2012 Colonel’s Winter Classic – Updated

Event: Colonel’s Winter Classic
Date: January 14, 2012
Track: Phil Hurd Raceway – Savannah, GA

The 6th Annual Colonel’s Winter Classic was held this past weekend in Savannah, Ga. at the Phil Herd Raceway. This race is dedicated to the late Colonel Phil Herd, who opened the track in 1985 making it currently the second oldest RC race track in the US. The track this year proved to be fast and very challenging for the drivers. In attendance were drivers from all over the southeast. The track started to form a decent size groove throughout the race day with light dust on top which made for a great day of racing. This years event hosted an unusual cold front from Mother Nature but did not slow the attendance with close to 150 braving the elements. The new track layout provided some off camber turns, challenging jumps, elevation changes and a hard packed surface. The lines were tight making any passing moves aggressive and calculated. After 3 rounds of qualifying the sun was going down and the temperature dropping.

The 1/8 electric buggy class was TQ’d by Max Flurer with Tim Smith qualifying 3rd. In the first of two A-mains, Flurer and Smith were able to pull a gap on the field from the start and have good battle throughout the main. Smith was able to come out on top in A1 with Flurer only seconds behind taking 2nd place. In A2 it was Flurer taking the win from start to finish and Smith taking 2nd. With a tie between the two JConcepts drivers after the two mains it was Max Flurer who takes the tiebreaker and the win with Tim Smith in 2nd and Jason Smith in 3rd for the overall podium. Barry Pettit also drove well with a 4th place overall finish

The Pro buggy class showed very close racing from qualifying till the last lap of the Amain. From the start of the main all the top drivers battled for the top spot trading podium positions every lap. Towards the halfway point of the race Barry Pettit was able to take the lead and eventually the win. Jason Smith followed closely behind Pettit while Travis Dupree and Tim Smith battle for third place all the way up till the final few laps. Taking the win was Pettit followed by J. Smith, Dupree(TQ), T. Smith, with Chandler Elliot rounding out the top 5. All top 5 drivers were on JConcepts tires which continues to show JConcepts dominance at the races.

Throughout the entire event the tire of choice from all JConcepts drivers seemed to be the Hybrid tire in the green compound. The tire proved to have good overall traction through the grooved sections as well as some areas that did not groove up as much and rather turned dusty.