We have reached the halfway point in the 2019 Points Series and as the weather heats up, so is the battle for one of the top 3 podium positions in the Series! A windy afternoon became a very pleasant evening at Redding RC & Hobby which once again served as the host venue for a night of great racing.
As the sun went down, we kicked things off with the double elimination Novice class bracket. Sam Olson was set to debut her beautiful new “Deep Blue” truck, however, electrical issues would prevent her from competing. As the bracket panned out, it was a mother-son duel for the win with Tiffany Harris and her “Miss Rockstar” taking the overall win over Mikey in “Hulk”.
2.2 qualifying saw some of the fastest times of the night as Torey Heath would lay down identical 10.03 second passes with both of his trucks to claim the top 2 spots with Chris Prestwood right on his heals at 10.25 and Mikey Harris laying down an 11.06 pass to round out the top spots.
Round 1 of 2.2 racing kicked off with Jacob Smallwood and his “New Age Outlaw” knocking out “Hulk” and the bottom half of the bracket saw Chris Prestwood’s “SBC Monster” survive a close call with “Miss Rockstar” while Heath’s “El Jefe” took out Taylor Underhill’s “Freedom” to advance. In Round 2, the top qualifier would not be denied as Heath took out Smallwood and Prestwood setting up a final race bye run for the “Joker”.
2.6 qualifying had Heath’s new 2.6 class Joker truck on the pole with a 10.28 second pass followed by Jeremy Bunting getting the 2nd and 3rd qualifying spots and Todd Henderson right in the mix too. Smallwood had a devastating crash in qualifying after taking a hard landing that broke the front axle housing!
Round 1 started with a rematch of the finals from the last round as #4 qualifier Henderson and his “Kamikaze” would face off with Jordan Driskill’s “Kurt” truck. The first race was a precursor to what kind of night it would be in racing as Driskill initially jumped the start, however, Henderson rolled over in the turn resulting in a DQ/DNF and the race would be re-ran! In the second attempt, the truck named “Kurt” would once again get the better of “Kamikaze” and advance. The next race featured Jeremy Bunting’s #3 “Bad Company” take on series newcomer Josh “Spoon” and his Shock Therapy Ground Pounder. Bunting would take advantage of a bobble in the turn by Spoon and cruise to victory. After a devastating crash in qualifying, Smallwood was able to swap out a new housing and return to race his “Blu Chrushin’” truck against the #2 seeded Hooligan. Bunting would end up pulling out a victory which would then result in having to decide on which truck to advance to the finals.
In the semi-finals, Driskill was on a mission to repeat and jumped to an early lead that he held into the final turn. However, he got squirrely coming to the final jump and Heath was able to make up the ground and capitalize on the mistake and squeak out a victory. In the finals, it would be #1 seeded “Joker” vs “Bad Company”. Both trucks were even going into the first turn with Bunting pulling a slight lead over the second jump and into the final turn. As both trucks rounded the corner, Bunting pulled into the lead, but the left front wheel would bind up causing “Bad Company” to veer into the path of “Joker” and both trucks would collide going over the final jump. While Bunting crossed the finish line first, a DQ was called and Heath would once again take the win.
Due to the unique circumstances of the race being in the evening, several competing trucks chose to add lights to their rigs so a “Monster Light Parade” lap and photos were taken at dusk.
As darkness fell, and the lights were on, it created a new feel for freestyle as there were shadows that gave the ramps an ominous presence. However, for the second straight round, Chris Prestwood and Todd Henderson would attack the track and leave victorious. In 2.2, Prestwood dominated with the run of the night. With huge air and lots of speed, Prestwood was merciless and the truck kept taking it and landing on all 4 wheels on its way to a 28-point freestyle and well-deserved victory with the next competitor being 9 points behind. In 2.6, Smallwood would lead things off with “Blu Chrushin’” and had some incredible sidewall saves that would make Ryan Anderson proud! After a first-round exit, Henderson came out 3rd in the lineup and threw down with some crazy air, backflips, saves, and hard landings. The truck finally gave up, but the 22 would be the high mark to beat. Driskill and the truck named “Kurt” was on his way to a great run, but despite his best efforts to right the truck, two early rolls ended his run early. He then would continue to go for another minute as an encore until he lost the rear wheel and chewed up some parts in the process! Bunting’s trucks would both end up with 3-point deductions for early rolls and both scored 16 points leaving just Heath left to try and knock Henderson out of first place and get the trifecta for an extra bonus point. However, a rough landing broke a tie rod and would end his run early. Heath would end up as the Overall Event Champion for Round 3 in both classes. Check out the updated points standings here.
Round 4 moves to a new venue as we will once again be racing in the evening, however this time it will be at the track at AMain Hobbies in Chico where we will be racing on a giant Figure 8-style track! On top of that, we’re excited to announce that at least 5 racers will be coming up from Southern California to compete in what is being dubbed the “So Cal Invasion”. Stay tuned for some other surprises we have in store for this one, this will definitely be a race you don’t want to miss!
