The Dirt Nitro Challenge is a legendary race in our sport and perhaps one of the most prestigious. It was the 22nd annual Dirt Nitro Challenge and Joey Christiansen put it all out there. DNC attracts only the best drivers from all over the world every year, allowing for some of the most epic battles to take place on the track. Drivers leave everything they have out on the track. A race filled with heartbreak, highs, lows, and victories. This year was no exception. This year the race looked different in several ways. The race took place at Thunder Alley Raceway in Beaumont, CA. A different setting for this event, but an awesome location nonetheless. With international travel being extremely limited this year, all the drivers were primarily from the United States or Canada.
The Layout:
The track layout was enjoyed by drivers, but presented its challenges. The layout featured a cross over section where drivers would make a the turn under the bridge and shoot out across the top into the front triple. Quickly after that drivers would face a giant step up that became rougher as the weekend progressed. After the step up they moved into a little quad section, and up “the rumble strip” into a drop down. They’d then make the turn into the front section which featured a table top in front of pit lane.
The Elements:
This event is no joke, as it is five 14 hour days, if not longer. Historically, this race has gone into the early hours of the morning due to what seems like inevitable weather. This year we lucked out on the weather front. Rain was no where to be found, and temps didn’t drop too much. The biggest challenge we faced weather wise this year was the high winds throughout the day/night as well as it being warmer during the day and colder in the evening. Despite this, the tire choice was solidified all weekend.
Let’s Talk Tires:
The tire of the weekend without a doubt was the Green Reflex. The Reflex was used for across all 3 platforms, all weekend. The main decision drivers had to consider was whether to use the blue or green compound, depending on the time of day, length of the race, track conditions, and temperature. If you’re not familiar the Reflex it’s one of our pin style tires. What defines the Reflex are the vertically stacked angled pins that flex and fold evenly across the tire. The reason we chose to stack the pins is to create less wear on the tire, which is perfect for events like this. The team experienced very little tire wear most of the weekend. This tire also provides a good bit of forward bite and aids in car rotation. This was noticeable all weekend. Additionally, we saw drivers try Triple Dees, Cosmos, and Stalkers as other viable options.
Race Schedule:
Wednesday: Seeding
Thursday: Nitro Truck & E-Buggy Qualifying
Friday: Nitro Buggy Qualifying
Saturday: Nitro Truck & E-Buggy Mains
Sunday: Nitro Buggy Mains
Seeding:
Pro Electric Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Tyler Jones (2), Ryan Maifield (4)
Pro Nitro Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Tyler Jones (3), Ryan Maifield (5)
Intermediate Electric Buggy: Davey Batta (1), Ashton Abdul (4)
Intermediate Nitro Truck: Davey Batta (3)
Pro Nitro Truck: Joe Bornhorst (1), Spencer Rivkin (2), Ryan Maifield (3), Dakotah Phend (5)
40+ Electric Buggy: Ofir Komerian (3), Brent Thielke (4)
40+ Nitro Buggy: Adam Drake (1)
Intermediate Nitro Buggy: Davey Batta (2)
Qualifying (Best 2 of 3):
1:8 40+ Electric Buggy: Brent Thielke (2)
1:8 40+ Nitro Buggy: Adam Drake (TQ)
1:8 Intermediate Electric Buggy: Ashton Abdul (2), Davey Batta (3)
1:8 Intermediate Nitro Truck: Davey Batta (3)
1:8 Pro Electric Buggy: Dakotah Phend (TQ), Ryan Maifield (2), Spencer Rivkin (4), Joe Bornhorst (5)
1:8 Pro Nitro Buggy: Dakotah Phend (TQ), Ryan Maifield (4)
1:8 Pro Nitro Truck: Dakotah Phend (1), Tyler Jones (2), Ryan Maifield (3), Spencer Rivkin (5)
Final Results:
40+ Electric Buggy: Brent Thielke (3)
40+ Nitro Buggy: Adam Drake (1)
Intermediate Electric Buggy: Ashton Abdul (2), Davey Batta (5)
Intermediate Nitro Buggy: Davey Batta (2), Ashton Abdul (5)
Pro Electric Buggy: Ryan Maifield, Dakotah Phend, Spencer Rivkin (3), Seth VanDalen (4), Tyler Jones (5)
• The race started as your top 5 being Phend, Maifield, Tessmann, Rivkin, and Bornhorst
• Several crashes earlier on switch up the order, making it Maifield, Tessmann, Rivkin, Phend, and Jones.
• Tessmann had a bobble, Rivkin and Phend get by.
• Phend got past Rivkin under the bridge. He then passed Maifield, taking over the lead.
• The top 4 were all tenths apart: Phend, Maifield, Tessmann, and Jones
• Tessmann got a little sideways, Maifield made a pass going under the bridge, he then made another pass on Phend taking over the lead.
• Jones worked hard to get around Phend up the washboard section and set a hot lap of 30.7
• Maifield then set a new hot lap of 30.5 shortly after. The team was on fire!
• Maifield had a bobble, Jones took over the lead with 5 minutes left.
• Jones bobbled, Maifield took the lead back over.
• Rivkin moved up into the 5, Jones in the 4, Phend in the 3, Tessmann in the 2.
• Phend was trying to catch up to Maifield. Tessmann fell back and Rivkin took over the 3rd place spot making for a JConcepts podium!
Pro Nitro Buggy: Ryan Maifield (1), Spencer Rivkin (4), Adam Drake (5)
• The Race began with Phend in the 1, Ogden in the 2, Denney in the 3, Maifield in the 4, and Tebo in the 5.
• Early on Ogden took the lead and Denney was right there behind him. Drake quickly moved up into the 3rd spot.
• Drake took the inside line, passed Denney, and moved into 2nd. Denney moved back into the 2nd, then Denney had a bobble and Tebo moved into 2nd. Positions were changing quick!
• Maifield was on the pursuit moving into the 4 spot.
• Denney took the inside line taking over 2nd place. Tebo, Denney, and Maifield were all wing to wing. Meanwhile, Ogen had a 6 second lead.
• Maifield and Denney were battling for 2nd place. Drake found his way back to the 4th spot with Phend right behind him.
• Maifield took the inside line and passed Denney. Denney had a bobble under the crossover where there was a huge hole and the hunt began for Maifield. He was on a mission to catch Ogden.
• Phend threw down a hot lap of 31.0.
• 38 minutes to go and it was Ogden, Maifield, and Phend.
• Maifield hot lapped with a 30.76, he was only 4.2 seconds behind Ogden closing that gap.
• Ogden, Maifield, and Phend all entered and left pit lane in the same order.
• Maifield was now only 0.94 behind Ogden. He was closing that 6 second gap!
• The battle was on between them. Ogden got it slightly wrong, Maifield made the pass.
• Ogden was only 1.3 behind Maifield, he was chasing him back down.
• Ogden was now only 0.9 behind him, the battle was getting close for that top spot.
• There were only a tenths of a second between Maifield (1) and Phend (3).
• The top 3 were all wing to wing going over that back step up. Ogden went a little wide, Phend slid through the inside taking over the 2nd place spot. Phend was now on Maifield’s wing. The pressure was on. Both with insane car control. Phend bobbled, but quickly got back on Ogden’s tail. He was still in the race.
• Phend got out of the 2nd round of pits in front of Ogden. Sontag was super quick on that pit stop!
• Maifield had created a 4 second lead halfway through the race.
• Phend flamed out with 18 minutes to go, something went mechanically wrong. They were trying to revive the car as quickly as possible. It looked like they had to change the glow plug. Phend got back out into the race.
• Denney moved into the 3rd spot. With 3 minutes to go Rivkin moved up into the 3 spot. Rivkin and Denney were battling hard.
• Denney made a pass, Rivkin was on his wing, it was ridiculously close!
Pro Nitro Truck: Ryan Maifield (1), Dakotah Phend (2), Joe Bornhorst (3)
• The race started with Phend, Jones, and Maifield as your top 3.
• Into the first lap Jones had a heartbreaking break.
• The top 3 became Phend, Maifield, and Tebo.
• Phend and Maifield were trying to pull away from the group. Maifield followed closely. Phend was playing defense while Maifield was looking to slip by.
• Phend and Maifield had separate bobbles back to back, Tebo moved into the lead.
• Tebo had 1.5 seconds on second place.
• Everyone was neck and neck. Your top 5 was now Tebo, Maifield, Tessmann, Cavalieri, and Bornhorst.
• Bornhorst set a hot lap of 30.1
• Tebo had a bobble and Maifield made the pass into the 1st place position. The new top three were Maifield, Cavalieri, and Bornhorst. Phend was trying to sneak up into the top 3.
• Phend moved up into 2nd with 36 minutes to go, he was applying the pressure to Cavalieri. Bornhorst moved into 2nd, Cavalieri dropped down to 3rd and Phend in 4th. Meanwhile, Maifield had almost 4 seconds on 2nd place.
• Maifield set a hot lap of 29.8. Phend moved into 3rd.
• Bornhorst got a little sideways, Phend made a tight pass. Bornhorst was looking for another hole to make a pass back on him.
• Phend got on two wheels, Bornhorst made a pass going over the bridge.
• Maifield was on cruise control with a 9 second lead.
• Phend made a pass on Bornhorst going over the bridge with 20 minutes to go! A few seconds later, Bornhorst made another pass over the step up.
• Seconds later, they go up the washboard section, Phend made the pass back into the turn!
• Maifield had a 16 seconds lead with 19 minutes left. He checked out.
• The top 3 maintained their positions with Tessmann trying to close the gap on Bornhorst.
• The race was complete with a JConcepts top 3 sweep!
The 2021 DNC was an incredible event as we couldn’t be more proud of the team’s performances! Congratulations to Ryan Maifield for taking the triple crown winning all three Pro Classes! The Dirt crew and Thunder Alley Raceway hosted an awesome event! Be sure to check out the JConcepts Facebook page for photos, videos, and more from the event! Up next, Desert Classic at Hobby Action in Arizona!
Winning Products:
• Reflex Tires
• F2I Wing
• Finnisher Body
• Mono Wheels
• Fin Turnbuckles
• Bullet Wheels
• S15 Body
