Race report

4th Annual Pro-Line Surf City Classic a Huge Success!

OC/RC Raceway hosted the Pro-Line Surf City Classic in Huntington Beach, California for the 4th year in a row over the weekend. The highly anticipated event sold-out in less than 2 weeks because it features the top drivers in the world racing for cash, a T-shirt and Pro-Line tires included in the entry, and an awesome track to race on! With 310 entries, the 4th Anuual Pro-Line Surf City race was absolutely a Classic!

Here is how the racing action went down:

- Invite Electric 8th Scale-
Pro-Line team drive Ty Tessmann TQ’d each of the qualifying rounds, so he sat on the pole for the 10 minute main event. In the main, the battle was between Ty and Pro-Line’s other top driver Ryan Cavalieri. For much of the race, the two Pro-Line drivers battled it out for the lead, swapping positions several times and staying within a second of each other. This was the most exciting main of the night and Ty Tessmann eventually put a small gap on Ryan and took home the win and a cool $500 cash. Barry Baker would finish 3rd. Ronda Drake and Richard Saxton were the other Pro-Line drivers who made the A-Main and all Pro-Line drivers were running BullDog bodies and MC compound tires.

-Invite 4wd Buggy-
Pro-Line team driver Ty Tessmann once again took TQ honors and he would have to battle 2nd place qualifier Dustin Evans in the main event. Dustin Evans held the lead briefly after Ty made a small mistake over the triple but Ty fought back and took the win convincingly to take home another $500 in cash! Dustin Evans would hold on to 2nd, while Pro-Line’s Ryan Cavalieri would finish only 1 second behind Evans for the third spot. Pro-Line’s other driver, Chris Jarosz, would finish a respectable 6th place after bumping up from the B-Main. Once again, Pro-Line’s BullDog bodies and MC tires were the winning choice of the top drivers!

-Invite 2wd Buggy-
Dustin Evans started on pole with Pro-Line team driver Ryan Cavalieri starting second on the grid. Ty Tessmann would start 5th but he wouldn’t stay there for long. Dustin got out to the early lead and Cavalieri all over him for the lead. Meanwhile, Ty Tessmann would have an eventful first couple of laps. Mistakes and misfortune put Ty down to 9th place at the end of the second lap. Ty didn’t give up and by the 10th lap, he had worked his way up to 3rd! Ryan Cavalieri had some bad luck when his car stopped working after landing hard on the triple. By this time, Dustin Evans had built a substantial lead but Ty was slowly catching him. At the end of the 10 minute main, Ty finished only 4 seconds behind Dustin Evans! Great job Ty for not giving up! Steven Hartson would round out the podium.

-Invite Mod Truck-
Pro-Line Team driver Ryan Cavalieri was the Top Qualifier heading into the main event with his truck rival Dustin Evans sitting in 2nd. After the tone sounded, it was clear that Ryan and Dustin were the class of the field and the both eventually finished 2 laps up on the entire field. Ryan Cavalieri led for the first 15 laps but made a small mistake on lap 16 that allowed Dustin Evans to take over the lead. Cav would stay on Dustins bumper the rest of the race and would have to settle for 2nd only 0.7 seconds behind Evans. Josh Numan finished in 3rd.

-Pro 4 Short Course-
This race featured 3 Pro-Line drivers in the main. Ronda Drake qualified directly into the main, Chris Jarosz bumped all the way up from the C-Main after TQing one round of qualifying but DNFing the other two, and Pro-Line’s own Matt Wallace (yours truly) bumping up from the B-Main. Before the half way point, Matt’s race was done with a broken motor but Chris Jarosz was charging hard through the pack. Carson Wernimont took the early lead and looked to be checked out until he broke an entire front wheel off his truck. Ronda Drake finished 7th and Chris Jarosz was able to work his way up to the podium! Awesome job Chris! Felix Law took the win with Casper in 2nd.

-Pro 2 Short Course-
Matt Chapman was representing Pro-Line in Pro 2 starting 5th on the grid. By the fifth lap, Matt would work his way up to 3rd place but on lap eleven he had a problem with his motor and was done. This left the top three qualifiers battling it out for the lead with Casper taking the win, Chris Champlin 2nd and Matt Gillbert in 3rd.

-Mod Buggy-
Mod Buggy would turn into heartbreak city for Pro-Line drivers Nick Lasley and Brian McDuffie. Brian took over the lead on lap 3 and held it until a mistake on lap 18 gave the lead to Nick Lasley. Nick then held the lead until the very last lap where a mistake allowed Trevor Adamo to take the win and Casper to sneak by for 2nd. Nick Lasley would have to settle for 3rd and Brian McDuffie for 4th. Brian would get a chance to redeem himself in Mod Truck, however.

-Mod Truck-
Brian McDuffie, Nick Lasley and Matt Chapman got another shot at taking the win for Pro-Line. Nick started 3rd, Brian in 4th and Matt in 8th. It turned out to be Brian McDuffie’s race as he took the lead on lap 5 and never looked back… sweet redemption for the heartbreak from Mod Buggy. Nick made it as high as 2nd but would end up in 4th after the race was over. Brian took the win for Pro-Line, Wallnuts finished 2nd and Kevin Gahan finished 3rd. Great job Brian!

-Sportsman Electric 8th Scale-
RB, also known as Robert Black the owner of OC/RC, was dominant in qualifying and the main event in this class. RB put a lap on the entire field and walked away with the victory. Mitch Stratford finished in the runner-up spot and JD Mora rounded out the podium.

-Stock Short Course-
Pro-Line driver Matt Chapman was looking for redemption following the heartbreak of breaking in Pro-2 and was in a great spot after taking the Top Qualifying position. The win wouldn’t come easy as he got bumped down to the fifth spot at the end of the first lap. Matt stayed consistent and fought hard to regain the lead by lap 14. He would go one to take the win and put a lap on the field. Great job representing Pro-Line Matt! Matt Gillbert finished 2nd and Chris Champlin finished 3rd.

-Stock Buggy-
This race featured Nick Lasley Jr. running Pro-Line tires and bumping up from the B-Main. Nick Jr. would work his way up to 8th, while the battle for the lead shaped up between the top 3 qualifiers. In the end TQ Dillon Davies took the win, followed by Marcus Conway and Dan Brown.

-Stock Truck-
Pro-Line Driver Corey Pane qualified 2nd in Stock Truck and was ready to give everything he had in the main. Corey inherited the lead on lap 7 and never looked back finishing 8 seconds ahead of Rodney Angelito. Wayne Wyrick finished in 3rd.

-Rookie-
The Rookie class featured the famous Denny O who was featured on the bright orange pit towels given to each racer. ”Thanks for Gumming!!!” LOL! Anyway, Denny qualified 4th and was clearly the crowd favorite. Denny took off at the start of the race and was in the lead for the first 4 laps. Top qualifier Tanner Matesa then took over the lead and won. Dylan Halverson finished in 2nd, and crowd favorite Denny O would finish in 3rd. Thank You!

Pro-Line wants to thank the whole OC/RC crew for putting on such a special event. Special thanks to Nick Black for doing an awesome job on the Mic and for keeping the races running smooth all weekend. We also want to thank Robert Black for creating such a great place to race! Thanks to all the racers for coming out and we look forward to a bigger and better Pro-Line Surf City Classic next year!