O’Donnell / Motorama…The Winning Tradition Continues!

2010 Motorama
Harrisburg, PA
February 20-21, 2010

Just as they did last year, the O’Donnell Team came into Motorama with something to prove. This time it was with three new cars, the Z01-B SG, Z01-T SG and the Z01-E. On-road legend and team driver Barry Baker was also out to prove that he could run with some of the best off-road drivers in the country.

Electric 1/8 Buggy
Baker went out in the first round and set a blistering pace, taking the TQ for the round. When all the rounds were finished and the qual points were tallied, Baker ended up second overall. In the main, however, Baker had other plans — he took the early lead and never looked back. The brand new Z01-E never missed a beat either, proving that it will be a car to reckon with. Baker also used the Team Checkpoint 5000 / 40c LiPo racing packs to provide the juice needed to take the win.

Nitro 1/8 Pro Buggy
Disappointed with his second qualifying spot in electric buggy, Baker laid the smack down and proved to everyone that on-road drivers CAN drive off-road! Besides the excellent drive by the “Fabulous One”, the Z01-B SG was extremely impressive in its national debut, taking the overall TQ in the premiere class. Unfortunately, a few miscues in the main event dropped Baker back to a sixth place finish.

Nitro 1/8 Pro Truggy
If other drivers don’t know this by now, the last thing you want to do is motivate Baker…all it does is make him drive harder and faster…and that’s what he did in the truggy main event. The first half of the race saw an epic battle between Baker and Jason Ashton…some people even stated it was one of the best races they ever saw. After Ashton had a slight issue, Phillip Atondo was there to pick up the slack and another epic chase began. In the end, the “Fabulous One” took the win in pro truggy.

Once again, O’Donnell proved that you don’t want to mess with the underdog, because you might get bitten!

Team Tekin pilot Jason Schreffler Tq's and wins the 2010 Snowbirds!

2010 Snowbird Nationals
Orlando, Florida
January 26-31, 2010

Running a Tekin RS Pro Jason Tq'd and dominated the 13.5 Rubber TC class, the hottest class at the Birds which was filled by some of the toughest, fastest, and most competitive Tc racers in the world. Jason's Tekin/TOP/Thunder Power car was on a mission all weekend. Fellow team drivers Larry Fairtrace and Jeff Cuffs also appearing in the A for 13.5 Rubber class.

Brad Johnson also won the 17.5 Rubber TC class closely followed by Tq Jeff Cuffs who was less than 1.5 seconds behind him! Close racing indeed. Jeff Cuffs also Tq'd the heavily contested 17.5 GTP class. Donny Lia also laid it down in 10.5 GTP out qualifying Hupo Honigl, fellow teammate Jason Schreffler, and Jilles Groskamp for the Tq position.

Jason even managed to qualify 7th in the Mod Rubber TC class running a 10.5! That's right a 10.5 in the mod class!

More information and seutp sheet/pics here: www.teamtekin.com.

Another Punishing Weekend for Ryan Maifield and JConcepts

2010 CRCRC Winter Mid-West Electric Championships
Columbus, OH
January 16-17, 2010

Kicking off ’10 in style the CRCRC club creates a 2-week home to some of the world’s fastest drivers competing for that first win of the New Year at the Annual Winter Midwest Championships. JConcepts driver Ryan Maifield with his RC8T-CE won the 1/8th truck class and TQ’ed the 1/8th buggy class with JConcepts tires and accessories. Also in on the action for JConcepts and AE was Florida driver JR Mitch. With both drivers having recent success at the JConcepts Clash, just a month earlier it was business as usual for this AE powerhouse.

In the 1/8th buggy class Ryan chose the JConcepts Bar Codes in blue compound to tackle the field in qualifying and the Double Dees V2 tire for the 45 minute A-main. JR Mitch utilizing the same combination qualified 5th in a field of heavy-weight contenders and was a factor throughout the main events.

In the 1/8th truck division, Ryan Maifield put his RC8T-CE out front early in the A-main running on the Sevens tire in blue compound. Ryan, The "Truggy Master" had it on 100% attack - mode for the entire race, finishing a lap ahead of the competition. JR Mitch was running quick and was up front early, also on the Sevens in blue compound. After 45 minutes of brutal action, Ryan cruised in for another well deserved win with JConcepts.

For more information, visit JConcept's web site at JConcepts.net.

Jared Tebo Sweeps 2010 CRCRC Winter Mid-West Electric Champs!

2010 CRCRC Winter Mid-West Electric Championships
Columbus, OH
January 16-17, 2010

This years event had an amazing 440 entries, including some of the Nations best. Factory Drivers like: Jared Tebo, Ryan Cavalieri, Cody King, Dusting Evans, Dakotah Phend, Matt Chambers and Jesse Robbers were all in attendance, just to name a few.

Open practice was held on Thursday and Friday. Saturday would consist of 3 rounds of qualifying. Sunday would run 1 round of qualifying, followed by triple A-Mains. The drivers best 2 of 4 rounds were used to determine the overall qualifying order.

After qualifying was complete, it was Kyosho's Jared Tebo who was TQ in all 3 Modified Classes!

In the 2WD Modified Class, Jared took full advantage of his TQ position and went on to win the 1st and 2nd A-Mains to take home his 1st title fro the weekend. Congrats goes out to Kyosho Drivers: Jesse Robers and Cody King for making the A-Main with their Kyosho RB5 SP's! Kyosho America Team Manager Joe Pillars just barely missed the A-Main by qualifying 11th overall.

2WD Modified Overall Finishing Order
1. Jared Tebo (TQ) Kyosho RB5 SP
2. Ryan Cavalieri
3. Dustin Evans
4. Steven Hartson
5. Matt Chambers
6. Jesse Robbers Kyosho RB5 SP
7. JP Richards
8. Dakotah Phend
9. Cody King Kyosho RB5 SP
10. Johnny Loguidice

In the Modified Truck Class, Jared would have a great battle with AE's Ryan Cavalieri. Tebo held off a hard charging Cavalieri to take home his 2nd title of the weekend by winning A-Main 1 and 1. Congrats also goes out to Kyosho Drivers: Cody King, Al Horne and Max Flurer for making the A-Main!

Truck Modified Overall Finishing Order
1. Jared Tebo (TQ) Kyosho RT5
2. Ryan Cavalieri
3. Dakotah Phend
4. Dustin Evans
5. Cody King Kyosho RT5
6. Al Horne Kyosho RT5
7. Matt Chambers
8. Max Flurer
9. Brandon Rohde
10. Josh Stough

In the 4WD Modified Class, Tebo and Cavalieri would go at it once again. In A-Main 1, Cavalieri took home the wind with Tebo in a close second. In A-Main 2 Tebo took the wind and Cavalieri finished 2nd. So 4WD Modified would be the only class that would come down to the 3rd and final A-Main. Tebo drove perfect to take home the win in A-Main 3 to complete his 1st ever Sweep of all three Modified Classes at one event!

4WD Modified Overall Finishing Order
1. Jared Tebo (TQ) Kyosho Lazer ZX-5 FS
2. Ryan Cavalieri
3. Dustin Evans
4. Brent Thielke
5. Dakotah Phend
6. Steven Hartson
7. Brandon Rohde
8. Mike Gay
9. Dustin Richards
10 Dan Griffin

For more information, visit Kyosho's web site at KyoshoAmerica.com.

2010 Northeast Grand Slam Series Round #3

Northeast Grand Slam Series Round #3
Cincinnati, OH
January 16-17, 2010

Team Associated Factory Team driver Keven Hébert filed the following report:

The third leg of the NEGS(Northeast Grand Slam Series) was held the weekend of January 16-17 in at Tri-State Hobbies in Cincinnati, Ohio. Having missed the second leg of the series, I had some extra pressure to do well now that I had already used my one throw-out.

Friday was practice all day and early on I was very happy with both my TC5R and 12R5.1. Along with Paul Ciccarello, I was setting some of the fastest lap times in both Pro Rubber class and Pro 1/12 Class. Chris Goetz was also showing some early speed and was turning some fast laps with his Schumacher car in the rubber class.

Three rounds of qualifying were scheduled for Saturday. At the end of the day, I had secured TQ in both the Rubber Touring Car and 1/12 classes with a comfortable five-second lead in TC and six seconds in 1/12.

The last round of qualifying and the mains were scheduled for Sunday. In the last round, I made a minor change to my TC5R and during the warm-up lap, I knew it was going to be a good round! I improved my overnight TQ by a little over two seconds to secure TQ with Chris Goetz in second, Paul Ciccarello in third, and Robbie Dodge in fourth. In the last 1/12 qualifier, I ran fresh tires for the first time; and it was the right way to go. My car did not get loose halfway through the run like it did with rerun tires so I was able to improve my time by five seconds. After qualifying was over, I was TQ with Steve Radecky in second, Mike Pulfer in third, and Paul Ciccarello in fourth.

The A Mains went just as well as qualifying. In TC I took off at the start with Chicky taking the second spot from Goetz early in the race. While they fought for position, I had a clear track in front of me which allowed me to extend my lead. I was able to maintain the gap and win the main. Craig Xavier finished second with Chris Goetz in third, and Paul Ciccarello in fourth after a big crash on the last lap.

In the 1/12 Pro A Main, the tone sounded and two laps in I lost the lead after hitting a turn marshal in the middle of the track. Mike Pulfer went by into the lead with Chicky right behind me. We ran like this for about four laps until Pulfer made a mistake and I took the lead again. Chicky stayed close to me the entire race but I was able to hold him off and take the win. Paul Ciccarello finished in second with Aaron Buran in third.

For more information, visit Team Associated's web site at RC10.com.

Drake Dominates the Brushless class at the 2010 Nitromania Event.

Nitromania X
Belgium
January 8-10, 2010

Losi driver Adam Drake traveled to Belgium to compete in the 2010 Nitromania X event. Adam competed with his Team Losi Racing 8IGHT-E 2.0 Buggy Race Roller powered by an Xcelorin 1700Kv Brushless Motor and ESC, and equipped with Losi’s 450-Series Kingpin buggy tires in Losi’s Green compound. Adam’s 8IGHT-E 2.0 dominated the brushless class at the event. Adam was the Top Qualifier and took first place in all three finals, making him the overall winner of his class for the event.

For more information, visit Team Losi's web site at TeamLosi.com.

Blackstock Continues Cleveland Domination!

2009 U.S. Indoor Championships
Cleveland, OH
November 25-29, 2009

Once again, Team Associated driver Mike Blackstock proved that he is the Cleveland master by winning the 1/12 Modified class at the 2009 U.S. Indoor Championships.

Driving a 12R5.1 powered by an LRP Vector X12 4.0 motor and LRP SXX ESC, Blackstock set the fastest qualifying time to claim the pole position. After settling into second position early on, Mike took the lead just past half-way and cruised to victory nearly a lap ahead of the of the second-place finisher.

This year's win was from the pole position, his second consecutive and third all-time. Incredibly, Mike has now appeared in the 1/12 Modified A-main for 20 straight years!

For more information, visit Team Associated's web site at RC10.com.