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Over the weekend of December 5-7 some of the
fastest racers from the East Coast gathered in Myrtle Beach, SC for
the 7th annual Fall Brawl at The Badlands R/C Supercross. Racers
came from PA, MD, VA, NC, SC, WV, and GA. The race is known for its
high traction and high-speed racing. This year's weather was much
different, with some rain on Thursday before the race accompanied by
unseasonably cool temperatures. The track started out very slick for
qualifying on Saturday, but by the final mains on Sunday the groove
came in and it was the Badlands that we have come to expect. The
Badlands race directors did an awesome job with the organization of
the race, as 130 racers were able to run four rounds of qualifying
and leave the track right at dark.
Team Associated drivers in attendance were Ryan Maifield, Brandon
Melton, and Chris Pace. Brandon and Chris have turned many laps in
the past at the facility and were confident going down that the team
would have great results. The team felt comfortable with the setups
that were in place and spent Friday testing tire combinations for
what would be used in more varying conditions than usual.
Buggy Qualifying
In buggy qualifying, local Losi driver and track favorite Travis
Dupree showed that he would not back down easily on his home turf.
Travis TQ'd 3 out of 4 rounds using qual points, but during the last
round of qualifying Ryan Maifield hit his RC8 tire set perfectly and
went on to best Travis's fastest run by 2 seconds as the temps
dropped and the track slowed down. Brandon Melton took second for
the round and Chris Pace took fourth. The last round success of the
team gave great confidence going into the main as all 3 drivers were
comfortably in the main with Ryan 2nd, Brandon 4th, and Chris 6th.
Truggy Qualifying
In truggy qualifying, it was all Ryan Maifield as he grabbed the TQ
spot with his RC8T. Ryan TQ'd 3 out of the 4 rounds to comfortably
start 1st for the mains. Chris fell victim of a rare electrical
problem on a great run which would have allowed him to move up in
the order. Local racer Jason Smith put in a great round to grab TQ
for the 2nd round. Truggy qualifying would see Ryan TQ, Chris start
4th, and Brandon 7th.
Buggy Main
The Buggy main event was one to remember, and proved to be a crowd
favorite. Travis Dupree had shown during qualifying that he would
have the speed to compete for the win; however, everyone knew that
Ryan would be rock solid when the race is on the line. At the tone,
the start of the race was fairly clean and the top five cars or so
got out to a good start. Ryan was able to make a clean pass early on
Travis and after a small bobble, Brandon would take over the 2nd
position. He would hold this position until the first fuel stop, and
then Travis moved back into second and set his sights ahead to
Maifield. Throughout the entire main the two leaders were within
seconds of each other, and then with about 10 minutes to go, Travis
would catch Ryan for an unbelievable battle. The two rubbed wheels
and swapped spots a couple times. Ryan short pitted to break
themselves of each other which would leave him a little more than 8
minutes to run to the end. After stops were complete, the whole
crowd would not be disappointed in the treat that they witnessed.
After coincidental contact in mid air, Ryan would wait for Travis
with about four minutes to go. In the stretch, Ryan's consistency
and clutch driving along with extended fuel mileage would prove
superior as he went on to take the win and a check for $500,
compliments of the Badlands Supercross.
Truggy Main
In the Truggy main event, it was the Ryan Maifield show, as Ryan led
from tone to tone. The rest of the field had an awesome battle that
would show Brandon Melton, Chris Pace, Barry Pettit, and Shannon
Amos battle for the 3-6 spots throughout the first couple pit stops.
Brandon unfortunately fell out early, and Chris Pace was able to
grab the last podium spot finishing a strong 3rd place. As a sign of
true sportsmanship, Maifield donated the $300 cash prize for winning
Truggy to a local racer who had a tough weekend of racing.
Thanks to the organizers and sponsors for an
excellent event.
(Photos courtesy of
www.thebadlands3.com)
Team Associated - Champions By Design
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