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Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 19 2008, 12:12 AM

Welcome to Team Associated's coverage of 9th Annual Dirt Nitro Challenge hosted by The Nitro Pit in Wittmann, AZ.

Throughout the week I will be posting reports, photos and hopefully video of the event focusing on Team Associated racers with highlights from the event.

Feel free to ask questions, post replies and discuss the event. I’ll do my best to stay in touch and answer as many questions as possible. Unfortunately I won’t have internet access at the track so all the updates will have to be done at the end of the day back at the hotel. I look forward to bringing you a daily recap and photos of each day’s events.

Team Associated Nitro Challenge Drivers In Attendance
-Ryan Maifield
-Ryan Cavalieri
-Neil Cragg
-Richard Saxton
-Lee Martin
-Kyle Skidmore
-Brent Thielke
-Kurt Wenger
-Torrance DeGuzman
-Corbyn Showers
-Jake Thayer
-Frank Root
-Matt Griffin
-Shawn Blackwell
-Jason Ruona
-Kyle Boice
-Scott Spear
-Daniel Adams

Posted by: Mike Hoffpauir Feb 20 2008, 01:29 AM

Hey Brent, how's practice going?

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 20 2008, 08:17 AM

Day 1 - Check In Day

Today was travel and setup day for most of the teams and racers. We arrive to the Nitro Pit around 4:45 to an already packed pit area. The track is looking like a typical "Joey" track with a good mix of Supercross style jumps and fast flowing sweepers and rhythm sections. Almost everyone who walked the track had the same comment, “Did you see that step-up?” I can’t wait to see a car go around this track!







Everything seems to be in order, except there has been some mention of the “R” word…rain in the forecast for Wednesday, the only day of practice. With two rounds scheduled, a bit of scattered showers shouldn’t delay the program much. Hopefully that’s all we get…

Familiar faces arrived throughout the afternoon to get a glimpse of the layout as the afternoon turned to dusk. As night fell the glow of lit up ez-ups filled the sky as racers put in one last wrenching session before practice the next morning. Working late in to the night included new to nitro, Associated’s Frank Root and Corbyn Shower’s Father, Joey Showers.

Speculation of a debut for the RC8T buzzed around the Associated pits, however the public will have to wait a little longer to see the much anticipated Truggy. Both Ryan Maifield and Richard Saxton will be wielding a Mugen in the Truggy class while Ryan Cavalieri returns with his $5000 Nitrocross winning Kyosho.

2005 IFMAR 2wd World Champion and reigning BRCA Rallycross Champion, Neil Cragg has arrived from across the pond to join his Associated teammates at the Nitro Challenge. This is Neil’s first trip to the famous Nitro Pit facility. Having spent most of the winter testing with teammate Elliott Boots on European astroturf tracks, the 100% dirt composition is a welcomed sight.



Last of the major manufactures to arrive was Kyosho. As Ryan Lutz and Levi Jackson unfolded the big red canopy, talks of the new AKA ad could be heard from passers by. What will Mark Pavidis and Cody King be running now that they are no longer associated with Proline?

Also looking to make a big splash at the Nitro Challenge is JConcepts and their line of tires. Led by Ryan Maifield , Jason Ruona’s far from start-up company hopes to build on their one round TQ of last year with the addition of other top drivers including Associated’s Lee Martin and Kyosho’s Ronnie Garnder.



Absent from the afternoon wrench session was Team Losi. Caught pitting next to his friend and GRP teammate Maifield, Mike Truhe gave his cars one last look over before setting out to defend his Nitro Challenge titles. Not much appears to be new on the Losi car other than their newly released flexible chassis. Again, the buzz around the Losi pits seems to be about tires. Both Drake and Truhe were spotted running a new tread pattern at Revelation Raceway this past weekend. And now with the announcement of the GRP tire line…what will they choose to run?



Well it’s now almost 1am and the track opens in almost 6 hours. It’s time to turn in and get those few crucial hours of sleep. Until tomorrow, or should I say, later today…enjoy the pics.

Posted by: c0sie Feb 20 2008, 09:22 AM

Wow man, why cant see have things like this in the UK! Fingers crossed Lee "Pidge" Martin will see the light and build a track like this in his back garden

Thanks for the updates Brent

Posted by: Sylvain Feb 20 2008, 11:34 AM

Nice job Brent !

Posted by: WebSteve Feb 20 2008, 03:33 PM

When I click on the pictures to enlarge them, I get gibberish text across the screen. Is there a setting I'm missing?

Posted by: Stealthy Ivan Feb 20 2008, 04:40 PM

Thats a very clean track, I like it, looks really nice to race.

Posted by: d4man Feb 20 2008, 05:13 PM

WebSteve: The same thing happens to me when I use Firefox. Try using IE.

Posted by: WebSteve Feb 20 2008, 05:19 PM

WebSteve: The same thing happens to me when I use Firefox. Try using IE.

Posted by: d4man Feb 20 2008, 05:28 PM

That worked! Thanks.

Posted by: Marshall Skare Feb 20 2008, 09:58 PM

Mark's not with Pro-Line at all anymore? Wow! Times are a-changin.

Good luck there, guys! Kick Brandon Rohde in the shin for me if you see him.

Posted by: Doughty Feb 20 2008, 10:49 PM

Go Cragg!

the track looks absolutely dialled!

the drivers stand could do with being a little higher though?

Posted by: JoePillars Feb 20 2008, 11:56 PM

BT!

Posted by: Sylvain Feb 21 2008, 12:20 AM

Why Maifield and Saxton are racing with Mugen... ? Noone races with ST-1 ?

Posted by: Balony Feb 21 2008, 12:20 AM

For those of you that cant view the images try this link from the AE Forums.. it worked for me

http://www.aeforums.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=6&hl=firefox

Posted by: Richard Lake Feb 21 2008, 01:47 AM

BT--Pics look awesome, sorry couldn't make it this year, See you on Saturday afternoon.

Rich

P/S--Good luck to all!

Posted by: JR Mitch Feb 21 2008, 02:11 AM

Why Maifield and Saxton are racing with Mugen... ? Noone races with ST-1 ?

Posted by: M.ACERO Feb 21 2008, 05:02 AM

WOW, thats a huge Pit you AE guys have, talking about rolling deep, i wish you guys had room for me, good luck to all of AE guys, and Brent thanks for pics and updates, keep the info coming........................

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 21 2008, 05:54 AM

Day 2 – All Practice

Scheduled for today were two rounds of practice for both Truggy and Buggy…28 heats total, 7 minutes run time per heat. What does this all translate to? A long day for those of us running only one class…lol.

Starting things off was Truggy followed by buggy. As the scheduled start time of 8:00 came and went, the first heat didn’t get off the pit wall until 9:30 or so. As usual, the first heat had spectators lined around the fence searching for the dialed lines. With very few surprises, the pros quickly disappeared and returned to the pits for some last minute adjustments.

Walking through the pits everyone had their new vehicles on display. Most cars had Proline tires on them with Mike Truhe and Adam Drake rockin’ their normal Nitro Pit Bow-Fighter setup. For those of you who may not know, that’s code for Crime Fighers in the front and Bow Ties in the rear. This setup tends to produce lots of low speed steering with a bit of a whippy rear end.

As the pros hit the track in the Truggy class, most appeared comfortable on the track within a few laps. Everyone was struggling with the far double-double section before the back straight. This section is at a bit of an angle and a very deceptive entry and exit. The famous step-up proved to be more of a showtime section than a difficult obstacle. It’s still a bit unclear as to whom is the fastest in the Truggy class, but I’m sure by the time the mains are set all the normal guys will be contesting for a grid in the “A” main.

Throughout the day, the build up for the 1/8th Buggy class was looming. Could Mike Truhe be the real deal two years in a row? Would World Champion Mark Pavidis return to the top of the podium? How about National Champion Adam Drake and TQ Ryan Maifield? With most drivers already having a heat of Truggy under their belt, the groove of the track was getting worn in.









LiveRC will show that Adam Drake was the fastest in practice, but does this translate to the fastest in the race? Only 3 rounds of qualifying on Friday will tell. Just like Truggy, look for the normal group of fast guys to rise to the top and contest for the TQ position.

Until qualifying…enjoy the pictures!
























^Don't Ask^

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 21 2008, 06:18 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTWGFgPGIFc

A few laps with Team Associated's Ryan Maifield and his RC8.

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 21 2008, 06:34 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqsXkSDXU7g

Adam Drake's 8ight Practice Lap

Posted by: Doughty Feb 21 2008, 09:28 AM

the track looks so perfect! the step up is ace!

good coverage Brent.

Lee Martin - ??? oooooo K

Posted by: Sylvain Feb 21 2008, 11:00 AM

I'm not a fan of huge jumps but this track is totaly crazy !!

Posted by: Jeremy Dykes Feb 21 2008, 05:37 PM

That track flows awesome and seems to be really high speed. Good job on the reporting Brent. That keeps it real for the rest of us in the frozen north!!!

Posted by: B44and501xRacer EX Feb 21 2008, 06:29 PM

Go Associated and Tamiya!!!

I like the japan cars also.
I've been an associated fan for years, and now I have a goldpan RC-10
The vintage shelf car of my dreams.

Associated and Tamiya destroy Losi....go, go, go!!

Posted by: buckeye-mac Feb 21 2008, 07:18 PM

Great writeup and video.

Posted by: WebSteve Feb 21 2008, 07:40 PM

The writeup is on the previous page.

Posted by: GOLAN_L Feb 21 2008, 09:12 PM

What tires are you running??

Posted by: Kevin Boyle Feb 21 2008, 09:53 PM

Great Stuff Brent,


Keep up the good work. Tell Jason I said hello.


Later
Kevin Boyle

Posted by: JR Mitch Feb 21 2008, 10:08 PM

Its on live rc see link below

http://liverc.rccars.com/liverc.php

Richard Saxton 2nd for round 1 in truggy

Ryan Cavalieri 5th for round 1 in truggy also

nice job AE

Posted by: ELLIOTT BOOTS Feb 21 2008, 10:37 PM

Day 2 – All Practice

Scheduled for today were two rounds of practice for both Truggy and Buggy…28 heats total, 7 minutes run time per heat.  What does this all translate to?  A long day for those of us running only one class…lol. 

Starting things off was Truggy followed by buggy.  As the scheduled start time of 8:00 came and went, the first heat didn’t get off the pit wall until 9:30 or so.  As usual, the first heat had spectators lined around the fence searching for the dialed lines.  With very few surprises, the pros quickly disappeared and returned to the pits for some last minute adjustments.

Walking through the pits everyone had their new vehicles on display.  Most cars had Proline tires on them with Mike Truhe and Adam Drake rockin’ their normal Nitro Pit Bow-Fighter setup.  For those of you who may not know, that’s code for Crime Fighers in the front and Bow Ties in the rear.  This setup tends to produce lots of low speed steering with a bit of a whippy rear end.

As the pros hit the track in the Truggy class, most appeared comfortable on the track within a few laps.  Everyone was struggling with the far double-double section before the back straight.  This section is at a bit of an angle and a very deceptive entry and exit.  The famous step-up proved to be more of a showtime section than a difficult obstacle.  It’s still a bit unclear as to whom is the fastest in the Truggy class, but I’m sure by the time the mains are set all the normal guys will be contesting for a grid in the “A” main.

Throughout the day, the build up for the 1/8th Buggy class was looming.  Could Mike Truhe be the real deal two years in a row?  Would World Champion Mark Pavidis return to the top of the podium?  How about National Champion Adam Drake and TQ Ryan Maifield?  With most drivers already having a heat of Truggy under their belt, the groove of the track was getting worn in. 









LiveRC will show that Adam Drake was the fastest in practice, but does this translate to the fastest in the race?  Only 3 rounds of qualifying on Friday will tell.  Just like Truggy, look for the normal group of fast guys to rise to the top and contest for the TQ position.

Until qualifying…enjoy the pictures!
























^Don't Ask^

Posted by: Si Fennell Feb 21 2008, 10:45 PM

Great reporting Brent
Good luck to all the team

RD2 Pro Truggy

1) Ryan Cavalieri (12/7:19.737)
2) Adam drake (12/7:20.392)
3) Jared tebo (12/7:21.822)
4) Cody King (12/7:23.471)
5) Ryan Lutz (12/7:24.689)
6) Chad Bradley (12/7:26.043)
7) Travis Amezcua (12/7:27.612)
8) Taylor James (12/7:27.672)
9) Richard Saxton (12/7:27.764)
10) Ryan Maifield (12/7:28.574)

Posted by: Mack Attack Feb 21 2008, 11:39 PM

Brent,

Great coverage, but your killin me. How is a retired Motocross Racer such as myself supposed to concentrate on anything else after seeing this kind of a layout. I can't wait to start wheelin the RC8. Good luck down there, and Good luck to the Team.

Freezing in Iowa, Wishing I was there.

Later

Posted by: JR Mitch Feb 21 2008, 11:48 PM

I think RC has a 1st and a 5th and RS has a 2nd and a 9th both look good for the main.
We just need to get Maifield in there. There on round 3 know we will see how it pans out.

Elliott coming over to the US soon for same racing

JR

Posted by: Czech-it-Out_Graphics Feb 21 2008, 11:55 PM

great write up brent! man does the orange headed GRP stick out like a sore thumb on ryans buggy lol

Posted by: Nick C. Feb 22 2008, 12:20 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqsXkSDXU7g

Adam Drake's 8ight Practice Lap

Posted by: Brian Mellow Feb 22 2008, 12:42 AM

Awesome coverage BT!! Keep it up.

Posted by: Wicked-Wayz Feb 22 2008, 03:59 AM

Thanks for keeping us all informed about how associated is doing. Keep up the good work and good luck to all the associated drivers running.

Balony thanks for the firefox IE tab option, the site is working alot better now.

Peace Aaron(W-W)

Posted by: Balony Feb 22 2008, 04:03 AM

Brent has it going on... the track does look awesome.. GOOD LUCK to all the AE guys

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 22 2008, 04:23 AM

Day 3 – Truggy Qualifying

Hello everyone. Looks like Truggy qualifying went pretty well. A few of us who aren’t racing Truggy headed over to Scottsdale R/C Speedway for an afternoon of RC8 testing. The SRS track is much better suited for electric than gas, but the surface is pretty similar to the Nitro Pit.

Testing with Neil Cragg, Lee Martin, Kurt Wenger, Frank Root, Matt Griffin, Torrance DeGuzman and myself the RC8 got around the tight SRS track well. We were able to learn some things that will hopefully translate to the Nitro Pit. Thanks to the SRS crew for the hospitality!

Sorry I don’t know much about Truggy qualifying except that Team Associated drivers Ryan Cavalieri, Richard Saxton and Ryan Maifield all qualified directly in to the main event. Also, congratulations go out to Adam Drake for his TQ efforts. Seems like there are lots of guys about the same speed, which will make for an awesome main event.

Tomorrow starts three rounds of qualifying for 40+, Amateur and Expert buggy. Keep up the chatter and I’ll check in tomorrow with more video and pictures.

Posted by: Marshall Skare Feb 22 2008, 04:44 AM

Lutz was psychotically fast with his truck today, but could only do it for 8-9 laps at a time. Everybody on LiveRC today was asking where the AE truggy was. Lots of interest in it!

Good job today, and good luck tomorrow guys!

Posted by: DarkDragon RC Feb 22 2008, 12:24 PM

I would like to wish good luck to all the Team Associated drivers.
And Brent, thanks for the report.

Posted by: Anthony Newham Feb 22 2008, 02:31 PM

Good luck guys, but it's my bed time Should be up to see round 3 of qual

Posted by: ELLIOTT BOOTS Feb 22 2008, 06:26 PM

I think RC has a 1st and a 5th and RS has a 2nd and a 9th both look good for the main.
We just need to get Maifield in there. There on round 3 know we will see how it pans out.

Elliott coming over to the US soon for same racing

JR

Posted by: Sean Maybell Feb 23 2008, 12:45 AM

Nice coverage Brent! GO TEAM!!!

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 23 2008, 07:15 AM

Day 3 – Buggy Qualifying

Well, as was suspected the dreaded “R” word showed up today about ½ way through the Pro Buggy Round 1 of qualifying. From about heat 8 to heat 12 rain was threatening the track with drops of rain here and there. With Pro Buggy starting at heat 10 those in the first few heats had a pretty large advantage.

Capitalizing on this the most was heat 11 that produced the top four qualifiers for the round. Billy Fischer led the heat from start to finish to take the pole position. Rounding out the top four was Ryan Lutz, Bobby Tillman and Associated’s Richard “The King” Saxton.

As the heats progressed the moisture on the track made the traction go from slick to tacky to muddy in the course of the remaining Pro Buggy heats. In practice, Adam Drake had the fastest laps, however fell victim to the rain and muddy conditions. Probably the best effort of the day came from Taylor James in the last heat. Using his Proline Inside Jobs, Taylor put in a near flawless run in the extremely muddy conditions.

An unusual trend developed among a few Futaba teammates during the round of qualifying. Associated’s Ryan Maifield was on pace to qualify in the top five when approximately 5 minutes in to the qualifier his car went full throttle down the back straight and flew off the track. The marshal recovered the car and got it back on the track and half a lap later the car stopped in a turn on the other side of the track. The FASST system re-bound and he was able to finish the run.

Similar “glitches” happened to Mark Pavidis down the back straight. Mark was leading his heat and on lap 8 the car flew off the track. Speculation is running through the pits that a wireless router may be causing the interference????

So with rain drizzling for the next few hours the program ran as normal and 40+ and Amateur Buggy completed Round 2 of qualifying. At the conclusion of Amateur, the race directors called a 30 minute break to assess the situation. Most drivers felt the track conditions were acceptable, but with the large jumps and elevation changes it was becoming dangerous for marshals on the track.

Taking everything in to consideration Joey Christiansen and Kenny Brosh decided to call the race for the day. So Saturday will start with the Truggy qualifying and run up to the “A” mains and then finish off Round 2 of Pro Buggy. After that Round 3 of Buggy will be completed with the night finishing with the “A” mains for Truggy. A long day, but it will be much better racing.

Switching gears a bit…Happy Birthday Jared Tebo. Today is Jared’s 21st Birthday and I was able to take him and some of the Associated team out to dinner at Outback. After an 8oz Outback Special and a few “adult beverages” we headed over to the Driver’s Social at a local pub. As the evening went on, more racers showed up and with a heavy dose of Country music (only type on the juke box) the party picked up. With a few close dart games and a can of Coke it was time to hit the road.

For me, another 10 minutes on the track today and 20 more for tomorrow. Maybe by the mains I’ll have the back double-double section down…lol. Sorry, not too many photos for the day…but what I do have are pretty telling.


Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 23 2008, 07:31 AM

A quick video from today's mud round. No one famous, but it gives you an idea of the conditions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DV4z_uQsPg

Posted by: Balony Feb 23 2008, 07:33 AM

Happy Birthday Jared!!

Brent, i didint see any " adult beverages" in front of Skids LOL now that would be good times woohooooooo

Posted by: ChrisL Feb 23 2008, 08:58 AM

Hey Brent awesome cover!!

Just a note on the Futaba thing. We are having a big race in Australia at the moment and the same thing is happeneing! Cars are all of sudden launching of the track out of control and when they are picked up go back to normal. Everyone has been scratching their heads and thinking it is there own gear but the number of problems keeps getting bigger. I'm using FASST and have killed one engine in the first incident and some front end bits in the second. Let the guys there know that others in the world feel there pain!!

Posted by: m6045 Feb 23 2008, 02:04 PM

thats a shame. just when the pros start gaining trust in the system, this happens. this could be a big setback for 2.4ghz systems in high competition racing.

Posted by: Christian Feb 23 2008, 06:36 PM

Great coverage, Brent! And good luck to all AE drivers!

Posted by: Owen RaCing Feb 23 2008, 10:51 PM

Umm, I seem to be having a problem looking at the pictures from my Mac. It just gives me code. No Picture.

Kinda sucks, because the newest photos are not yet on neobuggy.

Great rite ups!

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 24 2008, 07:04 AM

Day 4 – Truggy Mains & Buggy Qualifying

With a mostly dry night on Friday I arrived at the Nitro Pit facility to see a damp, but not wet track. A welcomed sight to say the least. The lower mains of Truggy finished around 1pm and the program quickly jumped in to the Pro Buggy Round 3.

Starting out the round was heat #14 featuring Ryan Maifield. Maifield went out and set a fast time of 12 Laps in 7:32 with a few bobbles along the way. With his radio problems behind him, Maifield knew that he just had to have two top 10 runs to make the main event and approached the heats in this fashion.

Maifield’s TQ didn’t last long as Adam Drake was in the next race and put down a time of 12 Laps in 7:28. Over the next few heats the track continued to dry and groove up. Lots of racers tried to catch the time of Drake, but none were able to. Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri came the closest and got within 2 seconds of Adam’s time, but a slow start to the heat was too much to come back from.

As the sun set, Round 3 of Pro Buggy began and the hundreds of watts of lights lit up the fast Nitro Pit track. Most racers began to choose smaller pin tires and Holeshots seemed to be the norm. With TQ still up in the air, everyone was gearing up for the “run of their life” in order to take a shot at the top spot or a place in the “A” main.

When the dust settled, Adam Drake came out on top with the TQ spot for Pro Buggy, with Billy Fischer in 2nd, Ryan Lutz in 3rd, Ryan Maifield in 4th, Richard Saxton in 5th, Jared Tebo in 6th , Ryan Cavalieri in 7th and Jeremy Kortz in 8th. Sorry I don’t know the rest…but there are quite a few notables in the “C” final including World Champions Mark Pavidis, Greg Degani and Neil Cragg.

With Round 3 finishing around 8:30, the decision was made to run only the 40+ and Amateur Buggy mains this evening and the Pro Truggy main will be ran some time tomorrow. This should allow more spectators the opportunity to watch the top guys and hopefully make for a better event.

Speaking of making for a better event. Big thanks go out to Proline and Daniel Adams for firing up the grill today and cooking lunch for the Proline drivers. Plus, this was a good excuse to take some pics of the Dirt Girls, no offense Daniel…lol.



Well, that’s about all for today. We are in store for some good main events tomorrow. If the starts of the “B” finals in Truggy are any indication, the starts could make or break the event for some drivers. Till the final recap…


Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 24 2008, 08:43 AM

Videos

A few laps with Neil Cragg from the right side of the track:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NJSmJES_8es

A few laps from pit lane with Adam Drake:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fRCt4-Wn6eM

Posted by: Kevin Boyle Feb 24 2008, 01:19 PM

Good Job Brent,


Thanks for keeping us posted.


How is Jason Rouna doing?



Good luck in the mains



Kevin Boyle

Posted by: Stealthy Ivan Feb 24 2008, 11:47 PM

Nice runs, BTW that jump with the step in it is freakin sweet!

Posted by: Kevin Boyle Feb 25 2008, 02:24 AM

Cav. Wins on the last lap... he also had the fastest single lap of the race.


Later
Kevin Boyle

Posted by: Sylvain Feb 25 2008, 02:27 AM

Really exciting race !!!!!

Great job from AE Guys all the week end. Congrats to Cavalieri and Saxton !

Posted by: tattooedchef Feb 25 2008, 03:30 AM

Really exciting race !!!!!

Great job from AE Guys all the week end. Congrats to Cavalieri and Saxton !

Posted by: GOLAN_L Feb 25 2008, 05:42 AM

Excellent results for the team!!!
Huge Congrats to Saxton & Cavalieri!

Posted by: Nick Goodall Feb 25 2008, 12:24 PM

Any news on how Lee's getting on???

Posted by: A-Team Redding Feb 25 2008, 04:26 PM

Congrats to the entire AE Team! U guys Rock!

Posted by: A-Team Redding Feb 25 2008, 04:34 PM

If you didn't know, Now you do. Ryan Cav wins Both Buggy and Truggy classes at NITRO Challenge with a Classic race to the finish in Buggy. Woohoooooo!!!!!

Posted by: IanWright Feb 25 2008, 08:22 PM

A quick video from today's mud round.  No one famous, but it gives you an idea of the conditions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DV4z_uQsPg

Posted by: Brent Thielke Feb 26 2008, 02:00 AM

Day 5 – Main Events

Wow! That’s about all I can say. I have been in r/c for over 15 years and between the Pro Truggy and Pro Buggy main events I have never seen two gas races as exciting and hard fought as these two.

Starting out the day were the lower buggy main events capped by the “B” mains where the top two finishers joined the other 13 directly qualified racers in the “A” main. In the 20-minuite Pro Buggy B, Top Qualifier X-Ray’s Josh Wheeler lead the first two laps, however on lap three had troubles and fell back to 10th.

Hot Bodies driver Travis Amezcua established himself as the leader and comfortably transferred along with Kyosho’s Taylor Peterson. Just missing the main after bumping from the “C” was World Champion Mark Pavidis. Mark put in an admirable drive after breaking his wing ½ way through the event. However the steady driving of Peterson was too much to overcome.

With the grid set for the Pro Buggy main event, the next order of business was the Pro Truggy main. The day before the decision was made to bump the Pro Truggy main to Sunday in order to allow more spectators and to better replicate the qualifying conditions. Had this not happened, the Pro Truggy main would have ended around 10pm on Saturday night with only a handful of spectators.

Pro Truggy A-Main
As most Truggy starts, the beginning of the main was chaos with trucks flipping, jumping and bouncing all over the place. TQ man Adam Drake was able to hold his position through the first few corners only to crash on the back tabletop giving the lead to Ryan Lutz who made a pass on Ryan Cavalieri in the first few corners. Shuffled back to 3rd, Drake decided to “go big” on the triple and jumped over 2nd place Cavalieri and block passed 1st place Lutz to retake the lead.

- Pro Truggy Start -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klqql3rrr0k

Over the next few laps, 12th qualifier Ryan Maifield worked way up to the back of Cavalieri. While Lutz and Drake battled for the lead, Cavalier made a small mistake leading up to the back double-double and Maifield hit him from behind. This shuffled Cavalieri back to 7th and Maifield up to 3rd. With the intensity of the first few laps behind them the drivers settled in to a rhythm and began the remaining 40 minutes. Unfortunately for Maifield the rent-a-ride Mugen that he was using

Until lap 42 the race looked like it was Lutz’s to loose. He had ½ a lap on Cavalier who had established 2nd place on lap 31 over Drake. Almost immediately you could hear something was wrong with Lutz’s car and the initial diagnosis was correct…he had blown a rear gearbox. Sprinting from the pits were his Kyosho teammates quickly looking for a rear clip to install. Off the track for over 5 minutes Lutz was out of contention for the win and Cavalieri maintained his lead over Drake and Taylor James, cruising to the “W” 12 seconds clear of the second place battle.

- Pro Truggy Finish -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CfIUgykB20



With one A-main under their belt the Pros began preparing for the much anticipated Pro Buggy final. What did they learn from the Truggy main? Could Drake win from the pole, unlike Truggy? How would Nitrocross Champion Jared Tebo fair? Would Lutz be able to maintain his outright speed for 45 minutes? Could Mike Truhe avoid the big crash that plagued him in qualifying? Would Billy Fischer find the consistency that took him to the round 1 TQ? Was this the race that Maifield shook the monkey off his back? Only 45 minutes could tell.

Pro Buggy A-Main
As the tone sounded, one would have thought that the race was a 5-lap sprint. The intensity filling the air was electric. With the fast and jump filled Nitro Pit layout, watching the top pros from around the world battle wheel to wheel was like watching a heavyweight fight. Everyone wanted to get to the front right away and aggression was at an all time high.

- Pro Buggy Start -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKvVvW_gkQI

The early leader Adam Drake pulled away from the field establishing a 5 second lead over Ryan Maifield shortly after the first pit stop. As the drivers approached the second pit stop Maifield ran our to gas 10 seconds from his pit stop. His first pit stop went 7:40 and before the second ran out at exactly 7:00. Strange, but he was able to rejoin the field in 12th, 2 laps down from the leader.

Working his way through the field, defending champion Mike Truhe battled with Jared Tebo while Ryan Cavalieri kept pace and worked his way in to 4th. Starting around lap 27, approximately 20 minutes in to the main, the pace of the chasing group of Truhe, Tebo and Cavalieri were setting a blistering pace trying to run down Drake. The sheer speed of these four drivers brought them all within 5 seconds of each other for the next 15 minutes. The crowd was cheering on their favorite driver/manufacture every lap as they passed the fence line with anything from clapping to towels to flags.

With approximately 10 minutes left in the main, Truhe worked his way in to the lead and Cavalieri in to second. The stage was set for a classic Cavalieri come back as on lap 68 of 74 he set the fastest single lap of the main and event with a 35.3. Watching him attack the front straight a way section was like watching another “RC”, Ricky Carmichael attack a motocross track.

With less than one minute left on the clock, Cavalieri was right on the tail of Truhe. A wide line by Truhe off the step down left the door open for Cavalieri to take advantage. Called controversial at the time, Cavalieri and Truhe hit and Cavalieri came out ahead with Truhe 2-3 seconds behind. Almost 2 laps remained in the 45-minute event with Truhe trying to recover and catch back up to Cavalieri who was just keeping the car wheels down.

Truhe got close on the last lap after a bit of a bobble on the back table top by Cavalieri and the two raced to the line to determine The Dirt Nitro Challenge Champion. As video and RC Scoring Pro show, Cavalieri came across the line to claim the first major International win for the RC8 four tenths of a second ahead of the hard charging Mike Truhe.

Obviously all the talk right after the main was about the pass that Cavalieri put on Truhe with 2 laps left. Was it a “hack”? Should Cavalieri have given him room? Should Truhe have checked-up since he was out of the line? Or was it just racing? Judging by the video and my vantage point, Truhe blew the line and Cavalieri was in the line. Truhe tried to get back in to the racing line and Cavalier was there. Admittingly, I was on the other side of the track and obviously routing for the Associated win. Check out the video and judge for yourself.

- Pro Buggy Finish -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tKdnmou0Rc



Well, it’s been great brining everyone some coverage of the 9th Annual Dirt Nitro Challenge, hosted by the Nitro Pit. Look for more coverage from other events throughout the year and until the next tank…


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Posted by: Brian Mellow Feb 26 2008, 03:03 AM

Yeah....he blew the line. Good job to all the AE guys and to BT for the great coverage. Congrats to RC!!!

Posted by: Sylvain Feb 26 2008, 11:14 AM

Great performance from all AE racers and also great coverage, well written, by Mr Thielke... !

Posted by: Kneedownnidge Feb 26 2008, 02:18 PM

Great reporting Brent, not normally a buggy man, but your reporting over the entire event has had me lookin in every day.....

Congrats to all the AE team...

Nigel Hale.... England

Posted by: d4man Feb 26 2008, 03:50 PM

Yep, he blew the line......Great write up Brent, thanks for taking the time to do it. Congrats AE and Ryan Cavaleri.

Posted by: Si Fennell Feb 26 2008, 04:25 PM

Great report Brent and congrats to Cavalieri and all the AE team
If anyone missed it here's what i recorded of LiveRC who's coverage
of the event all weekend was great

http://images.domino.org/v/Trance87/Rallycross/NITROPIT+A-MAINPRO.swf.html

Posted by: Kevin Boyle Feb 26 2008, 06:04 PM

Brent,

I think most of the racers will agree Mike went wide and Ryan was sticking to the pipe like glue to gain the position.


Great coverage of the race and good videos.


Thanks
Kevin Boyle

Posted by: Christian Feb 27 2008, 12:02 AM

Congratulations to Ryan Cavalieri and AE for the first big win for the RC8!

And thank you for the great race coverage, Brent!

Posted by: Kevin Boyle Feb 27 2008, 05:43 PM

Hey Guys,

I was just on Undergroundrc.com and they have great video of the race plus a good view of the line that Ryan was holding when Mike went wide. Check it out

http://www.undergroundrc.com/videos.aspx

Later
Kevin Boyle

Posted by: Balony Feb 28 2008, 02:46 AM

Awesome Race and an awesome track as well, Looks like Truhe definitly blew his line. Great job RC

Posted by: Josh Mar 3 2008, 06:35 PM

Just wondering if it was ever posted on how to fix the issue of all photo links showing up as code? Also any word on setups from the weekend. Thanks!

Posted by: Brent Thielke Mar 3 2008, 07:06 PM

Just wondering if it was ever posted on how to fix the issue of all photo links showing up as code? Also any word on setups from the weekend. Thanks!

Posted by: Hollywood Mar 3 2008, 08:20 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTWGFgPGIFc

A few laps with Team Associated's Ryan Maifield and his RC8.

Posted by: Brent Thielke Mar 3 2008, 09:25 PM

Posted by: Brent Thielke Mar 3 2008, 10:08 PM

Team Associated Pits


Richard Saxton's RC8


Ryan Maifield's RC8


Team Manager, Brent Thielke


Matt Griffin


Richard "The King" Saxton


Frank "The Prince" Root


Danny Greco


Ryan Cavalieri


Ryan Maifield


Daniel Adams


Lee Martin

Posted by: Brent Thielke Mar 3 2008, 10:35 PM

Here's a link to the setup that the team used and what propelled Cavalieri to the victory circle.

http://www.rc10.com/racerhub/setup/racersetups/2008/rc8_cavalieri_nitrochallenge_2008.pdf

Posted by: Josh Mar 4 2008, 01:17 AM

I am using the most recent version of Firefox, I also tried Safari and had the same issue. It may be a Mac thing, although this is the first website in four years of being on a Mac that I have had absolute zero luck getting anything to work. Not a huge deal, I am here for the info anyway! Thanks for posting the setup, I had heard it was quite a bit different and wanted to check it out. Thanks!

Posted by: Balony Mar 4 2008, 11:08 PM

Just wondering if it was ever posted on how to fix the issue of all photo links showing up as code? Also any word on setups from the weekend. Thanks!

Posted by: joeyshowers Mar 18 2008, 04:04 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTWGFgPGIFc

A few laps with Team Associated's Ryan Maifield and his RC8.

Posted by: Chris08 Mar 22 2008, 12:55 AM

Toobad they dont air the racing on TV !! That would be sweet (DO THEY)???

Posted by: MustGoFaster Mar 22 2008, 12:58 AM

Not on TV (that I know about) but they did show it on www.liverc.com which includes video and live results.