Wayne Gerber takes 2  at the U.S Indoor Champs in Cleveland, Ohio!

CRC drivers dominate in 4 classes!

Ohio CRC driver Wayne Gerber was Top Qualifier and winner in both the Masters 17.5 and World GT classes at the U.S. Indoor Champs.

“Detroit Dave” Johnson took his VBC Wildfire TC to the ANOTHER victory in 17.5 TC. The Wildfire continues to win races and gain popularity in the tough Touring Car division.

Notching another victory with the Wildfire, CRC’s Brian Wynn was T.Q. and winner of the Vintage Trans Am class.

The annual U.S. Indoor Championships in Cleveland is a premier road racing event for 1:12th and 1:10th pan car and touring cars. For over 30 years, the “Champs” has created many exciting finishes and fond memories. For 2012, there were big changes to the schedule and a new venue. For the first time in 25 years, racers would no longer travel to the Holiday Inn in Independence, OH, instead the new location for the race was the Holiday Inn in Strongsville, Ohio. Also new this year, no car would hit the track on Thanksgiving day, making it a shorter more affordable race.
The Champs race continues to feature the 1:12th Masters class and the 1:12th stock class, both using the same rules package, 17.5 motors and no-timing speed controls. The only difference is the age limitation, the Masters class is reserved for drivers over 35 years of age. Year after year, there is a friendly competition between the stock and masters class to see which group is quicker. And about 75% of the time, it seems that the “old” drivers have had the upper hand, out performing the youngsters on a regular basis. This year, CRC driver Wayne Gerber took his CRC 3210 Xti 12th scale car to and impressive T.Q. and win in the Masters class. Wayne used CRC Track Magnet tires and a 7002 Hobbywing 1s speedo to not only win the Masters class, but also to set fastest time for any 1:12th car in 17.5. Completing a CRC Xti podium sweep, Frank Calandra and Brad Mergy took their CRC Xti cars to the top of the Masters class finishing 2nd and 3rd. Lee Harpe was 4th making it an Xti 1 – 4.

Gerber’s very stock CRC Xti with the inline configuration. Add some CRC tires, a Black Art body and a little driving talent and you have the fastest 17.5 powered 1:12 car in the house.

In touring car action, CRC/VBC driver Dave Johnson has been burning up the race track with his VBC-0005 Wildfire. A victory during the summer at the ROAR Nats, then the Halloween race, and now the 2012 U.S. Indoor Champs. In the A-main, Dave started 3rd but quickly worked his way into the lead and never looked back. Dave used the VBC Wildfire with the CRC Maxxcell 2s pack 3710.

Dave Johnson takes the win with the VBC Wildfire and CRC 3710 2s lipo.

In the VTA class (touring cars with vintage bodies and treaded spec tires), Brian Wynn took his VBC-0005 Wildfire to an impressive win from last starting position. Although Wynn was TQ, the crazy rules of VTA not only reversed the track direction, but also inverted the starting grid. From 10th position, Wynn charged his way back to the front taking some heavy impacts showing off the speed and durability of the VBC Wildfire. A nice victory for a pair of rookies; Wynn, a rookie in VTA and VBC with their first run in VTA.

Wynn’s original test mule, the pre-production VBC Wildfire. Brian did early testing on the VBC Wildfire before the release of the car. At that time, the Wildfire was to have red parts. This has now become his VTA car. Brian used the CRC 2s Shorty pack # 3736 lipo.

The World GT class consists of 200 mm wide, 1:10th pan cars with GT bodies. The class is very affordable with spec handout tires making the tire choice simple and fair. The cars feature a full body with a large bumper, so crash damage is minimal. Since the inception of World GT in 2007, CRC has held a stranglehold on victories at all the large events; ROAR Nats, IIC in Vegas, Snowbird Nationals and the US Indoor Champs in Cleveland.

For 2012, new cars have recently surfaced from a variety of manufactures. While there are some new cars on the track, the dominant CRC Gen-X 10LE just keeps winning. At the 2012 U.S. Indoor Champs, Wayne Gerber took the T.Q. and victory in the World GT class. The only car to stay close to Wayne all weekend was the very fast CRC Gen-X 10LE of Tom Firsching. The former champ had his car flying during qualifying however an early issue in the A-main forced Firsching to fight from way back in the pack to gather 2nd position for a CRC 1-2.

Wayner Gerber wins the World GT class at the Champs with the 1712 CRC Gen-X 10LE. The LE accepts 1s and 2s packs with a spacious brushless motor pod.

In the books…

Congratulations to the Ian and Joe Ruggles on a nice race and the beginning of a new chapter. Most all the competitors enjoyed the shorter schedule, and while the race had a few scheduling hiccups, in general it was a great time. The layout was challenging, the surface fairly smooth and the CRC Fasttrak Carpet provided a ton of traction. Congrats to all the racers and winners and a special thanks to all the hardwork working volunteers. Another U.S. Indoor Champs is in the books, looking forward to next year, the 34th annual U.S. Indoor Championships.

[source: Calandra Racing Concepts]