Round Three: South New Jersey

Racing

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30 rounds of racing meant the racing had to get started on time, with only 2 minutes between each race. The one minute grace period system gave racers a little extra time to change crystals or run through the tech procedure if they ran late, but with a record 253 racers we couldn't afford to make exceptions for anyone!

Rally

Another record broken with this event was the Rally class entries - 20 racers kept the racing interesting! With each racer going for points in each round, the points started getting tallied after the first round. Like all of our Exhibition classes, ten or more entries meant that the winner of this class would take home a Micro RS4 kit! The top ten racers would also receive cool HPI Challenge plaques to take home and display proudly at home!

The first set of points-scoring races saw the Rally racers getting used to the jumps and whoop-de-doo that the race staff set up on the track. Normally our Rally racers get to deal with simple jumps, but that wouldn't do with the Rally diehards of the SJCCR! Along with nicely finished jumps that were set up in different spots in each round, the Rally guys got to run over some "roller" type jumps that also were moved around each time they raced. A large sheet of linoleum tile was put at the apex of different hairpin turns to simulate a slick drifting corner typically seen on tarmac rally courses.

- Rounds One and Two

In each round of racing, only the top 10 fastest Rally racers would get points, as noted in the rules for the class. After the first round, John Brown was in first place, with Joe Tomkins and Kevin Colgan in second and third. In the second round, Timm Wooley took the top points-paying position, Jeff Jones took second and John Brown kept his overall lead with third. After the second round, John Brown was first in overall points, Jeff Jones was in second and Joe and Timm were tied for third in points, however with Timm's first place finish he was in third and Joe was in fourth. The points challenge was heating up already, and there were still 2 more rounds of racing to go!

- Round Three

The third round of racing saw Timm Wooley again take the top points position, making him mathematically possible to take the overall win. Second place was John Brown, letting him retain the overall points lead. Third place was Eric Schneider and fourth place for the third round of racing was Jeff Jones, who fell to third place in the overall points. Second in overall points was Timm Wooley, making it a three-way race to the points win!

Truck

Another Exhibition class of ten racers meant that the HPI Truck racers would be competing not just for plaques, but also for an HPI kit to take home! In the third round of racing and for the main events, SJCCR racers brought out a huge wooden jump made from pallets and hinged plywood! It formed a giant tabletop jump that some racers just couldn't resist flying over! Other racers eased over the jump until they were brave enough to take it at higher speeds.

Savage

Ten Savage racers would be racing for a Micro RS4 kit and HPI Challenge plaques. Although his 5-year old son Ivan was racing the same truck in another heat, Timm Wooley ran away with the lead in most of the qualifying races for the Savage monster truck class. Even the huge wooden tabletop jump wouldn't hold back Timm's lowered Savage racer!

Micro Stock

Jim Mayhew ran away with the TQ spot in the Micro Stock class, finishing one more lap than the 2nd and 3rd place racers in 6 minutes. More than ten racers again meant that the fastest racer at the end of the day would take home not just a first place plaque, but also another Micro RS4 kit!

Micro Pro

All the Micro Pro racers had their work cut out for them in Micro Modified, with three heats of racers competing to be in the A Main. Only the top 10 racers would get plaques to take home, plus the winner would of course be getting another Micro kit! With the full track used for the Micro races, the lanes were very wide and there was plenty of room for racers to pass - and make mistakes! In the end, Mike Collins from Ohio took the TQ spot, setting up what was sure to be a fun Micro Pro race!

Electric Sport

Twenty-two racers exceeded our minimum of 21 to make this class have triple A Main races. This promised to make things very interesting on Sunday during the main events, since the top ten racers would be racing three races against each other to take home the win, HPI Challenge trophy cup and top honors! The winner would also be entered into our drawing to go to Las Vegas for free to race against HPI Challenge competitors from Asia, Europe and around the USA! Roland Shao took the TQ spot after qualifying, with Alan Mok and Timm Wooley just behind him in second and third.

Electric Pro

Two racers dominated this class - local racer Scooby Horton and Ohio racer Mike Collins. Mike, who went to Japan to race this class in our 2002 HPI Challenge World Finals, was fresh from his win in this class at our Jackson, Michigan Challenge race, yet he had his work cut out for him battling with Scooby and other racers. After the re-sort Saturday night put the fastest racers together, Scooby and Mike were in the same qualifier on Sunday, letting spectators see them race side-by-sid for the first time. Mike slowly crept up on Scooby in the staggered start qualifying heat and Scooby was soon out with a dumped battery or burnt-up motor. Either way, it was interesting to see the two fastest guys go at it for nearly the entire 5-minute heat! The final race was sure to be interesting. Unfortunately there were just 18 racers in this class, 3 short of the 21 required to have triple A Main finals.

Nitro Stock

A few racers could potentially take the win in this class - Alan Mok, Nigel Chong and Todd Marshall, who represented the USA in this class at last year's HPI Challenge World Finals in Japan. All three were very fast and consistent in qualifying. At the end of the heats, however, it was Nigel Chong with the TQ spot! Only the 10-minute A Main would decide the winner in this class!

Nitro Modified

Qualifying for Nitro Modified was all about Mike Collins and Roland Shao seeing who would get ahead of the other. With the R40 not allowed for this event (it had only been available for a few weeks at this point) nearly all racers used the Nitro 3 shaft drive chassis. Mike and Roland opted for the "proven at the Japan World Finals" Suzuki Escudo body. In the end it was Mike with the TQ spot with the rest of the field spread out behind him. We were all waiting to see how Roland would mount his attack!

Super Nitro Modified

There were several fast guys in the Super Nitro class, all with a good chance to TQ and/or win. Two had been to the World Finals in Japan in 2002 - Todd Marshall and Timm Wooley - so they knew what was at stake to win here. At the end of qualifying it was Nigel Chong in the TQ spot however, hoping it would pay off with a win!

Find out how everyone did in the main events!

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