August 9, 2012

Short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour Rd5

The fifth round of the Short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour stopped at Hobby Town USA, Hobbyplex a massive facility that houses two full-sized RC race tracks. The tour once again brought a bevy of pro drivers and factory representatives to America’s heartland. Pro drivers like Brian Kinwald, and Billy Fischer arrived and were ready to do battle. Taylor Timmerman dropped in fresh from the Byron’s race, with the fastest youngsters in the Midwest: Cole Tollard, and Jason Hills adding to the pace of the race. Factory Fast JConcepts Guru Dave Duncan, Spektrum’s Sonny Brown, www.liverc.com and factory fast Mike Garrison, Novak’s Traveling Tech man and Short Course Showdown staffer Charlie Suangka, as well as the Traxxas crew made the trip to Omaha for stop number five. Chris Kovachevich from RC Driver and Trevor Duncan from R/C Car Action made the trip to cover the event as well.


Sunday kicked off our final round of qualifying and the main events. Mod 4×4, or Pro4 as the kids call it, was in no way boring, but was a run away victory for the TQ. TLR/Novak/JConcepts driver, Billy Fischer, was the class of the field all weekend as his truck and his power were unstoppable. Billy checked out early on and never looked back. Brian Kinwald and his Factory Team SC10 4×4 would run most of the race in 2nd spot, but last lap contact between him and the hard charging Taylor Timmerman would see the two stop on the track as a courtesy, with Kinwald yielding the spot. Alex Sturgeon powered his Losi home 4th just a head of LiveRC.com’s Mike Garrison’s Losi in 5th. 6th Matthew Howard, 7th Andy Crosson, 8th Cole Tollard, 9th Christian Blake, and Chris Cattlett would wrap up the final finishing order.

Mod SCT or Pro2 as it’s common called was a battle between the local hot shoe, and track operator, Alex Sturgeon, and the multi National, World, and Showdown Champ, Team Associated/Icon Factory driver: Brian “El Dirte” Kinwald. Kinwald got away early, but Sturgeon was not going down without a fight. He pushed his shiny new 22SCT harder and harder to real in “El Dirte”. Kinwald was able to hang on and take the win in front of Sturgeon, but just barely. Great race guys. TLR/Novak driver Billy Fischer had a rough start and was dead last at one stage, but worked his way all the way back to third. Clocking in with the fastest laptimes of the main even as well. Ultra fast, and young driver from WI, Cole Tollard earned a well deserved spot in the A-final and battled down the wire with Fischer. Last corner of the last lap was the deciding factor. Tollard drove a great race, but just “blinked” one to many times and finished 4th. Taylor Timmerman, a nitro guy wheeling electric trucks for one of the first times, came home a rock solid 5th. Young Dillan Voelker was 6th, with Jason Hills 7th, Andy Crosson 8th, Soctt Riggs 9th, and Kerek Richtsmeier 10th.

The Traxxas Slash 4×4 class is always a blast. Stop five had a full field, and a bucket of prizes for the participants. Even the racers in the B-Main went home with some fresh new Traxxas upgrades for their trucks. Travis Reitz looked strong in qualifying and stayed strong in the main. He took home the win, and was the only driver to turn a 28.7 second lap in the main. Travis was sporting some ultra sweet 3D Graphics on the baby blue ride. Nate Pachacek, and Zeke Pullen capped off the podium, with Jacob Sherman, Jake Gordon, and Tyler Lane, 4th, 5th and 6th. Ben Dilla, Tyler Dovel were 7th and 8th with Tanner Skala and Nathan Zeimet suffering breakdowns and not making the finish.

Next up was the Traxxas Spec Slash class. Running box stock Spec Slash trucks is one of the most entertaining and easy ways to get into racing short course. Traxxas also hosts the Traxxas Spec class and even brought along a handful of loaner trucks for racers to borrow for the weekend. The fastest driver in qualifying was the youngster from WI, Thomas Kreuser. The TQ jinx got the best of him, but he was able to hold on for a very strong 3rd place finish. For the youngest driver in the field to TQ and hold onto the podium, we expect to hear more about Thomans Kreuser. Will Brinton took home the overall win. The “Pringles Man”, powered by the mustache, and his brand new Ford Raptor Slash lead the field across the line by seven full seconds. Cole Henriksen finish a solid 2nd. R/C Driver staffer Chris Kovachevich had very rough start, but worked his way back to 4th. Ben Olson, Zeke Pullen, Jason Andrews Jr. and Kyle Sherman were 5th through 8th. With Kristopher Yakes and Alan Aenerude rounding out the field.

Another great class at the Showdown is the SCB class. Losi hosts this class and it’s always great to see the open wheel racing action along side the fender clad SC Trucks. The class of the field was the man behind the LiveRC news feed, Mike “Skippy” Garrison. He arrived at the Hobbyplex on Thursday afternoon and unboxed a brand new Losi SCB that he picked up from the good folks at the Hobbyplex. Bound his radio to it and away he went. Garrison not only TQ’d but he was the only SCB to turn 11 laps, and he won the main event handily. With the box stock RTR. Nice Runs Mike. Hobbyplex’s very own manager Tim Ski, made his triumphant return to the dirt track and was able to take home the number two spot. Josh Duncan finished off the podium in 3rd, with Mike’s dad Greg Garrison 4th, and Jeff McDonald 5th. R/C Driver’s Chris Kovachevich, Ryan Risley, Luke Franzen, Cliff Darnell, Jeff Pavel and Jason Dutton rounded out the 11 Buggy Field.

The TQ in Stock SCT went back and forth, but was decided in the morning’s final round. Contact between front runners Duncan and Hills would be the deciding factor. Double D would get the TQ, and lead the main event wire to wire to take the win. Jason Hill’s celebrated his 11th birthday on Sunday and put on an absolutely amazing drive. A spin out early on dropped him way back, but he charged hard and reeled in the leader to finish just a few blinks of eye behind in second. Christian Blake and his factory Traxxas Slash would cruise to a 3rd place finish, with Jason Shald, and Derek Richstmeier rounding out the Top 5. Cody Schroeder, Spektrum’s Sonny Brown, Traxxas’s Thomas Germain, Rich Richtsmeier and young Thomas Kreuser would complete the running order.

Hobbyplex has more young racers then any track we’ve been to yet, it’s always great to see the kids racing. The Novice class was great to watch as the moms and dads cheered on their young drivers, and winced in pain as the trucks took a tumble. Everyone had a great time but Cole Henriksen probably had the most fun taking home the win. Chrystian Dutton finished 2nd, with Bryson Pavel 3rd. Emerson Sturgeon, Frank Hudson, Jazz Brooke, and Jake Wiggs rounded out the 7 truck Novice field.

Our hat’s go off once gain to all of our sponsors and the factory pros that attend the Showdown Stops. The Showdown continues to bring new racers to new tracks, and the experience and talent of some of our Nation’s top talents. Next stop is September 15th and 16th at the legendary 702 R/C Raceway in beautiful Las Vegas Nevada, only minutes off the Vegas Strip. Come join us for a fun filled weekend of Short Course Racing, and tons and tons of Free Prizes. Bring the family for the free spectator raffles.

Many thanks to Charlie and Scotty for sending the report.



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