The RC Pro International Finals was held October 28-30 @ Diamond W Arena in Alvarado, TX. The XRAY team consisting of Jason Branham, Patrick Castleberry, Roger Ayers, Nick Vanderpool, Derek Buster, Denver Houghton, and Kurt Kellum all made the trip to Alvarado to give us a solid shot at taking home a Championship.
This is the 3rd consecutive year the Finals have been held at Diamond W Arena but the track always seems to bring something different and this year was no different. When we arrived on Wednesday for practice the layout seemed pretty strait forward and simple with long straits, flowing jumps, and built for speed. However through out the day it became apparent that we were in store for an ever evolving track that turned strait, flat sections into a wavy, rough and cratered surface that really tested your patience and set-up.
The team all made drastic measures in set-up to help cope with the track conditions and tried everything from heavier springs with lighter oil, no sway bars, no chassis braces, softer tire foams, making the car as long and wide as possible, and roll centers to help get around the track the easiest way possible.
Open Buggy and Arena Truck
We have a number of young and up and coming racers bumping into the Pro classes next year but the three that have been very impressive this year are Denver Houghton, Kurt Kellum and Nick Vanderpool. Because of their strong performances this past year they have earned the bump to the Pro level classes and look forward to watching them compete next year with their XRAY vehicles.
Top 3 for Overall Open Buggy National Championship:
1. Mitchel Gardner 2. Kurt Kellum â“ XRAY XB808
3. Denver Houghton â“ XRAY XB808
Top 3 for Overall Open Arena Truck National Championship:
1. Denver Houghton â“ XRAY XT8 â“ NATIONAL CHAMPION
2. Nick Vanderpool â“ XRAY XT8
3. Kurt Kellum â“ XRAY XT8
Congrats to these guys on an awesome performance and almost a clean sweep of the Open Class.
Pro Arena Truck
In Arena Truck qualifying Jason Branham had his XT8 working well and was able to qualify 2nd just behind Ryan Lutz. Also looking sharp and setting good pace in qualifying was Patrick Castleberry setting himself up 5th on the grid.
In the Arena Truck main it was TQ Lutz who got out clean and fast with Jason Branham and Patrick Castleberry following behind. Lutz ran into early problems allowing Castleberry to get out font and lead past the halfway point. Castleberry then had some key mistakes which allowed Mike Battaile of Mugen to take the lead to the finish with Castleberry close behind in 2nd and Branham in 3rd. Branhamâ™s 3rd place finish in the main earned him 2nd overall for the Championship and with Castleberryâ™s 2nd in the main it earned him 3rd overall for the Championship, so 2 XT8â™s on the podium was a good start.
Pro Arena Truck Main Results:
1. Mike Battaile 2. Patrick Castleberry â“ XRAY XT8
3. Jason Branham â“ XRAY XT8
4. Hunter Kinsey
5. Kyle Skidmore
Top 3 for Pro Arena Truck National Championship:
1. Mike Battaile 2. Jason Branham â“ XRAY XT8
3. Patrick Castleberry â“ XRAY XT8
Pro Buggy
In Pro Buggy qualifying it was defiantly a tougher day then truck but it was the case for most of the teams and drivers. The track was super blown out so it took patience and consistency to get in a good run. The track was slowing down by 2 to 3 seconds per round so the times all across the board were very close because it was hard to get in a clean, fast run to get any separation with in the field.
One of the big surprises of the day was Roger Ayers who had terrible breaks in the first two rounds but hung in there to finish 5th in round 3 and TQ over everyone in the final round to put him 5th on the grid for the main. Castleberry had a solid day of qualifying to seed him 3rd on the grid and Branham who struggled in qualifying but managed to get his car into the main starting 8th. The team managed to get one more buggy into the main with Derek Buster driving a great B-Main to take a bump spot starting him 14th for the main.
(click to enlarge)
The Pro Buggy main started off ugly in the first corner with a big pile up at the end of the strait but it allowed Castleberry and Branham to get out clean following right behind Lutz in 1st. The three quickly started separating from the field and on the first round of pit stops Lutzâ™s ran out of fuel allowing Castleberry and Branham to run with the lead. A mistake from Castleberry allowed Branham to take over the lead and Branham held the lead until late into the 1 hour final.
With 3 minutes to go Branham had back to back crashes that allowed Mike Battaile from Mugen to close the gap and make it a race to the end. Branham and Battile were side by side coming to the finish line with Branham barely taking the win by only a half a second over Mike in 2nd and Castleberry in 3rd. With the win Branham was able to secure the points series to win the 2010 RC Pro Buggy National Championship.
Pro Buggy Main Results:
1. Jason Branham â“ XRAY XB808
2. Mike Battaile 3. Patrick Castleberry â“ XRAY XB808
4. David Joor
5. Hunter Kindsey
Top 3 for Pro Buggy National Championship:
1. Jason Branham â“ XRAY XB808 â“ NATIONAL CHAMPION
2. Mike Battaile 3. Patrick Castleberry â“ XRAY XB808
It was a great week for XRAY and thanks to XRAY for all their support!
