AE Wins 4 Classes – 10th Annual Fall Brawl

December 9, 2011
Event Name: 10th Annual Fall Brawl
Event Location: Badlands R/C Supercross, Myrtle Beach, SC
Event Date(s): December 2, 2011 to December 4, 2011

The 10th Annual Fall Brawl at the Badlands R/C Supercross took place over the weekend of Dec. 2-4 in Myrtle Beach, SC. In the Southeast we know this as the “original” Fall Brawl, now in its tenth year, as it seems there is now a Fall Brawl on every corner. The heritage of the race shows as it brought out 207 entries from all over the Southeast and Florida. Team Associated was represented by team drivers Brandon Melton, Chris Pace, and Max Flurer. It was clear on Friday that the boys had the equipment dialed in and would be ready to rock on Saturday for qualifying.

Saturday was a great day for this time of year, with temps in the upper 60s and the traction starting to come up and the Badlands was showing its blue groove form. AE came out of the gates swinging with all three drivers grabbing a TQ for at least one round of their respective classes. Melton grabbed the overall TQ for the 4×4 SCT class in the first two rounds, with Flurer showing a flash of speed in the third round, giving AE the TQ for every round.

In electric 1/8 Buggy, Pace and Flurer each TQd one of the first two rounds, so it came down to the third round, where Pace edged out Flurer, giving Pace the overall TQ. Flurer ran into a few traffic woes in 2WD SCT, but showed that come main day he would not be forgotten and have the speed to run to the front. In the hotly contested 1/8 Buggy class, Melton and Pace showed that they were there to do battle and had the speed to compete. Melton put on a charge in the last round to take the TQ for the round, and started second for the A Main, with Pace running solid all day to start fifth. Robert Pickard from GA showed impressive speed in the Sportsman Buggy class to take TQ for that division.

Sunday rolled around and traction was at a weekend high. Flurer ran in the first A Main of the day and had a great race with Kyosho’s Rob Meyer for the first 8 minutes of the 10-minute A1 Main. However, Rob’s truck had mechanical failures, proving that the durability of the SC10/Reedy Sonic pairing is a premium combo. Max went on to win A2, giving Flurer the first A-Main win of the day. In the 1/8 E-buggy class, Pace and Flurer had a great battle for the entire 10 minutes, swapping back and forth while dicing through traffic. At the buzzer, Flurer took the win in A1.

At the tone in A2 Pace jumped out to a lead and looked steady, but an agressive tire selection made the car difficult to drive at Flurer’s speed for the entire race. Flurer set a blistering pace and eventually took over the lead and never look back, winning both mains and the overall for the E-Buggy division with his RC8.2e. Privateer driver Patrick Rossiter rounded out the podium in third, giving AE a 1-2-3 sweep in the class.

The last main of the day was the 4×4 SCT main. Flurer had won the first A Main with Melton second, so if Melton won A2, but with a faster overall time, Melton could still get the overall win. Melton and Flurer both knew that due to traffic, the first round, and the track being in prime shape, that the overall time would likely come from this main. This main was a crowd favorite with classic fender-rubbing, bumper-testing action from Melton and Flurer. It was great, hard, but clean racing between teammates to see who be the champ. Neither driver could stretch a lead, and after 10 minutes of close racing, Flurer beat Melton to the stripe by about 10 feet for the win. The pair of SC 4×4 trucks lapped the field in 10 minutes, showing that the runtime of the Reedy 5500 batteries is no worry, and the corner speed and durability of the trucks could not be beat. Robert Pickard also came back from a flame-out in the Sportsman Buggy division to take the win, giving AE an Electric sweep and four wins overall for the weekend.

Thanks to all the AE customers for their support and wishes all weekend, and to the Badlands Crew for an amazing fan favorite event each year. Looking forward to the 2012 Fall Brawl!

[source: www.rc10.com]