HPI Challenge 2009 at The Hobby Shop, Dayton Ohio

HPI Challenge Write-up
By Randy Kastl

The Hobby Shop in Dayton Ohio hosted the first round of the 2009 HPI Challenge on June 27th and 28th.  Mother nature blessed us with perfect weather for the entire weekend as drivers from as far away as New Jersey crowded around The Hobby Shop Raceway to enjoy some racing, friends, and HPI fun.

Saturday’s early morning practice showed everyone that you would need to be on the top of your game to win in any class, and the weekend proved that time and time again.

Concours opened up the weekend contest with a covered “machine” that had everyone guessing.  The unveiling led to what can only be described as a PeptoBismal pink Honda Odyssey mini-van by Jon Carr.  But our judges didn’t give extra points to product placement colored vehicles, and instead choose Chris Calloway’s very sharp white Honda S2000.

Qualifying started Saturday afternoon with Monster Trucks leading the way.  From the start of the weekend it became obvious that Henry “Smooth” Strang was on a mission, but a pack of “Mikes” had other plans for him.  Having over half the field named Mike made the weekend real interesting in the MT class.  But time and time again, “Smooth” held his ground, taking TQ honors with his Savage X. In Super Nitro, the early odds on favorite was “The Todd” Marshall.  Early engine troubles kept him out of qualifying till the last ditch qualifier on Sunday morning.  But “The Todd” prevailed, taking TQ away from Chris. Next up was Electric Vintage.  This was the class to watch for the weekend with as many as 5 guys having a legitimate shot at taking TQ.  The best part about Electric Vintage is that it was run USVTA style, meaning the starts are heads up, and the field is in inverted qualifying order for the mains.  Von took the early TQ, but by the end of Saturday, The Hobby Shop’s own Kyle Haworth was going home happy on top of the field.  Sunday morning reinforced Kyle’s hold on this class, but would it stay for the mains? Nitro Vintage complimented Electric Vintage very well with “The Todd” leading the field in a major way.  The engine gremlins stayed away from Todd’s Vintage car as he came back to overcome Chris Patrick’s early round TQ. Electric Cup racer provided some of the more fun racing of the weekend.  This group of guys were here just to have fun.  Racing took a backseat to just having fun, and isn’t that what this is all about!  Oh yeah, AJ Shappell took home TQ honors in his authentic looking primer and silver Datsun. Nitro GT featured two prior HPI Challenge Nitro winners, including last year’s champ, Ben Puterbaugh.  And Ben took up this year right where he left off last year, claiming TQ honors early, and never looking back. The finale group was the fastest of the weekend, Electric RCGT.  Dax Madden a former nitro guy getting into electric on-road recently looked to be the class of the field.  Tim Sullivan worked hard all weekend to try and catch Dax, but came up short in the third round, leaving Dax to take TQ, and that all important #1 starting spot on the grid.

Before qualifying started on Sunday, HPI gave away a bunch of cool bodies, including the highly sought after 67 Corvette.  But now it was time for the serious stuff, the group pictures.  Everyone was in good spirits as last chance qualifying and the mains were just moments away.
After qualifying it was time for something unique to this HPI Challenge, a random draw car kit giveaway raffle.  Tracy handed out raffle tickets to each racer, and we had Elizabeth draw numbers.  Car kits seemed to be everywhere as racer after racer came up to claim their prize.

The mains started off with a bang.  The horde of Monster trucks running 10 minutes with a mandatory pit stop somewhere along the way made everyone within a half mile of the track pay attention to what was going on in front of The Hobby Shop.  Our TQ, Henry didn’t start off too smooth as he lost the lead early on, letting Mike Hurt take over with Mike Armocida Jr. hot on his tale.  “Smooth” battled back up through the field eventually taking the lead as Mike Hurt went in for his pit stop.  But Henry still had to stop for fuel, and when he did, he came out inches behind Mike Hurt with only 3 minutes left in the race.  But “Smooth” earned his nickname by putting clean pressure on Mike Hurt till Mike made a mistake in the 180, letting Henry by for good.  With Mike pressing to get back by Henry he turned in way too early, breaking his truck, allowing Mike Armocida Jr. to storm back for second place.  Henry watched the HPI Challenge last year while owning a Duratrax truck.  He immediately went into The Hobby Shop, purchased a Savage, and has spent an entire year looking forward to this race.  Perseverance and tons of practice paid off as he took home his first HPI Challenge victory.
Things quieted down just a little as the Super Nitro guys took the track.  After being pressed early by Chris and Wilmott, “The Todd” drove away for a comfortable victory.  Right after the race ended “The Todd” was already dreaming of a twin killing as he had Nitro Vintage still to come.
Everyone thought it couldn’t get more exciting than the Monster Truck main, but it did.  Up next was the most competitive field of the day, Vintage Electric.  With our TQ, Kyle, starting out at the back of the field he had his work cut out for him.  His competition looked to keep him down, and that they did… for a while.  Tim Sullivan got the lead very early on, and after multiple lead changes with Kyle, Sullivan in his metallic Smurf Blue Camaro came out on top as Kyle pushed too hard late in the game, and came up just short.  This race had the most lead changes of any class all weekend, and some of the cleanest racing you’ll ever see at any RC race.  Congrats to Tim on his win, 4 years after racing in his first ever race, the 2005 HPI Challenge.
“The Todd” was going after his second win of the day in another nitro class.  This time it was Nitro Vintage.  Proving that having the #1 starting spot is gold in on-road racing, Todd stormed away from the field as spots 2 and 3 collided, leaving Todd to rest easy, take care of his equipment, and take home his second 2009 HPI Challenge win.
Electric Cup racers were up next.  And as they had been doing all weekend, it was more about having fun than racing.  AJ took the lead early on, never looked back, and came home the victor.  Congrats to AJ on being the first ever HPI Electric Cup Racer winner.
It was time to get noisy again, this time with the screaming engines of Nitro RCGT.  The day was getting warmer, pit stops were required, and the track was getting slick as these guys took the green flag.  In a repeat performance of the entire weekend, Ben Puterbaugh lead wire to wire taking home his second consecutive HPI Challenge win in nitro.  Ben is a regular on the racing circuit, racing his R40 in multiple mid-west series races, and bringing that same level of commitment and pride to his HPI Challenge win.
The last race of the day featured the Electric RCGT group.  Dax Madden had been dominating this class all weekend, but fresh off his win in Vintage, Tim Sullivan had other plans for Dax.  It was rumored around the pits that Tim would give each racer $10 if he didn’t win this class.  As Dax rolled off fast lap after fast lap, the racers started seeing dollar signs in their future.  But alas, it was only a rumor as Dax lead wire to wire capping off a great day of racing with an impressive win.

All in all, this was a great race weekend.  Mother nature cooperated nicely with great weather.  HPI provided a great format for us to host this race, and where else can you enter a race, get a free body, and a chance at winning multiple car kits?

The Hobby Shop would like to thank HPI for their continued support of our hobby, and for allowing us to put on such a fun race.

See you all around the track,
Randy

Thank you to all the racers for making it a fun weekend for everyone and a big thanks to Randy and The Hobby Shop crew for making it happen!

AndyH
hpiracing usa

Check out the results and photos below.
For complete results with individual laps check out http://www.thehobbyshoponline.com/Racing/OutdoorTrackResults/tabid/82/Default.aspx

For all the photos courtesy of Randy at The Hobby Shop click here!

HPI Challenge 2009 at The Hobby Shop Results

Race #  1 - A  Main - HPI Monster Trucks
1 Henry Strang
2 Mike Armocida Jr.
3 Mike Hurt
4 Mike Armocida Sr
5 Mike Murphy
6 Chris Calloway
7 Mike Bridges
8 Mike Hempy
9 Larry Luthman Jr.

Race #  2 - A  Main - HPI Super Nitro
1 Todd Marshall
2 Wilmott Earle
3 Chris Calloway
4 Mike Murphy

Race #  3 - A  Main - HPI Electric Vintage GP
1 Tim Sullivan
2 Kyle Haworth
3 Sean Brandon
4 Von Perry
5 Jeff Johnson
6 Jason Vicars
7 Suzi Youngs
8 Rodney Davis

Race #  4 - A  Main - HPI Nitro Vintage GP
1 Todd Marshall
2 Andrew Earle
3 Chris Patrick

Race #  5 - A  Main - HPI Electric Cup Racer
1 Aj Shappell
2 Billy Maus
3 Paul Parphemore
4 Rodney Davis

Race #  6 - A  Main - HPI Nitro RCGT
1 Ben Puterbaugh
2 Randy Kastl
3 Andrew Earle
4 Kyle Haworth
5 Wesley Coffin
6 Jon Carr
7 Larry Luthman Jr.
8 Chris Calloway
9 Mike Murphy

Race #  7 - A  Main - HPI Electric RCGT
1 Dax Madden
2 Tim Sullivan
3 Sean Brandon
4 William Porter
5 Jeff Johnson
6 Scooter Wells
7 Mike Zedeker
8 Tyler Stringer
9 Rodney Davis

Information:
Randy Kastl E-MAIL randythehobbyshop@yahoo.com or, call Randy or TJ at THE HOBBY SHOP AT 937-436-6161

Click here to visit The Hobby Shop!

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