The Dirt Nitro Challenge was held this past weekend
Report from
Dirt Nitro Challenge 2023
The Dirt Nitro Challenge was held this past weekend in Perris, CA at the legendary Dirt track. When we arrived on Tuesday to setup, we looked at the track and it looked awesome and I was very excited to run on it. The layout looked amazing and it was packed very well. Wednesday was 2 rounds of practice which would be our seeding, the track was very fast, fun to drive on and the surface was holding up very well. Although I didn't seed very well, I thought my cars were working great. Unfortunately the rain started to come at the end of seeding and wouldn't let up until Saturday night. Joey and his crew definitely made the best of a bad situation by building a secondary track under the roof, and did a great job. While I realize this did not make everyone happy, it was definitely much better than just sitting and watching the rain fall all weekend.
The secondary track under the roof, started out very smooth and well packed, with technical sections and an asphalt back straight which was a cool aspect. I made a few adjustments to my setup for the small track as I knew I would need alot more steering and again my cars were working very well. The drivers stand was small so they had to run fewer drivers in each heat, which increased the number of heats and would allow for only 2 qualifiers. The track would get rough throughout the day but I was still able to qualify well, I would be starting 5th in ebuggy, 2nd in nitro truck and 3rd in nitro buggy.
Joey and his crew would fix some of the holes and repack parts of the track every night, adn also half way through the day as needed. Even with this the track would get rougher and rougher and be very challenging to navigate.
On Saturday my ebuggy main would be up first for me, it was definitely a challenge to navigate the track in a buggy, after a few mistakes I would end up at the back but I would be able to make my way back up to 6th .
The truggy main started off great and I had a good battle with Mason Fuller, the track was rougher yet, but my truck handled the bumps well. I would swap positions with a hard charging Maifield and Phend, but eventually get out front into the lead and would be able to hold on for the rest of the race to take the win.
Sunday the rain stopped and the sun came out at times, although it was a beautiful day the main track was still flooded beyond being able to get it prepped for the nitro buggy mains, so the nitro buggy main would be run on the covered track.
They had done track maintenance Saturday night, but the track was still rough in some sections and smoother in some sections but different than it had been on Saturday, so I knew the buggy main would be very difficult. At the start of the buggy main I would hold my position for a few laps until making a bobble which would let 2 cars past and then would battle between 3rd and 5th and was never really able to make a solid charge for the lead. I was able to make it back up to 3rd at the end of the race to finish on the podium.
Although we didn't get to run on the big track, this DNC was definitely a challenge but for different reasons than normal, there was some good racing in all classes and if it wasn't for the effort put in by Joey and his crew, the weekend would have been a huge disappointment for all who attending but I believe it that it turned out to be an enjoyable weekend for almost everyone in attendance.
Congratulations to Dakotah, Joey Bourdon and Maifield on their wins. Thanks to whole Xray team for the effort they put in and for helping each other out, congratulations to Paul Ciccarello on his 40+ electric truck win.
I want to thank my sponsors for giving me the best products to compete at the highest level Xray, RC America, Hobbywing, FX Engines, Hot Race Tires, MKS, A Main Hobbies, HUDY, VP fuels, Protek Rc, EZ Customs, Stickit1, Avid rc, and 110% Racing.
Thanks to my family for all their support, help and the sacrifices they have made throughout my career, being able to have my Dad at all my races, knowing I can count on him to be there for me, is a huge blessing. Most importantly I would like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, without him I would not be where I am today.
The secondary track under the roof, started out very smooth and well packed, with technical sections and an asphalt back straight which was a cool aspect. I made a few adjustments to my setup for the small track as I knew I would need alot more steering and again my cars were working very well. The drivers stand was small so they had to run fewer drivers in each heat, which increased the number of heats and would allow for only 2 qualifiers. The track would get rough throughout the day but I was still able to qualify well, I would be starting 5th in ebuggy, 2nd in nitro truck and 3rd in nitro buggy.
Joey and his crew would fix some of the holes and repack parts of the track every night, adn also half way through the day as needed. Even with this the track would get rougher and rougher and be very challenging to navigate.
On Saturday my ebuggy main would be up first for me, it was definitely a challenge to navigate the track in a buggy, after a few mistakes I would end up at the back but I would be able to make my way back up to 6th .
The truggy main started off great and I had a good battle with Mason Fuller, the track was rougher yet, but my truck handled the bumps well. I would swap positions with a hard charging Maifield and Phend, but eventually get out front into the lead and would be able to hold on for the rest of the race to take the win.
Sunday the rain stopped and the sun came out at times, although it was a beautiful day the main track was still flooded beyond being able to get it prepped for the nitro buggy mains, so the nitro buggy main would be run on the covered track.
They had done track maintenance Saturday night, but the track was still rough in some sections and smoother in some sections but different than it had been on Saturday, so I knew the buggy main would be very difficult. At the start of the buggy main I would hold my position for a few laps until making a bobble which would let 2 cars past and then would battle between 3rd and 5th and was never really able to make a solid charge for the lead. I was able to make it back up to 3rd at the end of the race to finish on the podium.
Although we didn't get to run on the big track, this DNC was definitely a challenge but for different reasons than normal, there was some good racing in all classes and if it wasn't for the effort put in by Joey and his crew, the weekend would have been a huge disappointment for all who attending but I believe it that it turned out to be an enjoyable weekend for almost everyone in attendance.
Congratulations to Dakotah, Joey Bourdon and Maifield on their wins. Thanks to whole Xray team for the effort they put in and for helping each other out, congratulations to Paul Ciccarello on his 40+ electric truck win.
I want to thank my sponsors for giving me the best products to compete at the highest level Xray, RC America, Hobbywing, FX Engines, Hot Race Tires, MKS, A Main Hobbies, HUDY, VP fuels, Protek Rc, EZ Customs, Stickit1, Avid rc, and 110% Racing.
Thanks to my family for all their support, help and the sacrifices they have made throughout my career, being able to have my Dad at all my races, knowing I can count on him to be there for me, is a huge blessing. Most importantly I would like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, without him I would not be where I am today.
XRAY
Hotrace Tyres Factory
MKS ServosUSA.com