The Michigan State Championship Series Round 4 report

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On Saturday July 27th, most of the regional top racers made their way to the fourth round of the Michigan State Championship Series at Stateline R/C Raceway, right on the state line in Fremont, IN. A brand new layout was put in place for this race by the crew and provided a lot of high-speed combined with technical sections and big air! With a total of 132 entries, this was ensured to become a great day of racing. The cooler temperatures were a nice change of pace after several hot weeks of racing.

The event started off with a memorial lap in memory of Bill Bridges. Bill was very influential in RC over the years in Michigan and Ohio, as well as one of the co-founders of the Michigan State Championship Series. Bill battled cancer for the last few years and passed away on Sunday June 23, 2013. Bill will be missed by many at every race. There will be a memorial race for Bill on August 17th at THE Track in Carleton, MI and all the benefits of the event will go to the Bridges' family.

1/8th Scale Nitro Buggy
Throughout qualifying, people were trying different setups and tires to get the most traction possible and the top 10 kept changing after every round. In the end, it was TLR's Derek Weatherholt claiming TQ honors.

After the start of the 30 minute main, Derek Weatherholt came through clean, closely followed by his little cousin, TLR's Collin Weatherholt and TLR's Tyler Jones. While the two Weatherholts were starting to check out, battles developed for the rest of the positions and every lap it would get shuffled around. After the second fuel stops cycled through, the battle for the top position was very close until the two cousins came together, causing Collin's rear shock to break and resulting into his retirement from the race. This handed the 2nd spot to young Tyler Jones with Scott Ullig in third and VP PowerMaster Fuels/Beta Tires sponsored Mo Denton in 4th. A few laps later, Scott Ullig was forced to retire as well after experiencing engine issues. At the end of the 30 minute main, it was Derek Weatherholt crossing the line first with a lap on the field. Tyler Jones crossed in second and Mo Denton in third.


Results:
1. Derek Weatherholt
2. Tyler Jones
3. Mo Denton
4. Tony Carnes
5. Jay Chura

Standings after 4 rounds (1 drop taken into consideration):
1. Mo Denton (438 pts)
2. Scott Rapoport (422 pts)
3. Tyler Whittaker (420 pts)
4. Brian Borle (418 pts)
5. Scott Ullig (417 pts)

1/8th Scale Nitro Truggy
After 3 rounds of qualifying, VP PowerMaster Fuel/Beta Tires sponsored Mo Denton managed to claim TQ honors by being only less than 1/10th of a second faster in his run than TLR's Jay Chura! This should promise some close racing during the mains!!

After the start of the main, it was Mo Denton leading the pack, ahead of Shane Snyder, Jay Chura and the rest of the field. Mo would manage to stay in the lead the whole 30 minutes, while the battle behind him developed between Shane Snyder, TLR's Joe Laws and TLR's Jay Churra. At the end of the 30 minutes, it was Mo Denton who crossed the line in first, followed within a second by Shane Snyder and Joe Laws in third.


Results:
1. Mo Denton
2. Shane Snyder
3. Joe Laws
4. Jay Chura
5. Mike Marshall

Standings after 4 rounds (1 drop taken into consideration):
1. Mo Denton (449 pts)
2. Shane Snyder (433 pts)
3. Mike Marshall (425 pts)
4. Chad Shorkey (417 pts)
5. Scott Scarvelli (414 pts)

1/8th Scale Electric Buggy
Qualifying in the Electric Buggy class came down to the third round and in the end it was TLR's Tyler Jones who put in a explosive run to claim TQ honors!

Tyler Jones managed to get a clean start in the main, closely followed by Hot Bodies/Tekin sponsored Nick Vasquez, Scott Ullig and the rest of the field. TLR's Collin Weatherholt suffered a horrible first lap, but start putting in consistent fast laps to climb back through the field all the way up to second place. At the end of the 10 minute main, it was Tyler Jones crossing the line in first, followed by Collin Weatherholt in second and Nick Vasquez in third.

Results:
1. Tyler Jones
2. Collin Weatherholt
3. Nick Vasquez
4. Shane Snyder
5. Scott Ullig

Standings after 4 rounds (taking 1 drop into consideration):
1. Nick Vasquez (446 pts)
2. Scott Ullig (430 pts)
3. Paul Edwards (427 pts)
4. Tony Carnes (425 pts)
5. RJ Hart (413 pts)

1/8th Scale Electric Truggy
Doug Burton managed to put down a fast run in the first round of qualifying that would hold up throughout qualifying to claim TQ honors.

After a somewhat chaotic start of the main, it was Panther/DE Racing sponsored RJ Hart taking the early lead, closely followed by Rocky Whittaker and the rest of the field. After a few laps, it was Ron Schwab that was on the move through the field and by lap 10 he managed to take over the lead shortly, ahead of Rocky Whittaker and RJ Hart, but Rocky Whittaker managed to make a pass back to lead the field into the last few laps. On the very last lap, the top 3 was all over each other and finished within seconds of each other. When the dust settled, it was Rocky Whittaker taking the win, ahead of RJ Hart in second and Ron Schwab in third.


Results:
1. Rocky Whittaker
2. RJ Hart
3. Ron Schwab
4. Doug Burton
5. Doyle Strappazon

Standings after 4 rounds (taking 1 drop into consideration):
1. RJ Hart (444 pts)
2. Rocky Whittaker (443 pts)
3. Ron Schwab (438 pts)
4. Joey Genovese (431 pts)
5. Justin Salamin (427 pts)

2WD Short Course
The track conditions were pretty challenging for the 2WD Short Course class and everybody was struggling to get good traction to put in good runs during qualifying. After 3 rounds, it was TrakPower sponsored Tony Carnes that managed to get a great run in round 3 and claim TQ honors.

After the start of the main, Tony Carnes managed to get a clear start while the field was battling behind him under the lead of George 'G3' Berridge, followed by Joey Genovese, Team Durango/Pro-Line/TrakPower sponsored Edwin Hartman and the rest of the field. A few laps into the race, Tony Carnes had build in a good lead over George 'G3' Berridge, who had a good gap over the rest of the field. Behind the top 2, it was Edwin Hartman that was on the move after making a mistake early in the race and dropping back to 7th. By lap 8, Edwin Hartman was all over George 'G3' Berridge and managed to make the move stick. Unfortunately George experienced radio problems and had to retire shortly after that, giving the 3rd spot to young Chase Boothman. Edwin attempted to close the large gap to Tony Carnes, but ran out of time. At the end of the race, it was the two TrakPower drivers Tony Carnes and Edwin Hartman that showed that the MS-1 system works very well by finishing first and second with young Chase Boothman in third.


Results:
1. Tony Carnes
2. Edwin Hartman
3. Chase Boothman
4. Joey Genovese
5. Jeff Barney

Standings after 4 rounds (taking 1 drop into consideration):
1. Tony Carnes (445 pts)
2. George 'G3' Berridge (440 pts)
3. Edwin Hartman (435 pts)
4. Gary Watts (432 pts)
5. Joey Genovese (429 pts)

4WD Short Course
TrakPower/Futaba sponsored Tony Carnes managed claim TQ honors in the 4WD Short Course class.

After the start of the main, it was Tony Carnes in the lead, followed by Joe Couch, Andrew Chupp and the rest of the field. Towards the end of the 7 minute main, Mike Hardin was making his move through the field to climb up to third. In the end, it was Tony Carnes finishing in first, Joe Couch in second and Mike Hardin in third.
 

Results:
1. Tony Carnes
2. Joe Couch
3. Mike Hardin
4. Russell Chester
5. Andrew Chupp

Standings after 4 rounds (taking 1 drop into consideration):
1. Scott Rapoport (450 pts)
2. George 'G3' Berridge (425 pts)
3. Gary Watts (423 pts)
4. Michael McDuffey (421 pts)
5. Russell Chester (419 pts)

Novice Class
Young Nick Chester showed everybody that he came ready to battle by taking TQ honors after 3 rounds of qualifying!

After the start of the main, it was local Zac Mittelstadt that took the lead, ahead of Nick Chester and Max Mittelstadt. Zac made a mistake on lap 5 and Nick Chester took full advantage by taking over the lead and he would not look back and managed to lap the whole field! After the 7 minute battle was done, it was Nick Chester crossing the line in first, Max Mittelstadt in second and brother Zac Mittelstadt in third!
 
Results:
1. Nick Chester
2. Max Mittelstadt
3. Zac Mittelstadt
4. Brayden Hart
5. Gavin Collett

Standings after 4 rounds (1 drop taken into consideration):
1. Austin Weihl (454 pts)
2. Nick Chester (447 pts)
3. Brayden Hart (439 pts)
4. Kody Culbert (150 pts)
5. Zac Mittelstadt (145 pts)


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, Pro-Line Racing, M2C Racing, Dirtburner Racing, Team Durango, TrakPower Speed Equipment, VP PowerMasters Fuel, Sumo R/C Racing Products and Advantage Racing Products. Also a big thanks to the crew at Stateline R/C Raceway for providing a great facility for us to race on!

Round #5 will be at The Stables Raceway on August 24th 2013.