2048 AADA World Racing Championship
by Norman McMullen

This year saw a change in the location of the Racing Worlds. Instead of Origins (Columbus, Ohio), the event was held at Denver's Tacticon. The attendance level remained the same with some new faces competing for the top prize. Competitors included: Bobbie Deis (Robert's wife), Brett Peckinpaugh, Eric Freeman, Garth Anderson, Mike Garrity, Don Jacques, Sumit and Amit Suksar, and Phillipe Lebonne.
    The Preliminary Round was held in Denver's own Centennial Dueltrack (see the Flashfire Circuit for details). Bobbie got the pole position, with Brett on the outside. With all other racers settled in their spots the field went into a rolling start at 50 mph. The racers vied for position in the first turn, trading paint often. Mike and Don passed the others on the inside curve. More paint was traded right up to turn 4, where Phillipe lost control and rolled into a wall, killing him. Bobbie took the lead after that. Shortly after that Brett passed Bobbie and getting the lead position.
    In turn 5 Mike and Bobbie were trying to turn a corner, but they bumped. Both lost control and rolled. In turn 6 both were still rolling, leaving Brett to widen his lead in turn 7. Time was called. Those advancing to the final in qualifying order were: Brett, Eric, Don, Garth, Sumit, Amit, Mike, and Bobbie.

Preliminary Round Pregenerated Vehicles
    48RP: compact, x-hvy. chassis, OR suspension, super power plant, 4 ORPR tires, driver, MG front and back, spoiler, HD brakes, overdrive. Armor: F45, L45, R45, B45, T10, U11. Accel. 10/5 w/overdrive, top speed 132.5/152.5 w/overdrive, HC 2/3 OR - for both add 1 when going over 60; 4,436 lbs., $13,498.
    48RPA: replace power plant with 250ci engine w/5 gallon dueling gas tank. Remove one MG. 3,696 lbs., $14,823, top speed 95/115 w/overdrive.

Final Round
At the Ozark Offroad Track the racers gathered at the start line. It was a rolling start, with everyone starting at 50mph plus acceleration. Brett pulled ahead of Eric, heading for the first tight turn. Garth, Sumit, and Amit fought for track space along the west straightway. At times one of the trio was temporarily forced off the track. Don, Bobbie, and Mike formed the rear, but Bobbie moved ahead and took the first turn.
    Brett and Eric raced neck-in-neck up to the corner hairpin turn. Eric slowed to give Brett the lead, both racers safely negotiating the turn. Speeding up, Eric caught up to Brett on the back straighway. At one point Brett force Eric off the track, but Eric sped up to pass Brett on the whoop-te-dos.
    The fight to stay on the track between Amit, Sumit, and Garth continued as they neared the hairpin turn. Sumit had forced Amit off the track, while Garth squeezed in on the other side of Sumit. Amit got back on the track, forcing Garth off just before the turn. Garth slowed, allowing Sumit and Amit to tackle the turn first. Amit went wide, and Sumit, locked in a balance between speed and control, follow suit. It wasn't enough - Sumit t-boned Amit. The collision destroyed both cars and drivers. Debris clogged the upper part of the hairpin turn. Garth managed to avoid most of the debris, taking some damage in a side-swipe with a rock, leaving more debris.
    Mike, Don, and Bobbie approached the hairpin. Bobbie reached the turn first, but lost control and sideswiped some rocks, leaving a trail of debris. Mike and Don avoid most of the debris, but Mike also scrapped past the inner bolder, losing some armor in the process.
    Eric had the lead momentarily in the whoop-de-dos, but Brett surpassed him. When Garth was halfway through the whoop-de-dos he deployed his drag chute. As he cleared the last bump Garth detached the chute and took the NE curve.
    Back at the hairpin, Bobbie lost control coming out of it, skidding and slowing down. Mike caught up to her at the whoop-de-dos and passed her at the NE corner. Time was called and the finishing positions were posted. The race lasted nine turns.

1st - Brett Peckinpaugh
2nd - Eric Freeman
3rd - Garth Anderson
4th - Mike Garrity
5th - Bobbie Deis
6th - Don Jacques
7th - Amit Suksar
8th - Sumit Suksar

Winner of the 2048 Steve Kinser Spectacular Crash Award - Sumit Suksar
 

Vehicle Designs
(all gas-powered vehicles fully fueled at $40 and 6 lbs per gallon)

Brett and Bobbie's Car: WC Racer 2 - Sprint car, light chassis, 250ci gas engine w/blueprinting and tubular headers, turbocharger and supercharger, 6 gallon dueling gas tank, 4 ORHD tires, driver w/personal fire extinguisher, light FT w/HT fuel rear, spoiler, airdam, HD shocks, HD brakes. Armor: F30(ramplate), L5, R5, B6, T1, U1. Accel. 25/30 w/turbocharger, top speed 160, HC 5/6 OR (add one to both when over 60); 2,670 lbs., $29,995.

Eric Freeman's King Cool - Sprint car, light chassis, 300ci gas engine w/blueprinting, VP turbocharger, supercharger, 7 gallon economy gas tank, 4 ORPR tires, driver, spoiler, airdam, HD shocks, HD brakes, overdrive. Armor: 14 points metal, 74 plastic. Accel 30/25 w/overdrive, top speed 170/190 w/overdrive, HC 5/6 OR (add one to both when over 60); 2,320 lbs., $29,809.

Garth Anderson's Comet GA - Sprint car, standard chassis, 150ci gas engine, VP turbocharger, supercharger, 4 gallon HD gas tank, 4 SBPROR tires, driver, spoiler, airdam, bumper spikes front and rear, TL front, RL w/incendiary ammo front, LGL for rockets, drag chute rear, HD shocks, HD brakes, 4 links. Armor: F47, L30, R30, B68, T1, U1. Accel. 25, top speed 120, HC 5/6 OR (add one to both when over 60); 3,134 lbs, $29,995. Personal equipment - body armor, flak jacket, 3 foam grenades, duelist shades.

Mike Garrity's Dust Devil: Streamlined Sprint car, standard chassis, sport power plant w/PC & SC, 4 PROR tires, driver, pulse LL rear, SWC, HD shocks, overdrive, spoiler & airdam. Armor: F20, L15, R15, B20, T5, U5. Accel. 15/10 w/overdrive, top speed 225/245 w/overdrive, HC 5/6 OR (add one to both when over 60); 2,590 lbs., $28,710.

Don Jacques' Amex RS48A: Sprint car, standard chassis, sport power plant w/PCs, 4 OR solid tires, driver, LMG front, LMG right, spoiler, HD shocks, HD brakes, hi-res computer. LRFP armor: F32, L26, R26, B32, T6, U6. Accel. 15, top speed 180, HC 5/6 OR (add one to both when over 60); 3,146 lbs., $29,125. Personal equipment - body armor.

Amit and Sumit's car - same as Brett's.
 
 

Notes 1
In the year's Racing Worlds several rulings were made concerning sprint cars. First, sprint cars are automatically off-road capable. Sprint racing in the US, the World of Outlaws Circuit, is mostly run on dirt tracks. Hence, all of their cars are off-road capable.
    Second, spoilers and airdams can be mounted on sprint cars. There are mounts on the roof and hood that serve the same purpose of those two items.
    Third, mid-turn accelerations were dropped to streamline play. All acceleration/deceleration were handled at the start of the turn. I've found mid-turn accelerations leads to confusion and abuse, such as double-acceleration. A player could accelerate in phase four in a turn and accelerate again in phase one in the next. This is one rule that I wouldn't mind sent out to pasture.
    One final point. In the Racing Worlds I allowed cars with power factors more than twice their weight to have a 20mph acceleration. This is usually limited to dragsters, but I apply it to all race bodies. In actuality, this should apply to all vehicle bodies. This will give excellent acceleration for players who top-out their engines and power plants.

Notes 2
In future Worlds duplicate designs will not be accepted. Each player will have to submit an unique design before the design deadline. If not, those players will be unable to play in the round they qualified for, including seeded players.
    You may ask why I let this happen this year. Well, I wanted to nice. Was it fair? No. As a duelmaster, you have to put your foot down and sometimes you don't do what's right. Well, I'd rather be right and be unpopular then put up with the quibbling of armchair duelmasters in future events.
    I've noticed over the years an interesting quirk in racing. The most common name for race cars is Comet. At least one or two players at each tournament name their cars Comet. Many of those cars have rear-mounted flamethrowers. The name fits but its been overused.
    When you attend the Worlds, expect to eyeball your maneuvers before you do them. Take the consequences of those maneuvers. Players should take responsibility for their actions. It's not asking too much to do so.
    The players should also know the game well enough to run it on their own without the Duelmaster stepping in all the time. The Duelmaster is there to make sure the game runs smoothly and in an orderly manner, not to play out every move on the board. Any rules or maneuver question should be handled by the Duelmaster. A player can bring up opposing opinions with the Duelmaster, but in the end the Duelmaster's decision is final (right or wrong). If you have a problem with how the Duelmaster ran the event take it up with him after the event, not during it.
    To all AADA chapters attending the Worlds - please leave your local problems out of the Worlds for everyone's benefit. A lot of people attend to meet new players and old friends. We don't want to hear about your local disputes, thank you very much. This includes any disputes between AADA Chapters, those that can be settled outside the Worlds if all chapter agree to do so.
    Players are required to turn in their vehicle spreadsheet and damage chart for verification after the tournament. This is to double-check the players for accuracy during the tournament. Failure to do so can result in forfeiting all prizes won. The Worlds has become lax in enforcement of a lot of things due to the lack of players available. That doesn't mean the high standards should also be relaxed. Quite the opposite should be the case.

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