3rd Annual Maxxis National Championship

So, this past weekend was the 3rd Annual Maxxis National Championship in Neeses, SC at the Thundervalley Motorplex. This is an invitation-only event and only the top 20 qualifiers in the purple class could race in the feature. At the first drivers meeting, the event staff reported that 19 states were represented there to race.

Here are the photos from this weekend. I'm going to apologize now for the quality of photos and the soon to be uploaded video. I don't feel either are up to my usual standard. I'm also not going to go into detail about the racing results as I find Johnny does a much better job writing that up. :)

If you want quality photos, I strongly suggest you check out Rowdy's site!



The Race Report

We arrived on Friday afternoon but the track was just too wet. They had rain for I think they said 12 out of the past 13 days. We got everything unloaded and the karts registered and run through safety tech then we enjoyed a free barbeque dinner provided by Chester Hester and Maxxis Tires.

Saturday we arrived bright and early only to find that the track was still too wet. Practice was delayed and we finaly were able to get on the track around lunch time. They would get the track rolled in and looking good but every time the karts got up to speed it would start breaking apart. Finaly Mr James Moore got back on the motor grader and cut it about 2 foot deep until he found some drier dirt. Qualifying finaly got started around 5:00 PM. Spencer qualified 19th out of 30 karts and made it into the feature race.

Next it was Ms Ellie's turn to make her debut at a National event. She ran in the Chase'n Race'n Kids class. They drew for starting position and she started 5th. She was able to move up one spot and bring home a 4th place finish.

Afer Ellie's race it was Spencer's turn again. He started 19th and was up to 12th but the race was caution filled and we ran out of fuel and had to pull in. He wound up with a 17th place finish in the Jr 1 Lite class. During the next race of the night the rain came and the rest of the features had to be postponed until Sunday.

Sunday morning they finished the remaining classes from Saturday then had a brief drivers meeting and a church service led by Brett Miller of Kerting Crusaders. Spencer qualified 17th out of 30 and again made the feature. We struggled all weekend with the setup on that slick South Carolina clay but he was on the move in the feature until a nudge from behind sent him off the track on the back straight away. Knowing that he had gone a lap down and would not have a chance at the win Spencer elected to pull off the track. While I was disappointed he didn't finish it may have been the best move because they had a big pile up on the next lap and even red flaged the race so the officials could have a talk with the kids about rough driving. Congratulations to Brody Pope for his win in the Jr 1 Heavy class Sunday. We first met Brody at the Mid West Jr Kahuna in Warrensburg, MO and he is a super nice kid!

Chester and crew did a great job of keeping the program moving along and after collecting Ellie's plaque we were on the road by 9:30 PM.

All in all we had a really good time, met a lot of great people, and learned a lot. We plan to go back next year and hopefully bring home that leather jacket.

Johnny