2nd Place Nitro Buggy
Mugen MBX7R
Pro-Line Fugitives X4 Compound
REDS R7 EVOKE v.3 2104 Pipe Short Header REDS Quattro Clutch
Flash Point Fuel 30%

I qualified 3rd on the grid and I immediately fell back several positions after intentionally blowing the first turn wide to avoid the chaos of the mid-pack pushing up hard and driving through/over each other. Shortly thereafter I maneuvered through a litter of upside down Buggies and I quickly regained my position and picked up another. I sat comfortably in the second position for another lap or two before pressuring the number one spot and eventually taking over. I was comfortable swapping back and forth for first position for the first 10-minutes of the race until an unexpected flame out.

I didn’t cleanly down side a table top jump cleanly and my chassis landed on the downside edge of the table top causing my flywheel to hit the ground and bringing my engine to a stop. My pit crew quickly retrieved me, fired me back up, and got me back out on the track losing about a lap. I worked hard to get back in the race and after navigating my way through traffic I was able to regain second position before the time expired. Unfortunately, first place had no pressure and so he was able to run cleanly and I was not able to make up any ground on him.

It was a great weekend of racing and a rare opportunity in Colorado to run 1:8 indoors on a hard packed track surface. The venue was a horse riding arena at the Garfield County Fairgrounds in Rifle, Colorado.  The dirt contained sand but when packed in with a heavy roller (highway road maintenance roller) the track surface was hard as cement but without the tire wear. The track surface was challenging and inconsistent due to over watering and intermittent watering during the first round of qualifiers. Instead of soaking the track in the evening an allowing it to dry during the day and groove up with rubber the track crew was watering during the days of practice and qualifiers. Just when the traction was starting to come up where we could run Electrons they would water and the track would become slick and it would be a while before the traction would come up again and start to take on the rubber. Tire selection was all over the place. Main day was an improvement and I’m sure Electrons would’ve been good to start a 30-minute main but I’m guessing they would’ve worn out in the last half of the race.

3nd Place Nitro Truggy
Mugen MBX7TR
Pro-Line Hole Shots X3 compound
REDS R5TE v.3 2069 Pipe Medium Header Mugen Clutch
Flash Point Fuel 30%

The Truggy race started out well for me but I struggled to get into a groove in the beginning of the race as everyone came out like a herd of wild cats for the first 10-minutes of the race. I made several bobbles and mistakes but was still in 2nd position with first place in sight for the finish. However, I made a mistake on the downside of the large wooden jump and skated on my lid to the bottom of the ramp. Several Truggies were on my tail and soon there was a large pile up at the bottom of the jump and 2 marshals adding to the confusion. In their effort to clear the track and get everyone on their way again, the marshal snuffed out my pipe. Disappointing. I fell back to 5th position but after firing back up and getting back in the race I was able to squeak out a 3rd place finish.

– John Martin