After being up in Ohio for the CRCRC Midwest Championship race the team traveled to Autaugaville, Alabama for the 2021 Southern Indoor Championship! This event is hosted by RaceTime Entertainment and attracts a lot of racers each year. The team arrived Thursday to set up and prep for practice all day Friday. Saturday, we went through three rounds of qualifying and started mains at 6am Sunday morning. A few key track features were the giant table top out in front, the middle double, the washboard 180 in the back, the hip jump, and the long front straight away.
After spending some time testing out tires during practice, the blue and aqua reflex were the go-to choices. The reflex has vertically stacked, angled pins that flex over the entire tire and provides more forward bite. The Reflex also wears evenly and less than other tires which is great for those longer mains. The blue compound is pretty versatile but it particularly shines in dusty, low bite conditions, which was present this weekend. The Aqua compounds are specifically designed for dry groove surfaces. You can choose between A2 or A3 depending on the surface temperature. During the day it wasn’t too cold, but as we raced late into the evenings the temperature dropped.
Qualifying (Best 2 of 3):
40+ E-Buggy: Reggie Tongue (5)
40+ Nitro Buggy: Reggie Tongue (3), Mark Morrow (4)
Electric Truggy: Jonah Wilson (1), Miss Bella Rogers (5)
Int. Electric Buggy: Jonah Wilson (3), Cade Burnette (4), Kayla Espinel (5)
Int. Nitro Buggy: Cade Burnette (2)
Int. Nitro Truggy: Cade Burnette (3), Kayla Espinel (4)
Pro E-Buggy: Ryan Maifield (1), Spencer Rivkin (3), Seth VanDalen (4), Joe Bornhorst (5)
Pro Nitro Buggy: Ryan Maifield (1), Spencer Rivkin (2), Tyler Jones (3), Joe Bornhorst (5)
Pro Nitro Truck: Ryan Maifield (1), Spencer Rivkin (3), Joe Bornhorst (4), Seth VanDalen (5)
Sportsman E-Buggy: Brian Miller (1)
Sportsman Nitro Buggy: Colby Johnson (1)
Mains:
Sportsman Nitro Buggy: Colby Johnson (TQ)
Intermediate E-Buggy: Graham Gonzales (1), Jonah Wilson (2), Kayla Espinel (5)
Electric Truggy: Jonah Wilson (2), Miss Bella Rogers (5)
40+ E-Buggy: Carlos Segui (3), Reggie Tongue (4)
Sportsman E-Buggy: Brian Miller (2)
Intermediate Nitro Buggy: Cade Burnette (1), Coty Ingram (2), Kayla Espinel (3), Graham Gonzales (5)
Pro E-Buggy: Ryan Maifield (1), Spencer Rivkin (2), Joe Bornhorst (4)
A1:
• The race started with Maifield in the 1, Tebo in the 2, and Rivkin in the 3.
• Less then a minute in Maifield, Tebo, and Rivkin began to put some distance on the field.
• With 7:30 to go Maifield caught the pipe allowing Tebo and Rivkin to get by but he was quick to make up the time due to his calculated and fast driving style.
• Rivkin was on Tebo’s wing as they went over that final back jump. Rivkin was able to make the pass on Tebo.
• The track was rough and Tebo got on to his lid through the mogul section allowing Rivkin to create some space.
• Halfway through the race Rivkin, Tebo, Maifield, Lutz, and Wiggins were the top 5.
• Maifield drove hard getting back into the 2nd place spot, and those top 5 were shortening the gap amongst each other.
• Maifield and Rivkin were 1.5 seconds apart with 1:30 to go.
• It was Rivkin, Maifield, Wiggins, Lutz, and Tebo finishing as the top 5.
A2:
• Maifield needed to win A2 and have a faster time than Rivkin’s A1 in order to win overall. Spencer needed to win this one as well to maintain his lead.
• Maifield was holding the lead, Rivkin was in 2nd, and VanDalen moved up into that 3rd spot.
• Maifield pulled away from the pack creating a more comfortable lead early on.
• Rivkin and VanDalen were the closest battle in 2nd and 3rd.
• Halfway through the race your top 5 were Maifield, Rivkin, VanDalen, Bornhorst, and Brunson.
• Rivkin had put a little distance between him and VanDalen.
• Jones made a pass into that 5th place spot and battled with Brunson.
• The race ended with Maifield, Rivkin, Bornhorst, VanDalen, and Ogden as your top 5.
40+ Nitro Buggy: Mark Morrow (3), Reggie Tongue (5)
Intermediate Nitro Truck: Coty Ingram (2), Kayla Espinel (3), Kiarra Hold (5)
Pro Nitro Buggy: Ryan Maifield (1), Spencer Rivkin (2), Joe Bornhorst (3), Seth VanDalen (4)
• The race started with your top 5 being Maifield, Rivkin, Jones, Ogden, and Bornhorst
• Tebo moved from 7th on the grid up to 3rd, gaining on Rivkin and Maifield.
• Maifield had a bobble which allowed Rivkin to move into the 1st position.
• Maifield was only a second behind.
• Wiggins moved from 12th on the grid and VanDalen moved from 11th into the top 5.
• Vandalen and Ogden were battling for the 5th place spot.
• Maifield made a pass on Rivkin which allowed him to regain the lead.
• It was a 4 way battle for the top 5 positions.
• Maifield was only 0.7 ahead of Rivkin with 23 minutes to go. Meanwhile, Tebo was right on their wings as he moved into the second place spot as they raced down the front straight away.
• Maifield’s pit crew got him in and out of pit lane lightening fast so he could maintain the lead.
• Tebo got the worst of it, hitting a nail that was sticking out at the end of pit lane but he was still maintaining that 3rd position.
• Halfway through Maifield had a 2.3 second lead with Rivkin inching his way up.
• Meanwhile Tebo, Ogden, and Bornhorst were battling for 4th and 5th over the front table top.
• Rivkin had progressively been getting closer to Maifield each lap. Maifield was in the lead.
• Bornhorst was on Tebo’s wing as they battled for that 4th place spot.
• A mechanical issue in pit lane caused Wiggins to break out while he was in 3rd.
• Bornhorst moved into that 3rd spot and Tebo moved into the 4th spot.
• Vandalen had been putting the pressure on Ogden as he was hunting down the final podium spot.
• The top 5 had created 4+ second gaps between each other.
• In the last 6 minutes of the race VanDalen made a pass on Ogden moving into that final podium spot.
• VanDalen and Ogden got on the back of Tebo and it was a 3-way battle for 4th, 5th, and 6th in the final 4 minutes.
• Maifield let VanDalen go by him to allow that 3 way battle to continue and it worked out for VanDalen as he took over that 4th place position.
• The race finished with Maifield, Rivkin, Bornhorst, VanDalen, and Tebo as the top 5.
Fast Lap: VanDalen- 28.8
Pro Nitro Truck: Ryan Maifield (2), Joe Bornhorst (3), Spencer Rivkin (5)
• The race started with Maifield, Tebo, Rivkin, Bornhorst, and VanDalen as your top 5.
• The top 5 maintained their positions for the first few minutes of the race.
• Maifield got it slightly wrong through the washboard section and Tebo gained a little bit of time on him.
• Tebo hit a hole on the back stretch which gave Maifield a little bit more room.
• The top 2 were pulling away from the rest of the field. Tebo was on Maifield’s tail. They were two-tenths apart.
• Tebo was looking for a hole to get by Maifield. They got together right after the straight away but were still able to maintain their top 2 spots.
• Bornhorst was able to move into 2nd place after pit stops.
• Tebo was able to put down a few fast laps and regain his 2nd place spot.
• Maifield hit a hole on the track after the table top where he got the worst of it and Tebo slid by. They were still neck and neck.
• Shortly after, another truck had an incident on the front straightaway that Tebo tried to quickly avoid. It had all happened so fast that Tebo hit the wrecked truck and he flew off the track. However, the race wasn’t over for Tebo.
• Pit stops were about to happen, Maifield got in and out of pit stops fast. Tebo was right back in the battle. They were switching off 1st and 2nd back and forth. The race was close and exciting.
• Meanwhile Bornhorst and Lutz were battling for 3rd and 4th.
• Maifield was leading with 10 minutes to go. Tebo was looking for a hole to make a pass.
• Tebo did get by but they were so close they were practically touching. Maifield took the front table top wide and regained the lead.
• It was the final round of fuel stops and Tebo took his first. The next lap, Maifield took his fuel stop. Both were still neck and neck after fuel stops.
• Tebo regained the lead both battling hard in the final 6 minutes, it was still anyone’s race.
• The race finished Tebo, Maifield, Bornhorst, Lutz, and Rivkin.
Fast Lap: Maifield-28.50
Overall, it was an exciting weekend filled with epic battles and a lot of teamwork! We saw great performances out of all our drivers and plan to take that momentum into our next race weekend! We have drivers attending a couple different races soon such as The Nitro Challenge Warm Up Race in California and the JConcepts INS Race in Omaha, NB. We can’t wait to see everyone trackside soon!
Winning Products:
• 1/8 Reflex Truck Tires
• 1/8 Reflex Buggy Tires
• Bullet Wheels
• F21 Wing
• Dirt Tech Inserts
• Finnisher Body
• S15 Body
• P1 Body