From August 17th – 20th, in Gainsville, Georgia, The Wicked Weekend was held and was perhaps one of the most relaxed, fun race on the Racetime Entertainment calendar. This year, Dave Leikam came up with a new practice schedule highlighted by splitting the practice into two groups that made the overall racing experience more enjoyable for all competitors in attendance. Dave took a gamble and delivered a better, more efficient race program that allowed drivers more practice time with an A and B group. With over 600 entries, this split program was crucial in making practice more beneficial for everyone.
The A group was allowed to practice from 8am on Thursday to 11pm, but was not able to participate in the B group practice and vice versa. If you chose to run in the B group, you were able to start practice on Thursday from 8pm to 11pm AND on Friday from 8am to noon. This resulted in much shorter lines, more track time, and boosted prep and social time. Overall, it just made the event much better and a lot more enjoyable because no one wants to wait in line for 20-30 minutes to get a 5-minute practice in. The hidden bonus was that this format also catered to racers that are only able to take 1 day off from work and not both days just to maximize track time. It’s a win-win situation on many levels.
This year’s layout was fantastic. From the early pictures, the layout looked simple and easy, but that wasn’t the case. Every lap was enjoyable and constantly challenged drivers to push their skills and abilities to the limits. The wood face jumps have become a signature mark of Racetime Entertainment and RC Trackmasters that provide even jumps faces across the full width of the lane. Also, the wood jump faces were consistent from the beginning of the event until the end and never deteriorated like normal dirt jumps. Thanks to the hard work behind the scenes by RTE and RC Trak Masters for a wonderful layout that was fun, challenging, and brutal (in a positive way).
Junior 14 and Under
4wd Short Course
TLR/JConcepts Martin Harrison was able to capitalize on his TQ effort by winning A1 and A2 to take the overall in the 4×4 Short Course class despite only have 2S power. With most of the competition running 3S, Harrison’s experience and consistency were enough to reward him with a well-deserved win. Finishing 2nd was Mugen’s Austin Hughes who was able to win A3 to secure his 2nd place finish. TLR’s Peter Bartlett claimed 3rd with JConcepts’ Alex Mueller 4th and Xray’s Kevin Thomas 5th.
1/8th Etruggy
It was an all out battle in the E-Truggy class with Tekno/JConcepts’ John Bernard taking the overall with wins in A1 and A3. Mugen/JConcepts’ Patrick Rossiter Jr. finished 2nd, Kyle Phillips 3rd, Martin Harrison 4th and David Smith 5th.
Sportsman Ebuggy
Young rising star, JConcepts’ Jackson Terrell was on a mission taking his 1st class win in the Sportsman E-buggy class with fast, consistent driving in A1 and A2 to wrap up the overall. Brad Collins took 2nd, Serpent’s Tony Rivas 3rd, Billy Wright 4th and Raece Kear 5th.
Sportsman Nitro Buggy
Sportsman Nitro Truggy
Going 2 for 2 in class wins, JConcepts’ Jackson Terrell found himself the standout driver in the Sportsman Nitro Truggy class after 30 minutes of close racing with 2nd place finisher, Liam Santos. Jackson crossed the line only 4.3 seconds ahead of Santos. Daniel Young took home 3rd with Jonathan Davis 4th and Ryan Hatton 5th.
40+ Open Ebuggy
Serpent/JConcepts’ Paul Ciccarello had an outstanding performance in the 40+ classes taking home wins in 40+ Open Ebuggy and 40+ Nitro Buggy making him the man to beat in 40+ at The Wicked Weekend. Martin Harrison finished only a point behind Paul in the triple A-Mains in Open Ebuggy with Mark Moon 3rd, Dave McEwen 4th, and bump up driver David Smith 5th.
40+ Nitro Buggy
The 40+ class has become the gentleman’s battle with the competition fiercer than ever. In the 40+ Nitro Buggy side, Paul had a commanding lead on the field with Mugen/JConcepts’ Shane Ogden 2nd, Monty Reeder 3rd, AE/JConcepts’ Jeff Keeton 4th, and Kevin Bullock 5th.
Open Ebuggy
Tekno/JConcepts’ Austin Jeffries was the class of the field in the Open Ebuggy class despite having a DNF in A2. With strong performances and taking the win in A1 and the crucial victory in A3, Austin won the overall in the Open class. Trinity’s Dustin Loden qualified himself 2nd and finished 2nd overall. JConcepts Thomas Tran took home 3rd with Mugen/JConcepts Jordan Singletary 4th and Ben Pinover 5th.
Open Nitro Buggy
Once again, Tekno/JConcepts’ Austin Jeffries found the top step of the podium with nearly a 30-second gap on the field. Mugen’s Bentley Cribb finished 2nd with Dustin Loden 3rd, Rob Lupo 4th and Shane Barrier 5th to round out the top 5 spots.
Open Nitro Truggy
Pro Ebuggy
Tekno’s Joe Bornhorst turned it up once the triple A-Mains came around. Having been out qualified by his Tekno teammate, Joe took command at the sound of the tone by winning A1 and A2 and took the overall. Ryan Lutz was able to win A3 ahead of Mugen/JConcepts’ Cole Ogden to place himself = 2nd with Cole in 3rd. Tekno’s Tyler Hooks finished 4th with his new chassis sponsor Tekno and AE/JConcepts’ Shay Brand finished 5th to wrap up the top 5 podium spots.
Pro Nitro Buggy
It was an amazing battle between Mugen/JConcepts’ Cole Ogden and Tekno’s Ryan Lutz. For the entire 30 minute race, the two aces would separate themselves from the field early on with Lutz chasing Ogden for the majority of the race. After a few mistakes by Ogden, Cole found himself the chaser and was slowly closing the gap back to Lutz late in the race making it a fantastic race for the win. Unfortunately for Ryan Lutz, he would flame out with just 3 laps to go. Cole crossed the line to take the win with AE’s Evan Vail 2nd, Lutz 3rd, AE/JConcepts’ Blake Pickett 4th and TLR/JConcepts’ JR Mitch 5th.
Pro Nitro Truggy
In the Pro Nitro Truggy class, Tekno’s Ryan Lutz was on point from practice, to qualifying, and during the 30 minute A-main. With a strong performance by the Tekno ace, Lutz would take a convincing win with an almost flawless performance. Mugen/JConcepts’ Cole Ogden displayed great speed and determination and was able to cross the line in 2nd. All smiles and stoked on his drive, AE/JConcepts’ Blake Pickett finished 3rd ahead of AE teammate Evan Vail. Finishing where he qualified, HB Racing/JConcepts’ John Michael McGinty III took the final spot on the 5 man podium.
