The March Madness Carpet Oval Shootout capped the oval portion of the season this past Saturday on March 26th. A good turnout and a lot of great and exciting action made for an enjoyable as well as an entertaining day of racing. The first race up was the Mini Late Model C Main. It was Brandon Eskew taking the win and bumping to the B Main along with Ed Cleeton who took advanatge of a late race wreck by Zaeus Mayol to take the 2nd position and bump to the B Main. In the Mini Late Model B Main, Joe Taft dominated the race from start to finish to claim the win and a transfer to the A Main. Brandon Eskew, the C Main winner, grabbed the 2nd spot and the final transfer position to the A Main after a dog fight between he, Sean Fredericks, and Cliff Wilkinson.

   The next race up was the Losi Mini Sprint A Main. A slightly different format was used for both A mains for the day, but the Mini Sprint main used a competition caution at lap 30 of the 60 lap race. This allowed drivers to make any changes to the car they wanted other than the battery. This also allowed the first car a lap down to get a lap back, and made for an exciting "twist" to the racing. Doug Canham used his TQ position to dominate the first half of the race and looked to have things well in hand while turing the fastest laps of the race lap after lap. Once the caution flew it was Canham, Steve Quartermouse, and Allen Mendenhall your top 3. Mendenhall was given the lucky dog and put back on the lead lap. Ed Boggess sat in 4th just one lap behind and Tom Sagle in 5th one lap behind Ed. The second half of the race, however, was a different story than the first. After a few mid-race adjustments, Steve Quartermouse started to show some muscle while Doug Canham managed to find every wreck on the track dropping him back through the field. This allowed Quartermouse to run away and hide while the field battled behind him. Canham managed to work his way back towards the front and pu thimself in position to make a last lap pass on Mendenhall for 2nd. Mendenhall settled for 3rd while Sagle and Boggess rounded out the top 5.

   The final race of the day was the 100 lap Mini Late Model A Main. This race had a definite twist to the format compared to the weekly races. While the race was 100 laps, it was broken up into three segments. First, a caution would be thrown at lap 35. Again, drivers would be allowed to make any changes except for the battery. On lap 70, another caution would be thrown. This time only the top 5 would advance to the final 30 lap segment. This time the top 5 drivers would be allowed to change anything on the car inclduing the battery, and everyone would be put on the same lap to fight it out to the end. The winner after the final 30 lap segment would be crowned the overall winner.

   After a coin toss, the starting grid was inverted giving the C Main winner, Brandon Eskew, the pole position along side the B Main winner Joe Taft. The early part of the race had alot of close, exciting racing. However, a few drivers found trouble early on. Both Steve Quattermouse and Rob Mulvaney, two drivers who dominated the heat races all day, managed to get caught up in several incidents early on which would knock them out of contention. Mulvaney dropped out on lap 19 after breaking the front bulkhead off his car and Quartermouse soldiered on several laps down after a big wreck on lap 17 which knocked the battery out of the car. In the early going it was all B Main winner Joe Taft who took advantage of the outside front row starting spot.

   At the conclusion of the first 35 lap segment; Taft looked to have things well under controll with Jon Schmidt running a strong 2nd. Alex Fanning, Jim Fanning, and Brandon Eskew rounded out the top 5. Eskew was given the lucky dog getting one of his three laps back. This put him two laps ahead of 6th place Brian Mills. However, Mills ade a strong charge in the second segment while Eskew got into several incidents allowing Mills to tak ethe 5th and final transfer position for the final segment. Jon Schmidt managed to overtake Taft on lap 53 while Taft's battery dumped on him dropping him to 4th on the grid. On lap 70 it was Schmidt, Jim Fanning, Alex Fanning, Taft, then Mills.

   On the tone for the third and final segment, Schmidt jumped out to an early comfortable lead but it was the battle for 2nd that got the crowd into it. Mills went from 5th to 2nd on the initial start then battled back and forth with Jim Fanning before finally securing the position on lap 74. By then, Schmidt had a solid 1.1 second lead over Mills. However, in just a few laps Mills was able to close the gap and look to take the lead for the first time in the race. After making several attempts up high, Mills got into the back of the Schmidt machine on lap 78 sending Schmidt upside-down in turn 1. This gave Mills the lead with Jim Fanning 2nd. However, as the old saying goes "What goes around comes around". Unfortunately for Mills, Schmidt was the first car he caught to go a lap down. Schmidt certainly didn't make it easy, and on lap 84 the two made contact again sending both of them into the backstretch wall. This gave Team Fanning the top 2 spots. Alex would take over the lead with Jim 2nd. Jim tried to make a charge the last few laps but Alex was too far ahead and cruised to the win. Jim Fanning finished 2nd, Joe Taft a solid 3rd while Jon Schmidt and Brian Mills rounded out the top 5.

   For complete results for the day, click HERE. Allen's R/C would like to thank everyone for a great day of racing and a strong winter season. Next week, April 2nd, will mark the final indoor race of the winter season with Off-Road racing.

MARCH MADNESS OVAL SHOOTOUT

posted on Mar. 22nd, 2011

   This Saturday (March 26th) is the MARCH MADNESS CARPET OVAL SHOOTOUT here at Allen's. This will be OVAL ONLY (no Off-Road). For more information, click HERE.

CLOSED MARCH 19th

posted on Mar. 15th, 2011

   Allen's R/C will be closed on March 19th. Many drivers will be attending the St. Patrick's Day race at RJD Hobbies in Lincoln, IL. They will have Short Course racing on Saturday, March 19th and Buggy racing on Sunday, March 20th.

RJD Hobbie St. Patrick's Day schedule is:

Saturday, March 19th
Doors Open: 7am
Racing: 10am

Sunday, March 20th
Doors Open: 8am
Racing: 11am

More information can be found on their website at: www.rjdhobbiesandraceway.com

MARCH MADNESS OVAL SHOOTOUT

posted on Mar. 10th, 2011

   On March 26th, Allen's R/C will be having a special carpet oval only event (no off-road on this day). For more information, click HERE.

2/26/11 RECAP

posted on Mar. 3rd, 2011

   A lot of great racing on what turned out to be a good turnout for Allen's R/C in both Off-Road and Oval. During the morning Off-Road session the first race up was the 1/16th scale Off-Road class consisting of both the Losi 16th scale 2wd Short Course truck and the Traxxas Slash 4wd 16th scale short course truck. Steve Quartermouse took the TQ honors in his Losi 2wd, but a problem with the truck just prior to the start of the main kept him from being able to compete for the win. Bear Roberts and Troy Roberts both battled tooth and nail for the majority of the first half of the race. However, it was Troy pulling off the win with Bear having to settle for 2nd.

   Next up was the Stock 17.5 Short Course class. Tom Sagle managed to pull off the TQ position, but trouble with lapped traffic midway through the race allowed Troy Roberts to pull out to a confortable lead and the eventual win leaving Sagle settling for 2nd. Sean Fredericks managed to move up one spot from his starting position to round out the top 3. Last up for off-road wa the popular Stock Spec Slash class. Steve Quartermouse took TQ honors despite a last round charge from Tom Sagle. However, in the A main it was all Tom Sagle taking the win with Joe Taft finishing a solid 2nd and Quartermouse settling for 3rd. Dylan Roberts won hard charger of the race coming home 4th from his dead last starting spot and Eric Laughlin managed a strong run to round out the top 5.

   The carpet oval racing saw the introduction of the new Losi Mini Sprint Car. This class has been the topic of conversation throughout the pit area and four drivers showcased their new rides for the week. Based on all the talk, this class should double in size within the next week or two and should be very exciting to watch.

   As usual, the Mini Late Model class saw lots of excitement throughout the day. Steve Quartermouse managed to take TQ honors but a rough start to the race put him back through the field and alowed Kace Schuh to run away and hide to pick up his second A main win of the season. Bandon Eskew had one of his better runs of the season finishing 2nd with Quartermouse managing to work his way back to 3rd. Sean Fredericks and DJ Rice rounded out the top 5.

   Everyone at Allen's R/C would like to thank everyone who participated in last week's racing and we look forward to hopefully seeing everyone again this Saturday, March 5th. And yes, the food will be back this week!