Tyler Jones Victorious at the 2019 Psycho Nitro Blast!!

There’s no doubt that the Psycho Nitro Blast is a killer show. The energy, the attraction, the thrill, is very unique to Dave Leikam and his Racetime Entertainment Events and the awsome thing is that they always tweaked the fun formula each time to get the most out of every event. This year, the crew put on one of the best Psycho Nitro Blasts we’ve seen in a long time and with 753 entries, proves that this definitely a racer’s favorite and a legendary race on the race calendar.

What Racetime Entertainment does so well is the presentation. They go all out to bring the best and craziest ideas and make it a fun and challenging event; a fantastic racing spectacle. This year, the Joker Lane was implemented giving racers a new taste to race strategy and overall race experience. At first, many were skeptical, but many found the Joker Lane to be a fresh take on qualifying and mains.

The format was 24 hours of practice on Friday with 3 rounds of qualifying set on Saturday. With 753 entries, the days were definitely long, but every skill group ran consecutively meaning it gave you a lot of time after you run all your classes to take lunch breaks, naps, etc.

At the heart of the Psycho Nitro Blast is the track and this year the layout was awesome. The minefield or whoop section was technical and definitely had a fast line through it, but overcook this section and you were going for a tumble or flying off the track. The full speed sweeper tested your car’s on power steering and a huge wall ride made it very tricky and difficult to master this layout. The doubles were just right and none of the jumps felt too big as in years past. Overall, the track challenged all, but kept it fun with long laps, tons of technical jumps and a fierce wall ride. Huge thanks to Bobby Moore of TrackMasters for the awesome layout!

One of the Friday highlights, which is tradition, here at the PNB is the Rocket Car Jump! This year, Tekno’s Joe Bornhorst built a custom flyer and won the contest with ease. Check out the photo up top with JB taking a photo of his winning ride.

15U Junior Nitro Buggy

15U Junior Nitro Buggy Results
1. Tristan Beiter (TQ)
2. Joey Bourdon
3. Kiarra Hold
4. Logan Powell
5. Adam Congreve

4×4 SCT

What a race for Tekno/JConcepts’ Patrick Rossiter Jr. as he took a convincing win in the 4×4 SCT class on the huge PNB stage. Patrick is known for his diverse driving talents and it doesn’t surprise us that PRJ gets it done in 4×4 SCT. Finishing 2nd was Ben Pinover, Buzzy Wright 3rd, Randal Carte Jr. 4th, and Jason Zaluski 5th.

Sportsman Ebuggy

Huge congratulations go out to our Miss Bella, as she really lit up the Sportsman Ebuggy class with some dominate driving and patience. Despite her age, her ability to deal with the pressure is remarkable as James Large poured on the pressure late in the race and stayed within striking distance and finished 2nd. Travis Wyatt finished 3rd, Roland Compton 4th, and Jason Zaluski 5th on the 5 man podium.

Sportsman Nitro Truggy

1. Ike Hawkersmith (TQ)
2. Dakota McMahan
3. Jacob Savage
4. Mitch Arnold
5. Salty Joe

Sportsman Nitro Buggy

1. On Time (TQ)
2. Landon Arnold
3. Matthew Tate
4. Michael Anderson
5. Steven Garner

Open Ebuggy

1. Brad Collins
2. Bryan Kata
3. Ben Pinover
4. Cowboy Risser
5. Travis Jones

Open Nitro Truggy

1. Brad Collins
2. Shane Barrier
3. Michael Percell
4. Shawn Fraser
5. Cody Saner (TQ)

Open Nitro Buggy

1. Ben Pinover
2. Alex Vaughn
3. Konner Webb
4. Bryan Kata
5. Shane Barrier

40+ Ebuggy

Xray/JConcepts’ Paul Ciccarello wasn’t to be denied in the 40+ Ebuggy class as he set the TQ and took the win in the 10 minute A final with some spectacular driving. Donald Elliot found the 2nd spot on the podium with Rob Gleason 3rd, Keith Lewis 4th, and Jody Johnson 5th.

40+ Nitro Buggy

It was a great race in the 40+ Nitro Buggy class as JQ’s Greg Degani and Xray/JConcepts’ Paul Ciccarello battled it out until the very end. With a mistake late in the race by Paul, Degani recaptured the lead and held on for the win on the very last lap. Paul finished 2nd with Donald Elliot 3rd, Jimbo Kvidera 4th, and JQ/JConcepts’ Jeff Keeton 5th.

Pro Ebuggy

Tekno’s Joe Bornhorst had the complete package in the Pro Ebuggy 10 minute A-Final as he was able to implement the early Joke Lane laps and took a close victory over ex-teammate, Ryan Lutz. Bornhorst took the win from start to finish with Ryan Lutz finishing 2nd, TLR’s Dakotah Phend 3rd, Tekno’s Jared Tebo 4th and Serpent’s Justin Fales 5th.

Etruggy

Agama’s Ryan Lutz is definitely a beast when it comes to driving a Truggy and he once again proved it in the Etruggy class as he took TQ and win with relative ease. Trying his best to challenge Lutz, Tekno/JConcepts’ Patrick Rossiter Jr. looked dicey and finished 2nd, Joey Bourdon finished 3rd, Tekno’s Jeremy McGuigan 4th, and Shon Harding 5th on the podium.

Pro Nitro Truggy

Agama’s Ryan Lutz was on point in the Pro Nitro Truggy class as he used his TQ position and setup a race strategy that was hard to beat. Taking all of his Joker lanes early, Lutz just had to keep it clean and hope his competition would suffer from traffic. In the end, it all worked out for Lutz as he took the win from tone to tone, TLR’s Dakotah Phend finished 2nd, Tekno’s Joe Bornhorst 3rd, Tekno’s Jared Tebo 4th, and AE/JConcepts’ Jackson Brunson 5th.

Pro Nitro Buggy

You can’t help it but cheer for a young, talented underdog and this year, the PNB discovered a new star. Taking perhaps the biggest win in his career, TLR/JConcepts’ Tyler Jones was on fire in the 30-minute A-Final of Pro Nitro Buggy. Having started 5th, Tyler moved up quickly to pace himself behind Tekno’s Jared Tebo as the duo ran 1-2 for most of the entire race. Tyler remained calm and focused on his lines despite the pressure he was under from the likes of Dakotah Phend, Ryan Lutz, Joe Bornhorst, and Jared Tebo. While in the lead, Tebo suffered a small mechanical after a hard crash in the sweeper giving Tyler Jones the lead. From there, Tyler drove a smart race and came in for a splash to ensure he had enough fuel and crossed the line as your Pro Nitro Buggy Champion after 30 minutes of awesome racing. Tekno’s Joe Bornhorst finished 2nd, Agama’s Ryan Lutz 3rd, AE’s Evan Vail 4th, and TLR’s Tanner Denney 5th.

++ PNB Winning Product Used by Tyler Jones ++

Tires – JConcepts green Reflex tires (#3121) from start to finish, even for the longer main!
Wheels – JConcepts Bullet Wheels (#3357)
Foams – JConcepts Dirt Tech 1/8th buggy foams (#3233)