Rich in r/c heritage and under new ownership, Scottsdale R/C Speedway (SRS), home of the Cactus Classic, hosted the 24th Annual Arizona States Championships. For over two decades r/c racing in the Valley Of The Sun has centered around SRS. With new management and track design from IFMAR Worlds promoter, Lance Norick, the SRS facility was primed to host the event.
[Report by Brent Thielke if you click 'Read More']

In 1/8 buggy, Maifield took center stage at his home track, TQing every round of qualifying and winning the main by several laps. Interestingly Maifield kept the #1 numbers from the Worlds; in reference to starting on pole for the final.

The Truggy class was no different. Maifield kept his 2008 Truggy domination going by TQ'd 3 of the 4 rounds, then again winning the main by several laps. He also turned the fastest lap of the weekend with the Reedy poweed RC8T. The two buggy & truggy State Championships added to Maifield's impressive run in 2008.

1/8th Truggy “A” Main Video



Switching to electric, the 2wd Modified Class was again all Ryan Maifield. After Root’s TQ in the first round, Maifield took the next 3 to place his Reedy/LRP powered Factory Team B4 the pole position for the single main, Root would start second and up and coming AE star Tanner Denney third. At the start, Root pushed a bit wide allowing Denney through for 2nd, however was able to get back by Denney to set his sights on Maifield. A hard charging Root bobbled a few times and allowed Maifield to stretch out his lead and cruise home for the win giving him 3 more Arizona State Titles to his credit. Root and Denney raced hard for the remaining podium positions and with a last minute pass, Root claimed 2nd and Denney 3rd and Associated a 1-2-3 podium sweep.
2wd Modified “A” Main Video

The Truck Modified class was all Frank Root and his T4. Frank TQ'd the first 3 rounds, giving him the overall TQ. A couple early mistakes at the start of the main from Root would drop him back to 3rd, but he was able to get back in rhythm and chase down the leader. Root then cruised home for the win there to win his first Arizona State title. Tanner Denney continued his successful weekend again finishing on the podium in 3rd with his FT T4.


The electric 4wd 1/10th buggy class has seen recent boom at the club level. Very popular across the country, 4wd buggy is now being race in more than just a modified category and this event was no different. In fact, 10.5 4wd was the biggest electric class at the event. Not having a full fledged modified class, Frank Root entered his Factory Team B44 in to the 10.5 class and dominated from start to finish. Frank TQ'd every round and cruised to the win in the extended, single 15 minute main event. Kyle Bergstrom, also driving a B44 finished up second.
Scottsdale R/C Speedway’s very own James "Bus Driver" Gallatin managed to find the time away from his managerial duties of SRS to race 10.5 truck. In a classic battle against Bill Koch, Gallatin just edged out Koch to take the win, giving the Factory Team T4 the top two steps of the podium.