[Chilly Duncan]

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The 4th Annual Outback Shootout was once again hosted at The Outback Raceway in Chico, Ca and title sponsored by Tekin Racing, Panther Tires, and DE Racing. Racers from the local area to neighboring states would make the trip to what is one of the nicest indoor facilities in Northern California. Outback's indoor track is known for its consistent, high-bite clay surface and challenging layouts. The pits are heated, and there are classes for all electric off-road racers. Competitors will automatically be entered to win dozens of raffled prizes from our sponsors. A Main Hobbies' massive inventory is available to racers who need miscellaneous parts while competing, and those will be conveniently delivered to their pit spaces. Not many tracks can say that have that kind of inventory!

All off road classes were offered and the largest being the 2wd Stock Buggy class with nearly 5 full heats! 4wd Sc and 4wd Mod buggy were also large classes at the event. Qualifying for the event would be qual points best 2 out of 4 rounds. Qualifying was tight and quite a few guys had issues with the technical layout. The section in front of the drivers stand required precise jump timing and had to be approached at low speed to prevent costly errors to get the best overall lap times. Top pro drivers in each class were dipping into the 14 second range by the 2nd qualifier as the grip had come up big time allowing for slicks to be used in all classes.

Tekin would have team drivers and customer's alike taking top qualifying positions in nearly every division. Tekin would take the Tq position in Stock 2wd SC with Cameron Kerndt, Pro 2 Mod SC with Patrick Zhao who also Tq'd 4wd SC, and 2wd Mod Buggy with Justin Moon. With 8 minute mains the racing was sure to be exciting.

Stock 17.5 Stadium truck would be a tight race right from the tone. Tq Bob Vassallo would jump out in front with Cameron Kerndt and Amain Hobbies CEO Kendall Bennett hot on his heels. Bob would run wide in one corner and that's all Bennett needed and would make a clean pass to the inside taking the lead. Kerndt would get by Vassallo after another bobble and take over the 2nd spot. This is where they'd finish up with Bennett 1st, Kerndt 2nd, Vasallo 3rd.

Pro4 SC was up next. The top 5 trucks in this division were literally separated by qual point tie breakers of total laps and times! The qualifying for this class was that close so it was anyone's race to win. From the tone the battle royal was on and the top 5 would battle it out. After a few laps the top 5 would begin to separate a bit. Tekin powered Tq Patrick Zhao would bobble early on allowing Josh O'Connell and Tekin's Austin Blair to pass by followed by Tekin team manager Randy Pike in tow with them. The 3 would gain some separation with Pike following the two leaders with enough distance to pounce should they take each other out. O'Connell and Blair would run bumper to bumper with each other taking turns passing each other when the other would make the smallest of bobbles. Pike would retire from the race with a mechanical ruining his chances to win. The race would be a wire to wire nail biter as O'Connell and Blair would dice in and out of traffic with the race winding down for time. In the end O'Connell would take the win followed by Austin Blair and Patrick Zhao. All 3 drivers were powered by a Tekin Rx8 and Pro 4600 motor!

Pro 2 SC was up next. Once again local driver Patrick Zhao would Tq with his Tekin powered Bmiller Racing rent a ride. From the tone Patrick would get out clean. Local Outback Raceway drive Mike Maxwell would be pressured heavily from the tone by Tekin team manager Randy Pike. Pike was so close it looked like the two trucks were conjoined for nearly 3 laps. Mike would suffer an odd tire mechanical allowing Pike to finally get by and make a push to chase down Zhao who now had a small 6 second lead. Pike would lay down fast laps and work down Patrick's lead when lapped traffic would be a factor at around the 4 minute mark. Pike would work down the lead to about 2 seconds when Bmiller team driver Lou Figueria would get the racers luck getting through traffic. The two would battle it out for nearly 2 minutes allowing Patrick to breath a bit. Pike would suffer from an intermittent issue with just 1 minute to go allowing Figueria to chase Zhao on his own. Zhao would bobble and lose the lead to Figueria in the end. The final tone would sound with Figueria taking 1st, Zhao 2nd, Pike 3rd. Once again a complete Tekin podium with all 3 drivers choosing the Tekin RS Pro and Redline Motor!

The biggest class of the weekend 2wd Stock buggy was up next. Tq for the event was Josh O'Connell followed closely by young Tekin powered Nathan Bernall. This race wouldn't start off as clean as most but a few minutes into it the racers would begin to settle down and begin pacing each other. Bernal would begin laying down some of the fastest laps of the main and was having good luck through traffic allowing him to work up a decent lead. Bmiller's Terry Wickum would battle up to the #2 spot followed by bump up youngster Tanner Matesa. The 3 would finish up the race with Nathan Bernall taking the win, Terry Wickum 2nd, and young Tanner Matesa in 3rd after bumping from the B! Nathan chose the Tekin RS and Gen2 17.5 motor to take the win against all the rest!

The final race of the evening was 2wd Mod Buggy. Tq and local fast guy Justin Moon was having the weekend of his life. Justin has always has shown the speed to win but has never managed to put it together for the big win....until now. Tekin powered Justin Moon would be pressured hard by AMain Hobbies driver Tyler Vik from the tone. The two would even touch getting onto the straight but Vik would check up allowing Moon to keep his position showing great sportsmanship. The pack was tight with the top 5 freight training around the track for the first few minutes. As the race would continue Justin would build up a gap while the 2nd through 5th would battle it out amongst each other. The final tone of the night would sound and Justin Moon would finally get the overall win he's been chasing down. Justin would be followed by Tekin powered Nathan Bernal 2nd and Amain's Tyler Vik in 3rd. Justin chose the Tekin RS and Gen2 9.5 to power his Team C buggy.

The results don't lie. The combination of the Tekin RS line paired with a Gen2 17.5 or Gen2 Mod wind are simply Smarter, Smaller, Faster!