On Saturday July 7th, the series traveled to Northern Michigan for round 6 hosted by NMRCC (Northern Michigan RC Club) in Gaylord, MI. Lots of people made the drive North and there was a great local crowd present as well. Unfortunately the weather was not good on Saturday morning and around 7AM the sky opened up and rain came down hard. By 10AM, the rain had stopped and by 10:30 AM, the NMRCC crew already had the track in drivable conditions. The track shaped up well shortly after that and by noon racing began! As the first track in the series that does not use clay as the track surface, most were chasing setups to handle the rough track that was offered.
1/8th Scale Nitro Buggy
Even though TLR/Orion/Pro-Line sponsored Dakotah Phend already clinched the championship title, he still traveled North to attend round #6 of the series. Fresh off a second place finish at the 2012 Fuel Offroad Nationals, Dakotah was on fire and set a blistering TQ pace in the first round. The start of the main was a little chaotic, but everybody settled into their positions early on, with Dakotah in the lead. Even though the NMRCC crew had done some track maintenance before the main started, the track was changing every lap. Consistency was key and Dakotah managed his race very well to claim victory at the end. Second place finish was a tight battle between Serpent America/VP Pro Fuels sponsored Scott Ullig and O’Donnell Racing Fuel/Futaba/OS Engines sponsored Edwin Hartman. Scott Ullig climbed through the racks after qualifying 6th and experiencing a flame out early in the race, but driving conservative helped him move through the pack.
Results:
1. Dakotah Phend
2. Scott Ullig
3. Edwin Hartman
4. Mike Sontag
5. Caleb Henry
Current Standings (2 out of 3 drops taken into consideration):
1. Dakotah Phend (608 points) – Champion
2. Scott Ullig (579 points)
3. Michael Weihl (579 points)
4. Mo Denton (574 points)
5. Mike Sontag (573 points)
1/8th Scale Nitro Truggy
TLR/Team Orion/Pro-Line sponsored Dakotah Phend was on fire in the truggy class. The local spectators were in awe when watching Dakotah navigate his TLR 8ight-T around the very rough track with ease. The truggy main came down to nutrition, as several people dropped out early with different mechanical problems. In the end, it was Dakotah Phend with a comfortable lead over second place Christopher Stroh and local NMRCC racer Steve Marien claimed third place when the 30 minute main concluded.
Results:
1. Dakotah Phend
2. Christopher Stroh
3. Steve Marien
4. Dylan Gilbert
5. Mike George
Current Standings (2 out of 3 drops taken into consideration):
1. Dakotah Phend (608 points) – Champion
2. Mo Denton (594 points)
3. Scott Rapoport (581 points)
4. Mike George (565 points)
5. Bill Bridges (561 points)
The organizers of the Michigan State Championship Series would like to thank everybody for coming out and supporting the series and helping it grow into the ultimate off-road series of Michigan. A very big thank you as well to the series sponsors: O’Donnell Racing Fuel, Duratrax Performance Tires, Team Losi Racing, M2C Racing, Dirtburner Racing, Twisted RC and VP PowerMasters Fuel.
Round #7 of the Michigan State Championship Series will be at the Stateline R/C Raceway in Fremont, IN on August 11th 2012.
Source: LiveRC.com
