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News  Racing
XB808, XT8 & XB808E at 2012 CRCRC Midwest Nitro Championships, USA |
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(click to enlarge) |
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| Race report by CJ Weaver |
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This past weekend, I attended the 2012 CRCRC Midwest Nitro Championships held in Jeffersonville, Ohio. The race drew between 160-170 entries from all across the United States and Canada. The four-day race format featured controlled practice Thursday, a practice qualifier followed by the first qualifier on Friday, three qualifiers on Saturday and then mains on Sunday. I ran all three of my Xray 1/8 vehicles and competed in the Pro Arena Truck, Pro Buggy, and E-Scale classes.
On Friday morning, we were placed at random into heats for a practice qualifier. They would take our three fastest consecutive laps from the five-minute qualifier and seat us for qualifying that evening. Fortunately, my XT8, 808, and 808e were all up to speed and I was seated in all three A-Main qualifiers. After the second round of qualifying re-sort was complete on Saturday afternoon, I found myself mid-pack in both the Pro Arena Truck and E-Scale A-Main. However I was 14th overall in the Pro Buggy class and I would still have some work to do.
My XT8 and 808e were great all weekend and I consistently put in solid runs in every round of qualifying. I ended up qualifying 4th overall in both Arena Truck and E-Scale. My nitro 808 was also one of the fastest vehicles on the track but some bad luck with lap traffic in round three would significantly hurt my chances at qualifying for the Pro Buggy A-Main. Determined to make the A-Main final, I would need a top 5 run in the final round of qualifying. I started off round four on a blistering 15-lap run but a costly wreck would push my time back. Despite the wreck, I was able to finish 6th for the round. Unfortunately, it wasnâ™t quite good enough to qualify into the A-Main and I would end up qualified 11th overall.
I began Sunday with the Pro Buggy B-Main where I would start first on the grid. Determined to put an Xray vehicle in the A-Main, I jumped out to a decent lead and never looked back. I would finish the 25 minute B-Main 20 seconds ahead of 2nd place Mo Denton and almost 2 laps in front of 3rd place.
The next race would be the Pro Arena Truck A-Main where I wouldnâ™t be the only Xray vehicle in the race. Jerome Treignier was able to put in some good runs and qualify 9th in the A-Main. After 20 minutes, I found myself in 3rd with a comfortable lead over 4th place. With 15 minutes to go, I was within 5 seconds of Chuck Berg who was running in 2nd place at the time. I was consistently turning faster laps than him and by the final pit stop; I was within reach of 2nd place. The final 25 laps or so would be a nose to tail race to the finish line. I was able to take over 2nd place with about 8 minutes left, but a bobble would eventually put me back into 3rd with under 4 minutes to go. I continued to push as hard as I could and was able to force a mistake in the tricky chicane section. With less than 2 minutes to go I was able to retake 2nd place and build a two second lead over 3rd place. I would end up maintaining this lead as I crossed the line in 2nd place. Jerome was also able to run a clean 45-minute race to put a second Xray truck in the top 5.
Next would be the E-Scale A-Main, which was right after the long Arena Truck A-Main. It was a bit difficult to transition from one to the other so quickly and would ultimately lead to a couple early mistakes. Fortunately, I was able to regain focus and get back into the top 5 after falling back a few positions. Although it wasnâ™t one of my best E-Scale runs of the weekend, it was good enough to put another Xray vehicle into the top 5 for the weekend.
The last race of the weekend was the Pro Buggy A-Main where I would be starting in the 11th position. I decided to drive conservatively for the first couple of laps to avoid any pile-ups. After dodging a few cars, I was able to work my way up into 7th place after just a few minutes. Unfortunately, a few mistakes of my own would keep me from chasing down the leaders. I was able to run clean laps for the entire race and finish in the 7th position. Despite not finishing in the top 5, I was extremely pleased with my performance.
This weekend, I was able to put an Xray vehicle into both Pro Nitro A-Mains, and the E-Scale A-Main. The only other driver in attendance that was able to accomplish this feat was Jesse Robbers. A lot of people were extremely impressed with the performance of the three vehicles and are now considering switching to Xray themselves. |
| Pro Buggy |
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1. Jesse Robbers
2. Chuck Berg
3. Dylan Gerard
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11. CJ Weaver XRAY XB808 |
| Electric Buggy |
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1. Jesse Robbers
2. Max Flurer
3. Ralph Krumme
4. CJ Weaver XRAY XB808E |
| Pro Arena Truck |
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1. Jesse Robbers
2. Shane Racer
3. Chuck Berg
4. CJ Weaver XRAY XT8
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9. Jerome Treignier XRAY XT8 |
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