2016-17 BGRC Winter Cup Series [VIDEO]

14 March, 2017

Over the last 6 months Bluegroove Hobbies & RC Raceway held their 2nd annual Winter Cup series.

This year’s series was bigger than last year since a 6th race day was added along with official sponsors for all 8 classes.

Out of the possible 6 rounds only a driver’s best 4 finishes were used to determine their overall series score.

Many class titles were still up for grabs heading into the finals, and only the top 3 would take home the hardware.

13.5 4wd Buggy

Coming into the finals Kaden Fuller held a comfortable 12 point lead over Serpent driver Kyle Gannon. Kyle was more worried about teammate James Nelosn since he was only 2 points behind Kyle. Local drivers Ryan Baker and Kevin Swank were tied for 4th and only 3 points behind James. But by the end of the day the top 3 drivers were the same 3 heading into the finals with Kaden taking home the series title.

And since every class had an official sponsor this year, any driver who competed in a class for a minimum of 4 rounds was eligible to win that class’s prize. Reedy was this sponsor of this class and gave away one of their 1216-C2 dual AC/DC competition balance chargers!

Modified 2wd Buggy

TLR driver Mason Fuller held a sizeable 12 point lead over Kyosho driver Derek Wood who sat in 2nd place. And AE drivers Alex Vanderbeek and Tom Rinderknecht were tied for 3rd and only 1 point behind Derek. After an intense battle in the single 8 minute main, Mason would go on to capture the title, and Alex would take 2nd with Derek securing 3rd place overall.

The official sponsor of this class was JConcepts and they donated several buggy bodies, tires, and accesories!

Modified 4wd Buggy

Coming into the finals for this class it was the usual suspects again. Associated’s Alex Vanderbeek held a 7 point lead over TLR driver Mason Fuller, and Associated’s Tom Rinderknecht was only 1 point behind Mason in 3rd. Rinderknecht powered his new B64D to the TQ spot, and took the win in the single A main and overall title. Alex would finish 2nd and Mason would hold on to 3rd.

HobbyBatteryz.com was the official sponsor of this class and hooked up 6 lucky racers with some fresh Gens Aces LiPo packs!

Modified Truck

The class came down to the finals as 3 drivers held a sizeable lead over the field. AE drivers Will Brinton and Tom Rinderknecht were tied for 1st place, and Drew Rubenking only trailed them by 1 point. When the final truck crossed the line, Rinderknecht would take 1st, Brinton 2nd, and Rubenking 3rd.

Maclan Racing was the sponsor of this class, and they donated a 7.5t MRR competition sensored modified brushless motor, a sensor wire, gold battery plugs, and some decals!

Novice

One class that was already locked up heading into the finals was the Novice class. Local driver Carter Larson had previously TQed and won all 5 rounds leading up the finals so he had the title already locked up. Joe Gatton sat in 2nd and held a 7 point lead over 3rd place driver David Pezzetti who was clinging to a 1 point lead over Ryker Brown. After the dust had settled Joe would retain 2nd place and David would lock down 3rd.

Bubba’s Bling was the official sponsor of this class and gave away 2 of their gift certificates so driver could put some custom color bling on their rides!

Stock SCT

In this class Serpent driver Andy Lachance held a narrow 2 point lead over 2nd place Kawasaki rider Robby Adams. Local driver Chad Rubenking sat only 3 points behind Robby, and another local driver Zack Miner was only down 3 points to Chad. After an intense, lexan flexing main event, Lachance would hold onto the overall points title, and Rubenking would take 2nd and Adams 3rd.

The official sponsor of this class was Team Associated and they gave away a brand new SC5M kit!

Stock 2wd Buggy

The biggest and most competitivle class over the entire series was this one, and heading into the finals Associated driver Mack Vanderbeek held a 4 point lead over 2nd place “pips in” driver Justin Dewey. 7 points behind him was Kyosho driver Mitchell Brown, who was also in a close battle with Dave Peavler. But after the dust had settled the top 3 drivers coming into the finals would step onto the podium in the same order.

Schuur Speed was the official sponsor of this class and one lucky driver walked away with a Extreme Stock SPEC V3 17.5t brushless motor!

Stock Truck

The overall title for this class came down to the top 3 drivers. Dave Peavler sat in 1st place, Kyosho driver Mitchell Brown was 1 point behind him in 2nd, and local driver Farmer Phil was 4 points behind Brown. After a tight, close battle out on the track, Brown would take the top spot on the podium, Peavler would settle for 2nd, and Phil would secure 3rd.

The official sponsor of this class was Team Associated again, and they gave away a brand new T5M kit! In fact both of their kits went to the same lucky driver that weekend too!!

Finally, another special event that was held at the finals was a surprise fund raiser for long time racer Louis Valles.

Medical bills have been piling up as he battles some more health issues, so the racers put together a surprise fund raiser to help him out!

There was a HUGE prize raffle with donations from RC companies like Team Associated and full scale race items from Goodyear Tires and more.

There was also food available for purchase and ALL sales went right back to the Valles family.

So drivers walked away with some nice prizes and the money raised will go a long way. If you couldn’t make this fund raiser in person, you can still help out by using this link to donate online: https://www.youcaring.com/louisvalles-767938

Till next time!

Finals Videos: