The story of qualifying at the Silver State Nitro challenge was Durango/AKA driver Ryan Lutz. Coming off a win at Psycho Nitro Blast, Lutz kept his momentum going earning a TQ in all four classes he competed in, Pro Buggy, Pro Truggy, Pro E-Buggy, and 4wd Short Course. AKA teammate and Kyosho driver, Jared Tebo was not far behind being 2nd qualifier in Pro Truggy, and 3rd in Pro Buggy.
The 45-minute Pro Buggy main started off with Tebo making a quick move to the front, but a second lap crash would put him in the back of the pack. Adam Drake took the lead with Tebo, AKA/Team Associated driver Ryan Cavalieri, and Lutz in tow. Drake would eventually give up the lead to Tebo where an ever so familiar battle shaped up between Tebo and Cavalieri. In the end, Tebo wins after a narrow 5-second margin over Cavalieri. Lutz rounded out the podium in 3rd place after making a las lap pass on Adam Drake for an AKA podium Sweep. All three drivers ran soft Impacts (part no14007S) in the main event. AKA Notables for the main – Josh Wheels 5th, Mark Pavidis 11th, and Carson Wernimont 12th.
Ryan Lutz took full advantage of his top qualifying position in Pro Truggy. He was able to stay in the lead lap after lap, from start to finish and bring home the win with his soft Impact (part no. 14117S) equipped Durango truggy. Jared Tebo finished just over 9-seconds behind in second and Ryan Cavalieri in 3rd making it another podium sweep by AKA! AKA notables for the main – Josh Wheeler 10th, Carson Wernimont 12th and Mark Pavidis 13th.
Ryan Lutz did some tyre durability testing in 4wd SC and they passed with flying colors. With a set of soft Cityblock2′s (part no. 13014S)used from Nitro Challenge, Lutz TQ’d the first two qualifiers and won the main on the same set of tires with plenty of tread to spare!
Mark Pavidis and Mike Battaile dominated the 40+ classes. Pavidis was able to TQ and win the buggy class followed by Battaile and Kyosho’s Yuichi Kanai, all of which were on AKA tires for yet another AKA podium sweep! Battaile dominated the truggy main starting from the TQ position, leading every lap and crushing the field with a 4-lap margin at the end of the race.