1up Racing Cup – Report
Perfect weather all weekend made for some incredible racing at the 2nd Annual 1up Cup hosted by Steel City R/C Speedway in Fontana, CA! Seeding took place on Friday followed by 3 rounds of qualifying on Saturday with 2 counting. Sunday featured triple mains for all racers with the top 2 finishers bumping up in the first round of mains. In the Modified TC class is was JJ Wang setting the pace in qualifying as he went on to take TQ ahead of Jacob Cruz and Robbie Cerrato. JJ would go on to win A1, but Jacob Cruz was able to get by and take the win in A2. A3 was all about JJ again as he pulled away from the field while the others battled to secure the final podium spots. Top 3 – JJ Wang, Jacob Cruz and Robbie Cerrato.
With 56 entries, Reedy Spec 13.5 TC was our largest class of the weekend! Scott Barnes and Duy Khuong would tie for TQ with just two points a piece but it was Scott laying down a faster run to clinch TQ honors for Sunday’s AAA mains ahead of Duy and Johnee Fenimore. After three action-packed mains on Sunday, Duy Khuong would come out with the Win ahead of Johnee Fenimore. Last year’s Champion, Matt Allen would move up to grab the final podium position.
A new addition to the 1up Cup this year was Nitro TC and what a great addition it was! In qualifying, JJ Wang was unstoppable as he went on to grab TQ ahead of Jacob Cruz and Walter Diaz. The 7-Minute AAA mains were full of great racing but JJ Wang was again in a league of his own wrapping up the overall win in A2. A very exciting A3 would let Jacob Cruz lock in 2nd place and Brian Thomas would move up to take 3rd.
Our second largest class of the weekend was the Reedy Spec 17.5 USGT class and the slower motors definitely made for some close racing action! Mike Rydwell was unstoppable in qualifying as he went on to TQ all 3 rounds! Mike wasn’t letting up in the mains as he went on to wrap up the win in A2. The rest of the field went to battle in A3 as Christopher Cabrales and Ken Gerberding would move way up from their 7th and 8th qualifying positions to lock in the final 2 podium spots!
The local favourite classes had tons of exciting racing action as well! In the Formula 1 class, Mike Rydwell would grab his second victory of the weekend ahead of Brian Ruvalcaba and ‘Cuda. In the Pro 10 class Paul Smith would move up from his 2nd place qualifying position to take the win ahead of Mark Barden and Steve Tolmasoff. And finally, in the 1/8 Open class it was Kevin Cole taking the win ahead of Otto Rosa and Armando Parga!
I’d like to thank all the racers who made it out and I hope you had an epic weekend! Thank you to Beth, Phil and Kyle Goodwine of Steel City R/C Speedway for providing the perfect home for the 1up Cup! Thank you to our Race Director Mike Braun for keeping the show running perfect all weekend long! Thank you to my right hand man, Jason Laurel for always helping with whatever’s needed and being the friendly face to greet our customers at the tire sales table! Thank you to Michael Kamali of Charlie’s Auto Tech in Brea, CA – (714) 985-9940 for being our Trophy Sponsor! Thank you to the SCS crew Bill Jeric, Kevin Cole and Jerry Rapp for all your help preparing the track for our racers! Thank you to Rick Hohwart of Reedy, Paul Lemieux of Gravity RC and EJ Evans of Solaris for the best spec motors and tires we could have asked for! And finally, Thank You Jeremy Kortz of Pro Motion Graphics for the awesome event T-Shirts!
While this was our last 1up Cup as Steel City R/C Speedway we certainly hope it won’t be our last with this crew, it’s the people that made this such a special weekend. Stay tuned for news coming soon about a final race at SCS before they close at the end of the year and thank you again to everyone who made it out to race or watch the action unfold!
Report: Randy Caster/1up Racing
