Event- 2010 CRCRC Midwest Winter Champs
Race Reporter: JP Richards
At every start to the year one of the biggest electric offroad races of the year is held in Columbus, Ohio. Well this year it will probably be the biggest electric off-road race with over 430 entries. It is the CRCRC Midwest Midwinter Championships. 
This race every year has the biggest offroad racers names in attendance such as Jared Tebo, Ryan Cavalieri, Dustin Evans, Matt Chambers, Dakotah Phend, Cody King, Jesse Robbers, and Steven Hartson.
I attended this race and ran Modified 2wd and 4wd. The race schedule was Thursday/Friday all day practice. They said that they would get through all 4 rounds of qualifying done on Saturday but that did not happen they only got through 3 and ran the 4th on Sunday with triple Amains to follow. It was qual point style qualifying with your best 2 out of 4 counting.
In 2wd qualifying was supper tight all weekend long. I blew out in round 1. But in round 2 I got my head screwed on straight with getting a 6 for the round. In round 3 I got a 5 for the round. In the 4th and final round I got a 2 only 5 seconds behind Jared Tebo. With my best 2 runs counting I would end up with a total of 7 points that would put me 6th on the gird. In A1 I did not do so well I finished 9th. A2 went better I raced the whole race with Ryan and Steven for 2nd place. After swapping spots many times I would end up with 4th in A2. In A3 I ran 3rd the whole race but on the last lap I made a mistake and it took the marshall a little time to get me but when he did I could not see my car because he was in my way. But that is just one of those racing deals I ended up 6th in A3. 
I finished 7th overall which I was pretty happy with.
Here was the top 10:
1. Jared Tebo
2. Ryan Cavalieri
3. Dustin Evans
4. Steven Hartson
5. Matt Chambers
6. Jesse Robbers
7. JP Richards
8. Dakotah Phend
9. Cody King
10. Johnny LoGiudice
In 4wd I had a bad weekend. I broke out in the first 2 rounds of qualifying. Then in round 3 I got a 4 for the round. I just had a bad run in round 4. I dominated the C Main.
Another point of view from Dustin Richards
Well, its the beginning of 2010 and that means the CRCRC Electric Midwinter Midwest Champs in Columbus, Ohio. Why guys come from Dallas, LA, Louisiana, Florida, and other nice climates to Ohio with the snow and the rain is beyond me. However not only people from nice climates come to this race, but also drivers from Denver, Long Island, Buffalo, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and even Canada were in attendance.
The Midwinters is one of the biggest races of the year.
The format was 10AM to 9PM practice Thursday and Friday. They had scheduled 4 rounds on Sat but that did not work out so well. 4 rounds of qualifying in one day with 430 entries. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? We raced from 8AM to 12PM and only got in 3 rounds in Saturday. We raced from 8AM to 10PM Sunday with 1 round of qualifying and the mains. The qualifying system used was qual points.
Qualifying went well for me on in truck and 4wd. In truck I my best counting 2 were two nines. In 4wd I had a 6. Going into Sunday I knew I needed a good run to make the main. I got a 9 for my best 2 counting a 6 and a 9.
Buggy did not work out so well at this event for me and I was seated in the C main after multiple breaks and just poor execution.
4wd I was 9th in the A Main with over 75 entries in this class.
Truck I was BQ, tied with 10th place but loosing the tie breaker.
In the Triple A Mains of 4wd I had 9-6-9 giving me a 9 overall. I was the only person in the A Main without a chassis ride. There were factory drivers in the B Main like Matt Chambers, Jessie Robbers, Brian Mellow, Al Horne, and more.
In the B Main of Mod Truck I finished 4th.
In the C Main it was a real show. I started 10th of 12 cars. I worked my way up to the lead. However there was a hard battle at the front. Trying to stay out front I proceeded to “saw off” the front left side. This left me with three wheels. However I was not done yet. I continued driving with the three wheels for the last 2 minutes and in the end I got passed by Griffin and Dunbar but held onto that third trophy spot. This C Main ended up being one of the most exciting races with people on their feet cheering.
All in all this was an event that people went away with sleep deprivation. However the fastest drivers in the world made it to the Midwest to do battle and that is what may make this race so popular.
I would like to thank JConcepts, The slick Gold Bar Codes were great and the entire team at JConcpets (Jason, Allison, and Betty) are great to work with.
