Dirt Nitro Challenge 2025 Reno Savoya report and setups

The Dirt Nitro Challenge: an unforgettable experience in Perris, California

How do you introduce the Dirt Nitro Challenge?

You take one of the most beautiful places on earth for RC, the United States, add a touch of Californian chill, 700 cars for around 300 drivers, shake it all up and you've got probably THE toughest race I've been to in years.

Indeed, the little sleep accumulated over a week, the little driving and the “old-fashioned” track conditions with ruts and holes all contribute to the great party that is the Dirt Nitro Challenge. This 2025 vintage was no exception to the rule, but what a blast!

The trip: an adventure full of twists and turns

My last trip to the USA was in 2023, so I was really excited at the prospect of taking part in this event! This year, the Kyosho team is stronger than ever, and it's a real pleasure to meet up with “the youngsters” to share my experience of the car and my sensations, in order to help them reach the best finishes possible.

However, just a few days before the start, my wife's grandmother passed away during the Agathoise race, which had a slight impact on my preparation.

After a poor Montpellier Grand Prix experience, I knew I had to double my efforts to be at the top of my game for this event, which now attracts the best American and European drivers. 

We left on Monday, arriving in Perris in the evening after a time difference of 9 hours. As always, the first night was a bit complicated. Even though I slept a lot on the plane, we naturally woke up at around 3.30-4am, despite our heavy fatigue! Nothing out of common here!

The wifi in the plane doesn't help, as there's always something to do, like editing a video on “how to prepare your body”. And yes, RSRC is growing all the time, and juggling my job as a driver, the shop and my family life is sometimes a challenge, especially when the days are only 24 hours long!

Tuesday: Preparation and tuning

On Tuesday, my friend Etienne “le bolideur” Chéron and I set off for Montclair, still in California, about an hour from Perris, to practice at the world famous Revelation Raceway.

It was here that we began tuning the cars for the track's specific conditions: dust and bumps. My nitro buggy was originally configured for the Agathoise, so a bit of work was needed to adapt it to the extreme conditions of Perris. Don't imagine keeping hard differentials like we do in in Europe :-)

Let's not even mention the sunburns on the forehead, nose and neck... In March, it's already quite hot, especially when you spend the day in the sun without shelter on the driver stand. The shower on the first evening, although well-deserved, wasn't as pleasant as I'd hoped - it burned like hell, and I had to go quick :-)

But all in all, it was a great day and I feel ready to enjoy the week!

Wednesday: Rain and adjustments

Rain was forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, and indeed it arrived in force on Wednesday afternoon, preventing the nitro buggy from running that day.

This disrupted the program a little, but Joey's team reacted quickly, deciding to concentrate practice on a single 7-minute run per category to give everyone a chance to drive the track before the rain occured.

Thursday: Electric buggy and nitro truggy qualifying

The track is like a lake in the morning: the rain hasn't stopped since midday on Wednesday, and the amount of water that has fallen in that time is enormous. However, the track has been specially designed to evacuate the water as quickly as possible, and the surface is very sandy, which allows a high level of perspiration.

The track opens at 10.30 a.m., and at 11.30 a.m. the team starts the watering rounds all over again!

Indeed, to keep a good groove and moisture in the soil to avoid too much degradation, the track is completely watered by hand by a team of ten or so people every 3/4 heats.

I'll let you enjoy the spectacle of this first nitro truggy qualifying round on my Facebook page :-) It was hot, and a tangle between Robert and Dakotah cost me a few seconds and a better qualifying place.

Instead of the planned 3 qualifying rounds, we were only allowed 2, with only the best round counted.

With only 8 minutes of practice, I have to admit that it was too little for me to feel comfortable and confident. We changed quite a few things on the cars between heats, but without any real conviction.

As the start was delayed, we only had one qualifying run this day in truggy nitro and electric buggy, with a 2nd scheduled for early morning the following day.

Friday: Qualifying continues

2nd qualifying round for the nitro truggy.

I'm still not comfortable and I'm making too many mistakes. It's frustrating because my speed in the 2nd round of electric buggy qualifying is really decent, but I don't capitalize and I qualify for the B main in both classes.

So we start in nitro with a blank sheet of paper, and only 2 minutes of warm-up laps to get a feel for the car and the track. I don't feel comfortable enough to attack, but I'm going to try to do a clean, faultless run. The strategy didn't pay off, because I was a bit too slow, with a 26th time. At this level, only 3s separate me from the 14th fastest time, to give you an idea of the gaps!

In the electric truggy class, I'm still making mistakes. This time, we decided to change everything, to follow to the letter the settings used by Ryan Lutz last year (and this year too). As Marco Barrufolo did it and had an amazing run in Q1, we did the same thing.

The idea is to neutralize the front steering as much as possible, with a thick anti-roll bar, high camber link positions and more droop. At the same time, it's the rear end that does the work, by shortening the top link and straightening the shock absorbers to give the car more rotation from the rear.

We also switched to 5-hole pistons for greater comfort in these extreme conditions! The changes pay off, as the car is much easier to drive and I can get on the gas, while remaining as vigilant as possible on the endless whoops ;-)

In the middle, right to left, half-gas, little bumps, there's no real miracle solution for getting out of it quickly and not losing too much time.

My best run of the week, I set the 10th fastest time, just a few seconds behind the best. I made it into the A final at the last spot, in 14th position. The finals were made up of 16 drivers, 14 of whom had qualified directly, plus 2 bump ups from the lower finals.

With this confidence boost, we apply this setup change to the nitro buggy for the 2nd heat. Mistake :-) And yes, it would have been too good to be true. As the geometries, weight distribution and needs of the cars were very different, the results were not as good. Every lap going through the whopps is random, as is my positioning before the bumps. I'm still making too many mistakes, and in 39th place, I'm really unhappy with myself.

I'm always my worst enemy, and I'm still looking for the best, but I'm keeping my chin up and my eyes on the prize! It's hard to have fun on the track with so little confidence, but we're having such a great time in our Kyosho container and with all the other drivers at the race in general, so I'm taking 100% advantage of the chance I've got and taking my notes again to get off to a good start.

Saturday: A fresh start

A good night of sleep and we're ready for the penultimate day of racing. As you've guessed, with the categories alternating, it's electric buggy and nitro truggy finals day.

10 minutes of the electric B final. I got off to a good start and soon found myself in 6th place, despite my position 12 on the grid. Then I made a big mistake. Over 10 minutes, it's very difficult to get back up to to the top spot after a crash, or you would take too much risk. All the drivers make a lot of mistakes, but it's not enough to come back. I take advantage of this extra track time to look for other lines for the truggy main, without really worrying about the final result, and I finish in 12th place, 26th overall.

In the nitro truggy, I'm fairly confident, as we've fully applied the electric truggy setup. However, I made the mistake of starting with tires that were too soft. In fact, the track is usually watered before each final, which immediately lowers its temperature and allows us to use softer tires.

This was not done before the B final. I got off to another good start, but the already very dry track meant that my tires would overheat and really limit their effectiveness. My lap times didn't go quicker and I couldn't catch the leading group despite the attack!

I watch the A final with admiration. I love the race, it's always frustrating not to be in the last group, but it's always interesting to see and learn from the others. What a race!

Just when it looked like everything was under control for Ryan Maifield, the younger and more aggressive Seth Van Dalen rode a terrific race to take the lead and win the truggy main event.

Sunday: The last day

It's already the last day.

Even though I miss my family and it's getting harder and harder to get away from them every time, I don't want to go back.

I love this country so much, the people and the way of life!

On the program: 7-minute practice for the electric truggy final, then my 20-minute C final and finally the A final.

The truggy practice did go well. I try a different tire tread, and my times are good. The truggy class in these conditions is a real cheater: you feel the holes a lot less, and you can put the throttle on, which is cool :-).

A few more changes to the car to make it more comfortable before the 20-minute final. I'm back at my basic setup for a track in these conditions, which is close to the one I used when I finished 8th in 2023.

I chose to stick with my tire choice of the week, Neutron Ultra soft, despite a lot of hesitation. Today is the hottest day, and the track dries very quickly. Even though I was on the pace at the start of the race, I made the same mistake as yesterday by starting with tires that were too soft. With the heat, the pins lie down too much and the tire loses efficiency. I should have started with Super Soft at least.

A little more experience gained on a range of tires I've only been using for 12 months!

Now it's time for the show, my last 10 minutes on the track, for fun in the A etruggy final! I'm playing in the middle of the pack at the start, then suffer a big attack that takes me off the track... It's a bit of a game in this race, with no real referee: either you take out, or you get taken out... Over 10 minutes, you start last and you don't come back... End of the show, 15th, I bring back a trophy plate for my girls, they'll be happy :-)

EPILOGUE

I've had a few nice comments on the net, one of which made me laugh out loud. Of course, I know that at nearly 40, I've got nothing left to prove in this business, and I continue to go to the races with envy, but above all with passion!

Age is just a number, and I'm well aware that I don't have the speed I used to, especially as I no longer have the same priorities! As I always say, it all depends on where you put your focus. Some drivers in France today will give their all to win a local race, i.e. go and train beforehand on a French Championship track, so as to be as much prepared as possible for the race.

Others will spend hours in the VRC simulator... I managed to prepare properly once last year, for the European Championship. So I know that it's possible and that I have all the cards in my hand to be very strong again this season. I've also got big plans for RSRC over the coming months, which will take us to the next level... Stay tuned!

Setups

See you soon for a new episode!

The Shark

Reno Savoya