February 18, 2016

Chassis Focus – Ryan Maifield

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Chassis – TLR 8ight-T 4.0
Engine – Reds R5 Team
Tyres – JConcepts Reflex green
Fuel – Sidewinder
Radio/Servos – Airtronics/Spektrum
Body – JConcepts Finnisher

Remarks – Having been testing the all new 8ight-T 4.0 from TLR for a few months now, Ryan Maifield already has a base setup for the car in these conditions. The car, which is 11mm narrower than its predecessor, has only had some minor changes made to its setup with the Arizona native using softer springs front and rear. A result of the new driveline being straighter than the 3.0 he has had to go up in the centre diff oil from 10K to 15K to get more drive to the rear wheels.

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February 18, 2016

Chassis Focus – Ryan Cavalieri

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Chassis – Associated RC8T3
Engine – MX B2R
Tyres – AKA Grid Iron soft
Fuel – MX Racing Fuel
Radio/Servos – Airtronics
Body – Kit body

Remarks – Ryan Cavalieri is making his race debut with the newly released RC8T3 from Team Associated and took the top spot after seeding. Essentially the final kit car he has opted to used Factory Team rear aluminium hubs and because the car is underweight is using 100 grams of weight in the rear of the car. Arriving with a base setup on his car he has mostly made changes to the roll centres and damper oil changes to compensate for the higher temps in Arizona.

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February 18, 2016

Chassis Focus – Ryan Lutz

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Chassis – Tekno RC NT48.3
Engine – Alpha Plus Dragon 3
Tyres – AKA Grid Iron soft
Fuel – Byron Fuels
Radio/Servos – Futaba
Body – Kit body

Remarks – Running the kit standard truggy from Tekno Ryan Lutz started practice with the same setup he used at the US Open race at this same track back in November. Back then the track was smoother so he has made the diffs a little lighter to handle the bumps better and to compensate for the heat he has run slight stiffer oil. Other changes include using the 1 stop stiffer than kit springs all round and for aesthetics Ryan likes to use the version 2 rear wing mount which is slight taller than the latest version.

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February 18, 2016

Track Focus – Dirt Nitro Challenge (Fear Farm)

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Track Name – Fear Farm
Organiser – Joey ‘The Dirt’ Christensen
Country – USA
Location – Phoenix, Arizona
Direction – Anti-clockwise
Surface – Dirt
Previous DNC hosted – 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015

The Fear Farm, so named after the themed haunted house that is located on the grounds of this large sports complex, plays host to its 5th Dirt Nitro Challenge with this being the 17th running of the Joey ‘The Dirt’ Christensen’s signature event.  Having based previous builds on a theme which in the past have included ‘Burm’ and ‘Triples’, Joey has themed this year’s track ‘Dub Step’, the key feature being two big step ups.  With Joey’s normal signature of being ‘big jumps’, this year he said he has gone for a more European style track and rather than move dirt to create big jumps he has more went with the natural elevations that exists from previous track builds.  Describing it as fast he has focused on more sweeping corners in combination with the elevation changes.  He is particularly proud of his two ‘flat lanes’ in the centre of the track which he said ‘is unusual for (him)’ but planning to use this as the starting grid, 10 cars on one lane and 5 on the other, he said this should make qualifying more important.  Describing the overall look of the layout as ‘not intimidating’, he said initial feedback from drivers was that it ‘looks easy’ to which he replied ‘ovals look easy too but its not easy to win in Nascar’.

Defending DNC Buggy Champion Ryan Maifield said the ‘layout is cool’.  The TLR driver said the surface is already super gnarly making the it ‘pretty technical’.  A super hot day in Phoenix yesterday, the Arizona native said the dirt which is old farming soil needs a lot of water to bind together and rain prior to the event is usual a big bonus but that didn’t happen and only having a water truck to wet the track yesterday in the hot temperature the single round of practice has already taken a toll on the surface.  He added that with the surface as it is it is good that the track is not as ‘crazy’ as previous years in terms of the layout.  He said the double after the finish line dropdown is one area he is finding a little tricky due to its position from the drivers stand but pointing to the double straight section he said ‘the flow of this centre section is rad’.

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January 25, 2016

Phend is Reedy Race Champion

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Dakotah Phend is the champion of the 22nd running of the world famous Reedy Race of Champions.  With three drivers in contention going into the deciding round of heads up racing at OCRC Raceway in California, Phend would pull off the biggest win of his career with a copy book final race. Starting from 5th on the grid and with a DNF from the first round of 4WD to drop, the 18-year-old kept his nose clean at the start and helped by a pile up at the first run through the JConcepts kicker came out of the first lap with a lead he wouldn’t relinquish. Running in Race 2 of the final round, Ryan Maifield and Spencer Rivkin lining up in Race 3, the result sealed the title for Phend with the Michigan driver becoming the 16th name to be added to Mike Reedy Heritage Trophy.  With Maifield taking the win in the final race, Rivkin ending up fourth, the outgoing champion would secure second overall with Rivkin completing the podium.

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‘Crazy, it hasn’t sunk in yet’, was Phend’s initial reaction to beating 29 of the best drivers in the World.  Having never been in contention for the overall win at the Reedy Race before he said, ‘there are so many ups and downs to deal with. In 2WD I broke in the second round and in 4WD I broke in the first meaning every round then counted. It’s the most mentally draining race I’ve ever driven’.  Asked about the final race, he said ‘I got a clean start and then there was a big pile up which I managed to get through clean. After that I just focussed on making no mistakes to put in only the third 18-lap run of the event. Asked about his impressive performance this weekend, he said ‘I have been going to the track a lot more to be better prepared both racing and equipment wise. It paid off today as I’m feeling more comfortable with my cars and my driving’.

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Reflecting on the event, Maifield said ‘Unfortunately I had the opportunity to win taken away from me in the other one (Round 5) and I’m not happy to lose out in that way but I’m happy that I could come back and be right in the mix to defend what I did last year.  I didn’t win but we did win as a team’.  He continued ‘we all showed our cars are very good and what we are capable of as a team. Dakotah did a great job to win and Dustin was brilliant in 2WD and we are going to keep that momentum going for all of the year’.  Ending up with the same number of wins as Phend it was his clash with Spencer Rivkin in the penultimate round that ultimately ended his chance to become only the second driver to successful defend his Reedy Race title.

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Putting up a good battle with Maifield in the final race, having pulled off one of the best passes of the weekend when he temporarily took the lead from Ryan Cavalieri, Rivkin said ‘I’m pretty happy with a podium’.  He added, ‘It’s my second year in invite and I ran with the big boys, my cars were perfect. Well done to Dakotah for winning and to Maifield for getting second’.

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In the Open class, the winners getting a spot in the prestigious invite class next year, young Finnish talent Joona Haatanen converted the TQ in victory over Wisconsin teenager Cole Tollard and Alex Koscluszek. Tollard would TQ 4WD but winning both A-Main encounters Koscluszek took the win over Brad Shearer and Haatanen.

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