Greg Degani: Why He Is the First American 1/8 Off-Road World Champion
Greg Degani became the first American to win the IFMAR 1/8 Off-Road World Championship in 2002—but the road to victory in Uruguay was absolutely wild. In this episode of Stories of a World Champion…
About this video
Greg Degani became the first American to win the IFMAR 1/8 Off-Road World Championship in 2002—but the road to victory in Uruguay was absolutely wild.
In this episode of Stories of a World Champion, Greg explains his secret practice trip with Chad Bradley, the tire strategy that changed everything, starting the final with a crash, chasing down Richard Saxton and surviving a broken pressure nipple. He also reveals how much he was paid for winning the World Championship and what happened to his championship-winning car and engine.
This is the unforgettable story of the hero American RC racing didn’t expect—but needed.
Subscribe as the NNRC continues its Road to the Worlds coverage ahead of the 2026 IFMAR World Championship in Texas.
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⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 – Intro and supporting the NNRC
02:24 – Introducing Greg Degani’s 2002 Worlds story
06:47 – Richard Saxton, Kyosho and the road to 2002
14:01 – Greg’s East Coast racing success
18:09 – The tire business and joining Sidewinder
21:51 – Developing Sidewinder’s Worlds Blend
23:30 – Greg and Chad Bradley secretly practice in Uruguay
25:50 – Qualifying second behind Richard Saxton
26:54 – Crashing on the first corner of the final
27:57 – Testing tires for the 60-minute race
30:31 – The secret Pro-Line Knuckles tire story
34:54 – Catching Saxton for the lead
35:59 – Saxton misses his fuel stops
37:14 – Greg cruises toward the World Championship
38:00 – The broken pressure nipple that nearly ended it
39:31 – America finally wins the IFMAR Worlds
40:34 – How much Greg earned for winning
45:43 – What happened to the Worlds-winning car
46:13 – How racers prepared for major events in the 2000s
48:41 – The championship engine’s final run
50:00 – Outro
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