2016 Northwest Carpet Off-Road Invitational

With the huge success from last years Northwest Astro Invitational, Casey Vitale of Northwest Hobbies and Kyosho America/Team Orion USA Team Manager Joe Pillars have brought it back for 2016…this time on carpet! The 2016 Northwest Carpet Off-Road Invitational will be held at the newly renovated Northwest Hobbies in Albany, Oregon…October 22nd-23rd!

Already confirmed for this years events include BIG names such as:

*Team Associated/Team Orion/AKA Factory Driver: Ryan Cavalieri
*TLR/Team Orion/JConcepts Factory Driver: Dustin Evans
*Kyosho/Team Orion/JConcepts Factory Driver: Tanner Day
*Kyosho America & Team Orion USA Team Manager: Joe Pillars
*Schumacher/Team Orion/Northwest Hobbies Owner: Casey Vitale
*Team Associated/Reedy/JConcepts Driver: John Walentia
*Team Associated/Reedy/JConcepts Driver: Harley Yoshii
*Team Associated/Reedy/JConcepts Driver: Jack Leighan
*HB Racing/Tekin/AKA Driver: Travis Kendall
*Tekno/Tekin/AKA Driver: Keith Hadley

This two day event will consist of 4 5-minute qualifiers on Saturday and 5-minute Triple A-Main Events on Sunday. The qual points format will be used with each drivers 2 best rounds out of 4 to decide the overall qualifying order for each class. The top 8 drivers in each class will go straight into the A-Mains, followed by a 2 car lower main bump ups for 8-minutes making a full 10 car field.

Race Schedule:

Thursday, October 20th: Open Practice 12:00pm – 6:45pm (Practice Fee $10.00) / Club Racing at 7:00pm (2 Quals & 1 Main / Race Fee $15.00) *(If you are going to club race, you wont need to pay to Practice)
Friday, October 21st: Open Practice 12:00pm – 8:00pm (Practice Fee $10.00) *Team Orion Hot Lap Challenge will be back starting at 8:00pm directly after practice!
Saturday, October 22nd: 4 Rounds of Qualifying & 5 Rounds of Invitational Starting at 9:00am (Doors open at 7:00am/track is open from 7:30am-8:30am for practice)
Sunday, October 23rd: AAA-Main Events & 3 Rounds of Invitational Starting at 9:00am (Gates open at 7:00am/track is open from 7:30am-8:30am for practice)

Hotel Information:

La Quinta Inn – Albany
251 Airport Road Southeast
Albany, OR. 97321
Phone # (541) 928-0921
Group Code Name: Northwest Hobbies

Phoenix Inn Suites – Albany
3410 Spicer Drive Southeast
Albany, OR. 97322
Phone # (541) 926-5696
Group Code Name: Northwest Hobbies

Race Entry: $20.00 per class

Classes:

1. Novice
2. Stock Buggy (17.5 motor/no timing & no boost)
3. Pro Stock Buggy (17.5 motor/no timing & no boost)
4. Super Stock Truck (13.5 motor/no timing & no boost)
5. 2wd Modified Buggy (all 2wd Modified Buggies will run the Invitational format)
6. Modified 4wd Buggy

*Awards will be given out to the Top 5 in each class!

Invitational 2wd Modified Buggy:

The premier 2wd Modified Buggy class is once again open for any driver to enter. The entry fee for this class will be $40.00 and will include a free set of handout tires. We are very excited to have JConcepts on-board as our official Spec Tire for this class. We will use the JConcepts Swagger Tires (#3137) for the Front and JConcepts Pin Down Tires (#3136) Tires with the standard Gray Foam for the Rear. All JConcepts Tires for racing must be purchased at Northwest Hobbies at the race special price and to ensure they are from the same batch. Since newer tires work better and create faster lap times, we are limiting the number of sets of tires to 3 complete sets of front & rears for racing. The idea is if racers would like to use there free set of tires they get with there entry for Friday Practice, then only buy 1 or 2 new sets for racing to keep the total cost down. The extra tires will be sold at a race special discounted price. From our experience, 1 set of tires will easily go 5-10 runs. It will be up to the driver if they want to purchase the extra sets.

The decision to choose a controlled tire was made to keep the playing field as even as possible. The handout tires will be given out Friday morning so everyone can get them mounted for practice. Drivers in this class will compete in the Invitational style format. Five 5-minute rounds of heads up racing will be ran on Saturday and Three 5-minute rounds on Sunday. Each driver will be allowed 2 drops, so 6 will count. Tie Breakers will be determined by the number of 1st place finishes, 2nd place finishes, and so on with the 6 counted points. If still a tie, the drivers 2 fastest used times will be added together. Throw outs are just that, thrown out and wont be used in any way. This is the same system used at the Reedy Race. All heats for every round will be completely random and 8-10 drivers will be in each heat.

For the 2wd Invitational Class, all drivers must check-in on Friday, November 20th before 5pm. If you will not be there before then, please message me to let me know you are still attending. At 5pm, we will do our first day heat drawings at the track. If I don’t hear from you and you are not checked in, you will not be entered in the race.

For the Invitational Class, we will be doing a Cash Payout to the Top 3!
4th – 10th will receive awards!
1st $1000.00
2nd $500.00
3rd $250.00

2016 Invitational 2wd Modified Buggy Confirmed Drivers:

1. Ryan Cavalieri
2. Dustin Evans
3. Tanner Day
4. Casey Vitale
5. Joe Pillars
6. John Walentia
7. Harley Yoshii
8. Brad Borneill
9. Mike Andrade
10. Colin Branch
11. Travis Harker
12. Justin Hall
13. Jack Leighan
14. Keith Hadley
15. Travis Kendall
16. Tyler Wilbur
17. Carson Phipps
18. Brett Wilson
19. Chuck Foote
20. Brandon Foote
21. Kevin Focht
22. Aiden Focht
23. Brandon Dyche
24. Mike Dana
25. Austin Hudson
26. Kevin Gray
27. Chris Green
28. Brian Magee III
29. George Cherry
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To enter yourself in the exciting 2wd Modified Invitational class, please email Joe Pillars @ joepillars(at)hotmail.com

For all other classes, sign-ups will be available at the track on Friday of the event.