We have officially kicked off the new year and a new racing season! We headed to New Albany, IN, to compete in the first annual Clash for Champions at Hoosier RC Hobbyplex! For many years, we went to the CRCRC race, at the Ohio RC Factory. Last year, Kurt announced they would no longer be holding the race and would close the facility. It was a race everyone looked forward to each year. With the absence of CRCRC, the Hoosier RC crew stepped up to host a similar race to keep the first race of the year tradition alive.
On Thursday morning, we arrived at the track to start a full day of practice. The facility was crowded with drivers, and one notable aspect was the size of the pit area. There was enough room for everyone to work on their vehicles, and everyone fit in well. In addition, Hoosier boasts a sizable, well-stocked hobby store for all your racing requirements! The weekend’s itinerary was as follows:
Thursday: All Day Practice
Friday: 1 round of seeding and 1 qualifier
Saturday: 2 rounds of qualifying
Sunday: Mains and the Clash Races
The clash race took place after the A-Main events on Sunday. Essentially, they created a 2wd stock and mod buggy race based on the results from the 2wd, 4wd, and Stadium Truck A-Main final results. The winner took home $1,000!
The track surface was treated, and they kept a consistent blowing schedule throughout the race program. Due to this, we ran silver Smoothie 2s all weekend long. Drivers originally started running RM2 hard foams in the front and dirt-tech grey foams in the rear. As the weekend progressed drivers continued to run Rm2 foams in 4wd Buggy but transitioned to grey dirt-tech foams all the way around in 2wd Buggy. For Stadium Truck, drivers ran the new Smoothie 2s and kept with the grey foam. Lastly, drivers sauced their tires before every run.
Check out the Full Photo Album Here.
Seeding:
17.5 2wd Buggy: Doug Lariviere (1), Sammy Moran (3)
2wd Mod Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Spencer Rivkin (2)
4wd Mod Buggy: Cole Tollard (2), Spencer Rivkin (3)
Mod Stadium Truck: Dakotah Phend (1), Spencer Rivkin (2)
40+ 2wd Buggy: Brent Thielke (2), Brian Dunbar (3)
40+ 4wd Buggy: Allen Horne (2), Brian Dunbar (3)
13.5 4wd Buggy: Doug Lariviere (1), Ian Crawford (3)
13.5 Short Course: Kyle Munson (1), Adam Rayls (3)
13.5 Stadium Truck: Doug Lariviere (2), Sammy Moran (3)
Qualifying:
17.5 2wd Buggy: Levi Raymond (TQ), Sammy Moran (2), Ian Crawford (3)
2wd Mod Buggy: Dakotah Phend (TQ), Spencer Rivkin (2), Dustin Evans (3)
4wd Mod Buggy: Dakotah Phend (TQ), Tom Rinderknecht (2)
Mod Stadium Truck: Dakotah Phend (TQ), Spencer Rivkin (3)
40+ 2wd Buggy: Allen Horne (TQ), Brian Dunbar (3)
40+ 4wd Buggy: Allen Horne (TQ), Brian Dunbar (3)
13.5 4wd Buggy: Sammy Moran (TQ), Doug Lariviere (2),
13.5 Short Course: Kyle Munson (TQ), Adam Rayls (3)
13.5 Stadium Truck: Chase Raymond (2), Talon Henley (3)
Final Results:
17.5 Expert 2wd Buggy: Sammy Moran (1), Doug Lariviere (2), Ian Crawford (3), Levi Raymond (4), Collin Miles (5)
2wd Modified Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Spencer Rivkin (2), Tom Rinderknecht (3), Dustin Evans (4), Tyler Jones (5)
Dakotah Phend TQ’d all three rounds of qualifying and was ready to bring his A-Game to the A finals. In A1, Dakotah Phend led from start to finish and never wavered. Spencer Rivkin also made an early surge and created a relatively safe space for himself. He held on to 2nd the entire race. As for 3rd and 4th, Dustin Evans and Tom Rinderknecht battled for the majority of the race. The major swap-up was on lap 7 when Tom made the pass into 3rd. A1 concluded as Phend, Rivkin, Rinderknecht, Tessmann, and Jones.
A2 was a rather uninteresting main. Once more, Dakotah Phend led from beginning to end after checking out. From there, he took home the 2WD Modified Buggy championship. Tom Rinderknecht pulled into third place on the final lap, and Spencer Rivkin maintained second place the whole main event! The final order of A2 was Phend, Rivkin, Rinderknecht, Jones, and Tessmann.
Dakotah Phend wrapped up an early win in A2. A3 would help determine the remainder of the podium. Spencer Rivkin started 1st on the grid and with that made an early surge to create some space from the rest of the field. He led from start to finish. Dustin Evans held on to 2nd for the majority of the race until a battle near the end when Tyler Jones made a push into 2nd. However, Evans took back second on the final lap. Lee Setser was the big mover in this main, as he went from 8th on the grid up to 3rd! The race concluded as Rivkin, Evans, Setser, Rinderknecht, and Lemieux.
4wd Modified Buggy: Dakotah Phend (1), Tom Rinderknecht (2), Spencer Rivkin (5)
Phend once again swept the 4WD Modified Buggy races. He won in A1 and checked out early. Tom Rinderknecht finished second in 4WD qualifying and remained there the entire time in A1. Sontag, Tessmann, and Rivkin were vying for third place. In the end, Rivkin finished fourth in the main. As he rose from 11th on the grid to fifth, Setser made the biggest move in this main. Phend, Rinderknecht, Sontag, Rivkin, and Setser were the top 5 in this race.
A2 came around and Phend had another flawless run and took the win, which gave him the overall. Rivkin started 4th and moved up into 3rd about 5 laps into the race. Unfortunately, a few laps later he had a break. This allowed Sontag to move into 3rd. Cole Tollard was next on the JConcepts roster making his way into 5th after making moves on Rinderknecht and Batta. The race concluded as Phend, Tessmann, Sontag, Horne, and Tollard.
The final race of the day came around and it was pretty straightforward. Tom Rinderknecht led from start to finish. However, he could never get too comfortable with Tessmann less than a second behind. Ultimately, Tessmann finished 2nd in the round. Rivkin also had a smooth race, gliding around the track in 3rd. Lastly, Gonzales and Tollard were battling for 4th. The two of them were too close for comfort but Tollard made a move on Gonzales on lap 10 and took over 4th. The race concluded as Rinderknecht, Tessmann, Rivkin, Tollard, and Gonzales.
Modified Stadium Truck: Dakotah Phend (1), Spencer Rivkin (2), Dustin Evans (4), Cole Tollard (5)
40+ 2wd Modified Buggy: Brent Thielke (1), Allen Horne (2), Brian Dunbar (3)
40+ 4wd Modified Buggy: Allen Horne (2), Brian Dunbar (5)
13.5 Expert 4wd Buggy: Sammy Moran (1), Doug Lariviere (2), Trevor Michalesko (5)
13.5 Short Course: Kyle Munson (1), Adam Rayls (2)
13.5 Stadium Truck: Chase Raymond (1), Doug Lariviere (3)
Stock Clash Race Winner: Doug Lariviere
Mod Clash Race Winner: Dakotah Phend
Overall, the team had a highly successful weekend, and we couldn’t be more proud of everyone’s hard work! We are so excited to welcome new team drivers and welcome back old ones. What an incredible way to kick off the year! Congratulations, to Dakotah Phend on sweeping the Modified classes and Sammy Moran on sweeping the stock buggy classes. We also want to congratulate Chase Raymond on his Stock Stadium Truck win, Brent Thielke on the 40+ win, and Kyle Munson on the Short Course victory! Lastly, we want to thank Eddie and Angie Henley for hosting a wonderful event. We look forward to coming back to Hoosier RC for the Fall INS race. Next, we head to our first 1/8th race of the year, SIC! See you trackside soon!
Winning Products:
- P2 Body
- F2 Body
- Finnisher Body
- Hi-Flow Body
- Smoothie 2s
- RM2 Hard Foam
- Sidewall Adaptors
- Dirt-Tech Inserts
- Finn Titanium Turnbuckles
- 6.5″ in Dirt|Carpet|Astro Pre-Trimmed Wing
- JConcepts Medium Glue