Division 5 in a small arena like the Double Drum makes for two things intensely bloody combat, and ingenious design strategies. The most notable winning design was a ram cycle, complete with roll cage. Micromissile-tossing trikes, AT Guns w/AFPSDS ammo, rocket-boosted ram cars and other devious nickel designs moved violently through the field, each one trying to be the first to score two kills. Out of 32 entrants, seven went on to …
The Eliminations round was a Division 25 event. American club champions, previous world champion finalists and the winners of the at-large qualifiers pushed their dueling skills to the limit at the Dumbarton Slalom in Orange County, California. The twelve players were divided into two six-player arenas. All participants started out at the same end of the arena, and the first three to loop around the two concrete blocks at the far end and return to the starting line won.
There were three restrictions on this event: No vehicle may fire, ram or be fired upon until it has passed the pylons after the first choke point; no gas engines or gas tanks may be used; no dropped weapons may be used.
Rocket boosters and confetti were the major themes of this event - more people died at the hands of excessive speed than firepower. The far end of each field was literally coated with scrap metal and plastic by game's end, making the return for more cautious drivers just as dangerous as it was for the speed demons. The six who continued on to the semi-finals did so almost by default - everyone else was dead or disabled.
The Gladiator Arena in Chicago, Illinois hosted the Division 10 semi-final round. Regional champions, overseas club champions and previous world champions joined the six survivors of the eliminations round to compete for a place in the final event. Again, rocket-assisted speed was the norm as cycles and small cars spun around (and occasionally off) the triple-loop racetrack, racking up kills and completing laps. Out of the seventeen who went in, only seven moved on.
The remaining seven competitors (Mike Arnold, Mike Montgomery, Tim Ray, Joe Rudynski, Mike Smith, Matthew Smith, and Jason Wallace) met with defending champion Jeff Boe in the Stardust Memorial Racetrack - a double figure-eight sunken racetrack located near St. Paul, Minnesota. The event was a modified Four-On-the-Floor, with all racers starting in the center intersection, facing outward, at 40 mph. Points during the event were awarded as follows:
Firepower kill 2 points
Mobility kill 2 points Losing firepower or mobility -1 point Completing a short loop 3 points Completing a long loop 5 points Crewmember death -1 point
The race was over the instant any competitor reached 15 points or, failing that, after 30 game seconds had passed. Second- and third-place finishers were computed based on points earned up to that time. No weapons fire was allowed until at least one vehicle completed a loop and crossed the center intersection.
The first few seconds passed uneventfully, as the competitors spread out over the track.
Six seconds. Jeff Boe takes an early lead, topping out at 180 mph in six seconds in his nitrous-burning trike, the Inferno, and being the first to complete a long loop, netting him 5 points. NOMAD Joe Rudynski and RDADA President Tim Ray trade light fire as both race around the opposite loop.
Eight seconds. Mike Montgomery pushes Karla's Kompanion up to 180 mph, following close behind Jeff Boe and tying him for first place.
Nine seconds. All hell breaks loose: Jason Wallace, Mike Smith, Mike Arnold, and Matt Smith all complete short laps for 3 points each. Mike Smith swerves into Jeff Boe's path for a head-on sideswipe at a total speed of 280 mph. Boe's trike loses its grip on the pavement, fishtails and rolls. Boe manages to trigger a drag chute, slowing him considerably, so that he's only lightly killed when his trike slams into the wall at the end of the straightaway earning Mike Smith a 4-point kill.
Ten seconds. Joe Rudynski earns first blood, laying into Tim Ray's trike with a VMG burst for the first weapon hit of the race.
Eleven seconds. Tim Ray completes a long loop for 5 points, with Joe Rudynski and Matt Smith following close behind. Too close, it turns out, as Rudynski and Smith suffer a light sideswipe and skid away from each other.
Twelve seconds. Mike Arnold takes out Mike Smith, immediately reducing the level of name confusion by a third.
Thirteen seconds. Tim Ray and Mike Montgomery both hit 150 mph simultaneously while tearing around opposite ends of the track.
Fourteen seconds. Montgomery crosses the center intersection for his second 5-point loop, putting him in the lead.
Fifteen seconds. Tim Ray completes a short loop, putting him in second place with 8 points.
Sixteen seconds. Mike Arnold completes a short loop, tying him for first with Mike Montgomery at 10 points each.
Seventeen seconds. Jason Wallace completes a long lap, tying him for second with Tim Ray at 8 points.
Eighteen seconds. Following close behind, Joe Rudynski also completes a long loop, giving him 5 points.
Nineteen seconds. Tim Ray, at blinding speeds, completes another short loop, bringing him into the lead with 11 points. Jason Wallace and Joe Rudynski barrel into Mike Montgomery's path. Joe fires his VMG at Mike, who shrugs off the hit.
Twenty seconds. Joe Rudynski retires from dueling in a blaze of auto parts after a head-on collision with Mike Montgomery.
Twenty-one seconds. Mike M. spins out after losing his rear tire, and ditches his trike (-2 points) to attempt a running finish of his final lap.
Twenty-two seconds. Tim Ray pulls alongside Mike Arnold, turns hard and rams him for a complete kill, bringing his total to 15 points and the World Champion title for 2039. Mike Montgomery takes second place with 12 points, and Jason Wallace and Matt Smith tie for third with 8 points each.
The final standings were:
Tim Ray:15 points, Mike Montgomery: 12 points, Jason Wallace: 8 points, Matt Smith: 8 points, Mike Arnold: 7 points, Mike Smith: 4 points, Jeff Boe: 2 points, Joe Rudynski: 2 points.
Tim Ray's winning design, the Yellow Rose Express, is a high-performance racing trike powered by an electric plant, featuring impressive road-holding ability, a metal ramplate front and a recoilless rifle to the right. Here are the stats:
Yellow Rose Express - Hvy. reversed trike, hvy. chassis, hvy. suspension, super trike plant with platinum catalysts and superconductors, 3 cycle slicks, driver, RR with HEAT ammo right, improved supercharger capacitor, streamlining, HD shocks, overdrive. Metal/plastic armor: Fl 0/0 (ramplate), R0/10, L0/12, B100, T0, U0. Acceleration 10, top speed 150, HC 5; 2,760 lbs., $14,865.
The first AADA World Racing Championship was held at Gencon. David Ladyman hosted the two-round event, and drew in 42 competitors from around the country.
The first round featured Division 15 Sprint cars on a small banked oval track with a single objective - pass other cars. Out of the original 42 entries, eight survived the carnage to go on to the second round.
The second round used Division 25 Indy cars on a 72" diameter circular arena, with a 4" circular pressure plate in the center and eight gates spread evenly around the outer edge. The eight finalists started evenly spaced around the arena's outer edge (between gates), at 0 mph. The contest's objective was to
The emphasis of the whole event was definitely on speed.
Early casualties: Jacob Abrams (of the Beer Town Boys, Milwaukee, WI) and Glen Murie (of Appleton, WI) began shooting at each other's tires as they passed through the center, side by side. Murie blew off Abrams' near front tire - Abrams, spinning Out, collided with the outer wall at 70 mph. Abrams' tire, now an obstacle, took out Murie's near front tire. Murie momentarily maintained control, but as he attempted the turn between the gate an Abrams' wreck, he lost control and hit Abrams and the wall at 130 mph.
Everyone else learned from this example of weaponfire at high speed. Jeff Wilder (Louisville, KY) and Jeff Rakow (Aurora, IL) ran side-by-side throughout the event, Wilder with an electric plant, Rakow with gas. After narrowly passing each other through opposite ends of the same gate, they sprinted for the finish. Wilder pushed his plant repeatedly to keep pace with Rakow, and they passed into the final circle in the same inch of same phase, both at 190 mph, absolutely side by side - the first absolute tie in AADA World Championship history.
