2012 Summer Showdown report

The 2012 Summer Showdown presented by Scotty Ernst was run this past weekend at Clark RC Park in Reeseville, WI. Fantastic racing all day long with exciting mains that were decided on the last lap. Expert Truggy had Jeremy Whiting take the TQ and lead the field out. A battle between Whiting, Jeff Wood and Jeff Stanford ensued as the 30 minute main got under way. Stanford unfortunately suffered mechanical issues keeping him out of the race and Jeremy Whiting opened up a lead. With only minutes left in the race Whiting had a tire come unglued and it looked as if disaster would strike but ace pitman Vic Elliot changed the tire on a pit stop fast enough to allow Whiting to keep the lead and take home the victory. Jeff Wood finished 2nd and Dave Bengtson finished in the 3rd spot.

Expert Buggy TQ Zac Rose didn’t get the start he had hoped for flaming out as soon as the tone sounded. That gave the lead over to Jeremy Whiting. Whiting again suffered problems but was unable to rebound leaving Jeff Wood and Dave Bengtson to battle for the top spot. But TQ Zac Rose had other plans, battling back from an early flameout kept his head and raced the 30 minute main til the very end passing Jeff Wood on the last lap to take the win. Jeff Wood finished 2nd and Dave Bengtson 3rd.

Electric Buggy saw a familiar face in the TQ position with Daryl Frank leading the field to start the A-Main. The race was close with none other than Scotty Ernst in close pursuit and Neil Pestka staying in close range. But in the end Daryl Frank took the top spot on the podium and Scotty Ernst settled for 2nd. Neil Pestka finished in the 3rd position.

Electric Truggy TQ Walt Zweifel had to battle all race long with Mike Aschilman and George Gastelum. The top 3 swapped positions throughout the race but Zweifel kept it on the wheels long enough to take home the win with the top 3 being separated by only 4.6 seconds. George Gastelum took home 2nd spot and Mike Aschilman took home 3rd.

Intermediate Buggy qualifying was exciting as Chad Coleman took the TQ spot, but it was bump up driver Jason Hack who proved he had the car to beat in the A-Main. An exciting race right down to the final turn as Micheal Meister looked to have a chance to win with a late race bobble from Hack but Jason held on to win the Buggy class 2nd place to Micheal Meister and 3rd place went to Skip Crain.

Intermediate Truggy set up a great 3 way battle between defending champ Anupam Das, TQ Jason Elliot and Scott McTaggart. Elliot led the first two laps but a bobble let McTaggart take the top spot and get a comfortable lead. Anupam Das looked to have 2nd place wrapped up as well but a flameout on the final lap dropped him to third and allowed Jason Elliot to take over the 2nd position.

Open 2WD Short Course had awesome racing from the start of the day right up to the last lap of the A-Main. Ted Schmidt edged out the field to start from P1 and the top 3 battled the entire race. In the end a few mistakes by Schimdt allowed 2nd qualifier Matt Sunderlage to capitalize and take the top spot with Chris Nelson coming in 2nd. Ted Schmidt ended the race in the 3rd position.

Open 4×4 Short Course had a large turnout but Matt Sunderlage proved he was the man to beat by taking the TQ spot and starting the A-Main out front… and that’s where he kept it taking the win in both Short Course truck classes. Steve Richter took home a respectable 2nd place and Adam Guerts went home with 3rd place.

At the Showdown we have a Junior class for the talent of tomorrow and they put on a great show. After two rounds of close qualifying Thomas Krueser took the TQ honors and started the race up front. A great battle followed between Thomas and Jake Coleman but in the end Thomas crossed the line first. Jake Coleman took home 2nd place and Sam Kennedy 3rd place.

Thanks to Matthew Dickinson for the report.