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| Concours | Qualifying
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The last round of qualifying was run on Sunday morning at about 10 AM. This gave drivers plenty of time to dial in their cars or get them working if Saturday didn't go very well.
After qualifying, the main events began. We started with the Electric RS4 class, then moved to Nitro racing with Box Stock, Nitro Open, Super Nitro, and the first running of HPI Proceed cars in an exhibition run that showcased just how fast and strong the Proceed is!
The Electric RS4 B Main started off strong enough, Jose had a full straightaway lead after the first couple of laps. Darren Lighty of Patterson, New Jersey and Rusty Hamilton of San Antonio, Texas were duking it out for second until Rusty started to dump prematurely. At the end of the race it was Jose and Darren crossing the finish line about 12 seconds apart with 11 laps.
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Electric RS4 Stock B Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | Jose Garcia | |
| 2 | Darren Lighty | |
| 3 | Rusty Hamilton | |
| 4 | Billy Baker | |
| 5 | Mauricio Alvarez |
TQ
spot holder Chris Tran had a nasty couple of first turns and was pushed
back to 8th or 9th spot after the first lap of the Electric RS4 Stock
A Main. He started working his way up almost immediately, however, but
after the first lap it was Jojo Biag, Michael Patterson and Billy Clark
in the first three spots. Halfway through the race, Michael was in the
lead and pulling away from the rest of the crowd. Chris Tran was still
catching up, however, at least until he pulled off because of a mysterious
mechanical difficulty. Although Chris was still on the lead lap at the
end of the race, Michael ended up with the win, with Miguel Hernandez
in second and Gary Vuong in third.
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Electric RS4 Stock A Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | Michael Patterson | |
| 2 | Miguel Hernandez | |
| 3 | Gary Vuong | |
| 4 | Tom Robertson | |
| 5 | Chris Tran | |
| 6 | Russell Hamilton | |
| 7 | Mark Massingill | |
| 8 | Eric Hodge | |
| 9 | Jon Dykes | |
| 10 | Tobey Taylor |
After the first lap of racing, it was Vanee Payne, Alonso Alonso and Ed Hulse charging forward with the lead, while the rest of the field tried to catch up. They exhanged positions in the top three for most of the race, but at the end of five minutes it was Alonso in front with Ed and Vanee taking 2nd and 3rd!
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Box Stock Nitro RS4 B Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | Alonso Alonso | |
| 2 | Ed Hulse | |
| 3 | Vanee Payne | |
| 4 | Kaven Mitchell | |
| 5 | John Dunhew | |
| 6 | Andrew Dibello | |
| 7 | Romulus Gibbs |
The Box Stock Nitro RS4 A Main proved to be one of the most exciting races to watch during the day! With the close competition of the "spec-model" kits, it made the racers concentrate on driving versus horsepower, and also tested their tuning abilities to the limits. Brandon Mize held onto TQ during all of qualifying, and after the first few corners of the race he still was in the lead, but was followed closely by Kent Saldana and William J. Norris. With seven minutes remaining in the race, Brandon was still in the lead but Dave Meloni had taken second spot from Kent, who was now in third spot and chased by the rest of the field. Brandon held onto his lead by a full straightaway and was starting to breathe easy.
At the halfway mark, everyone started pitting. Dave and Kent came in at the same time, but Kent left the pits first, giving him second spot over Dave! Dave's brother Ron rushed to get fuel into the car and in his hurry didn't fill up the tank all the way. The next lap, Brandon came in for fuel but flamed out! His pitmen pulled the car over the pit wall to work on getting the car started again. Dave started catching up to Kent again while Brandon went back out on the track, about a lap behind Kent and Dave in the top two spots, with William Norris close in third. After the pit lane flameout, Brandon was in fourth but catching up quickly. Dave and Kent were trading places for several laps, which allowed William and Brandon to close in, but Brandon was still a lap behind. Suddenly, Kent had to pull off the track with a missing dogbone, so Dave inherited the lead, putting William in second and Brandon in third! Brandon flamed out again, forcing his pitman to run to the corner marshal to pick up the car. Brandon lost another lap getting the car started, unfortunately. William came in for a quick fuel stop, which was good for him, because Dave ran out of fuel right before the finish line on the last lap! His brother Ron got the car fueled up and started again to get across the line, but William had already won the race. What a race, and what a finish!
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Box Stock Nitro RS4 A Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | William J. Norris | |
| 2 | Dave Meloni | |
| 3 | Brandon Mize | |
| 4 | John Cannon | |
| 5 | Eric Barnett | |
| 6 | Kent Saldana | |
| 7 | Brad Ballard | |
| 8 | Joshua Hunt |
The first main event for the Nitro RS4 Open class started with Derrick Mickens in the lead, with Greg Keenan, Rich Kennedy and Curtis D. Hamlin following close behind. For the first few laps, Derrick held off Greg until Derrick was passed at the end of the long straight. Apparently Derrick had a connection come off somewhere and had to end his run. This moved everyone up a spot, with Rich and Curtis battling for second. A moment of panic on the track occurred when Greg ran out of fuel with 30 seconds left in the race, but he had already lapped everyone for the win! Rich and Curtis went home with 2nd and 3rd spots.
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Nitro RS4 Open E Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | Greg Keenan | |
| 2 | Rich Kennedy | |
| 3 | Curtis D. Hamlin | |
| 4 | Derrick Mickens | |
| 5 | Tom Alexander | |
| 6 | TJ Perkins | |
| 7 | Johnny Rivera | |
| 8 | Peter Cruz | |
| 9 | Romulus Gibbs | |
| 10 | Marvin Beckett |
After the first lap of the Nitro RS4 Open D Main, it was Chris Painter, Jason Rasco, Michael McClure and Fritz Wolf in the top spots and fighting for the lead. After Jason caught a wall on the infield, Chris Painter and Michael McClure caught up to him and poured on the pressure. After a lap or two, Michael McClure had the lead, with Philip Dodd in second! Philip passed Michael at the halfway point, but Fritz was catching up and applying the pressure. Not wanting to be counted out, Jason Rasco was right on Fritz's tail, but at the finishing tone Fritz had the lead and win, with Philip in second and Jason in third.
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Nitro RS4 Open D Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | Fritz Wolf | |
| 2 | Phillip Dodd | |
| 3 | Jason Rasco | |
| 4 | Chris Painter | |
| 5 | Ronnie Hail | |
| 6 | Michael McClure | |
| 7 | Edward Beachamp | |
| 8 | Jack Moss | |
| 9 | Darren Lighty | |
| 10 | Ulysses Mora |
The Nitro RS4 Open C Main started like so many races: huge first turn pile-up! Chris Rose got sorted out first and took off, never looking back. Steven Shepard and Edward Steihr battled for second while the rest of the drivers gathered themselves up for the remainder of the race. After a few laps of enjoying his lead, Chris flamed out and had to be brought back to the pits, so Edward took over the lead over Chris and Steven. Chris got restarted after a lap and went back out on the track, quickly catching up to the leaders. Suddenly, Chris pulled into the pits to make and engine adjustment! He was right behind Eric Seger and Steven, who had taken first and second, but pulled into the pits so his pitman could tune the engine. When he exited, he was half a lap behind but started to catch up again. Meanwhile, Steven had been passed by Romando Murao for second spot, and Romando was right behind Eric to battle for the lead. At the end of five minutes, it was Eric, Romando and Chris in first, second and third. What a nail-biter of a race!
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Nitro RS4 Open C Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | Eric Seger | |
| 2 | Romando Murao | |
| 3 | Chris Rose | |
| 4 | Steven Shepard | |
| 5 | Michael Pohoriles | |
| 6 | Robert Hail | |
| 7 | Edward Steihr | |
| 8 | Bill Dykes | |
| 9 | Jimmy Hail | |
| 10 | Bennie Ben-Ezra |
The Nitro RS4 Open B Main was about as exciting as the C Main, with Brandon Courtney and Curtis C. Hamlin drag racing down the straight for the lead on the first full lap of racing. After just a couple of laps, Curtis took the lead in the wide sweeper at the beginning of the straight and said "See ya!". Curtis led at this point, letting the other racers duke it out for the remaining spots. Michael Perkins grabbed second from Brandon, but Brandon wasn't going to let it go that easily. They battled for a bit, but eventually Michael pulled away from Brandon and started charging hard for Curtis, who was cruising in first place. Unfortunately, Michael had a costly spin coming onto the straight, which gave Curtis a ton of room to breathe. With two minutes to go, however, Michael had again caught up to Curtis and passed him, but amazingly flamed out! Curtis took over the easy lead and took home the win the rest of the way, with Brandon and JR Teakell in second and third spots. Michael's pit crew valiantly tried to get him back on the track but after a couple of attempts called it quits. What a race!
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Nitro RS4 Open B Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | Curtis C. Hamlin | |
| 2 | Brandon Courtney | |
| 3 | JR Teakell | |
| 4 | Calvin Hailey | |
| 5 | Tyler Titus | |
| 6 | Corby Bailey | |
| 7 | Michael Perkins | |
| 8 | Steve Stisser | |
| 9 | Joshua Hail | |
| 10 | Patrick Johnson |
Jackob Ben-Ezra was in the pole position for the Nitro RS4 Open A Main, and although he held onto it for the first lap, he overshot the first corner and ran into the wall, taking the crystal out of the car and Jackob out of the race for several minutes. This gave the lead to Brandon Mize, who had just finished the Box Stock A Main and wanted to make up for 3rd place in that race. Brandon was closely followed by Keooura Sanavong and Jojo Biag and the rest of the racers who wanted the Nitro RS4 MT kit that was the winner's prize! After a couple of laps, Keooura wasn't in the picture any more as Jojo was threatening Brandon's lead. Jojo flamed out suddenly, which gave Brandon a lot of room to maneuver and prepare for his next threat. Unfortunately, Brandon's car flamed out, which let Michael Patterson take the lead. Michael was still reeling from winning the Electric race, and 2 wins in one day would round it out very nicely! Brandon got back out running again, but would flame out and not be able to challenge Michael for the win. At the end of ten minutes, Michael Patterson had won his second A Main of the day, with Brandon Mize in second and Keooura Sanavong in third. Great race!
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Nitro RS4 Open A Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | Michael Patterson | |
| 2 | Brandon Mize | |
| 3 | Keooura Sanavong | |
| 4 | Billy Clark | |
| 5 | Jason Hutchins | |
| 6 | Jimmy Huyhn | |
| 7 | Jackob Ben-Ezra | |
| 8 | Jojo Biag | |
| 9 | Herman Rodri | |
| 10 | John Patterson |
Although Super Nitro RS4 is this writer's favorite Nitro class, there wasn't too much competition in the field for Ron Meloni. Last year's only returning champion, Ron defended his Super Nitro RS4 Open trophy in style, leading from start to finish, which Alonso Alonso and Curtis C. Hamlin in second and third. Good job, Ron! We had a not-so-interesting race to cap off the weekend. ;-)
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Super Nitro RS4 Open A Main |  |
| Finishing Position | Name | |
| 1 | Ron Meloni | |
| 2 | Alonso Alonso | |
| 3 | Curtis C. Hamlin | |
| 4 | William B. Norris | |
| 5 | Matt Seigler | |
| 6 | Todd Marshall | |
| 7 | Brandon Van Horn | |
| 8 | James Gerkins | |
| 9 | Garrick Kinchen | |
| 10 | William Van Horn |
The Proceed racers that were hoped to arrive for this event apparently are saving all their energy and expenses for our Ohio Challenge race, so we only had two racers show up in this class. The races and mains for the Proceeds turned into exhibition runs for Dave Meloni, and tuning/practice runs for William Van Horn, who had David Kouche of HPI helping him out with settings and engine tuning. We still want to recognize them, though, and thank them for coming out for the weekend!
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Proceed A Main (Exhibition Run) |
| Finishing Position | Name |
| 1 | Dave Meloni |
| 2 | William Van Horn |