Jake Dellinger takes double Lonestar wins at The Dirt

This weekend I attended the 4th annual "The Dirt" Lone Star Challenge at Thornhill Racing Circuit. This race has been growing yearly, bringing in more entries each year, this time totaling 358 -- the most yet. This year for the track layout Joey and Thornhill decided to incorporate a "joker" lane into the track. The joker lane was optional and you could use it one time per qualifier per class and twice for each main per class; it was an easier and faster section which saved you 5-7 seconds off your lap (unlike the Supercross use, which drivers were required to use and was more difficult).

The event got kicked off on Friday and the track was open from 8am to 8pm for practice. I started practice off with my Team Associated RC8B3 and spent the first few practice sessions just getting a feel for the track.

For Saturday, which was qualifying day, I TQ'd both nitro and electric classes with my RC8B3 and RC8B3e in the first of three rounds of qualifying. In round 2 I ended up second in nitro and first in electric; in round 3 I TQ'd electric again, giving me the overall TQ and second in nitro, which would start me second in the 30-minute nitro final.

Sunday was main day. First up was A1 electric and I was starting on pole for the 10-minute double A mains. In qualifying I had been using my joker lane option on the first lap to get it out of the way, and I had made up my mind to do the same for the mains. The tone sounded for the first main, I used my two joker lanes on the first two laps, and held on to the lead for the entire race, getting the win for A1!

Next up was the 30-minute nitro final where I started second behind Noah Dickerson. The tone went off and I followed Dickerson around for the first two laps. Both of us used our joker on lap 1 but for lap 2 he took the normal line and I took the joker again, giving me an instant 5-6 second lead, which I turned into a 10-12 second lead before Dickerson ran into mechanical issues. I went on to finish the main in first, nearly a lap and a half on second!

The last race of the weekend was A2 of electric. At about the halfway mark I started reeling in the leaders, which were Tyler Hooks followed by Noah Dickerson. On lap 11 Hooks wrecked and suffered from mechanical issues and Dickerson bobbled in the same spot that Hooks had, allowing me to jump into the lead, where I finished, giving me the overall.

Products used
#80935 RC8B3.1 Nitro Team Kit
#27107 Reedy RT2207A Digital HV Hi-Torque Aluminum Competition Servo
#315 Reedy LiPo 2100mAh 7.4V RX/TX Battery

Products used
#80936 RC8B3.1e Team Kit
#27107 Reedy RT2207A Digital HV Hi-Torque Aluminum Competition Servo
#318 Reedy LiPo 6500mAh 65C 14.8V Competition Battery

Thanks to Jake Dellinger for this report.

Team Associated - Champions by Design

Check out our Factory Team Spotlights!