JConcepts driver, Ryan Maifield, claims his first ever Reedy Invitational victory, Kevin Motter wins 2wd open and Daimon Borkowicz makes it 3 in row in the Junior class.
For the 5th year in a row the Reedy Race of Champions made its home in Southern California and this time at OCRC Raceway in Huntington Beach, CA. A jam-packed entry base turned out for one of the highest profile events of the year on the 1/10th off-road calendar. All the heavy-hitters once again stacked the Reedy Invitational class for heads-up competition while an open contingent of drivers battled for that important trip to next year’s Invitational class.
JConcepts was once again on-hand to support the product and team drivers with a group direct from the company headquarters in central Florida. The popular Dirt Webs tires were selected as the control tire in the 2wd class allowing drivers to compete on a level playing field all utilizing the same tire. The competition heated up Thursday as Invite and Open class drivers practiced in individual heats getting equal track time. The freshly prepared track broke in quickly and developed a slight grooved driving line and as drivers became more confident the lap-times dropped considerably.
Friday morning, qualifying and Invitational heats began with a loose feeling inside the building and drivers getting into the race flow. Invitational points began to stack up throughout Friday and a group of drivers rose to the front of the field led by Jared Tebo, Ryan Maifield, Spencer Rivkin and Kody Numedahl. Kevin Motter racked up 2 TQ’s in the 2wd open class and Kyle McBride surprised a few with a killer TQ run in round 2 of the 4wd open class.
Saturday concluded with 1 more qualifier in each open class and then 2 rounds of 4wd Invitational. Invitational was shaping up to be competitive as usual with a showdown between the fastest 3 drivers yet to come on Sunday. Lower mains in the open class were 10 minutes in length giving drivers plenty of track time in attempt to bump up and show their speed. Once Saturday was completed it was Ryan Maifield sitting on top of the Invitational class with Jared Tebo sitting 2nd and Ryan Cavalieri, Jorn Neumann, Dakotah Phend and Ty Tessman all battling for the 3rd spot in points. Kevin Motter scored the overall TQ in the 2wd open division while Kyle McBride showed everyone the fast way around OCRC in the 4wd open class taking TQ.
Sunday began with a slightly more tense feeling in the pit area. Invitational drivers began feeling the pressure along with open A-main drivers. All drivers appeared to be slightly on-edge as A1 mains and Invitational heats 8-12 were scheduled to run throughout the day. TLR / JConcepts driver Ryan Maifield came out of the gate with great performances maintaining his points lead, driving the TLR 22-4 vehicle. Kyosho’s Jared Tebo kept up the pace and managed to tie with back to back wins leaving very little error open for Maifield. Team Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri suffered some ups and down leaving him 3 points back of the leaders leaving him as a long-shot to win his 3rd Reedy Invitational title in a row.
The 2wd open A1 began with TLR / JConcepts driver Kevin Motter racing brilliantly and making no mistakes or bobbles. AE driver Kyle McBride worked his way up through the field and applied a little pressure to Motter. Kevin made a small mistake on the triple jump allowing Kyle to jump inside and take the lead with only a small amount of time left on the clock. Kyle McBride crossed the line for A1 win with Kevin Motter in 2nd and Nolan Anderson 3rd.
4wd open A1 was easily decided very early, Kyle McBride checked out quickly and the battle was on behind him and he rolled to an easy victory. Rob Gillespie Jr moved into the 2nd position where he finished while Kevin Motter recovered from a bad start to pick up the 3rd position. A small break in the action allowed the Invitational drivers to regroup and prep for the last part of their program which would decide the overall championship.
As the 4wd Invitational drivers took the track the pressure of the event started to mount. Ryan Maifield and Jared Tebo were locked into a close battle and they raced head to head in round 5. A deep field of drivers created more drama to see if Maifield and Tebo could rise to the occasion. Maifield quickly moved to the front of the pack getting a great start in 2nd place. Maifield continued to impress and kept his distance on Tebo who had now taken on the 3rd position. As the race clock trickled down, it was Maifield taking the 2nd position ahead of Jared Tebo in 3rd. This head to head match-up gave Maifield the upper hand going into the last round of Invitational.
The 2wd open A2 main was one of the best races of the event. Kevin Motter once again jumped out into the lead and ultra quick Nolan Anderson moved into 2nd. Motter made a small mistake allowing Anderson to lead. Nolan looked comfortable, he was setting a quick pace hard to match and as he entered the last lap the race appeared to be his. On the last lap Anderson made the downside of the triple jump but his car stepped out slightly on landing, allowing Motter just enough space to get inside. Kevin maintained the lead through the small switch-backs and held it together through the last section of jumps and got on it just before the finish line and took the win and overall championship. Nolan Anderson finished very closely in 2nd which would give him 3rd place overall. Kyle McBride by virtue of his A1 win and close finish in A2 finished 2nd overall. Alex Kosciuszek, all the way from Connecticut, finished in 4th.
4wd open A2 was another easy one for Kyle McBride as some carnage at the start once again allow him to take a comfortable lead. Kyle maintained his composure for the long 10 minute main and crossed the finish to take a well deserved overall victory. Rob Gillespie Jr finished 2nd in both mains to earn 2nd place overall while crowd favorite Jake Thayer with 5th and 4th place finishes in A1 and A2 finished 3rd overall. 2wd open champion Kevin Motter took 4th overall having a great weekend in the combined classes.
The scene was set for an epic round 6 of 4wd Invitational with Ryan Maifield and Jared Tebo locked in a virtual tie entering the last round. Racing in separate heats it was first up to Tebo to set the standard while Maifield was turn marshaling and could only watch his competitor battle. Ryan Cavalieri won heat 1 of round 6 with Carson Wernimont in 2nd and after a poor start Jared Tebo took the 3rd position.
Jared’s 3rd place all but wrapped up the championship for Maifield who raced last but knew he had very little room for error. Ryan started from the back of the pack and after a collision at the start and then stopping for incident he made his way up to 3rd place and started to see the battle for 1st and 2nd. Maifield dropped the hammer on the JConcepts equipped TLR 22-4 and made up a huge chunk of time pulling into contention. A crash up front gave Maifield the lead which he easily too to the finish line to earn the 2015 Reedy Invitational title.
An emotional trophy presentation for all the winners took place immediately following the last race. A little bit of champagne and a huge Reedy Invitational trophy was handed out to Ryan Maifield as he was officially declared the winner and champion. Kevin Motter (2wd open winner), Kyle McBride (4wd open winner) and 14 year old Daimon Borkowicz (Junior class winner) joined Maifield at the podium for the final photo of the weekend putting a cap on another memorable event.
A special thanks goes out to Team Associated, Reedy and Brent Thielke on one amazing event. The OCRC Raceway and crew were once again top notch with Scotty Ernst once again providing the tip top race program and exciting announcing all weekend.
