Race Report
Maifield Wins 2wd & Truck Modified With B4/T4 and Reedy Li-Po.
Cavalieri Wins 4wd
Modified with B44.
Event: Hot Rod Hobbies Offroad Shootout
Location: Hot Rod Hobbies – Saugus, CA
Dates: June 27–29, 2008
Website: www.hotrodhobbies.com
Vehicle Class: Electric & Gas Truck Offroad
The Hot Rod Hobbies Shootout has quickly become one of the most prestigious
electric off-road racing events in the U.S. Hosted by Jimmy Babcock’s Hot
Rod Hobbies in Saugus, California, the event draws top U.S. and
international drivers and racing teams for a week of intense competition.
This year’s race served as an unofficial warm-up for the upcoming ROAR 1/10 Electric Offroad Championships also held at Hot Rod Hobbies in
August. With a dry, blue-groove–type surface, racers were challenged by the
fast, yet technical layout. Throughout practice, the triple jump along the
back side of the track proved to be the most difficult jump on the track and
had the potential to shape the outcome of the event.
As qualifying started, Team Associated drivers Ryan Cavalieri and Ryan
Maifield propelled themselves to the top of the standings in the three
modified classes. Joining them at the top of the standings was another
Associated driver, Jared Tebo. With a TQ in each of the three classes these
three drivers were poised to battle it out for the overall victories in the
prestigious modified classes.
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As anticipated, the Associated trio of Maifield, Cavalieri and Tebo battled it out for the top spots in the modified classes as the main events began. Maifield took advantage of his TQ position in the modified truck class and won the first and second main events, leaving A3 to decide the remainder of the podium. Maifield chose to use the new Reedy Li-Po 5000 Pro to power his Factory Team T4 to victory.
In 2WD, TQ Cavalieri piloted his B4 to the top spot in A1; however, in A2
he was
challenged heavily by the Reedy Li-Po-powered B4 of Maifield who eventually
took the win in A2. This set the stage for a classic Ryan vs. Ryan battle in
A3 with Tebo having an outside chance at the victory. At the tone, the three
competitors dropped the field and set a blistering pace not wanting anything
to do with the other seven A-main finalists. With only a few laps remaining, a
small bobble by Cavalieri over the triple jump gave Maifield the opportunity
to slip by and take the overall victory.
Not to be left out in the TQ party, reigning 4WD World Champion Jared Tebo
started from the pole with his Factory Team B44. A rough start to A1 found
Tebo shuffled to the middle of the pack from which he could never recover.
B44 teammate Cavalieri found himself in the lead and never looked back,
taking the A1 victory. For A2, again the Associated trio of Tebo, Cavalieri
and Maifield found their way to the front and battled it out for the A2
victory. These three drivers were setting a blistering pace and with less
than two laps left in the race Tebo had to retire. With Cavalieri out in
front by a few seconds over Maifield, Pudge was able to back down the pace a
bit and take the overall victory.
2WD Modified
Position |
Name |
Vehicle |
Motor |
Battery |
ESC |
1 |
Ryan Maifield |
FT B4 |
LRP X-11 7.5 |
Reedy Li-Po |
LRP |
2 |
Ryan Cavalieri (TQ) |
FT B4 |
Orion |
Orion |
LRP |
3 |
Jared Tebo |
FT B4 |
? |
SMC |
LRP |
4 |
Travis Amezcua |
D2 |
Orion |
Orion |
LRP |
5 |
Ronnie Gardner |
RB5 |
Orion |
Orion |
LRP |
6 |
Ryan Lutz |
RB5 |
Orion |
Orion |
? |
7 |
Dustin Evans |
XXX CR |
Xcelerin |
Slingshot |
Xcelerin |
8 |
Kohta Akimoto |
RB5 |
Orion |
Orion |
? |
9 |
Kody Numendahl |
FT B4 |
LRP X-11 7.5 |
Reedy Li-Po |
LRP |
10 |
Brent Thielke |
FT B4 |
LRP X-11 8.5 |
Reedy LiPo |
LRP |
Truck Modified
Position |
Name |
Vehicle |
Motor |
Battery |
ESC |
1 |
Ryan Maifield (TQ) |
FT T4 |
LRP X-11 6.5 |
Reedy Li-Po |
LRP |
2 |
Ryan Cavalieri |
FT T4 |
Orion |
Orion |
LRP |
3 |
Jared Tebo |
FT T4 |
? |
SMC |
LRP |
4 |
Dustin Evans |
XXX-T CR |
Xcelerin |
Slingshot |
Xcelerin |
5 |
Ronnie Gardner |
RB5T |
Orion |
Orion |
LRP |
6 |
Masami Hirosaka |
FT T4 |
Nosram 6.5 |
? |
Nosram |
7 |
Travis Amezcua |
FT T4 |
Orion |
Orion |
LRP |
8 |
Jesse Robbers |
FT T4 |
Novak |
SMC |
Novak |
9 |
Matt Chambers |
XXX-T CR |
Xcelerin |
Slingshot |
Xcelerin |
10 |
Josh Numan |
RB5T |
Orion |
Orion |
LRP |
Video – Truck Modified A1