Tebo finally lands Reedy Race title

Having made the comment ‘I need a change’ after finishing 16th at last year’s Reedy Race of Champions, it seems a change is exactly what Jared Tebo needed as today at the 25th running of the event he finally landed the one title that had eluded him.  Switching to Team Tekno for 2019, the weekend started out perfectly as a rejuvenated Tebo sat second behind new team-mate Joe Bornhorst in the points table at the end of Day 1’s  four rounds of 4WD racing. It was however when the racing switched to 2WD, that Tebo really excelled going into the points lead at the end of Day 2. While the start to the deciding day saw him throw away a win and fall to 3rd, the driver synonymous with offroad racing over the past decade came back to win his next two outings eliminating all his rivals bar Spencer Rivkin. Winning the penultimate round ahead of Rivkin, this left the Associated driver a tall order to keep the title in the Californian manufacturers hands, defending Champion Dustin Evans’ fight coming to an end in the 10 of the 12 rounds of heads up racing.  Still the stage was set for a last race showdown with the grid a whose who of 1:10 Offroad racing.  Rivkin had to win, a result that would give him the overall win on a second places tie breaker, but starting 10th and with Ryan Maifield on the front row it was going to be a tall order for Rivkin to deny his senior rival the win. While Rivkin would get by Tebo crossing the line 4th, up front Maifield checked out to notch up win no.6, the most wins of the event, demoting Rivkin to third overall but the moment belonged to Tebo with his first Reedy Race victory popular with spectators at OCRC Raceway.

With his name set to be the 17th to be engraved on the Mike Reedy Heritage Trophy, reacting to his win Tebo said, ‘This was one of the titles I didn’t have. I’m ecstatic. I’m so happy to finally get the win.  I’m really looking forward to the future with my new team.  They gave me great support and I’m believing in myself again’.  Commenting on the deciding race, he said, ‘It wasn’t my best race. I was really nervous. I just wanted to stay ahead of Spencer but was thinking too much about it and jumped a little wide at the triple. I could have turned down on him but gave him space. I had a bobble and it was over for me after that.  I’m so happy to get the overall win’.

While his shot at a second Reedy Race title ended in the penultimate round after he failed to make a points advantage on Tebo as they both registered wins, Maifield was pleased to finish second given he ended 4WD 8th in the points.  The Yokomo driver said, ‘Second is a good result. The 6th I was carrying in 4WD was always going to hurt me.  I thought 2WD was going to be a complete cluster F but the track changed and made it more racy.  We made good team work, my cars really worked. Overall we put on a good show’.  Registering the most wins, on his sixth race win in the final race he said, ‘I started out front and just drove around. My car was awesome. I made a little mistake but got back into my rhythm and Ty (Tessmann) couldn’t catch me’.

Matching his previous best finish at the Reedy Race, having previously finished third in his Invitational Class debut in 2016, Rivkin said, ‘It is what it is. Maifield got the win so I finished 3rd’.  On the deciding race, the 2015 2WD World Champion added, ‘The race was fun. All the top dogs were running in the show.  I started 10th and thought I drove well. I beat Tebo. I couldn’t do anything more but I’m happy with how I drove.  I’ll just have to try for the overall win again next year’. Behind Rivkin, last year’s Runner-up Ty Tessmann ended up 4th ahead of the outgoing Champion Dustin Evans with multiple champion Ryan Cavalieri completing the Top 6.

Booking their places to compete with the best drivers in the world at next year’s Reedy Race of Champions, Top Qualifier Tommy Hinz took his Xray to the 2WD Open Class win ahead of Ron DeVoll who took the second of the two A-Mains to go with his third in A1. DeVoll however got the job done in 4WD to secure one of the coveted 30 Invite spots taking his Associated to victory in both Mains ahead of Hinz, with Austin Horne completing the podium.

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Tebo & Rivkin to battle for first Reedy Race title

Jared Tebo and Spencer Rivkin will battle it out in the final round of racing at OCRC Raceway, California, to lift their first Reedy Race of Champions title.  The penultimate round saw Tebo make the most of a pole start and move a step closer to the one title that has eluded him when he won the opening race ahead of Rivkin.  Starting sixth on the grid it was an important 2nd for Rivkin as 3rd or lower would have ended his shot at winning the 25th running of the legendary race.  Having gone into the round with an outside chance of clinching the title for a second time, unfortunately while Ryan Maifield delivered a win from 5th on the grid Tebo’s win cancelled out any potential gains ending the Yokomo driver’s 2019 challenge.  The other race of the Round saw Tanner Stees take his first win of the event ahead of Michal Orlowski and outgoing champion Dustin Evans.

Commenting on his race, Tebo, who is sporting an ever increasingly big smile, said, ‘It was another good race. It was tense with Spencer as he was going good. Now I just have to get through the last one’.  The new Tekno signing added, ‘It’s going to be a stressful last one but I am just going to keep doing what I’m doing. I’m in a great position’.  All the pressure is on Rivkin to get a win in the last round but the odds are stacked against him starting 10th on the grid, with Tebo lining up 8th in the same race and Maifield on the front row.  Should Rivkin win, to lift the title he needs Tebo to finish 3rd or lower.

‘That was an awesome race. I came from 6th to 2nd and was only 2/10th behind the leader’, was Rivkin reaction to his penultimate race.  The Associated driver added, ‘I gave all I had but there was no mistake from Jared. There was nothing else I could do’.  Asked about his approach for the deciding final race, he replied, ‘Nothing changes.  I got to go out and do all I can do and be smart. Anything can happen’.

Having done all he could do but hampered by the sixth place he had to carry from the 5th round of 4WD, Maifield said, ‘Having to count that 6 from 4WD I knew it was going to haunt me.  This race is hard.  I’m going to go out in the last one and try get another win and see what that does’ – the 2015 Champion still having the chance to finish runner-up.  On his Round 11 performance he said, ‘I started 5th and got around a couple of guys in the first corner.  The second lap I almost crashed.  I had a bobble but David (Ronnefalk) gave me room. After that I got my head down and played safe.’  He added,  ‘That race I changed to a different set of tyres and they were as good.  I will switch back to the tyres I am more comfortable with and see what the next round holds’.

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Tebo moves closer to first Reedy title with 2 rounds to go

Jared Tebo has moved closer to his first ever Reedy Race of Champions title after the Tekno driver made up for a disappointing start to the final day’s racing by taking his 3rd win of 2WD in the fourth round.  After giving up a win in the previous round, Tebo converted a 7th place starting position into a win over pole sitter Ty Tessmann and with two rounds to go he holds a 2-point lead over Ryan Maifield with Spencer Rivkin who is carrying a 5th sitting third.  Also starting P7, Maifield added his fourth win of the event thanks in part to team-mate Ryan Cavalieri.  Making a late mistake, the same place Tebo threw away his win in the previous round, this allowed Cavalieri to go to the front but the new Yokomo signing took a wide line that allowed Maifield back to the front for a win that keeps the former champion in the hunt.  With the best starting position of the trio, starting third, Rivkin couldn’t respond to the pace of pole sitter Broc Champlin and had to settle for a P2 1.6-seconds back on his Associated team-mate.  For defending champion Dustin Evans the round netted him a P4 from 10th, a result that effectively ends his hopes of a third title.

‘I’ve put the first race behind me.  I’m really happy with that win’, was Tebo’s reaction to his fourth win of the event.  He explained, ‘It was a good race.  I started 7th, there was a pile up and I was able to squirt through that and then chased down Ty’.  With two races separating him from adding his name to the Mike Reedy Heritage Trophy on this the 25th running of unique heads up racing format event.  Asked about the remaining races, the former World Champion replied, ‘I am not going to look at the heats. I’m not going to look at the points. I’m just going to race who I am racing and do my best’.

Summing up his race, Maifield said, ‘I got a little love from my team-mate the last lap but that keeps me in the outside hunt. It is very hard when Jared keeps winning’.  Lifting the Reedy Race title in 2015, he added, ‘I’m starting 5th for the next one and have a front row for the last one. I’m just going to try and win out from here but it is in his hands if he keeps winning’.  The World Champion added, ‘I got a 1st and 2nd from 7th in the last two races which shows my car is working. Getting through the field like that is good. Unfortunately I am carrying that 6th from 4WD and that is hurting me. I will try the best I can in the last two and have fun doing it’.

‘I started 3rd and finished 2nd. Me and my team-mate were chasing each other down. I gave everything I had’, was Rivkin’s reaction to the 10th of the 12 rounds of racing that make up the Reedy Race.  Like Tebo and also chasing his first Reedy title, the Arizona driver said, ‘now other teams are giving positions to their higher points drivers. It would be nice have that same privilege but it didn’t work out that way.  I’m bummed Cav let Maifield go but we are still in the hunt’.

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