This year’s Silver State was a totally new experience from year’s past. In many ways, you can say that it’s a version 2.0 or a refresh of a great race organized by Joey Christiansen and The Dirt crew that still has the familiar taste, but a whole new look. One of the reasons why the Silver State is so popular is the plain and simple fact that it’s held in Las Vegas, Nevada also known as City of Lights (or Sin City whichever you prefer). Keeping the tradition alive, Joey decided to keep the race in Vegas but came up with a great idea to have an 8th scale and 5th scale race simultaneously at the South Point Hotel Casino and Spa. To everyone’s pleasant surprise, Joey hit the jackpot.
While everyone was treated to a great hotel venue, there are numerous restaurant options available on site making it easy to get food without having to drive anywhere. It just made life a little more pleasant. There’s obviously the classic casino attraction along with a few nice bars for after hour enjoyment, but what really made the vibe different from other races was the fact that all racers all stayed at the South Point Hotel and this really was something special.
At too many races, we spend almost all day at the track and barely have any time to hang out and do something fun outside of the track like have a nice relaxing dinner, go for a few drinks, chill by the pool, bowling, movies, etc. This race really felt like a race and a vacation all in one package. With 500 entires, the new Silver State is only going to get bigger from here on out.
With the 1/8th scale track on one side of the Preifer Pavilion, the 1/5th scale track was just behind it utilizing the spectator seating as the driver stand and grandstand viewing. Although odd at first, I think most drivers quickly adapted and got on with the show. After a few hours of nitro racing, it did get dusty and a little smokey inside, but a few rounds of Ebuggy plus watering the track did clear out the room and keep the dust down quite well. The plus side was the Pavilion was AC’d all day long which kept it nice and cool no matter the temperature outside. 100F outside? No problem!
With the venue being new for 2018, no one had any idea what to expect and that always makes for an exciting scenario. With much to learn, by racers and by The Dirt crew, qualifying and mains were full of action as the track become filled with bumps and character. Traction was always on the medium side and the tire wear was very minimal throughout the entire weekend.
The track was fantastic and filled with technical jumps that flowed extremely well into one another making it a terrific 1/8th scale layout. As the surface got rougher, drivers were forced to change lines to find the smoothest, most consistent way around while keeping lap times to a minimal. This was one of those tracks where you never relax your focus as one small error could result in a long lap or a few crashes. However, the hard layouts are always the most rewarding as they test your skills with setup and driving.
Sportsman Ebuggy
Sportsman Nitro Buggy
Sportsman Nitro Truggy
Intermediate Ebuggy
Intermediate Nitro Buggy
Intermediate Nitro Truggy
40+ Ebuggy
40+ Nitro Buggy
It was a terrific race for JQ’s Greg Degani as class TQ and race leader, AE’s Richard Saxton, had electronic problems and was only able to recover to 4th. This made the 40+ Nitro Buggy class wide open and saw Degani race his way to the front. Finishing 2nd and only 5 seconds back from the former World Champion, HB Racing/JConcepts’ Shane Odgen recovered from a disastrous start dropping from 3rd to 11th and battled his way back to 2nd and even saw Shane fighting for the win. TLR’s Eliot Martinez moved up a remarkable 4 spots from his 7th place starting position to take 3rd on the podium.
