It was an awesome first day here in the Sand’s Regency Hotel & Casino of Reno, NV.  The weather, for the most part, was great and the crowd was awesome.  Although building a man made course in the confines of a casino parking lot has its size limitations, the excitement of being in the “Biggest Little City in the World” made up for any small shortcomings.

As expected, courses were very tight and extremely technical.  Due to the extreme level of traction with the man made course, carnage was also on the high side.  The hardest roll of the day definitely goes to Team Tsuda Racing of Japan.  This team of 4 flew out from Japan and purchased Tracy’s Twisted Customs chassis from last year to compete in this event.  On Team Tsuda’s last course of the day, they launched the rig clear off an obstacle and landed straight on their roof.  The impact was so intense the entire chassis deformed on impact.  Luckily, both drive and spotter are alright and have managed to get the vehicle running again for more action tomorrow.

As for Tracy and The Rock Bug, the day went great.  The Dana 300 is still acting up (that story seems to never end), but all in all they were both in great form and finished the day in 1st place.  Troy Bailey finished the day right behind them so it is still anyone’s game in Day 2. 

If you were following along on Twitter, chances are you noticed a lag in my updates.  Unfortunately, my iPhone died right as the event started, forcing me to update with only my laptop.  I’m happy to say my iPhone is back in action and should be ready to go on Day 2.  In the meantime, enjoy the course videos below of the Rock Bug from Day 1 and we’ll see you back here again for Day 2s wrap-up.  Also, be sure to check out the final scores of both The Unlimited Class and The Pro-Mod Class from Day 1.

Course B3

Course B4

Course B1, Part 1

Course B1, Part 2

Course B2