Tebo and Maifield Win Factory Gas and Electric At Reedy Truck Race

As the end of the year approaches in California, temperatures are dropping, rain is falling and daylight savings time comes to an end. In turn, the Reedy Truck Race of Champions marks the end of the outdoor season for many Southern California racers. This year's Reedy Truck Race, as usual, was held at Hot Rod Hobbies and only a few short minutes from Six Flags.

In the Factory Modified class, four drivers had a shot at the TQ position going in to the fourth round of qualifying. With one TQ apiece; Tebo, Cavalieri and Hartson were set to battle in the "A" qualifier to determine who would sit on pole. After a back and forth battle, Tebo edged out Cavalieri to claim the top spot for Sunday's main events.

With one win each, Cavalieri and Maifield were poised to battle for the overall win in A3. A mistake by Maifield collected Cavalieri on the first turn. As a show of sportsmanship, Maifield pulled over and let the field by while waiting for Cavalier be turn marshaled. For the next five minutes the two of them sliced through traffic towards the front of the pack, receiving extra racing room from competitors and teammates alike. With only a few laps remaining, Cavalieri ripped off the fastest lap of the weekend to close right up on Maifield. Their lines crossed coming on to the straight-a-way and unfortunately Cavalieri's T4 went tumbling allowing Maifield some breathing room.

In Factory Gas Truck, National Champion Jared Tebo TQ'd three of the four rounds of qualifying with the other round going to 4wd IFMAR TQ, Ryan Maifield. Maifield debuted the new LRP .12 engine in his Factory Team GT with the assistance of LRP Engineer Andy Kramer.

At the start of the main event Maifield and Cavalieri pulled a gap on the field with Tebo getting off to a rough start. For the middle 20 minutes Maifield led with Tebo 5-8 seconds behind as Cavalieri pulled out due to engine troubles. Some well timed pit stops allowed Tebo to fuel up one less time than Maifield, which was eventually the difference in the results.

The big news of the weekend was 13-year-old Associated/Checkpoint driver Steven Hartson. Fresh off his Stock National Championship, Steven TQ'd the third round of Factory Modified and eventually started 4th on the grid for Sunday. This is Hartson’s first major "A" main, but surely won't be the last.

Additionally, this race marked the first major offroad "A" main for a brushless motor system. In the Factory Modified class, Associated Team Manager Brent Thielke piloted the LRP/Reedy brushless system to a fourth place overall finish. Look for the Reedy team to be utilizing the brushless system in many upcoming events.

Thank you, Hot Rod Hobbies, for a great event and congratulations Jared and Ryan!