Dramatic 5th round hands Evans advantage with one to go

A dramatic conclusion to the penultimate round of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions turned the 24th running of the event on its head with Dustin Evans jumping into a 2-point lead going into the deciding round.  With Tessmann putting himself in with an outside chance of the title with a 3rd win of the day when he won the opening heat. The second heat saw Ryan Maifield take his second 2WD win also putting the former champion in with a mathematical chance of a second title but all the attention was on heat three. With joint points leaders Ryan Cavalieri and Spencer Rivkin together with Dustin Evans, who was just a point behind, on the grid, the race couldn’t have been scripted to be more dramatic.  Starting up front, Evans lead the way and looked to be pulling a gap as mid pack starting Rivkin and Cavalieri came through before Evans two laps in succession got it wrong in the whoops creating showdown of the title contenders with Cavalieri, who dropped back earlier due to a rare mistake, going to the front.  With the win certain to secure Cavalieri his 5th Reedy Race title the Associated driver would land the triple in front of the drivers stand on the pipe breaking a rear arm.  Getting around the corner, his car stranded in the middle of the track would get collected by Rivkin who on getting over Cavalieri’s car would then get stuck head to head with Joona Haatanen’s car allowing Evans to go clear for a 3-second win over Rob Gillespie.  With Cavalieri getting 9 points, the heat having only 9 cars, Rivkin would collect 5 points for 5th, turning the points table on its head with Evans the new leader from Maifield by a point with Rivkin third, Tessmann fourth and Cavalieri 5th before drops are taken into account. With drops counted Evans holds a 2-point lead over Cavalieri and Rivkin.  Going first Evans has the advantage of an easier heat albeit from the back row of the grid, while all the other contenders line up together in the final race of the event.

‘I knew it was going to be a gnarly race’, said Evans. Starting on the front row alongside pole sitter Joseph Quagraine, the 2011 Champion continued, ‘JQ told me straight up he was going for it at the start so I went for it too and kept my line around the outside.  I drove awesome for 4-minutes. I was telling myself to keep going and don’t let up but then I backed it off and had mistakes two times in the whoop and had to race it with Cav.  When he broke I managed to get around him while the others hit his car.  I had it under control, blew it and then won it. Thats the Reedy Race’.  Asked about the final round he said, ‘I don’t want to know the scenarios. I want to chill out for a bit and go out and do what I can.  The last heat is super stacked and I’m not in it but I’ve still got to go out and drive my own race’.

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Tessmann the big winner in 4th round of 2WD

Ty Tessmann was the big winner in the fourth round of 2WD action at the Reedy Race of Champions, the Xray driver now having the greatest number of 2WD wins after notching up his 3rd win ahead of Ryan Maifield.  With a 6th to drop from last nights closing encounter, Tessmann is quietly moving into contention with 2 rounds to go.  Sharing the lead going into the round, Ryan Cavalieri and Spencer Rivkin maintained station with both drivers equaling each other by finishing 3rd in their respective heats. With both starting from 10th on the grid, they would work their ways up to 2nd only to lose it through mistakes.  In Rivkin’s heat it was Alex Kosciuszek who posted his first win of the event ahead of Dustin Evans, Evans finish moving him a point closer to the points leaders.  In Cavalieri’s encounter, Joe Bornhorst added a second win to his tally as the reigning champion, distracted by Josh Pain doubling the Monster Triple, over jumped allowing Cole Tollard to close and snatch back second when Cavalieri put in a rough last lap.

‘Its a good last day compared to yesterday’, was Tessmann’s reaction to making it 2 out of 2 for the morning.  The former 1:8 Offroad World Champion, for whom the Reedy Race title eludes him, added, ‘My cars has been descent but the track is very tough today. It is definitely not easy out there. I ran new tyres and we have been changing the car each run and I hope the tyres last the last 2 races’.

Commenting on his race, Rivkin said, ‘I could have got one less point but at least I didn’t lose the lead to Cavalieri’.  A podium finisher in 2016, he continued, ‘I’m still in it with my other team-mates so I’m excited for the last two races’.  Cavalieri was clearly frustrated with himself after his race as he came up onto the driver stand for his referee duties, each driver in invitational assisting Nick Black with any calls required during racing.  He said, ‘I was coming up on Josh and he doubled the triple and I let it distract me and I over jumped.  It was stupid.  Then on the last lap I hit every pipe’.

‘Going from the back to 2nd is good’, was how Evans summed up his race.  He continued, ‘Myself and Spencer were racing each other but both made mistakes.  With the tyres its becoming a difficult situation. Its tough out there but I’m now only one point back so its still possible to win. I’ll keep plugging away’.

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Spencer opens final day with win to tie for the lead with Cavalieri

Spencer Rivkin got the final day of the Reedy Race of Champions off to the best possible start taking a win, while in the same heat overnight points leader Ryan Cavalieri got a third behind Joona Haatanen.  The win puts the Associated driver equal on 13 points with his team-mate and reigning champion Cavalieri.  For the other title contenders the day didn’t start so well with Dustin Evans having worked his way up to 2nd made a mistake that would drop him back to 4th.  Getting his first pole position start Ryan Maifield couldn’t convert it into a much needed win, the race the most stacked of the 7th round.  A mistake at the triple would allow Ty Tessman to go to the front and pull clear while a subsequent mistake would drop Maifield back to 5th with him recovering to take 2nd ahead of Dakotah Phend and Evans.  In the other of the encounters Rob Gillespie registered his first win of the event heading home the Reedy Race’s first ever female racer Malin Karlsen.

Starting from fourth on the grid, Rivkin summed up his race as ‘really solid’.  He continued, ‘I knew I had the points leader in my race and the more top guys in my race the better so I can race them and build points’.  Asked about track conditions, the 2015 World Champion said, ‘I was running bald tyres and had pretty good grip.  I was running on my own and didn’t have to race anyone but I think tyres in the next few races are going to be critical’.  For his next race, Rivkin will start from last on the grid.

Commenting on his race, third still his lowest finish of the 9 rounds of racing run so far, Cavalieri said, ‘I got a really good start but got tapped from behind at the first jump and then had my work cut out.  Everyone made it challenging’.  He continued, ‘the track is more slimmy so it made things more difficult but my mistake coming onto the straight was what really cost me. 3rd is not bad but now I’m sharing the lead so I need to buckle down for the next few’.

Sitting second a point behind Cavalieri going into the round, Evans who lined up 8th said, ‘It was a stacked heat but got a perfect start. I got up to second but then made the exactly same mistake as Cavalieri.  Everyone is making mistakes so I can’t be too hard on myself but the 4th hurts’.  Dropping to third in the points, he concluded, ‘I’m still in contention so I’ll keep pushing in the next one’.

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