Maifield leads at Reedy Race going into final day

Reigning Champion Ryan Maifield leads the way going into the final day of the Reedy Race of Champions tomorrow, the TLR driver ending Day 2’s action at OCRC Raceway with a second win in 4WD.  Starting Round 2 of 4WD from the front row of the grid alongside pole sitter Dakotah Phend, Maifield’s win gives him a 1-point advantage over his protege Spencer Rivkin.  Having won his opening race Rivkin backed that up with a second place behind Associated team-mate Kody Numedahl, Numedahl sitting 3rd in the points overnight.  In the other encounter, Steven Hartson took the win ahead of Ryan Cavalieri and Jared Tebo, Cavalieri sitting 4th tied with Tebo on 15 points.

‘Still doing my thing’, was Maifield’s reaction to ending the day at the top of the points.  Commenting on his latest win he said, ‘starting 2nd that time I tried to get Dakotah off the line but it didn’t happen.  Then I followed him around. I wasn’t really pushing as I was happy to settle for second as Dakotah was hauling ass.  I was just cruising to the finish and then he made a mistake and I was able to capitalise’.  Describing his TLR22-4 as ‘very predictable’ he said the handout Pro-Line tyres were getting ‘gummy’ adding ‘this was going to play into what everyone is doing’.  Having been the overnight leader en-route to his first Reedy Race win last year, Maifield wasn’t reading anything into it saying, ‘I’m just going keep doing what I’m doing’.

Starting from 6th on the grid, Rivkin said, ‘I had a bad start because someone wrecked in front of me and I lost ground’.  Setting the fastest lap of the round, the 17-year-old would work his way back up to third which then became second when Travis Amezcua had a bobble at the end of race. Going into the final four races just a point off Maifield, Rivkin said he was ‘pretty happy’ adding the plan for tomorrow was to change nothing and continue to ‘control what I can at my end’.

Getting a third having started Round 1 from 8th on the grid, Numedahl said he was determined to make the most of his front row start in Round 2.  Starting alongside poleman Brian Strange he ‘went for it, (and) timed it just right’ adding he ‘wouldn’t have been surprised if a jump start had been called’. With the field getting stacked up behind 2nd, he ‘backed it down a little’ which he said was a ‘weird driving style’. He said while he gave up 1-point in the first round, it was ‘a good start to the day’.  Looking to tomorrow he said ‘the car is awesome and doing everything like it should so hopefully we can keep things going, although it gets a little crazy in 4WD’.

The most crowned Reedy Race Champion, Cavalieri summed up his day with ‘I’m right there. I just need to get a win here & there tomorrow’.  The multiple World Champion continued, ‘We were all tied on points (for 3rd) at the end of 2WD and now the guys (Maifield & Rivkin) are leading’.  Happy with 8th to 3rd in the first one and 9th to 2nd in Round 2, the 3-time Reedy Race Champion said ‘I need to sneak in a win in tomorrow’.

For Dustin Evans, who led at the end of 2WD, it was a tough start to 4WD as he is ‘struggling with the car today’.  The former champion said while changes made it better for the second race, in which he finished 4th, its ‘not comfortable’.  He added having had good 2WD starting position 4WD are tougher, a 7th and a 9th being his starting spots in the first two.  The Colorado driver starts out the final day 6th, 5-points of team-mate Maifield.

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