fast start and the battle was on between Justin Salamin, Rocky Whittaker and Ron Schwab. Ron was patiently waiting behind Justin and Rocky and started making his move forward halfway into the race and was able to take over the lead on lap 9. At the end of the 7 minute main, it was Ron Schwab in first, Justin Salamin in second and Rocky Whittaker in third.

Results:

1.      Ron Schwab

2.      Justin Salamin

3.      Rocky Whittaker

4.      Jeff Barney

5.      Styles

2WD Short Course

Since round #3, it has been a dominance of TQ Racing/TrakPower sponsored Johnny LoGuidice in the 2WD Short Course class. This was evident at the end of qualifying, as Johnny was the only one able to get 9 laps in qualifying. Right after the start of the main, Johnny LoGuidice started checking out, but the battle behind him was heating up between Bryan Boucher, Russ Bryant, Russell Chester and Larry Williams. These 4 would go battle and swap positions almost every lap. Once things settled down, it was Johnny LoGuidice comfortably leading the field with Bryan Boucher in second and Russ Bryant, but Twisted RC's Larry Williams was slowly moving closer and closer. On the last lap, Larry was able to put a move on Russ. When they crossed the line, it was Johnny LoGuidice in first, Bryan Boucher in second and Larry Williams in third. By taking this win, Johnny LoGuidice secured the 2012 title in the 2WD Short Course Class.

Results:

1.      Johnny LoGuidice

2.      Bryan Boucher

3.      Larry Williams

4.      Russ Bryant

5.      Russell Chester

1.      Johnny LoGuidice (760 points) – Champion

2.      Russ Bryant (739 points)

3.      Bryan Boucher (716 points)

4.      Russell Chester (711 points)

5.      Ben Boileau (667 points)

4WD Short Course

The 4WD Short Course battle continues, as most top competitors in the series showed up at Stateline to earn valuable points. Team Orion sponsored Mike Sontag was able to put down the fastest qualifier in round 3, scoring valuable points towards the championship. After the start of the main, it was Mike Sontag leading the way, followed by Mike Raaz and Tony Carnes, but on the second lap, a mistake caused Mike Sontag to drop back to 6th, handing the lead over to Mike Raaz and birthday boy Paul Edwards moved into third. Meanwhile, A Main Hobbies/AKA sponsored Scott Rapoport was trying to recover from a horrible start and moving his way up through the field. Battles were going on throughout the field in this very competitive class and everybody was staying close together. At the end of the 7 minute main, it was Mike Raaz who crossed the line in first, Mike Sontag in second and Scott Rapoport in third. By taking second at this round, Team Orion sponsored Mike Sontag claimed the 2012 title in the 4WD Short Course class.

 

 

Results:

1.      Mike Raaz

2.      Mike Sontag

3.      Scott Rapoport

4.      Paul Edwards

5.      Larry Komisar

1.      Mike Sontag (751 points) – Champion

2.      Scott Rapoport (733 points)

3.      Tony Carnes (730 points)

4.      Mike Raaz (713 points)

5.      Kevin Morales (702 points)

Novice Class

One of the closest battles in the championship is in the novice class. This class is used to introduce racers up to 12 years old into the racing side of the hobby. Hayden Heath came prepared and was ready to close up the battle in the championship and qualified first. When the main started, the battle was on. Hayden Heath was determined to take the win and put in solid laps throughout the race. He was followed by the current leader in the championship Mike Valentine Jr and Mason Barney. At the end of the race, Hayden Heath finished in first and making up valuable points, Mike Valentine Jr in second and Tater Sontag in third after making a pass on the last lap. The championship is still up for grabs in the Novice class and we will have to wait and see how will come out on top at the finals in 2 weeks.

Results:

1.      Hayden Heath

2.      Mike Valentine Jr

3.      Tater Sontag

4.      Mason Barney

5.      Nick Chester

1.      Mike Valentine Jr (741 points)

2.      Hayden Heath (739 points)

3.      Austin Weihl (734 points)

4.      Nick Chester (708 points)

5.      Brayden Bridges (539 points)

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, Dirtburner Racing, Twisted RC and VP PowerMasters Fuel.

The final round of the Michigan State Championship Series will be at The Stables Raceway in Fruitport, MI on September 29th.

For more race results and information about the Michigan State Championship Series, visit www.michstatechampseries.com.