Round 1 of the Northeast Division Pro Series was held at McCullough's Off-Road just north of Pittsburgh, PA. Although entries were down compared to recent years, the event still drew some of the most talented racers from the region. I ran all three of my XRAY 1/8 vehicles in the Pro Buggy, Pro Arena Truck, and E-Scale classes.
In the Pro Buggy class, I would end up TQing all four rounds of qualifying which would start me first on the grid for the 45 minute A-Main. I was able to get away clean off the start but on the second lap, a costly wreck over the front rhythm section popped a steering link off the ball stud.
Fortunately, a marshall saw what had happened and was able to quickly fix my car. By the 2 minute mark, I was up and running again. I slowly started chipping away at the 2 lap deficit I was faced with and by the half way mark, I was able to regain the lead and never look back. I was able to go on and win the 45 minute main despite a shaky start. XRAY teammate Eric Schoen also ran a good race and was able to finish in the second position. I would also like to congratulate Johnny Lai would piloted his XRAY XB9 to a TQ and victory in the Open Buggy Class!
Pro Buggy
1. CJ Weaver - XRAY XB9(TQ)
2. Eric Schoen - XRAY XB9
3. Mike Speranza
Open Buggy
1. Johnny Lai - XRAY XB9 (TQ)
In the Pro Arena Truck class, I would TQ three of the four rounds giving me the overall TQ in this class as well. XRAY teammate Eric Schoen jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. I followed closely behind in second, but after Eric experienced a small mechanical failure. He would fall back to third place and I would inherit the lead. I would go on to win the 45 minute A-Main with Eric Schoen finishing in 3rd place.
Pro Arena Truck
1. CJ Weaver - XRAY XT8(TQ)
2. Gary Duxbary 3. Eric Schoen - XRAY XT8
In E-Scale, I would TQ the first round of qualifying but wasn't able to get in another solid run which would start me 2nd overall. The A-Main format would consist of 3, 10 minute races. In the A1 main, a few costly mistakes early would keep me in the second position from start to finish. In the A2 main, a wire came unsoldered about half way through and would let Shawn Rosenau coast to victory, giving him the overall win. In the A3 main, I would start first on the grid and lead from start to finish, giving me second place overall.
E-Scale
1. Shawn Rosenau 2. CJ Weaver - XRAY XB808E
3. Ron Gereshenski
