The Event
The Brushless Racing League (BRL) has grown to become the premier oval racing series in the United States. And what better place to host the season’s series ending event but at America’s premier hobby shop and race track: Hobby Town USA in Omaha, Neb., also known as the Hobby Plex.

Close to the Omaha Airport, and seen from the interstate as you arrive, the Plex is an impressive facility. It is nearly as impressive as the grade-A drivers attending the 2008 BRL season ending Novak Nationals.

The cream of the crop showed up to lay claim to their piece of the pie and go home with their share of the more than $10,000 worth of cash and prizes. Sonny Brown, the creator of the BRL and one of the hardest working men in the world of R/C Oval racing, has once again brought together one of the finest races at a wonderful facility.

The BRL is very well organized, and it shows. Instead of holding events over nearly a week, the BRL keeps working families in mind and schedules events over 2-3 days, encompassing a weekend instead of a week. The practice schedules for all of the events are rationed evenly and executed in a timely and efficient fashion. This makes attending BRL events significantly more affordable and increases attendance. There is no need to use up all of your hard-earned vacation time for one event; you can use it for several events and maybe even the entire points series. This gives racers of all levels a chance to test their mettle against the pros and local hot shots from all over the country.

Arrival
Most racers arrived late Thursday night and were able to depart from the track early enough Sunday afternoon to make it home and back to work on Monday (I know, I did). This is a rarity in the world of big time R/C racing. Well done, BRL.

The track opened up Friday morning at a pleasant 9 a.m. for a quick hour of open practice to break in the track. The remainder of the day was broken up into controlled practice rounds by classes, so there was no need to “wad up your ride” by dodging faster or slower drivers. Toward the end of the evening, two Novak All Star Open heats were held. These heats contained the fastest drivers from each division running 13.5 Super Stock setups, who were fighting for a place in the Novak All Star Shootout, where $1,500 of cold-hard cash was on the line.

Two heats of six cars each battled for 75 laps. The top four from each heat made the transfer to the Novak All Star Shootout. In a new twist for 2008, a ninth driver was voted into the Shootout by the fans and fellow drivers. This gave the remaining four drivers one final shot at the big-prize money.

Boston-resident Pat “Slide Rule” Simpkins was the fan favorite and earned the vote for the final spot and a shot at the big bucks.

The Shootout
The Novak All Star Shootout was held on Saturday evening just after qualifying was completed. The Shootout may be one of the most exciting types of races you’ll encounter. It is a three-legged race, each leg a different length. Race one is 50 laps. Race two is 75 laps. And the final leg is 100 laps for the big bucks. Strategy plays a key role because drivers have only 15 minutes between runs to prepare their car for the next segment of the race. By the way, if you are unlucky enough to be in the last position in any segment, you’re out of the running. The winner of each segment takes home a hefty chunk of change.

Stage One: 50 Laps. Prize: $50.
The world famous Jamie Tennies took control of the mic, while the drivers were introduced and the sidelines filled with spectators. The excitement was overwhelming. Drivers were briefly interviewed by Mr. Sonny Brown before the race with any thoughts on how the event would unfold.

Sonny set the grid, and the drivers took a deep breath and said a quite prayer to the RC gods.

On the tone, Bartholomew and Ulbrik moved out to a nice clean start. During lap one, Galloway and Mulvaney made contact and shuffled to the back. Hanson moved to the third spot, followed by Reeling.

As the field spread out, the freight train settled in. With 10 laps in, Ulbrik encountered lap traffic but cleared it without issues. Hansen and Bartholomew battled nose-to-tail at lap 15. Hanson tried to find a way around, but Bartholomew slammed the door, holding him off for a few more laps.

With 20 laps in, Ulbrik was taken out by a back marker, and Hanson and Bartholomew were right on his back door. They tried to split around him as Ulbrik got up to speed, but the three cars collided, making an Ulbrik sandwich. Hanson got the short end of the stick. His third position was taken over by Reeling. Simpkins moved to fourth but was eventually taken out by lap traffic. Ulbrik somehow escaped and held onto the lead.

The remainder of the run wound down fairly quietly. There were some minor bumping and banging within the back of the pack but nothing major.

Stage Two: 75 Laps. Prize: $75.
It was a clean start with two laps down and no wrecks. Reeling lead Ulbrik, Galloway and Hanson, with Mulvaney, Simpkins and Humble falling back. Simpkins was off the track with a broken car.

“The car just turned right in the middle of the straight,” he said. It was bad luck, for sure.

With 15 laps in, Ulbrik closed in on Reeling, looking for a way around. Reeling was feeling the pressure with Galloway holding down third and Hanson chasing hard.

At 25 laps into the race, Ulbrik moved inside on Reeling, making the pass. Galloway put on the pressure and got by Reeling at 30 laps into the race.Hanson started sizing up Reeling lap after lap in a heated battle for third.

At 35 laps, Ulbrik moved through the lap traffic without any problems.

Hanson was all over Reeling at 40 laps. Reeling was running tight and could barely hold him off. Ulbrik started to pull away with 20 to go.

With 15 to go, Hanson was still working the back door of Reeling, looking high and low.  Bartholomew started to close in fast.

With five to go, Bartholomew closed right on the back door of Hanson and made the move to get by.

Stage 3: 100 laps. Prize: $600.
The 100 lap race started clean with Bartholomew going right to third and catching the back of the second spot. Bartholomew was spun to the infield wall and fell to last. Humble was leading with Hanson in second and Ulbrik moving to third from the 7th starting spot. They were followed by Reeling, Galloway, Mulvaney and Bartholomew. Hanson and Ulbrik slowly started to catch up to Humble. The top three were within 0.2 seconds of each other.

But a few seconds later, Hansen looked to the inside and got by Ulbrik, who moved to second and Humble to third. Ulbrik started putting a lot of pressure on the back of Hanson’s car with 25 laps completed. Ulbrik moved to the inside, made door-to-door contact, but slid by Hanson to take the lead. Galloway moved by Humble to take over the third spot and started to close in on the leaders.

The order didn’t change until lap 55, where Galloway closed in on Hanson. Galloway moved to the inside of Hanson to take over the second spot. With 60 laps completed, he was only 1.4 seconds back from the leader. Frank moved up on lap traffic without any major problems. Galloway was at 1.3 seconds back.

At 75 laps, Galloway was 1.2 seconds back from the leader. Hanson was in a solid third position. 

At 80 laps down, there were only 1.1 seconds between Galloway and Ulbrik. The lap times were even as Ulbrik felt the pressure from Galloway.

With 90 laps in the books, Ulbrik maneuvered through lap traffic. Galloway was 1.2 seconds behind.

Galloway closed the gap to within 1.0 seconds and two laps to go but ran out of time. Ulbrik took the win from the 7th on the grid.

Qualifying
Before all of this excitement, there was a full day of high-paced qualifying action between the five BRL classes. There were two rounds of qualifying followed by a resort for the third round and another resort for the fourth round, which kept the contestants on their toes and quickened the pace for the day.

The Battle for TQ of the Hobby Talk 17.5 Sportsman Stock Class was amongst Jim Jerome, Chad Humble and Kevin Klyber, all running Novak GTBs and qualifying less than 0.9 seconds of each other. In fact, the top 10 drivers were all within a mere 4.0 seconds. That is some super close qualifying action! 

In the hotly contested Novak Electronics 13.5 Super Stock Division, the battle was down to Frank Ulbrik, Jamie Hanson, Rod Galloway, Ben Sackett and Pat “Slide Rule” Simpkins. These five Novak-powered drivers clocked in at less than 3.0 seconds amongst each other in 57 laps.

For the Protoform Masters 13.5 Truck Division, the top contenders put only one lap between the first and last qualifier. Rod Galloway, Rob Mulvaney and Johnny “Tan Lines” Sparks pushed hard to be in the front of the field. The class is called Masters because there is an age limit; you have to be at least 40 years old to participate. These top-three drivers all relied on GTBs to push them to the front.

Fast Lane Hobbies 10.5 Pro Division was a two man battle between Frank Ulbrik and Arnie Fie. But the BRL’s own Sonny Brown stuck around to keep things interesting.  Jamie Hanson (Novak) was also fast and consistent during qualifying, making his presence felt along with Pat Simpkins. In one of the fastest and most popular classes, only two laps separated TQ from LQ. 

BSR Pro Open Modified was a small field of only three drivers this year. From my seat, it was clearly “The Matt Gansen Show” all weekend. His car was strong and fast and finished with faster lap times than anyone else. Matt was completely Novak-powered, running a GTB and Velociti 3.5R.

With qualifying done and the Novak All Star Shootout in the books, racers went off to find some dinner.  Our group converged on the local Chili’s just before they closed for a nice dinner with lots of race stories and good times.

Sunday: The Final Race Day
The track opened Sunday morning at a wonderful (not too early) 9 a.m. for an hour of open practice. It was followed by concourse and another hour of open practice to fine tune any last minute setup changes. One thing the BRL ensures is track time for the racers.

Sunday racing started with the Fast Five Dash races.

In the BRL, there are 25 lap Fast Five Dash races. As the name implies, the fastest five drivers from each class get a chance to battle it out before the Main. What’s at stake you ask? Well, the starting order of the main event. It is like a mini A-Main that gives the racers a final shot to improve their starting spot.

The rest of the field races its respective Mains. The top two drivers from the B-Main are bumped up into the A-Main final, filling the sixth and seventh grid positions. The final spot is filled by the Lucky Dog. The Lucky Dog is determined by the third place finisher of the B-Main. If the race time of the third place position holder of the B-Main is faster than the winner of any of the other Mains, he gets the final A-Main position. If any of the winners of the lower Mains have faster times, he receives the final spot in the Main. It may seem a bit confusing, but it sure does make for some awesome BRL racing action. The Fast Five Dash races were held Sunday morning to set the placement for all of the Mains.

For the Hobby Talk 17.5 Sportsman Stock Division, GTB-equipped Jim Jerome turned in the fastest time from a front row position in his Dash event. Jim won the pole position in the upcoming A-Main. Well done, Jim.

Novak Electronics 13.5 Pro Stock Dash was all Frank Ulbrik as he lapped the field to secure a front row spot for the start of the upcoming A-Main.

In the Protoform Masters 13.5 Truck Dash, Galloway was not to be touched. He kept his Novak GTB-powered Pro Built Hot Rod on the inside of the front row.

Fast Lane Hobbies brought us the 10.5 Pro Mod Class. Fie and Ulbrik battled it out in the Dash. Fie came out on top, piloting his Customer Works aggressor perfectly and won the pole position for the A-Main.

The B-Mains
Next up was the B-Main action to secure the remainder of the grid.

Hobby Talk 17.5 Sportsman Stock allowed GTB-powered racers Dan Mickle and Todd Jennings to earn automatic transfers to the A-Main. Jack Hale waited in anticipation for the remainder of the day. His time eventually held up, and he earned the Lucky Dog transfer to eighth on the grid.  

Novak Electronics 13.5 Pro Stock B-Main moved Danny Bartholomew and Hays Reeling Jr. into sixth and seventh on the grid. “The Wolf Man” Rob Mulvaney’s third place time held up and made him the Lucky Dog eighth place starter. All three drivers chose the Novak GTB as their ESC of choice.

Protoform Masters 13.5 Truck allowed Ken DeGood and Terry Christy transfers to the A-Main, and Hobby Plex’s very own Tim Ski earned the Lucky Dog title, finishing in third. This heat gathered another trio of Novak-powered drivers.

Fast Lane Hobbies 10.5 Pro Mod B-Main saw GTB-powered Bartholomew hold off second place Mike Clement for transfer spots. The Lucky Dog was third place finisher and GTB-driver Corey Heft.

The A-Mains
The A-Mains kicked off at 1:15 p.m., starting with the Hobby Talk 17.5 Sportsman Stock Division. The TQ jinx was in effect as pole sitter Jim Jerome felt the pressure by third spot starter Nick Sackett, who led the field from the inside. Jerome didn’t go down with out a fight, but Sackett wasn’t to be beaten in front of his hometown crowd and held on to take his first BRL victory by a mere 0.4 seconds. Congratulations, Nick! You drove awesome.

Final Order for Hobbytalk.com 17.5 Sportsman Stock Class 1st Nick Sackett 2nd Jim Jerome 3rd Chad Humble 4th Todd Jennings 5th Jack Hale 6th Dan Mickle 7th Kevin Klyber 8th Danny White

Up next was the Novak Electronics 13.5 Super Stock Class. The race favorite had to be the always fast Frank Ulbrik, who dominated qualifying and looked to be in top form yet again. At the tone, Ulbrik and his Pro-Built Novak-powered No.13 moved out with Hanson’s Novak-powered Leading Edge No. 8 hot on his tail. Fellow Pro-Built racer Rocket Rod Galloway applied pressure to Hanson and moved his Novak-powered ride into the second spot and tried to reel in Ulbrik. But it was not to be. Ulbrik was just too smooth and consistent, and held on for the win.

Final Order for Novak Electronics 13.5 Super Stock Class 1st Frank Ulbrik 2nd “Rocket” Rod Galloway 3rd Jamie Hanson 4th Danny Bartholomew 5th Rob “Wolf Man” Mulvaney 6th Pat Simpkins 7th Hays Reeling Jr. 8th Ben Sackett

The Protoform Master 13.5 Truck Division was on deck next. With Rod Galloway just completing a stellar run in the Pro Stock class, he was all warmed up and ready to defend his TQ starting position. The second half of the pack of trucks rolled off to a rocky start, but Galloway and Ciecek got away clean and raced each other hard. Ciecek did what he could to mount a charge, but Galloway was simply on fire and looked to be checking out. After being pushed to the back of the pack, Johnny “Tan Lines” Sparks started to close in on his good friend, Ciecek. They raced each other as hard and clean as I’ve seen in years.  It was clear Ciecek was feeling the pressure, but he kept his lines just tight enough to hold off Sparks until the end. Galloway – feeling very comfortable with his straight away lead – started to back off as he closed in on some dicey lap traffic. It appeared that he was having some trouble, but when I asked him about it after the race, he said, “[I] was just trying to stay clean for the win.” He allowed second and third place drivers to close within 0.5 seconds at the finish but held on for the win.

Final Order for Protoform Masters 13.5 Truck Class 1st “Rocket” Rod Galloway 2nd “Sea-Sick” Mark Ciecek 3rd John “Tan Lines” Sparks 4th Rob “Wolf Man” Mulvaney 5th Tim Ski 6th Terry Christy 7th Ken DeGood 8th Larry Mullins

Now, on to the Fast Lane Hobbies 10.5 Pro Modified Class. The stage was set for a great battle. Custom Works’ very own Arnie Fie and Pro-Built’s one and only Frank Ulbrik had a close battle in the Dash and had a score to settle from the Snowbirds Nationals, where Fie came out on top. The race started clean, accept Hanson suffered a mechanical failure off the line and his car simply didn’t move. After the race, it was discovered that his gear mesh was slightly off, and he stripped a spur gear. It was a touch of bad luck for Jamie. Out in front, Fie and Ulbrik raced nose to tail for nearly a minute when Fie bobbled just enough to let Ulbrik pull up beside him to take the lead going through one and two. Ulbrik didn’t look back from there and diced his way through traffic. Fie wasn’t done yet though. He put on a hard charge that was cut short by a crash at the back of the pack. Ulbrik barely squeezed by, but Fie was collected up in the wreck, ending his race early. The BRL’s own Sonny Brown – running Fie’s back up car – moved into the second spot, where he finished. Earning his spot by winning the B-Main, Danny Bartholomew took over the third spot all the way from sixth on the grid. Ulbrik dipped and dodged the carnage left over from the big crash and cruised home to an easy victory. 

Final Order for Fast Lane Hobbies 10.5 Pro Modified Class 1st Frank Ulbrik 2nd Sonny Brown 3rd Danny Bartholomew 4th Corey Heft 5th Pat Simpkins 6th Arnie Fie 7th Mike Clement 8th Jamie Hanson

BSR Racing tires brought us the Open Modified Division and Matt Gansen’s domination continued with a wire-to-wire win over Brent Redlin in second and Jason Hack in third.

The award’s ceremony followed with pictures, lots of smiles and a few hundred handshakes. It was clear to me that everyone had a great time. Many drivers went home with some awesome prizes and fists full of cash.

Thank yous
The BRL’s efficient race schedule, enormous prize packages and good old-fashioned, cold hard cash giveaways make it one of the best R/C races around. My hat goes off to Sonny Brown and all the BRL racers for making this series such a huge success.