Evans double Top Qualifier at Dallas Short Course Showdown

Dustin Evans will start the two main classes on the 2011 short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour race program from pole position after the factory Losi driver wrapped up TQ honours for both 2WD Modified and 4WD in the final round of qualifying at Mikes Hobby Shop in Dallas, Texas this morning.

The provisional overnight TQ holder, only Evans himself was able to better the pace doing so in 2WD driver when he knocked 2 seconds off his Q3 time.  In a messy final 4WD qualifier, local ace Quincy Hughes became the only driver to top Evans in a round as the US off road champion’s truck got caught up in others incidents along with getting stood on by a marshal!

Displaying the skills that make him one of the top off road racers in the World, Evans said while he is delighted to TQ both classes he is contesting he said he can not take anything for granted especially with just single 7-minute mains. The Top Qualifier at the second date on the tour at Trackside Hobbies in Milwaukee, Evans got beaten off the line by Brian Kinwald only for the former World Champion to tank the first jump causing the pair to tangle and drop to the back of the field. Although the 25-year-old recovered to take the win he said the fourth 4WD qualifier in which he was on a new TQ run time highlighted just how easy things can go wrong.

In 2WD Mod it is Kinwald that will start from the number 2 spot and the electric off road legend is looking forward to giving Evans a run for his money.  Admitting that he is not quite as quick as this year’s 2WD Buggy World finalist, the Associated driver thinks he can hang with him.  Having changed the set-up on his SC10 for the final qualifier, the winner of the Californian stop on the tour said it wasn’t the right way to go and he will revert back to his earlier set-up for this evenings final.  Starting 4th in 4WD after posting his quickest run of the weekend this morning Kinwald said finishing in that position is going to be his main challenge and any chance of a win is totally off the cards unless Evans truck ‘explodes’.

One driver hoping to mix it with the two big names of the sport is 18-year-old Cody Hollis who lines up 3rd on the grid in 2WD Mod.  The Kyosho driver says his aim is to finish on the podium but if he gets a chance he wont hold back on trying to mix it with Evans and Kinwald for the win.  Starting fourth local top shot Quincy Hughes said this is about as good as it gets for him.  Happy with his Tekin powered XXX-SCT he said its his driving that is letting him down in 2WD.  Starting second on 4WD Hughes is much more positive about his chances and says he is expecting a good race.

Competing only in 4WD, birthday boy Josh Glancy was another to produce his best time in the final qualifier and although it didn’t change his starting position he is delighted to start third.  Celebrating his 15th birthday today the Losi driver felt this morning was the best he has driven all weekend.  Asked what his game plan for the final is the impressive youngster who is a newcomer to Short Course says he wants to finish the race and have fun.

One driver that had a very productive morning was Clayton Easley.  Sitting 6th overnight in 2WD Mod he improved his time in Q4 to put himself fifth on the grid.  Adding 10 grams of weight to the rear of his X-Factory chassis along with a fresher set of rear tyres it was more ‘planted and he believes it is now good enough to run for a podium. Only 22nd in 4WD after the 3rd qualifier he produced a great run this morning to take his Durango to the eight fastest time, the final direct A-Main qualifying position with the final two starters having to bump up from the B-Main for which 14-year-old Hunter La Flower is pole.

In the other 2WD classes Garrett Tokuna, Kent Everett and Marc McGurren all held on to secure the TQ honours for Stock, Novice and Traxxas Slash respectively.

4WD Short Course, A-Main Grid
1. Dustin Evans – Losi – 17/5:10.858
2. Hughes Quincy – Losi – 17/5:16.988
3. Josh Glancy – Losi – 16/5:02.492
4. Brian Kinwald – Associated – 16/5:10.990
5. Chris Allison – Losi – 16/5:11.086
6. Aaron Reynolds – Losi – 16/5:12.410
7. Mike Dumas – Losi – 16/5:12.538
8. Clayton Easley – Durango – 16/5:12.973

2WD Modified SC, A-Main Grid
1. Dustin Evans – Losi – 16/5:10.303
2. Brian Kinwald – Associated – 15/5:00.776
3. Cody Hollis – Kyosho – 15/5:05.218
4. Quincy Hughes – Losi – 15/5:07.966
5. Clayton Easley – X-Factory – 15/5:13.961
6. Randy Pike – Losi – 15/5:17.526
7. Paul Wynn – Associated – 15/5:18.963
8. Trevor Nault – Kyosho – 15/5:19.497

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Evans gives his rivals a Dustin in Dallas

Dustin Evans is stamping his authority on the fourth & final event of the 2011 Short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour having dominated proceedings in qualifying today at Mikes Hobby Shop in Dallas, Texas, to hold the provisional overnight TQ honours in both 2WD & 4WD Modified classes.  A racer who over the last 12-months has established himself as a World class talent, the factory Losi driver topped the time sheets for all six of his qualifiers and with just one more round of heats in the morning looks very much on target to start both A-Mains on pole.  One of the friendliest and most approachable team drivers in the sport, the 25-year-old said he was ‘super happy’ with both his trucks and in particular with the progress he has made this weekend with his 2WD which he took to a new TQ time in the third qualifier.

In 2WD the closest challenge for Evans came from one of the great legends of off road racing as Brian Kinwald came close to becoming the only other driver to make 16-laps as he also put in his fastest run of the day in Q3.  Sitting top of 4WD thanks to his Q1 time, Evans looks even more in control of proceedings of the premiere class with fellow Losi driver and local track ace Quincy Hughes the nearest challenger among the 98 truck field. Hughes looked like he was on a fast run in the final race of the day until he lost a wheel on lap 11.

In the other classes Garrett Tokuno, the owner of 702 Raceway in Las Vegas, holds the provisional TQ in the 2WD Stock class with his Thunder Power powered Associated SC10, while fastest times in Q3 from Kent Everett and Marc McGurren see them on target to carry No.1 on their trucks in the Novice Short Course and Traxxas Slash spec classes respectively.

Drivers have one last chance to improve on their qualifying times with Top 8 the main target as the finals will see the top two finishes bump up to the back of the grid of the proceeding final.

Provisional top 10 after 3 of 4 qualifiers
4WD Short Course
1. Dustin Evans – Losi – 17/5:10.858 (R1)
2. Quincy Hughes – Losi – 16/5:04.798 (R2)
3. Josh Glancy – Losi – 16/5:06.420 (R1)
4. Chris Allison – Losi – 16/5:11.086 (R2)
5. Brian Kinwald – Associated – 16/5:11.452 (R2)
6. Aaron Reynolds – Losi – 16/5:12.410 (R2)
7. Mike Dumas – Losi – 16/5:12.538 (R1)
8. Hunter La Flower – Losi – 16/5:15.574 (R1)
9. Courtney Tate – Losi – 16/5:19.213 (R2)
10.Nathan Dean – Losi – 16/5:20.363 (R3)

Modified Short Course
1. Dustin Evans – Losi – 16/5:12.305 (R3)
2. Brian Kinwald – Associated – 15/5:00.777 (R3)
3. Cody Hollis – Kyosho – 15/5:05.218 (R2)
4. Quincy Hughes – Losi – 15/5:07.966 (R3)
5. Randy Pike – Losi – 15/5:17.645 (R3)
6. Clayton Easley – X-Factory – 15/5:18.528 (R2)
7. Paul Wynn – Associated – 15/5:18.963 (R2)
8. Trevor Nault – Kyosho – 15/5:19.497 (R2)
9. Gary O’Brien – X-Factory – 15/5:19.829 (R2)
10.Mike Stoll – Associated – 14/5:01.678 (R1)

Stock Short Course
1. Garrett Tokuno – 14/5:01.278 (R3)
2. Brent Burns – 14/5:01.778 (R3)
3. Richard Trujillo – 14/5:03.228 (R3)
4. Charlie Martin – 14/5:07.608 (R2)
5. Kevin McCoy – 14/5:08.728 (R1)
6. Bill Jeric – 14/5:10.841 (R2)
7. Brian Butts – 14/5:12.002 (R3)
8. Gary O’Brien – 14/5:13.254 (R2)
9. Sonny Brown – 14/5:15.891 (R3)
10.James Green – 14/5:16.903 (R3)

Novice Short Course
1. Kent Everett – 12/5:01.934 (R3)
2. Joel Irvine – 12/5:02.879 (R3)
3. Cole Copley – 12/5:22.769 (R3)
4. David Walker – 11/5:04.238 (R3)
5. Josh Prior – 11/5:06.007 (R2)
6. Clinton Majors – 11/5:10.634 (R3)
7. Richard Terry – 11/5:18.091 (R2)
8. Paul Forgey – 11/5:19.007 (R3)
9. Ron Topping – 10/5:05.956 (R3)
10.Dizodrick Darners – 10/5:06.468 (R2)

Traxxas Slash
1. Marc McGurren – 13/5:06.237 (R3)
2. Justin Johnson – 13/5:07.245 (R3)
3. Joel Merritt – 13/5:10.985 (R3)
4. Andrew Doherty – 13/5:16.766 (R3)
5. Ron Simpson – 13/5:20.601 (R1)
6. Keith Moore – 13/5:23.322 (R1)
7. Bill Darnell – 13/5:23.370 (R3)
8. Dan Prior – 12/5:04.831 (R3)
9. Robert Reaves – 12/5:06.997 (R2)
10.Jeremiah Carter – 12/5:09.411 (R3)

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Evans stays in control in Dallas

The second round of 4WD qualifying at the Short Course Showdown Nationwide Tour in Dallas saw Dustin Evans’ domination continue as the factory Losi driver once again topped the time sheets but like in 2WD it is his Q1 run that remains the provisional outright TQ time.

Evans said after the run that he knew his morning time was good and that bettering it was going to be difficult.  Pushing hard in an attempt to see if he could go faster he over drove, something he said is easy to do in 4WD, which resulted in two bad laps.  Even without the two crashes, which cost him around 5 seconds, the winner of the second date on the Scotty Ernst run tour said a new TQ run wasn’t on the cards.

Second fastest in Q2, improving on his morning time to move to move up to second overall, Quincy Hughes was much happier with his lowered Losi. Deciding against adjusting the droop, the local ace said the lower ride height worked perfectly and he was very happy to be sitting second behind a driver of Evans’ caliber.

Setting the third fastest time for the second of the four scheduled qualifiers was Chris Allison.  The owner of Speedster Hobbies in Austin, he said his Losi TEN-SCTE is set-up the same as Evans’ example and feels ‘fantastic’ but his driving has not matched the capabilities of truck.  Running in the same heat as Brian Kinwald, who he said it was a real pleasure to race against, Allison felt while he drove much better in Q2 but there is still room to clean it up a little more.  The time leaves him fourth overall just ahead of Kinwald who enjoyed his best run in Q2 to move up one spot to fifth.

Two drivers that failed to improve their Q1 times were Josh Glancy and Mike Dumas who dropped to 3rd & 7th respectively.  14-year-old Glancy put his lack of pace down to bad driving but found afterwards that his motor may have contributed to the below par performance. With a new motor fitted for Q3, the Losi driver is hopeful he can better his Q1 time in the final run of the day.

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2WD update – Q2

Dustin Evans remains the provisional Top Qualifier of the 2WD Modified class despite failing to improve his Q1 time in the second round of the qualifying.  The Losi driver still topped the times for Q2 as he again was the only driver to make 16 laps.  On target to improve his time a mistake on his 7th lap which left him stuck on a pipe cost over 2-seconds and he crossed the finish just a second shy of his morning time.

Improving his morning time Team Associated’s Brian Kinwald was again the closest challenger to Evans but still couldn’t break 16 laps. Switching additive for Q2 he said his SC10 was slighter better but overall it still feels loose.  Improving his time by almost 8-seconds, Kinwald said he will focus instead on trying to work around the problem with his driving rather than trying to chase a set-up.

Sixth fastest after Q1, teenager Cody Hollis made a big improvement to go third quickest.  The Kyosho driver said lengthening the rear camber links really improved his truck and other than changing to a fresh set of AKA Wishbones on the rear he will stick with the same set-up for the reseeded third round of qualifying which will complete today’s track action.

Another to improve, local Losi ace Quincy Hughes didn’t improve on his overall time as he stays fourth overall.  Dropping to fifth having been third after Q1 Randy Pike said he went too far in his quest to get more steering on his Losi XXX-SCT.  Adding weight to the front of the chassis he said he made the mistake of also saucing his tyres which he said was the wrong way to go.

Driving an X-Factory chassis, Clayton Easley moved to fifth fastest time for the round to move himself into the Top 6 just ahead of JConcepts’ Paul Wynn who improved his Q1 time but drops two spots to sit 7th.

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