Last weekend the 2024 TNR Fuels A Main Challenge was held at The Dirt RC Raceway in Perris, CA. This off-road event brought out 418 entries as they competed in 19 different classes! Due to the size of the event it kicked off on Thursday with two rounds of controlled practice. After those were complete a seeding round was held. The intent of the seeding round was to group drivers together that were on the same pace already when qualifying officially began.
On Friday shortly before 8:30am the first round of qualifying kicked off. Each qualifier ran for five minutes as drivers tried to learn the track layout as quick as possible. On Saturday two more rounds of qualifying were held to determine who claimed the top qualifying spot in each class. Qual points were used so that meant only a driver’s best two finishes would count towards their overall qualifying position.
Leading the charge for JConcepts was team driver Ryan Maifield as he locked up the TQ spot in the Pro 1/8 Nitro and Electric Buggy classes, along with Pro 1/8 Nitro Truggy!
Due to the size of the event the lower mains were ran Saturday night to help cut down on the amount of time needed to complete all of the mains.
On Sunday the mains resumed again starting with the B Mains. The top four drivers in the B Mains punched their tickets to the A Main which meant some exciting battles out on the track. The electric classes ran a AA Main format with each race running for 10 minutes each. After both electric mains were ran a driver with the best combined score would take home 1st place in these classes.
The nitro A Mains ran for 30 minutes each, with the only exception being the Pro class that battled it out for 45 minutes. Let’s see how the team finished up starting with the first Pro 1/8 Electric Buggy A Main.
Ryan would lead the field on the opening lap before falling back to 3rd place on lap two. He would continue to chase the leader before taking back the lead on lap seven. He then cruised on to cross the finish line with over a 10 second lead on second place!
Up next was the Pro 1/8 Nitro Truggy main event. Once again Ryan would start on the pole and lead the field on the opening two laps before falling back to 5th place on the 3rd lap. He would put his head down and drive with determination as he started to make his way back up to the leader. He briefly regained the lead on lap 13 before dropping back to 2nd again. He continued to click off fast laps including his “hero” lap as he chased down the leader once again. On lap 36 he took back the lead for good to collect his first win of the weekend! Joining him on the podium was fellow JC driver Spencer Rivkin in 3rd place!
Team products used:
- 3125 – Blue compound Reflex 1/8 truggy tire
- 0453 – S15 1/8 truck body
- 3369 – Mono 1/8 truggy wheels
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
Up next was the 2nd A Main for Pro 1/8 Electric Buggy. This time Ryan would leave no doubts as he took the tone to tone win to collect his 2nd W of the race!
Team products used:
- 4073 – Blue compound Dirt Bite 1/8 buggy tire
- 0431 – S15 Tekno EB48 2.0 body
- 3357 – Mono 1/8 buggy wheels
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
In the 1/8 Pro Nitro Buggy A Main Ryan would get off to a great start and lead the entire field for 36 laps. Then on the next lap he would fall back to 2nd place as his tire teammate Spencer took over 1st. Ryan would grab the lead back on lap 41 as the two duked it out for the win. Spencer would slip back into the lead on lap 48, put down his “hero” lap the next time around the track, and then run away with the win as he crossed the finish line with a 15 second lead over his teammate Ryan!
Team products used:
- 4073 – Blue compound Dirt Bite 1/8 buggy tire
- 0478 – S15 RC8B4 body
- 3357 – Mono 1/8 buggy wheels
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
With two 1st place finishes, plus his 2nd place finish in nitro buggy, Ryan also took home the event’s overall championship too!
Team drivers Phillip and Ezra Atondo also had a strong showing at this race. Phillip competed in the 40+ Invite 1/8 Nitro Buggy and Truggy classes and would double down with two TQs and wins! Ezra raced in the Sportsman 1/8 Nitro Truggy and Electric Buggy classes where he set the top qualifying position in both! He would go on to finish 3rd in e buggy and take the tone to tone win in truggy!
Team products used:
- 4071 – Blue compound Falcon 1/8 buggy tire
- 3125 – Blue compound Reflex 1/8 truggy tire
- 0364 – S15 HB Racing D819 body
- 3357 – Mono 1/8 buggy wheels
- 3369 – Mono 1/8 truggy wheels
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
Team driver Paul Ciccarello raced in the 40+ 1/8 Electric Buggy class at this event. He TQed every round of qualifying to start on the pole for the AA mains! In the 1st A Main he would run a clean race and fend off 2nd place to take the tone to tone win! In A2 he got off to a rough start as he fell back to 4th place after the opening lap. He continued to click off fast laps and by lap 13 he took over the lead and came home with the win! Joining him on the podium in 3rd place was fellow JC driver Adam Curry!
Team products used:
- 3175 – Green compound Stalkers 1/8 buggy tire
- 3357 – Mono 1/8 buggy wheels
- 2998 – Razor 1/8 buggy and truggy wing
Photos courtesy of MOD Live Media
