The 2019 Points Series finally kicked off after a two-week delay due to rain on the originally scheduled date. While the date-change may have impacted attendance, those who came were treated to ideal weather and a great day of racing and freestyle. We kicked off the event with the kid’s class trucks taking to the big “Z” track first for a best of 5 set of races between Mikey Harris’s “Hulk” and Connor Anapol’s “Mutant” trucks. In the end, Connor would end up taking the win.
Qualifying heats were held next with the 2.2 class leading things off. Torey Heath would lay down the fastest lap in his “Joker” truck with a blistering 15.17 pass that was nearly two seconds faster than the number 2 qualifier Jacob Smallwood. With a six truck field set, Torey and Jacob would get byes into round 2. Torey’s other truck, “El Jefe” would be paired against Taylor Underwood’s beautiful new “Freedom” truck to kick off racing and would get the win, however then chose to eliminate El Jefe as it would be paired up with his top qualifier Joker. Mikey took his practice runs and Kid’s Class experience and made it work by eliminating Tiffany Harris and Miss Rockstar to set up the final four. Jacob’s “New Age Outlaw” would take out “Hulk” setting up a battle of the top two qualifiers in the finals. What came next, was one of the last things you would expect between the top two seeds as both trucks would miss ramps completely and get a double disqualification! The race was re-run and Torey took advantage of Jacob’s hard landing and cruised to victory.
In 2.6, Torey continued his dominance setting fast lap with a blistering 14.60 followed by Jeremy Bunting’s “Hooligan” that had a 15.57 second pass. The 3rd through 5th seeds were all within .12 seconds of each other while Adrian Jimenez and Tony Gabriel would have DNF’s for both qualifying passes. Mechanical issues limited Tony’s “Rage” truck and Torey would have no problem moving on to round 2. The next two races would feature two upsets as Byron Clinton’s “Intimidator” would knock off Jeremy’s “Bad Company” that cartwheeled off of a racing ramp, and then Todd Henderson’s “Kamikaze” would pull out a photo-finish race over Jacob’s “Blu Chrushin'” truck. The final first round race saw “Hooligan” take out “El Diablo”. The semi-finals would be the end of the line for the two lower seeded trucks as once again, the top two qualifiers would square off in the finals. A bobble by Jeremy in the first turn is all Torey needed to put “Joker” in the winner circle for the second straight racing victory of the day.
With racing done, the ramps were moved and it was time to send it! The track proved to be challenging as the first 3 competitors rolled early and the highest score was a 15. Torey in “El Jefe” would set the mark with a 20 which would then be matched by Jacob with Torey’s “Joker” left to go. Not only would Torey fill the clock, he scored a 29 out of possible 30 throwing down a run full of big air, high speed, and no deductions which would not only secure him a bonus point for overall event champion, but also an additional bonus point for being top qualifier in addition to winning racing and freestyle.
In the 2.6 class, despite having problems in racing, and a spur gear that was not having a good time, Tony Gabriel would start things off setting a high mark of 21 points with his “Rage” truck that ran until it was done for. The mark would not stand for long as Jeremy took to the track with his new “Bad Company” SCMT Warpath and filled the clock with a fast-paced run highlighted by a wheelie-bar mangling slap-wheelie across the track and a score of 27. Todd would live up to the “Kamikaze” name with dive bomb landings into barrel rolling saves and Torey had another high speed run with big air, however, roll-overs would prevent them from taking the lead and Jeremy would hold on for the win by 1 point.
While Torey was dominant in Round 1, there’s still plenty of racing still to come and the points are very tight, especially in the 2.6 class with only 3 points separating 2nd through 4th and only 1 point separating 5th through 7th! Round 2 is less than 2 weeks away at Redding RC Hobby!