2018 Silver State race – Report
The 2018 Silver State race was held at South Point Hotel Casino and Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada last weekend, attracting the creme de la creme of the US’s off-road pilots. This year’s Silver State was a totally new experience from year’s past. In many ways, you can say that it’s a version 2.0 or a refresh of a great race organized by Joey Christiansen and The Dirt crew that still has the familiar taste, but a whole new look. One of the reasons why the Silver State is so popular is the plain and simple fact that it’s held in Las Vegas, Nevada also known as City of Lights (or Sin City whichever you prefer). Keeping the tradition alive, Joey decided to keep the race in Vegas but came up with a great idea to have an 8th scale and 5th scale race simultaneously at the South Point Hotel Casino and Spa. To everyone’s pleasant surprise, Joey hit the jackpot.
At too many races, racers spend almost all day at the track and barely have any time to hang out and do something fun outside of the track like have a nice relaxing dinner, go for a few drinks, chill by the pool, bowling, movies, etc. This race really felt like a race and a vacation all in one package. With 500 entires, the new Silver State is only going to get bigger from here on out.
It was an epic race between three of nitro’s best in the Pro Nitro Buggy class between Mugen’s Ryan Maifield, Xray’s Ty Tessmann, and Kyosho’s Jared Tebo for the entire 45-minute A-Main. Maifield and Tessmann battled for the lead and fought nose to tail swapping position multiple times during the race. Each time, the crowd would react with excitement, cheering for their favorite racer. In the end, Tessmann crossed the line to take the win with Maifield in 2nd. Jared made an amazing return to the podium with an excellent 3rd place finish with classic Tebo driving and flair.
In Pro Nitro Truggy the 2018 Silver State saw a remarkable return of a Champion. Kyosho’s Jared Tebo was fast all weekend and it reminded us of his true potential and speed. Qualifying himself 3rd overall, Jared made quick work to move right behind Ty to challenge for the lead. The two goliaths would go back and forth for the race lead, but on lap 20 of 76, Jared put down the hammer and was able to take the lead to the finish line and took the win. Ty finished 2nd and only 5 seconds back with Truggy Master, Ryan Lutz closing out the top 5.
Tekno’s Ryan Lutz took an unprecedented win in the Pro E-Buggy class with fast and consistent driving that saw him take the top step at the 2018 Silver State. Lutz’s smooth driving style was perfectly suited for the rough track conditions and was proven in the 10 minute A final. Mugen’S Ryan Maifield got off to a slow start and a critical mistake on the 4th lap gave Lutz the lead and from there, the battle was on for 2nd between Maifield and Tekno’s Joe Bornhorst. The two traded places a few times, but Maifield put it into overdrive and finished 2nd and Bornhorst took home 3rd.
It was a terrific race for JQ’s Greg Degani as class TQ and race leader, Team Associated’s Richard Saxton, had electronic problems and was only able to recover to 4th. This made the 40+ Nitro Buggy class wide open and saw Degani race his way to the front. Finishing 2nd and only 5 seconds back from the former World Champion, HB Racing’s Shane Odgen recovered from a disastrous start dropping from 3rd to 11th and battled his way back to 2nd and even saw Shane fighting for the win. TLR’s Eliot Martinez moved up a remarkable 4 spots from his 7th place starting position to take 3rd on the podium.
It was lights out for Mugen Seiki’s Ronda Drake as she was put on a clinic to finish well ahead of the competition in the 40+ Nitro Truggy class and took a terrific win. Finishing up 2nd was Tekno’s Jimbo Kvidera who fought hard to rise above the rest adding yet another fantastic podium finish to his resume. Perhaps the best finishing result of the group came from 3rd place finisher, Chris Nelson, who moved up a remarkable 9 spots to finish on the box in 3rd.
Source: JConcepts [jconcepts.net]
