The 1/10 Dirt Offroad Masters was held at the Shady Pines RC Speedway in Fredericton NB on September 11, 2021. There was a torrential rain storm which ended on the Friday the day before the Saturday race. The track crew had anticipated the storm and had huge tarps down to cover the surface to prevent it from becoming too much of a mess. Saturday morning there was some clean up to do before the racers could hit the track and get in some much needed practice. The track started slick and held moisture for the entire event which lead to dustless racing with good grip.

19 racers from across Quebec, New Brunswick, and PEI attended the new race format of 1/10 classes! The Masters race had a point value per class, with the value being the number of registrations in the class. The winner of the class would get the full point value for the number of registrations in the class, 2nd would get 1 point less, 3rd a point less and so on. TQ in a class would gain 1 additional point. The racers 2 best finishes would be added together for the overall Masters point count.

The race was planned to have Double A mains to determine the Master, but with the delay from track cleanup the race went with the standard 3 qualifiers finishing with the 7 minute mains. There were awards for A & B mains for all classes. In the classes where a B-Main was not run the B-Main plaques were given to the 4,5, and 6th place finishers! At the end of the event the points were totaled and the awards were presented to the Dirt Offroad Masters!

Thanks to Mark Baird for hosting the race, the track crew getting the track prepared, and all racers who attended who made it a great event! Sponsors donated lots of door prizes, with all racers getting a couple items to add to their pit bag! Thanks to sponsors: Orange Couch Creative (award design), Great Hobbies, Home Zone Electronics, Krown Racing, Team Zombie Canada, Kent Building Supplies, Lincoln Big Stop

Please note: Podium photos show both winners of A and B mains

4wd SCT A-Main (5 Points): RESULTS – VIDEO HIGH – VIDEO LOW

1st(tq): Dario Paoletti, 2nd: Gregg Lawton, 3rd: Gordon Mercer, 4th: Kevin Hickey, 5th: Mark Baird

4wd SCT was the smallest class of the day with 5 racers, which offered 6 Masters points for a TQ and a win! At the tone Dario got the holeshot and was able to build a comfortable lead to finish the race in 1st place and nab the coveted 6 Masters points! The battle in this race was for the 2nd and 3rd spots on the podium. Gregg Lawton had a few early tumbles which dropped him from 2nd to 4th. Gordon Mercer would temporarily move into 2nd, but Kevin Hickey would make a huge charge jumping from 4th to 2nd in a lap. Gregg would recover and he would then give chase to Kevin, gaining slightly with each lap. Kevin would take an outside line in the double section and Gregg would sneak by into 2nd with a clean pass. Gordon also had his sights set on the podium. Kevin was a little bit rattled from the pressure and ended up tagging the tire after the double double to allow Gordon into the 3rd spot. After Gordon’s pass the race would settle down with Dario finishing 1st, Gregg 2nd, and Gordon 3rd.

4wd Buggy A-Main (7 Points): RESULTS – VIDEO HIGH – VIDEO LOW – HAT CAM

1st(tq): David Jean, 2nd: William Muirhead, 3rd: Dario Paoletti, 4th: Jesse Bell, 5th: David Nicholson, 6th: Kevin Cake

4wd buggy had 7 racers entered, which gave this class up to 8 Masters points with a TQ and a win! David Jean was on a mission to get as many masters points as he could in this class. From the tone David and William would pull away from the rest of the pack and build a little buffer. At about 1 minute 30 William would begin to drop off, but David kept pouring on the speed turning his fastest lap at lap 4! David would run a near perfect race and finish a lap up over the field. William was slightly off David’s pace, and he would finish comfortably in 2nd. Dario would bobble early in the race, but would recover and finish easily in 3rd. Jesse Bell and David Nicholson would have a close race for 4th, with Jesse finishing just 1.5 seconds ahead of David at the finish.

2wd SCT A-Main (6 Points): RESULTS – VIDEO HIGH – VIDEO LOW

1st(tq): Kyle McKinnon, 2nd: Trevor Furlotte, 3rd: Ricky Arbeau, 4th: Levi Taylor, 5th: Jamie Duplessis, 6th: Brian Price

2wd SCT had 6 racers entered, which meant up to 7 points available for the win and the TQ! From the tone Kyle got off to a slippery start but recovered to lead the field around lap 1. At the end of lap1 Trevor and Ricky would get loose into the first corner and tangle which would give Kyle breathing room in the lead. Trevor and Ricky would trade 2nd and 3rd a few times with some close racing. It would settle down that Trevor would move to 2nd with Ricky taking 3rd. Kyle was determined to lap the field over the 7 minute race, but Trevor would pull out all the stops with a last corner pass to remain on the lead lap! Notable was Levi Taylor competing in his first regional race finishing 4th, and Jamie Duplessis in his second regional race finishing 5th.

2wd Stadium: A-Main (10 Points): RESULTS – VIDEO HIGH – VIDEO LOW

1st: Mark McKinnon, 2nd(tq): Kyle McKinnon, 3rd: Gordon Mercer

Stadium truck had 10 entries in this race which gave up to 11 Masters points available with a TQ and a win! There were enough trucks at the event for an A and B-Main. At the tone Gordon had a terrible first corner, falling to last place but recovering to 5th before the first lap finished. Kyle, Mark, and Gregg broke away from the pack just a bit for some breathing room. With a few laps under their belt, Kyle and Mark would bobble in the first corner allowing Gregg to take the lead for a few corners. Gregg would then flip under power in the table top which gave Mark the lead. With Mark pulling away to secure the 1st place spot on the podium, the race came down to the 2nd and 3rd positions on the podium. Gregg and Kyle would battle over the 2nd place spot while Gordon recovered and quietly lurked waiting for his opportunity. After a bit of back and forth Kyle took the 2nd spot on the podium and this left Gregg and Gordon to fight over the 3rd and final spot. With just 10 seconds left in the race, Gregg would get hung up on the tire corner after the doubles and this let Gordon get by for 3rd!! Well worth watching the videos of this race with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th finishing within 2 seconds of each other.

2wd Stadium: B-Main: RESULTS – VIDEO HIGH – VIDEO LOW

1st(bump): Trevor Furlotte, 2nd(bump): Dario Paoletti, 3rd: David Nicholson

Stadium truck was a popular class at the event and had enough drivers for an A & B-Main. The Top 2 finishers of the B-Main would bump up to the A-Main, so there was still a good challenge for the drivers. Throughout this race Trevor and Dario would battle over the first place spot, even though the battle did not show on the chart. As soon as Dario would make a pass a few corners later Trevor would get the position back. As the race settled down Trevor would secure 1st, Dario would finish 2nd, and David would comfortably take 3rd.

2wd Buggy: A-Main (16 Points): RESULTS – VIDEO HIGH – VIDEO LOW – HAT CAM

1st(tq): Mark McKinnon, 2nd: David Jean, 3rd: Kyle McKinnon

2wd Buggy was the premier class at the event with 16 entries which gave up to 17 Masters points for a TQ and a win! At the tone David Jean would get stuck in the middle of a few cars and fall to last place, but he was able to recover to 6th after lap 1. Kyle, Mark and Gregg would get the best start and would pull a gap on the rest of the field early in the race. Kyle and Mark would continue to pull away while Gregg would loose time each lap with a lack of steering. David Jean would work his way back to the battle for 3rd with Gregg. The two would have a bit of a back and forth with David having the edge and was able to make the pass stick for 3rd halfway through the race. David would then set his sights on Kyle in 2nd. David would follow Kyle closely for half of the race, but in the last 10 seconds Kyle would just bobble as he went by the tire turn which would let David sneak by in 2nd! The race finished with Mark a comfortable 1st, David stealing 2nd, and Kyle settling for 3rd.

2wd Buggy: B-Main: RESULTS – VIDEO HIGH – VIDEO LOW

1st(bump): Jesse Bell, 2nd(bump): David Nicholson, 3rd: Kevin Hickey

In the 2wd Buggy B-Main the top 2 podium finishers would advance to the A-Main final. At the tone the pack would go through the 1st turn flawlessly and Jesse bell was able to thread the needle in the next corner to take the lead. Behind Jesse there was a big pileup in turn 3 which shuffled the racers. Kevin Cake was able to get away in 2nd, and new racer Terry Fox was temporarily in 3rd! Terry would bobble and let Kevin Hickey into 3rd. On the next lap Kevin Hickey would get caught under the pipe and this let Mark Baird into 3rd, followed closely by David Nicholson. Mark and David were closing in on Kevin Cake in 2nd. David had closed the gap to just feet in the double section when a bobble with Kevin and new racer Terry would slow Kevin up enough and in the confusion this would allow David into 2nd, Mark into 3rd, and Kevin Hickey into 4th. Kevin Cake would try to recover from the bobble and would make a few good attempts during the remainder of the race but could not make them stick. With Jesse solidly in 1st and David pulling away in 2nd the race was now for the 3rd spot on the podium. Mark would have 3rd for just a few laps until a bobble in the midfield would let hard charging Kevin Hickey secure the 3rd spot on the podium.