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Electric RS4 Results | Super Nitro RS4 Results | Nitro RS4 Results

Electric RS4

There was a long lunch/prep break between the last qualifier and first Main event race. This allowed racers to double-check their cars to make sure they will finish their race, the biggest of the weekend, and also gave the race director and his helpers extra time to repair the track and secure the corner dots and PVC pipes that made up the track.

A typical start to the weekend's races

The track on Sunday, with many spectators watching!

Electric RS4 D Main - This was the first Main race to get ready. Probably the featured racer of this Main Event was Cheri Parker. Cheri was running her first race event ever, and in fact had never driven an R/C car before this weekend! During the practice time on Saturday her husband Michael was actually helping her drive the car and as the day went on she was able to get faster by herself. And while she didn't win the D Main, she still had lots of fun running the car. The rest of the D Main consisted mainly of other racers who were running their first race, or were just learning how to run and set up their cars. The top three racers received plaques that showed what Main they qualified in, and in what place they finished.

Electric RS4 C Main - Qualified just a little bit higher than the D Main drivers, the C Main featured Christopher Jocson, last year's B Main winner and nine other contenders, including Brenda Sims, who drove all the way from Stockton, CA (at least a five hour drive!) with her husband to race both days! Brenda and Randy raced one car between them both and changed motors and batteries between their qualifying heats and Main Events. The top three racers received plaques that showed what Main they qualified in, and in what place they finished. You can tell from the laps and times that the racing was getting more competitive in the C Main, 2nd and 3rd were separated by only 3 seconds, and 4th and 5th by less than one second! 7th, 8th and 9th places were separated by less than 2 seconds, this was some tight racing!

Electric RS4 B Main - Finishing the qualifying with slightly better lap times than the C Main drivers, the B Main was made up of drivers who just barely couldn't make the hotly contested A Main. Many of these guys are local racers to the SoCal area, and all had fun in their final race of the weekend! Last year's Electric RS4 A Main 2nd place Mark Rebeck was locked in battle with drivers Ken Prue from Hitec RCD and Richard J, and Hugh Woods was just waiting for them to tangle so he could make up some time! From 1st place to 3rd place, less than 2 seconds separated them, showing that the racing was very tight at the front of the field! 5th place to 7th was also tight, with just one and a half seconds between them.

Electric RS4 A Main - The big guys with the fastest cars! With Tony Phalen in the TQ spot and Kevin Smith and Wayne Beebe right behind him, the racing promised to be fast and furious. The rest of the field spread out behind them, and because Bill Martinez had a not-so-good 3rd qualifying run (when everyone else was going faster than the 1st and 2nd round times), he started from the last position.

When the tone sounded, Tony took advantage of his starting pole position and started a bunch of clean, smooth laps while the rest of the field sorted themselves out. This built up a comfy lead for him while Kevin and Wayne battled the entire race. They were very very close at the end of the race, as you can see from the final times. Less than half a second separated Kevin (2nd) and Wayne (3rd) as they crossed the finish line for the last time!

Meanwhile, Bill Martinez and Mike Mayberry of Hitec RCD had a great battle on their own (they finished only two tenths of a second apart!), while David Potter was just behind them, waiting for a major crash from either or both so he could move up two spots. Thad Garner and Michael Parker battled for a bit and eventually crossed the line in a 'photo finish', with only four hundredths of a second separating them! Steve Wang from Xtreme R/C Cars magazine rounded out the Electric RS4 A Main, making a great showing with the best of the HPI racers!

All the finishers in the Electric RS4 A Main received plaques to let them show off their hard-won finish, and Tony Phalen went home with ANOTHER large trophy cup, and this year won an RS4 Rally kit!

Kevin Smith (2nd), Tony Phalen (1st), Wayne Beebe (3rd)

Super Nitro RS4

Super Nitro RS4 A Main - While ten drivers signed up for the Super Nitro RS4 class, only 8 could make it to the races this weekend. However, we had a good spread of racers with different degrees of experience, from raw beginners - HPI Graphics Guy Manny Hidalgo, to experienced Nitro racers - Pegasus Hobbies representative Dan Discenza and HPI Engineer Akira Kogawa. While Mario Caba set the early TQ pace, it was eventually beaten by Dan's run with his stock Super Nitro RS4.

The 15-minute Main Event for the Super Nitro RS4 racers proved to be very interesting for the spectators, since it was the first Nitro car race of the afternoon (in case you've never run a Nitro car in your neighborhood, the sound attracts a lot of attention!), and it also featured pit stops, since this race was much longer than the early qualifying runs!

Dan started in the pole position and after the early jumble and 'sorting out', it was Dan and Akira battling for the lead, and Tony and Matsuda (pronounced "MOTZ-da") traded passes for third place. Frank, Craig and Mario were gunning for the 5th spot until Mario's car stopped just a few minutes into the race. By the time he was able to get the car started again he was several laps down and eventually pulled the car off the track at the eight minute mark.

With Thad Garner doing pitman duties for Tony, his fuel stops were going as normal until something went wrong with his engine, which surrendered 3rd spot to Matsuda, so Frank gave chase until the end. Pit strategy came into play, since Matsuda only had to pit twice (he was running a stock engine) and Frank was forced to pit four times (because of the extra fuel consumption of the 15SS engine). About two thirds of the way through the race, Dan's car flamed out, which gave the easy lead to Akira, and he held on to it for the remainder of the race.

Yoichi Matsuda (2nd), Akira Kogawa (1st), Frank McKinney (3rd)

Nitro RS4

Nitro RS4 D Main - This Main Event was exciting to watch! Since the track was a little damaged from the Super Nitro RS4 race already, and the nitro cars hit the barriers also, emergency repairs had to be made while the corner marshals had to jump over cars coming at them. This was a five minute race, and even featured a husband and wife team (the Josephs) who weren't able to make the races on Saturday. Both ran stock RTR Nitro RS4 cars and had a lot of fun!

Nitro RS4 C Main - This race was notable for the battle between Jamie Schoolcraft and Mike MacMillen, who finished side by side on the final lap! Less than two tenths of a second separated them. This means that these two were battling the entire race, which unfortunately let Nestor Rinonos get a comfortable 7 second lead ahead of them.

Nitro RS4 B Main - This Main Event was easily won by Dan Discenza by over a lap on the entire field, while father-son team Robert and Austin Sarnelle battled the entire race with their Nitro cars! They only brought one car between them, convinced that they wouldn't end up in the same Main, so Robert Sarnelle asked Steve Baker (of HPI Customer Service) if he could borrow an RTR Nitro RS4 car just for the B Main, and he ended up coming in second, beating out his son for 2nd place! Dan must have had some trouble in his qualifying races, because his pace in the Nitro RS4 B Main would have put him near the top of the A Main finishers! The top three spots received plaques, though, so father and son went home happy.

Nitro RS4 A Main - As soon as the B Main started, the ten fastest Nitro RS4 racers started getting their cars ready, warming up their engines and making sure their pitmen understood their strategy for the racing. As the pitmen got ready along the pit area of the track, the racers readied themselves for their 15-minute Main Event.

At the start of the race, the first two corners were a bit brutal as the racers all tried to get around the turns in the same small space, which normally doesn't work out. Thad Garner got the best of it, however, and shot out to a 20-foot lead over the rest of the pack. Quite soon, however, Wayne Beebe's car was catching up to Thad and finally passed him at around the 3 minute mark. For a very long time it was Wayne, Thad and Ron Horrocks occupying the top three positions.

Two racers unfortunately had to retire their cars early in the race and couldn't return. There was plenty of drama in the pits as Mario Caba's pit crew and Mike Mayberry's pitman had to scramble to get their cars running after unforeseen problems crept up and had to be solved very quickly in order to not get lapped too many times. Pitmen running across the track to retrieve dead cars is a common site in many Nitro races!

The biggest gasps from the crowd came at the two-thirds mark after Thad Garner's cars came out of the pits for his final refueling. Thad's pit crew put too much fuel in the tank, and fuel entered his receiver, shorting it out and sending the car across the track twice. Luckily no one was injured and no other cars were damaged, but this is a good example of why we had construction netting keeping the crowd of spectators back!

This accident surrendered the second position to Ron Horrocks as everyone moved up in position after passing Thad's lap count. The final result was Wayne, Ron and Charlie Suangka, who had only run one qualifier!

Ron Horrocks (2nd), Wayne Beebe (1st), Charlie Suangka (3rd)

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