R/C CAR STAFF

(Photo: LiveRC)

The above picture says it all.

The Nitro Challenge just wouldn’t be the same without rain; a small storm Friday night pushed Saturday’s Truck main events back in the day and now more rain last night is threatening today’s buggy finals as well. The Dirt Crew, led by Joey Christensen, is experienced at rebuilding tracks after a rainstorm, but it remains to be seen if today’s races will even be possible.

Stay tuned.

It wouldn’t be the Nitro Challenge without requiring the track crew to overcome a little adversity, and Joey Christensen’s small army of mud warriors worked another miracle to get a soupy Nitro Pit course in shape for Sunday’s buggy division finals. The crew used tools, hay, and true grit to provide a race-worthy course and it wasn’t long before hoses were required to control dust. Remarkable.

Compared to Saturday’s nail-biter of a final in the Pro Truck division, Sunday’s main event was a snoozer. Jared Tebo grabbed the holeshot from his top qualifier starting position but dropped to seventh with a mistake on lap two and was never a factor; in fact, no one was. Past winner of the event, and runner-up from Saturday night, Ryan Cavalieri quickly scurried away from the field and absolutely dominated the 45 minute final, at one time leading the field by a full lap.

Ryan clinched the win with 31 seconds to go as the only car to get by for lap number 61, capping off an unbelievable drive for the 2005 ROAR National Champion. Ryan’s combination of the sparkles RC8B, Orion Alpha engine, and Pro-Line M3 Holeshots proved simply too much for the other 14 drivers on the track who were left battling for second place.

Past winner and defending ROAR National Champ Adam Drake piloted his Novarossi-powered Losi to the second spot, the best of the rest of the field. The most exciting battle happened for the third position, with Hot Bodies racer Jesse Robbers only narrowly beating out Losi wonderkid Matt Castellano in the final corner to grab the last spot on the podium by less than four tenths of a second.

Final results:

1. Ryan Cavalieri (sparkles/Orion)
2, Adam Drake (Losi/Novarossi)
3. Jesse Robbers (Hot Bodies/O.S.)
4. Matt Castellano (Losi/O.S.)
5. Travis Amezcua (Mugen/Ninja)
6. Jared Tebo (Kyosho/Orion)
7. Mike Truhe (Losi/Orion)
8. Ty Tessman (Hot Bodies/O.S.)
9. Ryan Maifield (sparkles/Reedy)
10. Billy Fischer (Losi/Novarossi)
11. Jeremy Kortz (HoBao/Werks)
12. Cody King (Kyosho/Orion)
13. Levi Jackson (Losi/O.S.)
14. Bobby Tillman (Mugen/Ninja)
15. Richard Saxton (sparkles/Reedy)

And so the 2010 The Dirt Nitro Challenge comes to a close; we’ve seen everything from sunshine to rain, and grueling battles to indisputable triumph. Well over 400 racers took on the 2010 The Dirt Nitro Challenge; will you be there next year?