This past weekend hosted the 2014 Fastlane Raceway Spring Shootout in Blue Springs, Missouri. The weather was hot, and the racing was hotter! Tekin/TLR driver Mike Garrison entered the largest class of the weekend 1:8 Expert E-Buggy. Running his Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc & T8 Gen2 1900kvmotored TLR 8ight 3.0e buggy.
As the single A-Main got under way Garrison found himself in a three-way battle for the lead. He worked his way to the front battling for the lead with XRAY team driver Spencer Wall. The Tekin powered TLR machine led majority of the race until Wall made a surprise last lap pass heading into a big double section. Garrison retaliated with an over-the-top big air pass with less than a few corners to go, capturing the overall 1:8 Expert E-Buggy class win!
Spring time racing in Spokane at the Hank Perry 240 always proves to be an awesome race event. The RCCCS and staff have put on another great show for the 2nd stop of the Northwest Championship Tour and this year had more meaning than ever. Two people known by many in the RC community were lost recently and racers ran special decals honoring the memory of both Gary Matthews and Gracie Snider. It was a special race ran in their memory and we are so glad we had the opportunity to take part.
The E-Buggy class at this years Hank Perry was the biggest and deepest field the Northwest has ever seen with 60 entries. Tekin’s very own Jeremy Potter & Ty Campbell would start on pole and 3rd on the grid for the exciting triple 10 minute A-Mains. In A1 Potter would lead from the start and never look back, behind him Campbell would engage in a 3 way battle for 2nd all race long just coming up a bit short at the end and settling for 4th. In A2, Potter once again would jump out to the lead with Campbell quickly to 2nd and applying pressure on Potter. Right before the halfway mark Potter would suffer a mechanical issue, handing the lead to Ty. Having to bump from the B-Main, Tekin team driver Nick Buechler had a quiet A1, but in A2 charged to the front where him and Campbell battled it out for the remaining 3 minutes with Campbell getting the win and setting up an A3 showdown. Like A1, Potter jumped out to the early lead and set it in cruise control as the rest of the field fought for the remaining podium spots. Buechler once again joined the front pack quickly from his 11th starting spot. As the time clock ended Buechler would secure 2nd with Campbell in 4th. The Podium would be all Team Tekin with the TLR 3.0e of Ty Campbell in 3rd, Nick Buechler and his Hot Bodies D812e in 2nd with Jeremy Potter’s Hot Bodies D812e on the top spot. The entire podium was powered by the award winning Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc and T8 Gen2 motor line.
Campbell, Potter, Buechler (L-R)
4WD modified was equally as competitive as E-Buggy at the 240 this year. 41 drivers took to the track chasing those A-main spots during qualifying, where only 10 would be successful and two more were up for grabs with the bump-up format. Tekin’s Ty Campbell qualified 4th overall with his Tekin RSX/Redline Gen2 powered TLR 22-4. A1 proved excited with intense battles for 1st through 6th and Ty managed to pull off a 2nd place finish behind local NW fast-guy, Chris Bridgewater. In A2, Ty suffered from a steering issue partway in, but managed to get it fixed and continue, although two laps down. A3 was battle-filled as well and Bridgewater had already locked up the win, letting the rest fight to better their overall finishing position. Ty took 3rd in A3, securing his 3rd place overall finish, putting Tekin/TLR on the podium.
588 Raceway hosted the High Voltage Shootout that drew 81 entries. That is the biggest turn out we have ever had! The hometrack of the Hanna family. Wife Myssie runs the races and the Eric Hanna and his sons Griffin and Collin help assure the track is in top shape.
In the E-buggy class Tekin team mate John Michael Mcginty III was TQ and Griffin Hanna and Collin Hanna were qualified 2nd and 3rd. The 3 Boys were the only ones to get a 15 lap run in qualifying. On the first lap of the race Mcginty went for the triple and pushed out a bit wide and that opened up the door for Griffin.Griffin made the pass and Mcginty jumped right back on his bumper. The second lap they both aired it out over the 25ft tabletop to tabletop jump. Mcginty started to roll end over end and while the marshall was running,Griffin high sided and the marshall grabbed him quicker which left John sitting on his lid for what it seemed like an eternity. That allowed Collin to slip by and take the second spot.Griffin stretched out his lead over his brother Collin by 13 seconds.Collin played it safe and drove a smooth race to finish 2nd.3rd went to local guy Bobby Patsel run a Mugen MBX 7.
(L-R) McGinty, Patsel ,Griffin,Collin.
Both Collin and Griffin ran their award winning Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc and T8 Gen2 1900kv powered Serpent Electric 811 Cobra Buggies and were dialed on the high bite track. They ran flawless like normal and the motors are killer fast!
In the Pro Mod 2wd class John Michael was clearly the man to beat. He also took TQ and the win with his Centro buggy. He lead from start to finish with Griffin Hanna taking the 2nd spot with his rear mount Serpent Spyder SRX2. The 3rd spot went to Losi driver Kevin Bullock. Collin finished 2.7 back from the 3rd spot.
“Thanks again to Paul Ciccarello,Brian Looper,Randy Pike,Jon Martin,Chris Schaefer and Landon Thompson from LET’s Go Racing for all the support. Couldn’t do it with out all the great products.” The Hanna’s
Held at Loganville Rc, the 2nd round of the Southern Off road Series was a packed house with a total of 157 entries. This was an awesome race with many sponsored drivers in attendance. Guys from Jconcepts out of Florida were able to make the trip sending up including Dave Duncan and Mac Davis.
Tekin powered Mark Moon ran 1/10 4wd buggy and 2wd mod buggy. Moon was able to take and hold Tq in 4wd and 2wd buggy until the 3rd round where Brian Looper took 4wd Tq by a hair.
The mains were a great battle in 4wd with Brian leading the way. Looper would hang a pipe giving Moon the lead. Moon pulled a 4 second lead and was working his way through lapped traffic when he too hit a pipe, popping a ball cup. “My 4wd was awesome. I used the Tekin RsxRedline Gen2 6.5 combo.” Mark Moon
In 2wd buggy the battle in the A main was crazy! The top 4 battled it out the entire main. Mark Moon would take the win from his Tq position using the Tekin RsxRedline Gen2 7.5 combo. “Thanks goes out to Tekin for the great support.” Mark Moon
Tekin powered Shay Brand was able to come away with the TQ in Pro E-Buggy, Qualifying first overall in every round of qualifying. In the main, Brand made the right tire choice and was able to slowly pull away from the pack, winning with about 20 seconds or so ahead of second place. Brand was able to take home the win with his MBX7 powered by the Tekin RX8 Gen2 and 1900kV motor! “Thanks for the awesome products Tekin!” Shay Brand
GS Hobby in fort smith, Arkansas hosted the “Hanging Judge” race over Memorial Day weekend.
Jr Mitch Recaps his race weekend:
“Friday morning, I boarded a plane to Fort Smith, Arkansas and G Speed Raceway for the Hangin Judge race. I attended this same race last year and I had a great time. This year wouldn’t be any different. Shue and Chris have done a great job with G Speed Raceway; yes it’s one of the smaller tracks I’ve been to, but the layout Chris puts in along with the grip level works well. Friday afternoon practice would go as planned breaking in tires for Saturday and Sunday’s event. Gold dirt webs were the go to tire all weekend on both of my Tekin powered TLR 22 2.0 and 22-4. Along with the super dialed compound was JConcepts dirt tech insert; these helped both cars with corner speed, which was the key to fast lap times.
Saturday, qualifying started about 3pm with four rounds being run (11 heats total and 44 races to be run) ending at about 10ish. My Tekin powered TLR vehicles worked great all through out qualifying, turning some of the fastest laps and times of the event. Lap times were close with both the 22 and the 22-4; this was mainly because of the small/tightness of the G Speed track. At the end of qualifying, I was able to take the top spot in both 2wd and 4wd classes.
Sunday was main day starting at 9am with triple A mains. Competition was tight with teammate Cody Hollis and AE/JConcepts drivers Trevor Nault and Michael Twilling. One mistake could cost you a lap easily. A1 and A2 of 2wd worked out well by me winning both mains and the overall. As for 4wd, I made a big mistake on lap one putting me at the rear of the field. I battled back to finishing just less then two seconds behind A1 winner; my TLR/JConcepts teammate Cody Hollis. A2 and A3 went as planned and me taking the 4wd overall.
It was a great weekend race getaway from Florida’s racing scene, which everyone knows can get crazy at times. The track at gshobby.com is one of the smallest I’ve ever raced on, but at the same time racers understand how to race better. Being aware of what’s going on and not just focused on themselves. Thanks to Shue, Kristie, Chris, and Robbie from GSHOBBY for their hospitality and a great event. If you’re ever in Oklahoma City or close to Fort Smith, stop in and check them out.
JR Mitch chooses the Tekin RSX in both his 22-4 and 22 2.0 Buggy.
Tekin team driver Darren Lord simply dominaed the GCRC series in 4wd SCT with a dominating 11 Tq’s and 12 wins out of a possible 15 rounds. Darren is using the awardd winning Tekin RX8 Gen2 esc and the Pro4 HD4300kv motor which is providing unmatched power all the way through the 10 minute finals.
This past weekend was JBRL Round #4 at OCRC in Huntington Beach, CA. A great turnout once again for the JBRL with 265 entries for the one day event!
Doug “Casper” Nielsen was able to take a convincing win at round #4 of the JBRL at OCRC Raceway in Huntington Beach, CA in Electric 8th scale. Casper drove his Tekin RX8 Gen2, T8i powered TLR 8ight-E 3.0 to the victory. He would start the main in P2 loosing out on the TQ by only .8sec over TLR teammate David Jenson. At the tone David Jenson would lead the field for the start of the 10 min “A” main. Casper would follow close behind and the two would break away from the pack after a few laps. About 3-4 min into the race David would make a mistake and Casper would be able to capitalize on the mistake and take the point and never look back. TLR/Tekin teammate Ryan Dunford would put in a great run to finish 3rd and take the JBRL points lead with the effort after 4 rounds.
In Pro-4 Casper would finish a strong 3rd to put him on the podium with TLR teammates David Jenson first and Ryan Dunford 2nd to ensure a TLR podium sweep with the SCTE 2.0. Both Casper and Dunford chose the Tekin Rx8 Gen2 and Pro4 line of motors.
The Motown Showdown was held this past weekend at Modesto RC Raceway in Modesto, Ca. Racers from all over the region would converge to the more “traditional” race track surface that is not known for “sugar coating” it’s racing surface. This would be a welcome change for many of the local racers.
2wd Mod buggy is known for being the hart and soul of the local racing community in Norcal. AE factory Driver Chris Jarosz would take the 1st 2 rounds of qualifying with Tekin factory driver Derek Stephansen taking Rd3.
In the single A-main format the top 3 would get out early and gap the field. Chris Jarosz checking out early on. Stephansen would bobble over the tricky triple allowing Tekin teammate Jason Moberly to take over 2nd. Moberly would get into some lapped traffic and fall victim to the triple handing back 2nd to Stephansen. In the end it would be Jarosz, Stephansen and Cody Hughey 3rd. Derek chose to run a Tekin RSX and Redline 7.5 motor in his B5m.
Hughey, Jarosz, Stephansen
The 4wd Mod buggy class has grown leaps and bounds locally. Tekin factory driver Derek Stephansen would sweep qualifying taking all 3 rounds with his Tekin RSXRedline 6.5 powered XBR4 buggy. Stephansen would take the win followed by Doyle Howell and Duan Moore in 3rd.
Moore, Stephansen, Howell
4wd SC truck was dominated by Tekin powered Jason Moberly. Jason would run up front from the tone with his Tekin Rx8 Gen 2Pro4 HD powered Tekno truck. Mo would check out and lead from tone to tone to take the win.
Luu, Moberly, Jenkins
Tekin powered John Scott would take the win in 2wd Stock buggy with his Tekin RS Gen217.5 Redline Gen2 powered TLR 22. Being patient starting from his P3 position John would meticulously put pressure on the leaders forcing errors and take the win on the last lap.
Moore, Scott, Wilcox
Tekin powered Greg Stephansen swept qualifying winning all three heats to earn TQ. Stephansen would also cruise to the A Main victory with John Harrison finishing second, Doug Frid third.
The Carolina Spectacular held at The Pit in Lugoff SC kicked off with a format of 4 10min heads up mains. They took the best 3 out of 4 finishes. This unique format was going to make for some close racing! Read on….
Two full heats of 12 each in electric 1/8 buggy. With going into the 4th round Griffin Hanna and Kyosho driver Rob Meyers were tied overall with points. At the start of the tone Griffin and Rob stretched out their lead over third. They traded places a few times making it an exciting race for the final. After a mistake from Meyers, Griffin Hanna was able to take the checkered flag after the 10 min race which gave Hanna the overall win in the 1/8 E-Buggy class. Griffin had the fastest run of the day with his Serpent 811 Cobra. His car was insanely fast powered by his Tekin RX8 Gen2 ESC and T8 Gen2 1900kv motor.
Both Griffin and Collin finished 2nd and 4th in mod 2wd buggy.
