Race Report: The 2017 Mini Off-Road Nationals
Mini Mayhem at the 3rd Annual Thumb RC Mini Nationals hosted by ROVE
Provided by Tom Claerhout pen af Thumb RC
The third annual Thumb RC Mini Nationals moved indoors for 2017. A record turnout of 106 entries competed in 8 different electric classes on a 52'x80' carpet track consisting of jumps and whoops. LC Racing was the most dominant brand of the event. LC cars took A main wins in the 1/14 Buggy, 1/14 Truggy and 1/14 Short Course classes. The event also featured 1/10 stadium truck, 2wd short course and 2wd buggy classes.
Youth Mini C Main
- Chase Robertson
- Karissa Murday
- Landynn Monroe
- Trenten Crandall
- Eathen Crandall
1/10 2WD Buggy C Main
- Jacob Dohrmann
- Tim Horenziak
- TJ Sheridan
- Josh Schuler
- David Murday
1/14 Truggy C Main
- Joseph Bandlow
- Jacob Dohrmann
- Kirk Mumby
- Lucas Matuszak
- Kirstin Murday
1/10 Stadium Truck B Main
- Ben Klein
- Krash Crandall
- Mick Harding
- David Murday
- John Toner
Youth Mini B Main
- Lucas Matuszak
- Luke Anderson
- Chase Robertson
- Levi Anderson
- Kaiden Wills
Womens Class
- Jill Harding
- Rachel Boensch
1/10 Short Course B Main
- Krash Crandall
- Captain Kirk
- Andre Bergevin
- John Robertson
1/10 Buggy B Main
- Ryan Burch
- Steven Motors
- Joseph Bandlow
- John Toner
- Mike Royer
1/10 Stadium Truck A Main
Curtis was the fastest qualifier and ran at the front of the pack for the first few laps. Unfortunately, a mechanical caused him to pull out of the race on lap seven. John Taz Motors was qualifier #2, and he led for the entire race. By the sound of the tone, he had a lap lead on the field. Ben Klein took the bump from the B main and finished second in the A main. Ryan Burch finished in third one lap behind Ben. Patrick Deguise finished in fourth one lap behind Ryan.
- John Taz Motors
- 2. Ben Klein
- 3. Ryan Burch
- 4. Patrick DeGuise
- 5. Curtis Wernette
1/18 Open A Main
The 1/18 A main did not disappoint. This class is a test of survival. Out of the five cars that started the main, only two finished with no broken parts dragging. Tom Claerhout was the TQ and led for twelve laps before he clipped the boards and broke off the front arm. Krash Crandall took it from there with his broken Dromida front arm and took the win a lap ahead of the field. Sven led early but had problems of his own when is rear axle snapped. Mick Harding worked his way up to second through the chaos. Tom Claerhout limped home in third. Captain Kirk was fourth with Sven in fifth.
- Krash Crandall
- 2. Mick Harding
- 3. Tom Claerhout
- 4. Captain Kirk
- 5. Sven
1/10 Buggy A Main
Curtis was the overall TQ in yet another class. He had a rough start and got shuffled back. By lap ten he moved up into third position and kept that place until the tone. Patrick DeGuise and Taz battled for most of the race exchanging positions. With a few laps to go, Patrick was able to get around and hold it until the finish. Patrick took the win by 1.5 seconds over Taz. Ryan Burch was fourth one lap behind Curtis in third. Ben Klein took fifth after taking the bump from the B main.
- Patrick DeGuise
- John Taz Motors
- Curtis Wernette
- Ryan Burch
- Ben Klein
1/14 Buggy B Main
- Trevor Francis
- Tom Claerhout
- Ben Matuszak
- Adam Boensch
- Rachel Boensch
1/14 Truggy B Main
- John Toner
- Mike Royer
- Joseph Bandlow
- Mick Harding
- Trevor Francis
1/10 Short Course A Main
Tyler Heavner made quick work of the short course class and took the win by three laps over the field. Taz tried to keep pace but was unable to. Tyler laid down the fastest lap of the day by any car with a 15.165 fast lap. Jeff Hutchinson took third one lap behind Taz. Krash Crandall battled hard after getting the bump from the B main. He was ten seconds behind Jeff at the finish. Steven Motors had some trouble with his truck and was unable to make it to the finish.
- Tyler Heavner
- John Taz Motors
- Jeff Hutchinson
- Krash Crandall
- Steven Motors
1/14 Short Course B Main
- John Robertson
- TJ Sheridan
- Luke Anderson
- Trevor Francis
- Levi Anderson
1/14 Buggy A Main
In the 1/14 Buggy class Team LC Racing USA driver Jeff Hutchinson had a good battle with John Taz Motors. After the eight minute A main was over, Jeff finished with a two lap lead on the field. Taz came home in second with his Losi Mini Eight. Sven took third and finished on the same lap as Taz. Ben Klein running a Caster Racing S16B took fourth and Steven Motors fifth.
- Jeff Hutchinson
- John Taz Motors
- Sven
- Ben Klein
- Steven Motors
Youth Mini A Main
The Youth Mini class features the future stars of our sport. Ben Klein was the TQ and pulled away from the field. He took the win by five laps over the field with his LC Racing truggy. Second place went to Anden Robertson with twenty laps completed. Brandon Binder took third and was three seconds behind Anden at the line. Fourth place was Ben Matuszak and fifth was Lucas Matuszak.
- Ben Klein
- Anden Robertson
- Brandon Binder
- Ben Matuszak
- Lucas Matuszak
1/14 Short Course A Main
In the 1/14 Short Course class, it was an all LC racing affair again. The class was all LC Racing Short Course trucks. Krash Crandall was the overall TQ in the class, but Sven was able to get out front early and never look back. He ended up winning by a lap. Andre Bergevin kept it close but was unable to keep pace. Krash Crandall rounded out the podium in third. John Robertson took the bump up from the B main and finished 4th. Steve Anderson was 5th.
- Sven
- Andre Bergevin
- Krash Crandall
- John Robertson
- Steve Anderson
1/14 Truggy A Main
13 year old phenom Ben Klein was the overall TQ in the 1/14 Truggy class. He did manage to lead half of the main with constant pressure from Tyler Heaver, Jeff Hutchinson and Patrick DeGuise. Around the halfway point, Jeff was able to get around Ben and check out for the win. He would end up winning by a lap. Team LC Racing USA driver Patrick DeGuise slowly worked his way through the pack after a rough start and ended up 2nd. Ben Klein shrugged off a couple rough laps and crashes to snag the final spot on the podium. Tyler Heaver ran up front for most of the race before his car quit on lap 24. Team LC Racing USA driver Ryan Burch took 5th place after qualifying 6th on the day.
- Jeff Hutchinson
- Patrick DeGuise
- Ben Klein
- Tyler Heavner
- Ryan Burch
Thumb RC and ROVE would like to thank all of the sponsors and racers that made this event possible. It is growing every year. For complete results, feel free to visit RCScoringPro.com and click on Thumb RC for the track. 2017 event sponsors: Blue Fox Gifts, Pit Boss Stands, LC Racing, Caster Racing, Team Losi Racing, Team Associated, Kimbrough, Hardwoods RC Raceway, Gone Bananas Racing Skinz, NankinHobby.com, Pro-Line, Redcat Racing, JConcepts and RC Screwz.
For more information about ROVE, please visit this site: rocketrove.weebly.com
Image credit: Thumb RC