Round Two: Jackson, Michigan

Main Events

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Weather reports early Sunday indicated that by 3 PM we would be getting some rain, so the qualifying started promptly at 9 AM. The last qualifying race ended at 11:30 and the main events started at noon in an attempt to beat the rain deadline.

Savage

With the jumps set up and the spectators itching to see some true monster truck racing, the Savages were gridded up and let loose! Timm Wooley took full advantage of his pole position to run away with the lead and let Erik Foucha and John Lemire battle it out for second. Timm led from start to finish, staying out of the way of everyone else fighting for position, and ended with one lap over the rest of the field.

HPI Truck

The HPI Truck class was dominated by Dom Pellegrini in his electric RS4 MT. Dom finished 3 laps ahead of his dad Mike, who also ran an RS4 MT.

Super Nitro Rally

The Rally classes are scored individually, with each race counting towards a point total instead of being a qualifying race or a main event. Throughout the four points races of Super Nitro Rally, it was Clive Bentley who consistently won, ensuring he got the overall win!

Electric Rally

The Rally classes are scored individually, with each race counting towards a point total instead of being a qualifying race or a main event. As in the Super Nitro Rally class, one driver had won three races by the time the last races started. Josh Short took home the win in convincing fashion, winning all the Rally races for maximum points.

Micro Stock

The Micro classes raced on a separate Micro track that didn't need to be rebuilt or taken down so the 1/10 scale cars could race. The Micro Stock race was very close, coming down literally to the last turn, with Timm Wooley finishing just one second ahead of Luke Wilson! Both of them turned 28 laps, 2 laps more than anyone else in the field.

Micro Pro

The Micro Pro racers also ran 6 minutes for their main event, however they were allowed to use a 5-cell battery pack and HPI Micro Modified motor. Mike Collins took the lead early from his TQ spot and slowly built up a lead of about a lap on second place Ken Bates, who was battling with Walt Gorczowski. The Micro Pro race finished in this order, with Mike getting 31 laps, only 3 more than the Micro Stock racers!

Electric Sport

TQ Jeff Switzer led this race from start to finish, but there was plenty of action for the rest of the racers! Dom Pellegrini and Raymond Cappel battled throughout the race for second, finished just a lap down from winner Jeff Switzer. Ken Douglas, Timm Wooley and Dave Manchester also battled for 4th, all three of them finishing less than 2 seconds apart!

Electric Pro

TQ Michael Collins was ready to go, but before making the first turn of the race he spun out with a damaged front diff. Ironic, because he had been giving diff parts to racers so they could complete their weekend! This left the race wide open to Jeff Switzer, who ran away with the lead from 2nd place on the starting grid. However, a few laps into the race Jeff started making a few mistakes. He must have sensed race organizer Derek Manchester slowly making up time on him, and about halfway into the race Jeff ran a couple of corners too wide and Derek snuck by! Able to hold onto his lead by smooth driving, Derek took the overall win with Jeff in second!

Nitro Stock

Nitro Stock was wide open, with up to four racers battling for the lead at one point in the 10-minute race! Timm Wooley and Erik Foucha were neck and neck for several laps, trading spots through mistakes or crashes with lapped traffic. Both of their pit stops were eventful, with both of them flaming out during or just after their stops! Meanwhile, Tim Pennington had worked his way up to third and during a time in the race when both leaders were trying frantically to start their cars he worked his way past and took the win!

Mother Nature intervenes

Just as the Nitro Modified class was preparing to start, the fire department came through announcing that the fair was closing in 20 minutes - not enough time to finish all four remaining races. The reason was weather stations from counties to the west were reporting tornado warnings and strong storms! A quick decision was made to cancel the B main races for Nitro Modified and Super Nitro Modified and run 5 minute A mains for both classes (instead of 10 minutes as planned).

Nitro Modified

Nitro Modified racers were kept busy, first rushing to start their cars for the race, which started just minutes after the weather announcment, then having to hurry up to get to the track to race! Mike Collins and Clive Bentley wouldn't be able to keep up their winnings this day, with both dropping out of the race very early. Randy Kastl did his best racing of the weekend to finish about a lap ahead of Fred Baumgartner, taking home the trophy and kit!

Super Nitro Modified

Although the Super Nitro A Main was shortened to 5 minutes, it still provided plenty of drama for racers and spectators! Jason Longbrake pulled out a good lead, up to a lap at one point, however pushing to go faster caused him to make a few mistakes. In the meantime Walt Gorczkowski was plugging away, putting in steady laps and waiting for his opportunity. Walt's big break came when Jason crashed into a lapped car that had collided with the track barrier. Although Jason got away clean, he turned too early into a barrier one corner later and that is when Walt was able to pass for the lead. Jason pushed to catch up but broke out of the race on the straight and had to end his race early with Walt taking the win.

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