Small Trucks Tournament Round 4 Part 2/3 | Clutch Mountain

While King of the 621 continued Sunday with Event 15, there was unfinished business in the Small Truck tourney. Round 4 continued last Wednesday (2/10) with part 2, the southern bracket of Group 2 and 4.  

Group 2…  

Presents 4 closely matched trucks. Penny, Oliver James, and Remy 12 hail from the US, while HunnyPuff travels in from New Zealand. Penny scored the most in round 3 with 23 pts. however, the other 3 were not far behind with 20 and 21 pts. This is expected to be an excellent battle, and won't be decided until the final race.

Races 1 and 2…

HunnyPuff rolls out to a good lead and wins wire to wire in R1 without fanfare as Remy and Penny follow across the line next; Oliver finished 4th.

In R2, Penny gets out to a lead and rolls easily to the bottom, grabbing the 5-pt. win. Hunny trailed close behind for second, Oliver was a DNF catching too much rail upstream. Remy gets 3rd to stay close to the leaders.

Race 3… the Setup

Tightly grouped from the start. Penny gets the lead halfway through the run. Oliver is on her tail, the Penny suddenly veers out of bounds over the rail. The crash hands Oliver a much-needed win. Hunny grabs 2nd followed by Remy 12.

HunnyPuff has now collected 11 points, leading a tightly packed trailing field by 4 pts. Penny and Remy are tied at 7, and Oliver now has 6 pts after their R3 win. While Hunny appears safe, the runner-up is a coin toss.

Final Race…

Hunny’s in the back of the gate looking to stay clean and just finish, to their left is Penny. Oliver and Remy start upfront. Oliver gets pushed into the lead by Penny out of the gate and they both race side by side towards the bottom.

At the finish line, Oliver has nosed in front of Penny, then twists to block her hard charge. A photo finish that Oliver wins by a fender for the 5 pts. Remy gets in for 3rd and HunnyPuff saddles across in 4th.

Group 2 Epilogue…

Oliver James who had only 1 point after 2 races, wins the last 2 runs to advance to Semi’s along with HunnyPuff. By nipping Penny in R4, Oliver comes from the Dead-zone to the Winner's Circle while disappointing Pink Penny fans across the diecast racing community.

An amazing finish for Oliver and his Datsun. Along with a steady effort for HunnyPuff in the Caddy, they both move on to join Gray Wizard and Scoupe in the Eastern side of the Semi’s.

Group 4…

Display a showdown of 2 Syclone and a Datsun and Caddy. Mayfield 41 in the Mazda, and Teddy in the Caddy hail from the USA, while Thomas Michael drives in from Mexico. James Stirling, the second James of the day rounding out the field from Australia. Both international drivers are in Syclones.  

Preview…

Mayfield is listed as the tourney’s favorite on the BSR poll, their top score of 29 points in Round 3, dominated the overall field. Teddy and James earned only 20 pts each in comparison, including 3 DNF’s between them, squeezing into this round.  Thomas is your sleeper with an impressive 24 pts in round 3.

Race 1…

James gets sideways out of the gate blocking the field but is spun into the lead by Mayfield out of turn 1. James opens his lead and takes R1 for 5 pts. Mayfield loses ground to Teddy initially but perseveres in the stretch when Teddy gets lose and Mayfield scoots by for 2nd place. Teddy gets shuffled back and lets Michael take 3rd, Teddy ends a disappointing 4th when a better finish was in sight.

Race 2…

Michael battles with Teddy from the start where Michael takes control around the 90-degree turn and winning by a wide margin. Teddys hangs in for a distant 2nd place followed by James for 3rd, and Mayfield 4th. After 2 races Michael and James lead with 7 each. Mayfield and Teddy trail with 4 pts. each.

Race 3… The Setup

Thomas runs quickly to the lead and holds on for an easy back-to-back win. Mayfield is in position but turtles onto their roof allowing Teddy and James to pass.  Teddy chases down Thomas bumping into the leader which turns Teddy over of their side. But wait…

Teddy rocks the Caddy back onto all fours but backward a foot shy of the line. James speeds into Teddy and whacks them in the grill sending them across the finish line. A huge break for Teddy, James scoots across for 3rd. Mayfield takes a badly timed DNF, now basically eliminated.

Thomas Michael now leads the group with 12 points, James Stirling trails by three with 9 pts. Teddy is still alive with 7. Mayfield is a frowny face with only 4 pts., needing a win, and James DNF at a minimum.

Final Race…

At the start of the race, James, and Mayfield break on top. Mayfield needs to punt James off the track, but the pair continue to the bottom finishing 1st and 2nd, with James getting the 5-pt. win.

Thomas and Teddy remain racing for 3rd, but suddenly off-camera, Teddy goes dramatically overboard allowing Thomas to cruise in for the 2 points.

Group 4 Epilogue…

James Stirling and Thomas Michael each won 2 of the 4 races totaling 14 points each which tie Wizard for the most in Round 4. They will face Bear from the USA and Cube Boyd from the UK… All 4 are Syclones.

Round 5 Look ahead…

Group 1 pits two Datsun’s against a Caddy and a Mazda, the only cast, not a Syclone to survive. Group 2 might as well be called the Syclone group, as all 4 trucks are the same cast.  

The BSR poll likes Gray Wizard and Thomas Michael as favorites in their groups, Oliver and Cube are the two longer shots to reach the finals. But that is why we race them. You never know.

It has been a great tourney consisting of mixed tracks, close finishes, and a fair share of heartbreaks. Congrats to “We Race Diecast” for an excellent exhibition. The semi-finals are expected to be one hell of a battle. Watch this space.