Alabama Manufacturers Shootout 4.0 – Report
The AMS event in Cullman, Alabama, continues to be one of the more well known races on the calendar during the summer racing season. The 4.0 event went off extremely well with the direction and management of Jimmy Babcock and Nick Black. A hefty 521 entries packed the facility for the weekend with the 1/8th classes once again showing the largest interest at this event. The now famous dirt, building and track layouts make for great racing and hold up extremely well to the punishment of the racers all weekend. Once again, the JConcepts crew was on hand to support the product, customers and race team as well as a contributing sponsor to the “Greatest show on Dirt.” Qualifying started with Team Associated/JConcepts driver Ryan Maifield picking up where he left off from previous years and TQ’ed the opening qualifier in the 1/8th truck class by a narrow margin over Jared Tebo.
The 1/8th Buggy opening qualifier was a battle once again with Tebo getting the first round by .7 seconds over Maifield. It was obvious after round 1 who the two fastest drivers were at the event. John Bernard TQed the open 1/8th e-Buggy class, Max Flurer TQed in the 1/8 E-truck class, Ryan Maifield TQed the 1/8th nitro truck class and Jacob Mueller TQed in the 1/10th SCT class. Great drives by Barry Pettit, Tyler Jones, Chris Viesins, Daimon Borkowicz, Michael Paige, John McGinty Jr among others placed themselves in the hunt for A-main showings. Round 3 didn’t see many dramatic turns in results but allowed some drivers with only 1 good run to improve in points or alter their A main grid positions. The track remained in great shape, smooth and the traction was increasing which meant slightly more tire wear. Qualifying finished up at just round 11:30pm, which was surprisingly quick considering the total heat and entry count.
Saturday morning began with the bump-up mains and as the afternoon sun came in the A main drivers began cleaning and preparing their vehicles for the longer main events later in the day. Tire choice and complete prep was crucial because no A main warm-ups were given so drivers needed to have their prep in order at the sound of the tone. The first Pro main to hit the track was the 1/8th truck A main. TQ, Ryan Maifield started out front and pulled a great lead and kept Lutz, Drake and Tebo in his rear mirror for the first 7 minutes of the race. After the first pit stop, the crowd pressured Maifield for several minutes putting a lot of speed behind the ace Arizona driver. Maifield fired back with an unbelievable next 10 minutes just pulling away from the field. The Truggy master was at his best during this stint and the entire package was working giving him an advantage. During the 2nd and 3rd pit stops, John Piant and Paul Wynn worked the pits for Maifield to perfection with consistency allowing the driver even more confidence. In the middle of the pack Jared Tebo made a great comeback and moved into 3rd then 2nd place and kept Maifield in his sights. As usual, Maifield kept the hammer down lapping all the way through 3rd place. The pit crew was on point and Maifield increased his gap as he passed the 40-minute point. Maifield pushed another quick 3 minutes and then relaxed the last 2 minutes on his way to his 3rd consecutive 1/8th truck AMS title.
The electric mains were coming down to the wire and with the double A main format the results could go to as many as 4 drivers heading into the finals. In the E-Truggy class the TQ, Max Flurer took the early lead in A2 and bolted out to a great lead. Daimon Borkowicz, Paul Cicarello and Martin Harrison were locked into battle. While Max was out front and gone, Martin maintained a great position in 2nd. Daimon fought through to challenge Martin and both drivers looked very clean and extremely hooked up. Daimon made a final move getting by Martin to solidly move into 2nd place. Out front, Max was in full kill mode and rode off to take the overall championship. Daimon Borkowicz finished 2nd and Martin Harrison 3rd.
2wd modified SCT was paced in qualifying by Jacob Mueller and after a 2nd place finish in A1 he was looking to take the overall with another great finish in A2. Jacob received the start he was looking for and had a comfortable lead. Peyton McDonald zipped into the lead group with some quick driving making his way back into contention. Hunter Cupp, the A1winner, got a bad start and also worked back into position. In the end it was Jacob Mueller taking the win and the overall championship, Hunter Cupp finished 2nd and Florida driver Peyton McDonald finished 3rd.
John Bernard easily took A1 in the open 1/8th e-Buggy class but as the drivers lined for A2 it wasn’t getting any easier. John shot out into the lead with the JConcepts equipped Mugen/Tekno E-Buggy and didn’t make any early mistakes in the race. John’s consistency and speed was too much to handle for the class and easily took A2 to wrap up the overall victory. John’s Mugen/Tekno ride was equipped with JConcepts all weekend including the finals where he wrapped up the victory with Hybrids tires in green compound mounted on Mono wheels with a Punisher body topping off the vehicle.
Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]
