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The third leg of the 2005 HPI Challenge tour headed for Delaware under the direction of the Ray Murray and the Six Foot Tiger club. Ray hosted a past HPI Challenge event (one of our biggest ever) and so when Ray asked if he could host another it was an easy choice because of his experience, fun and friendly attitude, and the huge group of HPI fans in the East Coast region who always turn out in big numbers for the Challenge races. HPI representative Kent Clausen made the trek from California to help hand out more than $5,000 in prizes/trophies, and to help run the race and oversee tech inspection. The nearest major airport was Philadelphia, PA so Kent took a short detour on Friday night to check out the historic downtown area on the way to the track. Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and Philly Cheese Steaks made for a good start to the weekend.
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For this event Ray lined up the Blue Diamond Park recreation facility in New Castle, Delaware for the race location. The huge park located right along busy Route 13, and features the only rollercoaster in the state of Delaware (the “First State”) as well as miniature golf, a custom concrete banked turn BMX track, an ATV track, and a huge moto-cross track make the Blue Diamond Park a popular destination for racing fans and families.
The park manager, Pete Criscuolo, is also an R/C enthusiast so he secured a smooth patch of fresh asphalt for the on-road racing. Ray set up a large track with flowing corners and minimal barriers to help prevent damaging the cars. A new drivers stand was constructed with handicap access, and Ray’s “Pimp Daddy” massive PA/Speaker system was in full effect for the weekend. For off-road, Pete and his crew went even further and constructed a dedicated large off-road track with it’s own drivers stand, wide 15 foot lanes bordered by corrugated plastic pipes, tabletop and double jumps, banked turns and special clay dirt for high traction.
The weather report called for high temperatures and humidity, with the possibility of thunder storms and showers. The T-storms and showers never materialized, passing to the North, but steamy temperatures in the mid 90’s brought out lots of tents, ice chests and cooling fans. Ray did a good job of reminding the racers to keep hydrated by drinking water throughout the weekend.
Ray and the Six Foot Tiger crew set up the track on Friday and allowed open practice until sun down. With more than 150 entries and 22 heats, this race extended the streak of well-attended East Coast events. It’s always nice to feel the buzz of a big race with seasoned HPI Challenge veterans mixing it up on the track and helping out the new HPI car owners coming out for their first taste of competitive racing. The camaraderie at Challenge events has built up over the years, with racers traveling from all over the eastern region and as far away as Ohio for bragging rights and to claim the prestigious HPI Challenge Cups.
Saturday morning dawned with blue skies and not a cloud in sight, tents and pit tables popped up as the racers got their cars prepared for the weekend. The track was open for practice until 11:00, giving racers plenty of time to dial their cars in for the race. After a quick drivers meeting and the traditional group photo, the HPI Challenge Concours event began the competition for the weekend. The bright and colorful bodies varied from race-trimmed to fully detailed. Concours is always tough to judge, but 5 finalists were pulled from the assortment with the intricate on brightly painted HPI Stratus of Don Peters taking the win. Don is on a streak, with making this a back-to-back win from last year with his famous “9/11 Tribute” body. Don collected a Challenge Cup and a brand new R40 kit, a nice reward for his hard work detailing the body, congratulations!
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Next up were the on-road qualifying heats. Because of the location of the dirt track, the format called for two rounds of on-road qualifiers and then move the timing trailer to the off-road track. With more than 150 entries and 17 heats of on-road it took a little longer than anticipated to get through both rounds of on-road racing. It looked like there was a chance that the off-road qualifier might run into darkness, so the schedule was changed to allow off-road an hour of open practice on Saturday evening and then go straight into two rounds of qualifying and the off-road mains. A little inconvenient for the off-road guys, but Ray was as diplomatic as possible and apologized for the slight change in schedule. Some of the off-roaders took the break to go for a swim at their hotel to help beat the record-setting heat wave.
The on-road qualifiers ran smoothly, with most racers using personal transponders and the results being posted quickly so racers could check out their times. IFMAR starts helped spread the cars out for the qualifying so the racing action was fast, courteous and clean. Surviving the heat (track temperatures over 130 degrees!) was a challenge, but everyone was having a good time and drinking lots of water. In the afternoon the racers who pre-entered for the event were treated to a free HPI Challenge T-shirt.
Sunday morning was also bright and sunny, and not quite as hot as Saturday…but still in the mid 90’s. Five heats of off-road (Rally, HPI Truck, Savage) started the day. The new off-road track proved to be a very good design, with groomed and watered clay dirt providing excellent grip and a good variety of jumps on the large track. After the dust settled from two smooth rounds of qualifying, the off-road main events were sorted and ready to go by around 10:30.
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First up was the Rally class, with the format being slightly different because each heat counts as points toward the overall win (similar to real rally racing). The final leg was a wild affair, Chris Green came out on top in the Rally class after 3 consistent heats. Ray Murray is a Rally fan and was able to run in the class, taking a break from his Race Director role for a minute. Ray has a good time racing and likes to mix up the format a little. The second round of Rally saw the direction of the track reversed, and in the main all of the racers decided to run 4 cars clockwise and 4 cars counterclockwise…a first for an HPI Challenge event. Some big crashes ensued and left Kent from HPI scratching his head and wondering if the heat had gotten to the Rally guys : - )
The HPI Truck class saw a story-book victory captured by 13 year old Danny Gibney taking the win in his first race ever. After getting a little maintenance help from RC Driver editor Bob Hastings and Kent from HPI (those MIP CVD’s are tricky!), Danny drove a great race with his Nitro MT 2 truck to make it another special moment at an HPI Challenge event. It’s always great to see new drivers get it right, especially when the driver is 13 with his dad as crew chief. This was another special moment at an HPI Challenge event that will be a nice memory.
The Savage class was up next, with the big trucks looking right at home on the track (see the video clip!). Hengky Prasetya motored his Savage into victory circle with smooth and controlled driving, followed by Mike Armocida Jr. in second and Richard Santino Jr. on the same lap as the leader in third place. The Savage trucks looked so good on the track that there is a good chance that a Savage Slam event will be hosted at Blue Diamond Park in Spring ’06. That banked BMX track would be a great “Long Jump” test for Savage owners!
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See the off-road action! |
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Ray Murray and the Six Foot Tiger crew moved the timing trailer back to the on-road track, and the third round of on-road qualifying got underway with drivers scrambling to make the A mains. Kent from HPI began passing out the free HPI bodies for racers who were pre-entered and a line formed quickly for racers anxious to get their prize as a reward for entering early. The new 200mm retro 1965 Shelby Mustang was the “hot choice” for this event.
With several past winners of HPI Challenge events in attendance, the competition was fierce to “make the program.” As usual at Challenge races, sportsmanship ruled the day on the track and lots of friendly chatter was overhead in the pits.
With qualifying finished, the mains were sorted and racing began right at 3:00 pm. First up was the Micro Stock class, with the small cars looking quick around the track due to some recent rule changes that allow more horsepower. HPI Challenge veteran Rodney Davis took the win, followed by Ed McGowan and Kyle Swift.
Micro Pro saw Mike Collins (traveling all the way from Ohio!) take the win. His trophy case has more HPI Challenge Cups than any other driver in the history of the HPI Challenge, so he was the odds-on favorite in the three classes he entered, and he backed it up with a dominant field-lapping drive in Micro Pro, great driving Mike!
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Electric Stock was next, with Top Qualifier Alex Valdes from the Back Breaker Racing Team jumping out to the lead and driving home for the win, followed by Eric Schneider and Mark Golliher.
In Electric Pro, Mike Collins was able to get by TQ Joe Martin and stretch out a lead for the win, making him 2-for-2 on the day…and another Challenge Cup for the collection. Martin ended up in second with Alex Valdes taking third.
Nitro Stock was tightly contested with equal power in all the cars. Top Qualifier Nigel Chong got the jump off the line and drove smoothly for the win. Nigel is a veteran HPI Challenge Cup participant, and is a great example of how you can go fast, win, and be a nice guy at the same time. Great drive Nigel! Last year’s champ Harry “fastharry” Ananian took second, with Gene Milberger in third.
Nitro Modified was the biggest class of the weekend and is always the toughest class to win. TQ Randy Kastl from Ohio got the early jump, but a crash with a lapped car put him out of the race. The quick Nitro Mod cars were scrambling for position, and after the smoke cleared Joe Martin took the checkered flag for the big win and another notch in the Back Breaker Racing Teams win belt. Joe drove great and set the fast lap for the event, congratulations on the win Joe! Eric Schneider took his second 2nd of weekend, with Nikki Futamura driving great to take third place.
Super Nitro had Mike Collins sitting in the TQ spot and looking to go for his third win and a sweep of every class he entered(!). But Nigel Chong and Randy Kastl had their own ideas about who would come out on top. Randy had so much horsepower that his car snapped a universal joint in one of the heats and his car had been seen doing wheelies throughout the weekend! When the green flag dropped Mike took the lead and held off everyone with his great handling Super Nitro car cruising for the win. Nigel was able to come home second, with Randy taking third. It’s going to be a long ride back home to Ohio for Randy, but that’s racing!
With the racing wrapped up for the weekend, Kent handed out the gold: big HPI Challenge Cups and a free HPI kit (Pro 4 or R40) for the winners and Challenge commemorative plaques for most entrants. Ray Murray presented Kent with a custom HPI Challenge wall clock in appreciation of bringing another HPI Challenge to the East Coast, and the crowd thanked Ray and the Six Foot Tiger club for doing such a great job of organizing the big race. Lots of smiles and handshakes made for a nice atmosphere, this is the way R/C racing is supposed to be done!
HPI would also like to give an official “Thank You” to Ray Murray for all of his hard work and great attitude, Pete from Blue Diamond Park, the Six Foot Tiger crew, and to all of the racers who came out for the event. See everyone at the next Challenge race!
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