HPI Racing | 2004 HPI Challenge New York

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Friday August 20^th

The second HPI Challenge race in 2005 was hosted by Bruckner Hobbies, who have three popular hobby shops in the greater New York area. The Bruckner shops have always been strong HPI supporters, so there is always a large group of racers in the area who come out for our HPI Challenge races. This year the pre-entry list was already huge, assuring entrants a free HPI hat or shirt and a free HPI body. Tom Sr. at Bruckner’s was confident the entries would hit at least 200, so we knew this would be a big event. Kent Clausen and Thad Garner were the HPI representatives at this event, flying out from California to see what racing looks like on the East Coast.

On the way from the airport to the track, Kent and Thad spotted the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

Saturday, August 21^st

Racers started showing up early, putting up a seemingly endless line of EZ-up tents. The Bruckner crew set up a giant track in a huge parking lot at the Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York. The final entry tally came out to 225 racers, which meant that the schedule would be packed, so the call went out for software that could handle up to 13 cars per heat. The Bruckner staff even extended their driver’s stand to make room for more drivers, now *that* is preparation! Open practice started on a slightly damp track due some light showers early in the morning, luckily the parking lot surface was slightly angled to allow almost instant run-off of any standing water. Bruckner Hobbies set up a portable hobby shop, timing scoring tent, tech inspection tent, and a full-on barbeque to keep the racers happy. Soon the track was dry and the driver’s stand was full. The forecast called for rain in the afternoon, with a clear forecast for all day Sunday, so the schedule was bumped up a little to try to avoid the rain. Throughout the day the racers who had pre-entered were called up the tech tent to pick up their free HPI hat or HPI T-shirt, along with some free HPI decals. Open practice was finished by around 10:30 and Concours fired off promptly at 11:00, with a long line of HPI cars and trucks on display. As with all Concours events, it’s tough to pick just one winner. Kent and Thad chose the "top 10" and moved them for everyone to see. It came down to a group vote, and the winner was the F.D.N.Y. themed Stratus Aero 2 body that featured custom paint, flames, and the FDNY badge on the hood. After the Concours, all of the racers lined up for a group photo and we were soon ready to start racing!

A great turnout again from the East Coast guys, 225 entries!

The first few heats were the Savage class, so the rumble of 13 Savages signaled that we were under way. But the weather had a slightly different plan, as racers began to hear the thunder in the background, and ominous dark clouds started rolling in. As the third heat got under way the rain started coming down, lightly at first, and then in buckets. The racers headed for cover in their pits to ride out what would hopefully be a short delay in the schedule. But the rain kept coming down with thunder and lightning all around the track. The rain finally stopped at around 4:00 pm, but with a very damp track and not much sunlight left in the day the decision was made to consider the day a “wash out” and resume qualifying early Sunday morning. Late Saturday afternoon the skies had clear enough for the HPI staff to take a few of the racers cars out on the track. Thad Garner put on a driving exhibition with a Savage and a Nitro RS4 3 that really impressed some of the locals. The local racers who were in their campers at the track reported that people were practicing as late as 1:00 am on the lighted parking lot track!

Sunday, August 22^nd

Sunday morning dawned with bright blue skies and no rain in the forecast, a perfect New York day with temperatures in the high 70’s. With 225 anxious racers looking to get in a full day of racing, the qualifying heats started early and ran smoothly through the morning. The full range of classes at HPI Challenge events lets the spectators watch everything from the Micro RS4, to nitro touring cars, up to the huge Savage trucks. The concept of the HPI Challenge is to get people out on the track, concentrating on the fun of racing rather than all-out competition. It was nice to see a wide variety of racers, from kids under 10 years old, to a handful of women racing, to “veteran” racers of all ages. The HPI crew helped out with car questions, tech inspection, and even on-site maintenance for those who needed some help. A tradition at HPI Challenge events is that racers who sign up early get a free HPI body, so the HPI crew was busy handing out the free bodies to the long line of eager racers all morning

As the first round of qualifying was finishing, the decision needed to be made to see if a second round of qualifying would be run, or to go straight into the main events. The schedule was tight, with 225 racers it takes almost 4 hours to get through a round, which meant a finish at close to sunset if a second round of qualifying was to be run. The drivers were asked to gather for a democratic decision, and the choice was nearly unanimous…go for a second round! It was nice to see such enthusiasm for the racing, and the crew at Bruckner’s really gutted it out… knowing that it would be a late night by the time the track and equipment was packed up. Luckily several racers volunteered to help with the track clean-up, another nice gesture that makes this kind of racing more personal than giant racing events.

Race winner Jason Swift taking a jump.

The Savage truck class looked great on the track!

Fastharry being congratulated after his A Main win.

With the Bruckner barbeque in full swing, racers grabbed lunch and prepared for their second qualifier. The program ran even smoother this time, with the second round finishing at around 3:30. A quick sort of the qualifying positions into the mains was made, and everyone scrambled to change frequencies and car numbers. The A Mains were run first so that they could run in full sunlight, the lower mains would run last in case we ran out of time. Another HPI Challenge tradition is that winners of the official classes (Nitro Stock, Nitro Mod, Electric Stock, Electric Mod, and Super Nitro Mod) are eligible to win a trip to the HPI Challenge World Finals. This year the finals are in England, so the top guys were shooting for a win and a free trip, which always adds excitement to the mains.

Savage - A Main
1	Jason Swift
2	Louis Mastrangelo
3	Tom Reid
4	Richard Santino
5	Micheal Taggert
6	Reginald Grant
7	Kevin McCloskey
8	Ron Maliwanag
9	Jhan Ausecha
10	Keith Lee Jr.

Savage - B Main
1	Tammy Werno
2	Louis Mastrangelo J
3	Ross Bartick
4	James Butler
5	Alexander Nicolas
6	Keith Alloway
7	Kathy Kim
8	Zach Cohen
9	Stefan Kuhl
10	Robbie Smith
11	Diatto Collymore
12	Dion Sharp

HPI Truck - A Main
1	Kevin McCloskey
2	Jason Swift
3	Trobert Placek
4	Andreas Pohl
5	Chris Rauso
6	Angel Maldonado Jr.
7	Stefan Schilde
8	Dave O'Rourke-Digio
9	Vera Couser
10	Keith Lee Jr.
11	Jim Mastrodi

Micro Stock - A Main
1	Louis Mastrangelo
2	Rodney Davis
3	Louis Mastrangelo J.
4	Jhan Ausecha
5	Kathy Kim

Electric Rally - A Main
1	Tom Baffer Jr.
2	Kevin Colgan
3	Miki Nadoban
4	Joe Tomkins
5	Ray Camacho
6	Michael Bizzarro
7	Antoniette Sollecit
8	Kevin McCloskey
9	Joe Gaultieri
10	Eric Schneider

Micro Pro - A Main
1	Mike Collins
2	Sean Lauer
3	John Miga
4	Kevin Colgan
5	Rock
6	Don Peters
7	Erick Godoy
8	Randy Kastl
9	Marvet Brown
10	Joe Gaultieri
11	Rich Tong

Electric Stock - A Main
1	James Denmark
2	Jeff Bagamaspad
3	Eric Schneider
4	Melissa Collins
5	Chris Pennekamp
6	John Breimaier Jr.
7	Alan Mok
8	Chris Breimaier
9	Michael Kirchner
10	Miki Nadoban
11	Jake Silverio
12	Rodney Davis
13	John Breimaier

Electric Pro - A Main
1	Mike Collins
2	Roland Shao
3	Denmark James
4	Paul Carrington
5	Tyronne Milton
6	Derek Manchester
7	Alan Mok
8	Tim Breur
9	Rock
10	Jeff Bagamaspad

Electric Pro - B Main
1	John Miga
2	Jason Swift
3	Don Peters
4	Bernard Wade
5	Marlon Vargas
6	Sidkai Tavares
7	Larry Pottorack

Nitro Stock - A Main
1	Harry Ananian
2	John Larouche
3	Alan Mok
4	Ho Leung
5	Ron Bosco
6	Maj Banting
7	Anthony Garrido
8	Chip Dumesnil
9	Todd Marshall
10	Nigel Chaichong

Nitro Stock - B Main
1	Mark Anderson
2	Suzanne Gold
3	Ismael Maldonado
4	Peter Gonzalez
5	Lee Forbes
6	Carlos Maldonado
7	Ronald Randon
8	Ray Torres

Nitro Modified - A Main
1	Nigel Chaichong
2	Randy Kastl
3	Carlos Vega
4	John Sun
5	Jeff Bagamaspad
6	Tim Breur
7	Harry Ananian
8	Maj Banting
9	Solomon Oh
10	Ron Bosco

Nitro Modified - B Main
1	Antwane Johnson
2	Mike Murphy
3	Arvin Nano
4	Renato Dias
5	Jose Fernandez
6	Jhan Ausecha
7	Jon Carr
8	Erick Godoy
9	Mark Ortlieb
10	Reuben Williams

Nitro Modified - C Main
1	Chris Calloway
2	John Larouche
3	Luis Ochoa
4	Joe Tomkins
5	John Miga
6	Joey Maldonado
7	Sean Lauer
8	Wilson Wang
9	Louis Mastrangelo
10	Joe Gaultieri

Nitro Modified - D Main
1	Juan C Rodriguez
2	Frank Wei
3	Rauso
4	Alcides Lopez
5	Michael Bizzarro
6	Kevin Colgan
7	Reginald Grant
8	Richard Santino
9	Anthony Baglione
10	Rich Tong

Super Nitro Modified - A Main
1	Mike Collins
2	Nigel Chaichong
3	Randy kastl
4	Roland Shao
5	Eric Schneider
6	Ron Bosco
7	Christopher Luy
8	William Luongo
9	Steven Mercaldo
10	Denmark James

Super Nitro Modified - B Main
1	Reuben Williams
2	Mark Kirchner
3	Mike Murphy
4	John Larouche
5	Joe piccirillo
6	James Bishop
7	Reed
8	Chris Calloway
9	Harry Ananian
10	Jon Carr

Super Nitro Modified - C Main
1	Larry Pottorack
2	Paul Carrington
3	Keith Lee Jr.
4	Phil Trotta
5	Tammy Werno
6	Bruce Goldsmith
7	Michael Bizzarro
8	Michael Hinton
9	Tyronne Milton
10	Todd Marshall
11	Louis Mastrangelo S
12	McKenzie Bishop

HPI Challenge racing excitement!

A local video crew recorded the event.

The Super Nitro Mod final getting ready to run.

The highlights of the mains included a huge win for Harry “Fastharry” Ananian in the Nitro Stock class. Harry has been racing for a long time but is still consumed by his RC racing. His stable of cars is rumored to be over 100! And, he’s also one of RC’s “nice guys” so his win brought out a huge roar from the crowd. Great job Harry! The most exciting A Main was the Nitro Modified class, with Nigel Chai Chong grabbing the early lead, but when he ran out of fuel he mounted a charge back to the front of the pack and had just enough fuel to finish the 38th lap, then run out of fuel again on his last lap! Since he was the only car to make the 38th lap, he refueled and took the checkered flag for a well deserved win. Another big winner was Mike Collins, who traveled from Ohio to take wins in Micro Pro, Electric Pro, and Super Nitro Mod. Mike is a veteran winner of numerous HPI Challenge events, winning the Super Nitro class at the HPI Challenge World Finals in Las Vegas last year, and he even went to the HPI Challenge World Finals in Japan in 2002. Mike’s win assures that he will be representing HPI USA in finals in England this year, great job Mike and good luck at the World Finals!

After the mains the crowd gathered for the trophy presentation, the winners received their huge HPI Challenge Cups, along with their choice of a free HPI Pro 4 or R40 kit as a prize. Challenge plaques were handed out to all of the A Main finalists, with top three getting plaques in the other mains. In the background the Bruckner crew was hard at work taking down their race equipment and tearing down the track, so the trophy presentation ended quickly and several helpful racers pitched in to get everything put away. And so, a great weekend of HPI Challenge racing wrapped up with “thank you’s” all around, especially for the staff at Bruckner Hobbies for working so hard to make the weekend a success.

The New York skyline from our plane on the trip back to California. Thanks New York!

Keep your eye on our web site for coverage of the HPI Challenge World Finals, held September 10th through 12th in Halifax, England.

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Visit Bruckner Hobbies on the web at www.brucknerhobbies.com