The 2021 Psycho Nitro Blast

What an incredible weekend at the 2021 Psycho Nitro Blast in White Pine, TN! Dave Leikam and the Racetime Entertainment crew never disappoint and they’re constantly stepping up their game! New to PNB this year was a giant two sided screen wall where Racetime staff and Pro drivers were featured. On each side of the Jumbotron were two 13 ft. skeleton creatures! Additionally, on Friday night there was a space just outside the track called the Racetime Party Zone! The party zone had lights, bubbles, a giant TV to play Rockband on, cornhole, and more. However, something missing from this year’s PNB were the traditional wooden jumps. That being said, the new track layout was different, fresh, and loved by all the drivers!

The schedule for the weekend was basically non stop as we kicked off the weekend with a 24 hour practice session on Friday. Saturday consisted of 3 rounds of qualifying that each contained 50 heats and Sunday was the big day! An additional event, unique to PNB, is the Rocket Buggy Launch. This year it was our very own Joe Bornhorst vs. Cole Ogden. Both of these drivers, with some help from their chassis companies, created cars specifically for this launch. The goal was to go full punch over a ramp meanwhile igniting the rocket boost, in order to go the farthest distance. Joe Bornhorst won this competition and managed to downside the grass hill saving his car from complete destruction!

Back this year was the famous Joker Lane. Known for its ability to change the game quickly and create a wild race, this year was no exception. A Joker lap is essentially a short cut and you get one per 10 minutes of the race. For example, if it’s a 30 minute main you are allowed to use the Joker Lane 3 times and you can use them whenever you’d like. The only catch is, you cannot take the Joker lane on the first lap.

As for Tires, the Reflex was hands down the most popular choice. Drivers used the green compound through qualifying and blue for the main events as green would have been too soft for those longer races.

Qualifying (Best 2 of 3):

40+ Nitro Buggy: Adam Drake (1), Drew Spurgeon (2)

Electric Truggy: Jonah Wilson (1), Patrick Rossiter (2)

Int. Electric Buggy: William Albes (1), Micah Smith (5)

Int. Nitro Buggy: Jonah Wilson (4)

Int. Nitro Truggy: Kayla Espinel (1), Coty Ingram (5)

Pro Electric Buggy: Spencer Rivkin (2), Dakotah Phend (3), Tyler Jones (4), Joe Bornhorst (5)

Pro Nitro Buggy: Dakotah Phend (2), Spencer Rivkin (3), Tyler Jones (4), Mason Fuller (5)

Pro Nitro Truggy: Spencer Rivkin (1), Dakotah Phend (2), Tyler Jones (5)

Spt. Nitro Buggy: Lucas Baker (2)

Spt. Nitro Truck: Keith Rains (2)

Final Results:

Pro Nitro Buggy: Tyler Jones (2), Dakotah Phend (5)

The first minute and a half of the race was a little hectic. Everyone was switching spots quickly as they used their joker laps early on.
28 minutes to go and it was Lutz, Tessmann, Drake, Vail, and Heckert as your top 5.
Several drivers were completely using up their Joker laps within the first 3 minutes of the race.
Phend moved up to the 3rd place after using 2 Joker laps. Drake was still holding on to 2nd.
Lutz was leading but flamed out, his mechanic quickly got him back in the race.
Drake and Phend were now going 1 and 2, Tessmann used a Joker lap and jumped up several spots into 3rd.
Evan Vail took over the lead using another Joker lap. This just goes to show how quickly everything switches up when the Joker lane is involved.
Tessmann used his 2nd Joker lap which allowed him to get back into 1st.
Meanwhile, Phend was saving his final joker as he was now holding on to 4th. At the same time, Drake had used all of his joker laps but he was running 3rd.
Brunson moved up into 4th with 21 minutes to go.
JConcepts drivers were holding onto the 3rd-6th place spots.
Mason Fuller, Bornhorst and Rivkin still had all 3 Joker laps saved up with 20 minutes to go.
Phend (3rd) and Tessmann (1) were still holding onto 1 Joker lap. It could have been anyone’s race depending on how they chose to use it.
Tyler Jones (also holding on to a final joker lap) was holding strong in the 4th place.
Mason Fuller was 28 seconds out from the lead, but he had 3 Joker laps left in his back pocket. He was waiting for the right moment to get up in the mix.
Tessmann, Cavalieri, and Phend had been steadily hanging on to those top 3 spots as we moved into the 2nd round of pit stops.
Coming out of pits we had Tessmann in the 1, Phend in the 2 and Cavalieri in the 3. Tessmann and Phend still had 1 Joker lap each. They were both trying to strategize when to use them.
Switching it up, Phend was all over the back end of Cavalieri as they battled for that 2nd place spot.
Jones took his 3rd Joker and slid into 2nd place. He got in front of that now 3rd place battle between Phend and Cavalieri. Cavalieri’s body was starting to come off.
Phend was now in the lead after he blew through that round of pit stops. Phend and Jones were running 1 and 2. We saw a phenomenal pit stop from Jones’s mechanic.
4 minutes to go Phend was in 1st, Jones in 2nd, and Tessmann in 3rd. Tessmann still had one joker lap left.
Phend got a little upside down and Jones took over the lead. Meanwhile, Tessmann took his last joker and regained the lead. Things were changing quickly. Phend was still in the game.
Fuller used 2 Joker laps and had one to go. Fuller moved into the 6th place spot.
Jones and Tessmann were battling it out for that top spot.
The clock expired and it was Tessmann, Jones, Cavalieri, Tebo, and Phend as your top 5.

Pro E-Buggy: Spencer Rivkin (1), Mason Fuller (3), Joe Bornhorst (4)

Early on through the minefield Joe Bornhorst made a pass on Phend into 3rd place.
Tessmann and Rivkin were still running 1 and 2.
Tessmann had a little bobble around the turn that splits off into the Joker Lane and as soon as he got back over he used the Joker Lane to make up time and get back in front.
Rivkin falls back due to Phend and Ogden using the Joker Lane. Rivkin was saving his for later.
During the next lap Rivkin blazed through the Joker going from 5th to 1st. Tessmann and Rivkin were now running 1 and 2.
Bornhorst moved up to the 2nd, it’s now Rivkin and Bornhorst battling. Jones moved up to 3rd. Tessmann took back 3rd, they were all still running close over the double double.
Tessmann reset the hot lap with a 39.2.
Rivkin was cruising trying to lengthen his 2.4 second lead.
Mason Fuller was having an incredible race as he surged from the 10th position to 4th.
Rivkin had a small bobble in the 180 before the minefield but the marshal got him quick, Bornhorst closed up the gap, Rivkin immediately was back to surging.
Those top 3 were in a 3 way fight. Bornhorst bobbled, Tessmann bobbled, Mason Fuller got up in the action. It was a 3 way battle for 2nd place!
Rivkin put on cruise control for the final 1:50 remaining.
It’s the final 60 seconds, Tessmann was sending it trying to close the gap. Rivkin and Tessmann were both trying to weave through traffic.
They’re racing it out to the finish line, Tessmann was full punch, Rivkin was out in front sending it to finish line! It came down to the final 10 seconds and Rivkin took the win!

Int. Nitro Truggy: Coty Ingram (1), Logan Wendling (4)

Sportsman Nitro Truggy: Keith Rains (5)

Electric Truggy: Patrick Rossiter (1), Jonah Wilson (3)

Int. Electric Buggy: Carlos Segui (2), William Albes (3)

40+ Electric Buggy: Carlos Segui (5)

40+ Nitro Buggy: Adam Drake (1)

Int. Nitro Buggy: Coty Ingram (2), Jonah Wilson (4)

Pro Nitro Truggy: Spencer Rivkin (1), Dakotah Phend (2)

It was a clean start for those front runners.
Cavalieri used his Joker lap early on in order to take over the lead. Rivkin and Phend behind him in 2nd and 3rd.
Several more drivers took a joker lap early on to move up in to the top 5.
Phend took one of his Jokers and moved into 2nd.
Rivkin the TQ was hanging out in the 6th spot as he still had all 3 of his Joker’s available to him. He had a game plan.
He took his first joker moving up into 2nd.
Cavalieri started out in 9th and was trying to create a big enough gap to hold on to the lead.
Ogden, Bornhorst, Heckert, and Tessmann all were battling for 5th place.
Phend was hanging on to the back of Rivkin in 3rd. Jones moved up into the situation and took over 3rd place.
Cavalieri had a 3 second lead, something went wrong with his car as he flamed out. His mechanic was on it trying to save his car.
All those top guys go in and out of the pits at the same time. It was now Rivkin, Jones, Heckert, Tessmann, and Phend as the top 5.
Jones used another Joker lap and moved into 1st.
Phend took his joker the lap after and moved out in front.
Rivkin had used 2 Jokers as he was hunting down the field in 5th place.
Hot lap from Rivkin with a 39.1
The top 3 were Phend, Jones, and Rivkin with 17 minutes to go.
Rivkin took another Joker lap and regained the lead. Phend took the inside line and got by Rivkin into 1st. These two were battling!
New hot lap from Rivkin with a 38.9
Both go into pit stops at the same time. Phend and Rivkin still stay one and two.
Phend had a bobble, Rivkin took back the lead. But they were still running 1 and 2.
Jones got up in the action and took 2nd place.
38.6 from Phend as he was closing the gap on Jones. They were battling, Phend took back 2nd.
Rivkin was on cruise control in the last 5 minutes of the race.
The race finished with Rivkin in the 1, Phend in 2, Heckert in 3, Tebo in 4, and Tessmann in the 5.

Overall, we had an awesome weekend at the track and celebrated the hard work of our drivers. A big thank you to Dave Leikam and the RaceTime crew for putting so much time and effort into the racing community by bringing us these big events! This coming weekend we’re switching things up as we go to Albany, Oregon for the JConcepts Northwest Carpet Nationals at Northwest Hobbies. As for 1:8 scale racing, we’ll see you in Las Vegas for Silver State!

Winning Products:

Reflex Tires
Bullet Wheels
Finnisher Body
F2I Wing
Dirt Tech Inserts
P1 Body
S15 Body