Video – 4wd & 2wd Buggy A-main Leg 3

Maifield does Buggy double at JConcepts Clash

Team Associated’s Ryan Maifield has done the double in electric buggy at the 7th running of the JConcepts Clash, the Arizona driver successfully defending his 2WD title and adding the 4WD title after winning each of the deciding third A-Mains over Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans.  Having also successful defended his 2WD Short Course title after A2, the first buggy title to go to Maifield was 4WD as he took his Reedy powered B44.2 to an easy win after Evans rolled on two occasions coming on to the straight, his XXX-4 struggling in the high traction conditions at the Flowood RC Indoor Park track.  The closing race of a packed race program and the blue ribbon class of the event, A3 of 2WD Buggy saw a blistering opening lap from Maifield with him getting his C4.2 passed Top Qualifier Evans’ also mid motored TLR 22 2.0.  While Evans fought back, a mistake on lap 3 would ultimately end his chances allowing Maifield to post the only 15-lap run of the finals.

Happy to take the wins, Maifield said while his 2WD was better than in Leg 2 without Evans’ mistake he said it would have been a tough race adding that had they run head to head he wouldn’t be so sure he would have been able to successfully defend his title.  Running a stiff shock set-up and moving them to a more laid down position, he also changed the rear inserts in his JConcepts Barcodes on which he applied extra additive, he said the changes did help a little to improve the corner speed he lacked in A2.  Although he has been ‘pretty comfortable’ with the change in driving style from the start of the switch over from rear to mid motor, Maifield said the weekend gave reassurance to the preparations they have been making for the up coming World Championships.

‘A frustrating day’ was how Evans summed up his second place buggy finishes.  Also runner-up in 2WD last year, he said that he struggled through the top left section which after the nitro finals had broken up since A2.  With his buggy strongest on the left side of the track he said he tried to make back up the time on Maifield there but eventually pushed it too hard.  ‘Of course I want to win’ but taking positives from the event he said he got a lot of valuable mileage with the mid motor this will be very beneficial to his World Championships hopes.

Having his best run of the three finals in A3 to claim third which secured him the final spot on the podium, TLR’s JR Mitch was pleased with his end result joking that he was the first of the ‘non-cheater’ cars. Running his TLR22 2.0 in rear motor configuration he said the last run he figured out his tyres running a set of one run JConcepts Barcodes which made the car much more comfortable to drive. Having ran new tyres in A1 & A2 he said his buggy felt like it was floating around on the tyre’s pins.  Although he missed out on the win in the biggest class of the year’s Clash, e-Buggy, finishing 2nd overall having started as Top Qualifier, Mitch did take one overall win taking the 4WD Short Course title.

Completing the podium in 4WD Buggy was up & coming talent Damion Borkowicz, the 13-year-old clearly delighted with the result.  The protege of JConcepts founder Jason Ruona, the Associated driver said he was pretty OK with finishing behind Maifield, who he ran impressively with in A2 before crashing out, and Evans.  The extremely mature Florida racer said the result, his best ‘Clash’ finish, is a good boost going into his next race which will see he him make his World Championship debut.

In the two main 1:8 buggy classes the nitro 30-minute Main was won by Team Associated driver Jake Dellinger after young TLR driver & Top Qualifier Tyler Jones retired as the race reached the 20-minute mark.  Second place went to Dylan Gerard with Ty Rogers completing the podium.  In e-Buggy Justin Cranford took the win over JR Mitch, who like in A2 had a terrible opening few laps, with Jake Dellinger completing the overall Top 3.

2WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 200 pts
2. Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 199
3. JR Mitch – Team Losi Racing – 195
4. Max Flurer – Team Associated – 193
5. Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 193
6. Damion Borkowicz – Team Associated – 192
7. Ryan Eckert – Kyosho – 190
8. Justin Cranford – Team Durango – 190
9. Leon McIntosh – Team Losi Racing – 186
10.Paul Sinclair – X-Factory – 186
11.Paul Wynn – Team Associated – 184
12.Jason Ruona – Team Associated – 178

2WD Buggy A-3 Result
1.(2) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 15/5:23.183
2.(1) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:06.701
3.(3) JR Mitch – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:12.340
4.(4) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:20.661
5.(10)Damion Borkowicz – Team Associated – 14/5:21.536
6.(6) Max Flurer – Team Associated – 14/5:24.259
7.(12)Paul Sinclair – X-Factory – 13/5:08.491
8.(8) Leon McIntosh – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:09.583
9.(5) Ryan Eckert – Kyosho – 13/5:09.993
10.(11)Justin Cranford – Team Durango – 12/5:03.762
11.(9)Paul Wynn – Team Associated – 9/3:44.566
12.(7)Jason Ruona – Team Associated – DNS

4WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 200 pts
2. Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 199
3. Damion Borkowicz – Team Associated – 196
4. Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 195
5. Ryan Eckert – Kyosho – 193
6. Alfredo Arrieta – Xray – 193
7. Brett Kingsbury – Team Associated – 192
8. Zack Genova – Xray – 192
9. Barry Goodwin – Team Associated – 188
10.Jimmy Vanderhaar – Team Associated – 188
11.Jason Ruona – Team Associated – 180
12.Blaine Cavin – Team Associated – 178

4WD Buggy A-3 Result
1.(1) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 15/5:11.644
2.(2) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:20.746
3.(3) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:00.229
4.(5) Damion Borkowicz – Team Associated – 14/5:02.029
5.(7) Ryan Eckert – Kyosho – 14/5:13.377
6.(11)Alfredo Arrieta – Xray – 14/5:17.333
7.(12)Barry Goodwin – Team Associated – 14/5:23.971
8.(8) Zack Genova – Xray – 13/5:01.276
9.(6) Brett Kingsbury – Team Associated – 13/5:02.708
10.(9)Jimmy Vanderhaar – Team Associated – 12/5:06.376
11.(4)Jason Ruona – Team Associated – DNS
12.(10)Blaine Cavin – Team Associated – DNS

View the complete event results here (PDF).

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Video – 4wd & 2wd Buggy A-main Leg 2

Evans recovers to win A2 of 2WD Buggy

TLR’s Dustin Evans recovered from a mistake that left arch rival Ryan Maifield take the lead of the 2nd A-Main of 2WD Buggy at the JConcepts Clash to convert his TQ starting position into a win forcing the title to be decided in the 3rd & final Main of the Mississippi event.  Having lost the lead in A1 due to a mistake that handed Maifield the win, the second encounter looked like things might be repeated as Evans’ TLR22 got a landing wrong allowing the Associated C4.2 of Maifield into the lead.  This time however Evans was better able to regain his composure hauling in Maifield before getting back passed the Arizona ace with three laps to go to claim the win.  In a race of attrition, Maifield took the 2nd 4WD Buggy A-Main meaning it too will be decided in the final leg.

‘A really fun race’ was how Evans described the 2WD encounter. Leading away from pole position with Maifield in his shadows, the race really sparked into life when Evans missed his landing on the triple, opening the door for defending ‘Clash’ champion Maifield to move to the front.  Having over driven following his crash in Leg 1 leaving him unable to challenge to take the lead back, Evans said this time round he was able to regain his composure.  While dropping back a little over the following laps he said he got his head down allowing him to get right back up to Maifield, setting the fastest lap in the process.  Knowing his mid motored buggy was particularly good at the top left hand section of the track that is were he made his move getting successfully down the inside to retake the lead.

Also describing it as a ‘good race’, Maifield said Evans made a good move and once he was down the inside he ‘let it happen’.  Feeling both his buggies were ‘missing a little speed’ for the second round of A-Mains, for the deciding 5-minute encounter he will try a different foam insert in his JConcepts Barcode tyres in the hope he can find some extra corner speed.  In 4WD, Evans pulled a surprise pass on Maifield on the second lap with his XXX-4 but on the next lap made a mistake allowing both Maifield and young charger Damion Borkowicz through to the front. Such was Borkowicz’s pace, the 13-year-old was actually pulling in Maifield but unfortunately on lap 6 it would all come to a crashing end when the Florida driver clipped the pipping through the fast top right hand section pulling a front corner off his Associated B44.2.  This allowed Evans up to second but he too would pull a corner of his TLR on lap 12 of 15.  In the hunt for 3rd position TLR team-mate Cody Hollis was another to hit trouble.  With two laps to go he popped a ball cup on his XXX-4 allowing the Xray of Jack Genova to cruise to second and fellow teenager & XB4 driver Alfredo Arrieta through to complete the Top 3.

In 2WD Short course Maifield ensured that he will go home with at least one JConcepts Clash winning trophy as he successful defended his title by winning his second A-Main over Evans.  The 4WD Short Course title was also decide in A2 as TLR’s JR Mitch took another win over John Bernard Jr’s Teckno truck. Mitch wasn’t able to repeat his A1 e-Buggy win after making a terrible start which allowed Justin Cranford to win by just .709 of a second.  Also going to the third leg is the Mod Truck title after Leon McIntosh got the better of Top Qualifier & A1 winner Cody Hollis who had to recover from an early incident.

2WD Buggy A-2 Result
1.(1) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:00.392
2.(2) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 14/5:01.590
3.(5) Ryan Eckert – Kyosho – 14/5:15.697
4.(3) JR Mitch – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:19.612
5.(4) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:20.485
6.(11)Justin Cranford – Team Durango – 13/5:12.166
7.(9) Paul Wynn – Team Associated – 13/5:14.028
8.(8) Leon McIntosh – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:15.319
9.(12)Paul Sinclair – X-Factory – 13/5:16.148
10.(6)Max Flurer – Team Associated – 5/2:14.751
11.(10)Damion Borkowicz – Team Associated – 3/1:27.469
12.(7)Jason Ruona – Team Associated – DNS

4WD Buggy A-2 Result
1.(1) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 15/5:09.354
2.(8) Zack Genova – Xray – 14/5:07.472
3.(11)Alfredo Arrieta – Xray – 14/5:13.981
4.(7) Ryan Eckert – Kyosho – 14/5:17.284
5.(6) Brett Kingsbury – Team Associated – 14/5:18.317
6.(9) Jimmy Vanderhaar – Team Associated – 14/5:18.474
7.(12)Barry Goodwin – Team Associated – 14/5:20.750
8.(3) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:22.405
9.(2) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 12/4:14.720
10.(5)Damion Borkowicz – Team Associated – 5/1:43.291
11.(4)Jason Ruona – Team Associated – DNS
12.(10)Blaine Cavin – Team Associated – DNS

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Video – 4wd & 2wd Buggy A-main Leg 1

A1 Buggy win each for Maifield & Evans

Ryan Maifield and Dustin Evans took one buggy win each in the opening round of A-Mains at the JConcepts Clash in Mississippi but it was in the races they started from second on the grid after both drivers made mistakes while leading the way from their TQ starting positions.  First up was 4WD Buggy in which Maifield started from the pole but clipping a pipe after 5 laps it popped a ball cup allowing Evans’ TLR to the front from where he would cruise to victory. With the marshal quickly fixing Maifield’s B44.2, he would rejoin in 6th position from where he worked his way back up the field snatching 3rd two corners from finish when Cody Hollis put his TLR in the pipe. Hollis had been involved in the battle of the race as he and young talent Damion Borkowicz fought over 2nd.  A mistake by Borkowicz at the triple on the penultimate lap allowed Hollis up to second but the 13-year-old pulled off a great pass at the very same spot next time round to claim 2nd ahead of Maifield and Hollis.

In the 2WD Main it was Top Qualifier Evans who would get too close to the piping around the Flowood RC Indoor Park track.  Looking in control of proceedings on Lap 6 his TLR22 2.0 would get turned into the pipe allowing Maifield to the front.  The 2011 National Champion mounted a serious challenge to retake the lead for about two laps but then got out of shape giving Maifield just the edge he needed to go on a take the win.  Behind the two World Championship title contenders it was Associated’s Max Flurer who started 6th on the grid who completed the podium.

Stiffening up his mid motored 2WD for the first of the finals, Maifield said the C4.2 was the best its been all week.  Not planning any changes for Leg 2, he said while he got a little lucky with Evans’ mistake on a track that is proving a little more difficult to pass on than original anticipated he said there are some good spots where you can ‘push the issue & get by’.  In 4WD he said he just glanced the pipe which popped a ball cup and it was as ‘easy at that’.  Luckily the marshal fixed it and he was able to rejoin.  Happy how his Reedy powered B44.2 is working he said for Leg 2 he will just fit a new set of ball cups along with a fresh set of JConcepts Blue Barcodes.

Evans said his 2WD was awesome with himself and Maifield very evenly matched, as highlighted by their fastest laps times which where just 36/1000th apart, but he just got a little to close to the pipe and that was it.  Coming back at Maifield for a time he said he started to overdrive which with the mid motor car loose you a lot of time.  Looking ahead to Leg 2 he said he knows he has the car to get the job done and he just needs to ‘not make that one mistake’.  In 4WD Evans said he was able to run with Maifield but without the his mistake he would probably not have found a way passed.  The Colorado driver said the track is very deceiving with the high speeds making it ‘hard to pass’.

Elsewhere Hollis converted his Mod Truck TQ starting position into untroubled win over Borkowicz with Maifield managing a similar feat in 2WD Short Course over Evans.  TLR’s JR Mitch also converted his TQ honours into winning performances taking A1 of both 1:8 e-Buggy and 4WD Short Course.

2WD Buggy A-1 Result
1.(2) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 14/5:00.833
2.(1) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:02.615
3.(6) Max Flurer – Team Associated – 14/5:15.928
4.(3) JR Mitch – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:18.730
5.(10)Damion Borkowicz – Team Associated – 14/5:22.084
6.(11)Justin Cranford – Team Durango – 14/5:24.312
7.(4) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:00.269
8.(8) Leon McIntosh – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:04.595
9.(12)Paul Sinclair – X-Factory – 13/5:08.488
10.(5)Ryan Eckert – Kyosho – 13/5:08.541
11.(9)Paul Wynn – Team Associated – 13/5:09.745
12.(7) Jason Ruona – Team Associated – DNS

4WD Buggy A-1 Result
1.(2) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:12.581
2.(5) Damion Borkowicz – Team Associated – 14/5:02.475
3.(1) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 14/5:05.359
4.(3) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:07.293
5.(6) Brett Kingsbury – Team Associated – 14/5:10.446
6.(7) Ryan Eckert – Kyosho – 14/5:19.386
7.(11)Alfredo Arrieta – Xray – 13/5:11.193
8.(9) Jimmy Vanderhaar – Team Associated – 13/5:12.261
9.(8) Zack Genova – Xray – 12/4:31.153
10.(12)Barry Goodwin – Team Associated – 9/3:25.963
11.(4)Jason Ruona – Team Associated – 4/1:38.990
12.(10)Blaine Cavin – Team Associated – 3/1:18.839

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