Maifield to quit AE

[skeeter]

 Maifield to quit AE Thread

[skeeter]

Checkout this great article on rc news.

Word of Wheels Logo
Welcome to the first edition of “The Word of Wheels”! Let me take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Mike Garrison.

I was born and raised in America’s heartland with a passion for racing. I grew up racing motocross with hopes and dreams of becoming a professional rider, however, in late 2006 I was involved in a crash during a race that shattered my spine and left me paralyzed from the chest down. Some might think of this as a terribly tragic situation, however, I personally don’t mind the front row parking and ability to roll at Mach 1 speeds down hills.

Needless to say my whole life has been on wheels. Starting with motocross at the age of 4, and moving on to R/C cars and wheelchairs at the age of 18. This all combined has resulted in the nickname “Wheels”…hints the title of this column “The Word of Wheels”!

“Gossip in the pits this past weekend mentioned something of a possible departure from Team Associated by Ryan Maifield following the event.”

Normally for the first edition of an editorial such as this, one might discuss something like their favorite hobbies, or their politically correct family outing over the past weekend. For the first edition of “The Word of Wheels” we are jumping straight into the lion’s den wearing cat’s pajamas.

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In high school there was nothing worse than rumors and gossip.

In R/C car racing, however, there is nothing better than hearing the latest rumors and gossip. Like any good rumor there is usually 2.8% truth mixed with 96.2% fairy tale, and 1% of some unknown substance (eye of newt?) that the rumor acquires as its passed from one person to the next.

Over the past weekend at the ROAR 1/8 Offroad Gas Nationals hosted by Thornhill Racing Circuit in Hutto, Texas, we heard lots rumors and gossip. Everything from UPS has beef with Team Durango, and purposely sabotaged Travis Amezcua’s weekend by delaying the delivery of his car to Jason Ruona of JConcepts playing the role of Peter Parker in the next Spiderman movie. While they were all entertaining to say the least, there is one rumor that caught our attention, and upon further investigation continued to intrigue us.

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It is no secret that over the past six months one company who has struggled in the 1/8 buggy department is Team Associated. While the company is obviously capable of producing championship winning vehicles, lady luck has not been on their side in terms of progress to their 1/8 buggy program. In 2013, we saw the RC8.2 buggy make it’s appearance with a heavily modified front and rear end for the factory drivers (which closely resembles the Kyosho MP9).

Earlier this year we saw the debut of an entirely new buggy (the RC8 B2 prototype), but with little success. This past weekend the AE team was back running the “old” RC8/MP9 car as the new buggy has apparently been left behind.

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While there are plenty of rumors regarding a new car from Team Associated, the rumor we focused in on was about WHO would be driving the car for Team Associated…or rather who might NOT be. Everything is bigger in Texas, and so is the gossip. Gossip in the pits this past weekend mentioned something of a possible departure from Team Associated by Ryan Maifield following the event.

This at first seemed to be a far cry from the truth, as he was born and raised on AE, but upon further investigation doesn’t necessarily seem too far from the truth.

After catching wind of the “Maifield’s moving” rumor, we began to keep a close eye on him. If he was spotted at the Kyosho tent chatting with Jared Tebo, we wouldn’t be all that suspicious as they are long-time friends, however, if Maifield were to spend extended amounts of time at a team tent such as TLR (where to our knowledge he has no long-term pen pal arrangements) that would be rather odd.

Well folks, as odd as that may be, that is EXACTLY what he did. Ryan was spotted multiple times mingling with the TLR crew, cars, and drivers (something we have NEVER seen Ryan Maifield do in the past).

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(Ryan enjoys a coffee break with TLR’s Adam Drake.)

So is it possible that Ryan is planning to leave AE for TLR? While Maifield has had huge success over the years with AE, he has also encountered huge frustration and disappointment it would seem. From his Reedy engine struggles, to his disapproval of the new RC8 B2 buggy. In an effort to solve his issues he first joined Novarossi engines (engine choice of TLR’s Adam Drake). IF he were to leave Team Associated, he would also be leaving Reedy electronics for his 1/10 scale program.

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(It’s not often you see the blue shirts and black shirts spending such quality time together.)

Earlier this month Team Orion (electronics choice of TLR’s Dakotah Phend and Dustin Evans) announced a super star driver joining the team soon, yet refused to announce his/her name until this coming July. Is the rumor of Maifield leaving AE for TLR, his switch from LRP to Novarossi, and the mysterious Team Orion “super star” announcement simply a coincidence…or could it all be connected as one of the most striking team changes we’ve seen in years?

On the flip side of all of that, this past weekend’s ROAR 1/8 Offroad Nationals looked to be all about Dakotah Phend and Ty Tessmann, however, Ryan Maifield would prove otherwise. Driving his Team Associated RC8 platform, Maifield would put in one of the most spectacular charges for a Nationals victory we have ever seen. Maifield and Tessmann charged hard at one another down to the final few seconds of the race in 1/8 Buggy. While Tessmann would take the win, there is no question that Ryan Maifield and his Team Associated ride were on rails, and was definitely a championship title contender.

So is the rumor of Ryan Maifield leaving Team Associated for TLR true? We’ll let you decide…

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[matrix]

I have seen pictures online, seeing ryan use kyosho parts on hos car.

[osmosis]

I think that he (Maifield) should just run for AE. I dont see him leaving AE, due to the fact that he has been there for a very long time. Also given that this year is worlds, dont think that he would want to switch car during mid-season.

[RC Mamba]

He should do The Decision like Lebron James.

[mrrc10]

Jun 27, 2014 23:21:49 GMT RC Mamba said:

He should do The Decision like Lebron James.

LOL, all jokes aside, Now that he supposedly will run for TLR he is going to be beast.

[kyoshoracer]

Jun 28, 2014 23:13:20 GMT mrrc10 said:

Jun 27, 2014 23:21:49 GMT RC Mamba said:

He should do The Decision like Lebron James.

LOL, all jokes aside, Now that he supposedly will run for TLR he is going to be beast.

It would be cool Maifield run for like HB or Kyosho, with everything I have been hearing TLR is most likely to pick him up.

[RC Mamba]

I thought associated had better kits than losi.

[matrix]

Checkout this article

www.rcnews.net/2014/06/24/word-of-wheels-1-ryan-maifield-to-tlr/

[superrcracer]

Jun 30, 2014 21:15:42 GMT RC Mamba said:

I thought associated had better kits than losi.

I would say in short course Losi make a better kits.

[RC Mamba]

Jul 2, 2014 19:08:06 GMT superrcracer said:

Jun 30, 2014 21:15:42 GMT RC Mamba said:

I thought associated had better kits than losi.

I would say in short course Losi make a better kits.

Losi makes a good 4 wd sc truck.

[mrrc10]

Checkout Ryan Maifield Interview.

[superrcracer]

Jul 9, 2014 4:11:57 GMT mrrc10 said:

Checkout Ryan Maifield Interview.

Those buggys look weird with TLR decals!!