Evans tops opening 2WD qualifier in Dallas
Losi’s Dustin Evans has topped the opening round of qualifying for 2WD Modified at the fourth and final event on the Short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour which is taking place at the amazing Mikes Model Shop facility in Dallas, Texas. The US 2WD Buggy Champion took his Orion powered Losi XXX-SCT to the fastest time ahead of Team Associated’s Brian Kinwald and Randy Pike’s Tekin powered Losi.
Winner of the second date on the Showdown tour when it stopped off at Trackside Hobbies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Evans was the only driver to record 16 laps as he set the fastest lap of the opening qualifier. Not happy with the performance of his 2WD truck recently, the factory driver said yesterday’s open practice was very productive and he is really happy now with his set-up. Running AKA super soft Wishbones Evans will leave everything as is for the second of the four qualifiers. Asked about the track Evans said it worked well for Short Course and while it looked easy the centre double double was hard to pull off every lap.
The man with the most wins of the tour in 2WD and a legend of Off Road racing Kinwald described his run as ‘loose’. Running JConcepts Barcode tyres on his SC-10 the multiple former World Champion put the lack of grip down to the sauce he used on his tyres and plans to try a different sauce for his next run. Really impressed by the facility here at Mikes Hobby Shop, the ‘Dirtinator’ described the track as ‘pretty simple’ but hopes in Q2 he can mount a stronger challenge to Evans.
The team manager at Tekin electronics, Pike ran a fresh set of Panther tyres which he said took a few laps to come in but overall it was a solid first run. Looking to find a little more steering on his XXX-SCT, the racer from California is planning to add some extra weight to the front of his truck.
Also driving a Tekin powered Losi, local track hot shot Quincy Hughes set the fourth fastest time just 6/10th shy of Pike’s time. Making his Short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour debut, Hughes was happy with the performance of his AKA shod truck and says he has no plans to change anything for Q2.
Advising Kinwald on his tyre choices here in Dallas, JConcepts’ Paul Wynn took his Reedy powered Associated to the fifth fastest time. Also finding the track a little ‘slick’, the man responsible for body design at JConcepts has been an A finalist at all previous tour dates and is hopeful he will qualify directly this time round having had to bump up from the B Main at the last two events. Running his latest body creation, the Highflow, which features some nicely moulded air escape holes, Wynn said the size of the track doesn’t realise the full potential of the holes but instead the benefit is the lower weight helping to reduce body roll.
Completing the Top 6 for the opening qualifier was 18-year-old Cody Hollis. Driving a Kyosho Ultima SC, the Oklahoma driver said his truck was not great to drive but by keeping his run clean he was pretty pleased to take sixth. Lacking forward traction he hopes by lengthening the rear camber links he will have a better package for Q2.
In the other 2WD drive classes Kevin McCoy topped the Stock class from Brian Butts while Kent Everett and Ron Simpson set the pace in the Novice and Traxxas Slash Spec classes respectively.
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