Associated Brings Home Multiple 1:18 Scale National Titles

Friday, Mar 31, 2006 at 12:00am UTC

It appears 1:18 scale is becoming more than just a fun thing to do. Last year's Nationals saw over 200 entries, but this included a 1:10 Stadium Truck and larger electric Monster Truck class. The 2006 Nationals brought in over 200 entries in just 1:18 scale alone, showing that this class is becoming much larger than anticipated!

Buggy Spec ("Out-of-the-box" 1:18 buggies, allowing only minor tuning changes)
This class was one of the funnest to watch for two reasons: 1) the cars were all pretty equal in speed and handling, and 2) three magazine editors were racing head to head! Alex Galenski pulled to an early lead with Tony Priolo right behind, and Greg Vogel (RC Driver) right behind him. At the 2 1/2 minute mark, Alex hit a board and broke, leaving Tony with the lead and Greg right behind. Greg was making up a couple tenths per lap on Tony, but on lap 13, with a minute and a half to go, Tony got tangled up and broke, leaving Greg with the lead. Wesley Dennis was in second and had his sights set on Greg, but at the final buzzer, Greg was able to cross the line for a 16-lap run, making him the Buggy Spec class winner with his RC18B! Wesley Dennis held on to 2nd and Jamie Lepley finished thirrd. Frank Masi (RC Driver) finished fourth with Derek Buono (Xtreme RC) finishing fifth.

2WD Stock Truck (2WD 1:18 trucks using stock handout motors)
Mark Smyka dominated by TQ'ing and finishing over 10 seconds behind seconnd place Chris Proctor. Dillon Jacobs rounded out the top three.

4WD Stock Truck (4WD 1:18 trucks using stock handout motors)
The start of the 4WD Stock class was a bit of a melee. Tony Phalen jumped to an early lead when TQ Josh Anderson crashed on lap one, slowing the field down. Eric Desrosiers jumped into second place with local hero Zack Berry in third. Josh was on a mission and, on lap caught and passed Zack for third. On the very next lap, Eric got tangled up and allowed Josh into second. Putting together a string of mid-14-second laps, he was only a few feet behind Tony! A couple bobbles allowed Tony to keep his first place and take the win with his Factory Team RC18T. Josh held on to second with Eric in third (also driving RC18Ts).

Novice 1:18 (4WD or 2WD trucks using a handout motor, maximum age limited to 12)
The youngest class of drivers, they were also the most inexperienced. This class made turn-marshalling equal to an aerobic workout! Justin DeCarli took an early lead with Lee Teodore in second. Tyler Mongomery and Frank Behrman were battling for third for the entire race! At the end, Justin finished with an impressive 14-lap run! Lee Teodore finished second with an equally impressive 13-lap run! It was great to see the young blood of the sport doing well and enjoying themselves!

2WD Modified Truck (2WD 1:18 trucks allowing any brushed motor and foam tires)
Mark Smyka again TQ'd the in Modified 2WD Truck class, but things wouldn't go his way as they did in 2WD Stock. Mark led until lap 10 when a crash let Andrew Gray and Chris Proctor by. On lap 12, Andrew got tangled up and let Chris by for the lead. Chris would hold on to take the win in 2WD Modified, Andrew finishing second and Mark finishing third.

Small Block Mini Monster (1:18 monster trucks. The trucks had to have a minimum tire diameter of 2", using motors not larger than a 300-size, and use any 6-cell battery.)
TQ Tony Phalen led from lap 1 with his RC18MT. Tony Priolo held on to 2nd until lap 12, where a problem knocked him out of the race. Neil Dickey finished second after Tony's mishap, and Rich Dipaolo rounded out the top three.

Open Buggy (4WD 1:18 buggies using any motor system (brushed or brushless), any battery (NiMh or LiPo), and any rubber tire)
A new class in this year's event. Everyone was interested in seeing brushed and brushless buggies run together! TQ Josh Anderson led the pack around the first two corners. A bobble around by Josh collected the entire field! Eric Desrosiers made the best of Josh's mistake and took the lead. Evan Shelansky came out in second, Josh in third, but second qualifier Tony Phalen was all the way back to tenth! Josh drove like a madman to get his lost spots back and by lap 6 was knocking on Eric's back door! On lap 11 he put his 8 1/2-inch Factory Team RC18B into a 9-inch opening for a great pass and the eventual win! Eric hung on to second with Tony making his way back up to third (both driving Factory Team RC18B's)!

4WD Modified Truck (4WD 1:18 trucks allowing any brushed motor and foam tires)
Tony Phalen TQ'd with an amazing 21-lap run (the only 21-lap run of the race) with his Factory Team RC18T! For the first five laps, Tony and Josh diced back and forth for the lead! Zack Berry jumped to an early third and was right behind, waiting for an opportunity to pass the top two! But, on lap 11, Zack made a slight bobble that set him back about 3 seconds. On lap 16, Josh made a mistake and let Tony pull to just over a straight-away lead and that's all he needed to take the win! Josh finished second with his Factory Team RC18T!

2WD Brushless (2WD 1:18 trucks using any brushless system and NiMh or LiPo batteries)
Zack Berry TQ'd and lead from start to finish. It wasn't, however, without its moments! Second qualifier Mike Haynes was only 3 seconds behind at the final buzzer, just enough to let Zack know that one mistake could cost him the race. Mark Smyka finished out the top three.

4WD Brushless (4WD 1:18 trucks using any brushless system and NiMh or LiPo batteries)
TQ Josh Anderson made a costly first lap mistake that sent him all the way back to sixth! Frank Root capitalized and made up the lead. Jake Thayer, who was caught up in the first lap crash, found himself in second by lap 9! Josh worked his way back to thirrd by lap 10 and that's the way it would end. This class really showed the durability of the Factory Team RC18B's drivetrain ... high-bite carpet, brushless motors and LiPo cells. Speeds on this short track straight-away were in excess of 38mph! I'm sure this will have a LOT more entrants next year.

Big Block Mini Monster [4WD 1:18 monster trucks using any motor system (brushed or brushless) and any battery (NiMh or LiPo). Trucks must have a minimum tire diameter of 2".)]
TQ Tony Phalen had a first-lap crash that pretty much gave this race to local Zack Berry. Zack took the lead and never looked back! Fourth Qualifier Kyle Bergstrom found himself in second but on lap 5 was passed by Tony, making a run for Zack. Zack's smooth and clean driving gave him the win, Tony in second and Kyle in third.

Super Main (The Super Main was a final "Main Event" incorporating the top three finishing cars in every main.)
The Super Main was more of a fun race to see which class-winning car was really the fastest car around the track. The starting grid was completely random, but definitely gave the advantage to the top two or three cars. It was decided that the race should start with a motocross style setup ... all 10 cars lined up in one row! To give you an idea of what this looked like: 8' wide lane. Ten 8"+ vehicles lined up side by side. The gap between each car was less than one inch. This was NOT going to be a pretty start!

Tony Phalen (running his brushed motor 4WD Modified-winning truck) took a wild guess and launched! His guess was perfect as he was 15' down the straight before the next car left! Frank Root (running his brushless Open Buggy) would pull up behind him on lap 2 and make a great pass for the lead, only to crash on lap 3 and give it back. Josh Anderson (also running his 4WD Modified brushed motor truck) took over 2nd and the next 5 laps diced with Tony for the lead. First Josh, then Tony. Both drivers were driving PUNCHED ... jumping big with wheelies through the washboard section! On lap 17, a bobble by Josh would allow Tony to go by for the lead and eventual win! Josh would finish second and Zack Berry in third.