Last weekend the 9th Annual Masters Of Dirt RC Championships took place at Beach RC & Hobbies in Myrtle Beach, SC. This race was packed with competition as there was 453 entries competing in 12 different classes, plus some dash for cash races, and their ever popular Hooligan race.
Not only were drivers competing for individual awards in each class, but the Modified and Stock drivers could also compete for special Masters of Dirt titles. For the Modified competitors, if they competed in the Mod 2wd Buggy, 4wd Buggy and Mod Stadium Truck classes, the drivers with the best combined results in all three classes would be crowned Master of Dirt. Racers competing in 17.5 2wd Buggy, 13.5 4wd Buggy and 13.5 Stadium Truck would be in the running for the title of Stock Master.
The event kicked off on Thursday as drivers got their first crack at the fresh layout. This year’s layout had a lot of elevated jumps that would send your car up high to catch some air, and possibly do some whips if you felt obliged. On Friday there was more practice before a seeding round was held.
The idea behind a seeding round is to group drivers together that are running around the same pace on the track. That way when qualifying begins they would be running with fellow drivers already at the same speed so everyone can put in cleaner runs.
Around 4:30pm the first round of qualifying began. There were three rounds of qualifying in total and only a driver’s best two runs counted. So every driver could drop their worst run and each qualifier ran for five minutes each. The top eight drivers from qualifying were automatically locked and loaded into the single A main.
The top two finishers in the B Main would join them as bump-ups for a total of 10 cars. The lower mains ran for six minutes each, but the A Mains ran 10 minutes long. There was even a concourse event where racers lined up their cars to determine who had the best looking paint scheme in the Short Course Truck, Buggy and Stadium Truck classes.
Team driver Jason Westfall was voted to have the best looking Stadium Truck scheme, while his tire teammate Justin Sherman won the award for the Buggy classes!
We had many drivers competing for the team at this event so let’s see how they finished up starting with the premiere class, Mod 2wd Buggy.
JConcepts driver Dakotah Phend would lock up the TQ spot by running the fastest laps in Round 2 and 3 of qualifying! In the 10 minute long A Main he would never leave a doubt as he raced on to take the tone to tone win! Joining him on the podium were fellow JC drivers Broc Champlin (2nd) and Spencer Rivkin (3rd)!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 0284 – P2 body for the TLR 22 5.0 Elite
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
Moving to Mod 4wd Buggy, during qualifying Dakotah would lead the team with a TQ in Round 1, but after all three qualifiers were ran he would start in 2nd place for the single A Main. In the B Main for this class fellow JConcepts drivers Joe Bornhorst and Spencer would finish in the top two to make the main event as well as bump-ups. In the 10 minute long main there was a lot of movement on the leader board as the top qualifier broke out around the six minute mark, and Spencer was the biggest mover in this class after he made his way up to 5th place from the 10th spot after only one lap. By lap seven Spencer had jumped out to the lead, and he would continue to click off laps as he went from worst to first! Joining him on the podium to complete the JConcepts sweep were fellow JC drivers Ryan Maifield (2nd), Dakotah (3rd), Broc (4th) and Joe (5th)!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4019 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 4wd front buggy tire
- 0601 – S15 body for the AE B74.2
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
In the Mod Stadium Truck class once again Dakotah was the driver to beat as he cut the fastest times in the opening two rounds to secure the number one spot for the A Main! When the tone sounded he would get off to a great start, and never look back as put the entire field down with a bonus lap after the tone had sounded!
Joining him on the podium were his JConcepts teammates Spencer (2nd) and Broc (5th)!
Team products used:
With his strong performances in all three Mod classes Dakotah was also named this year’s Master of Dirt! In the Open, Spec and 40+ classes the team also put in some solid results as we captured five additional wins!
In Open 2wd Buggy team driver Kyle Paquette grabbed the TQ after two rounds of qualifying, and would take the win in the main after leading most of the race! Joining him on the podium were fellow JC drivers Robert Meyer Jr. (2nd) and Edwin McTureous (3rd)!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 0475 – F2 body for the AE B6.4
- 2997 – 3.5mm Fin Titanium Turnbuckle Set for the B6.4
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
In 13.5 4wd Buggy team driver Doug Lariviere qualified 5th overall, but in the single A Main he put pressure on the leader early as he jumped to 2nd by lap three. After swapping positions with the leader he would regain the lead for good on lap eight! Joining him on the podium was fellow team driver Kenny Setser in 3rd place!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4019 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 4wd front buggy tire
- 0601 – S15 body for the AE B74.2
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
In 40+ 2wd Buggy team driver Allen Horne dominated qualifying as he TQed all three rounds! In the main he would lead from start to finish to take his first victory of the weekend! Joining him on the podium were his teammates Chris VanRaemdonck (2nd), Paul Wynn (3rd) and Robert (5th)!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4018 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd front buggy tire
- 0476 – P2 body for the AE B6.4
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
Allen also signed up for 40+ 4wd Buggy, and he grabbed another TQ in this class by running the fastest laps in the opening two rounds of qualifying! He would then race on to take another tone to tone win, and joining him on the podium were fellow JConcepts drivers Chris (2nd) and Dave McEwen (5th)!
Team products used:
- 4017 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 2wd/4wd rear buggy tire
- 4019 – Silver compound Smoothie 2 4wd front buggy tire
- 0601 – S15 body for the AE B74.2
- 0501 – Carpet | Astro High-Clearance 7″ Rear Wing
In the 2wd Short Course Truck class Dave was the man to beat as he TQed the opening two rounds of qualifying! On the opening lap in the A Main fellow JConcepts driver Alex Mac took the inside line on Dave on a corner to take the lead. By lap two JConcepts driver Justin Sherman would take over the lead, and then pull away from the pack as he cross the line before the tone sounds to cruise around on a victory lap! Joining him on the podium were his teammates Chris (2nd), Dave (4th & TQ) and Alex Mac (5th – not pictured)!
Team products used:
That concludes another successful Masters Of Dirt event and we can’t wait to get back to this race next year!
Photo credits: Beach RC & Hobbies, Masters Of Dirt RC Championships