My Traxxas Slash finally made its debut on dirt this past weekend. Local Riverton Racer Nic Watts and I headed down to Rock Springs to participate in the opening weekend of the Sweetwater RC Club racing and their points race. For a club race, it was outstanding with door prizes given away to all entries into the Short Course Point Series classes. Nic's name came up 3rd and he got a set of Pro-Line Bow Tie tires. My name came up 5th and I picked up red aluminum shock caps for my Slash. They plan to continue to have door prizes during every club race this season. So really, if the drive is close, you should consider visiting!
This year, SWRC added a new dirt track geared specifically for 1/10th style racing. They now have two tracks, a 1/8th track that is roughly 150x100 feet in size. (IT'S BIG!!) and a 1/10th track that looks to be around 80x50 or so. Give or take.
The normal crew of guys I like to run with down there were all entered in the stock class, but Nic was only setup to run in the open class. I decided to follow Nic and run in the open class as well. For the first two qualifiers, I ran my RTR gear in my slash, while slowly working on getting my brushless system setup. Even with my RTR gear I was able to qualify in 3rd. I should have had 2nd place wrapped up, but coming down the straight on the final lap, I got to throttle happy and spun out losing the ground needed to move up to 2nd place.
For the main, I had managed to get a brushless system up and running. I used a GTB ESC and an LRP x12 13.5 motor. I started off poorly on the land rush start, ending up near the back as I banged my way through. On the first lap I found myself in 4th place. Within a couple of laps I managed to work myself up to 2nd, but due to some driver brain issues fell back to 4th again. Once again, I worked my way to 3rd where I held onto it the rest of the race. Unfortunately a bobble on the last lap prevented me from getting through the timing loop by one second, otherwise I would have finished in 2nd place, as the 2nd place car had Thermaled about 20 seconds before the end of the race.
The new track is very friendly on the cars, a little dusty and dry, but hopefully they can get some sugar on it to help bring the traction levels up in the near future. Until next time! Keep the wheels down!
Paul
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Colorado Carpet Challenge
In Mid-April I attended my second carpet trophy race in as many months. The CCC is hosted in Denver by the Colorado On-Road Racing Club. (CORRC). They have a permanent facility which makes for quite a different environment than racing in Billings. There track is smaller, but the traction is much higher. Additionally, while Billings is primarily a 1/12th Scale race with some TC thrown into the mix, Denver is primarily a TC track with a little of 1/12th thrown in.
This was my first race with a Tekin RS Pro ESC in my Touring car. Wow does that thing have rip! Unfortunately for me, I only had one, so I had to make a choice and chose TC over my 1/12th car. I also ran in VTA with my Losi XXX-S.
In 1/12th, we ran Super Stock (13.5) Motors. As it turned out, my car was at its best in the first round and went down hill from there. My 1st heat was my fastest and each heat after that I progressively got worse. I continued to work on my car, and finally manned up and asked Brian Wynn who was sitting across from me for advice. Upon his suggestion, I took out camber in the front. This helped, but caused my car to push in the main. Thus I continued my downward spiral in the class.
In Touring Car, I had car issues all weekend long. During the second qualifier I blew out my servo. I limped through it the third qualifier and changed it out that evening. I thought my car was in excellent shape and ready to go. In the LCQ on Sunday, I hit the track running, only to still have handling issues.As a result I was in the C Main, but not in last at least! I did learn a lot about tuning a car during this event though. Unfortunately in the main, I did even worse. My front spool came loose so my car went very inconsistent in the race. But I still managed to finish where I started and didn't finish in last! Woohoo.
In VTA, we had a stacked group of cars. My car had constant rollover issues all weekend long. I finally managed to get it solved before the LCQ when the unthinkable happened. I crashed into the boards and sent my battery flying down the track. My much improved run was thrashed there thus I was relagated to the 11th out of 13th spot in VTA. (All 13 cars ran in the main). In the main, I dove to the inside, but was flipped up and over the railing on my lid. So by the time I got righted, I was already 3/4 of a lap down. I managed to make my way back up and finished in 9th place by the end of the day. Overall, my car still had traction rolling issues that I'll need to work on solving the next time I visit a high traction carpet track.
Overall the CORRC group put on a nice event. It was well organized and ran quickly. I was surrounded by quite a few drivers that had won their fair share of nationals or competed in world events as well. That was quite interesting.
Next up I will be heading down to Rock Springs to race in their Season Opening Club Race. For this one, I'll only be racing Short Course, as my other battery will be borrowed by Nic to run his new Kyosho Ultima SC truck as well.
Cya,
Paul
This was my first race with a Tekin RS Pro ESC in my Touring car. Wow does that thing have rip! Unfortunately for me, I only had one, so I had to make a choice and chose TC over my 1/12th car. I also ran in VTA with my Losi XXX-S.
In 1/12th, we ran Super Stock (13.5) Motors. As it turned out, my car was at its best in the first round and went down hill from there. My 1st heat was my fastest and each heat after that I progressively got worse. I continued to work on my car, and finally manned up and asked Brian Wynn who was sitting across from me for advice. Upon his suggestion, I took out camber in the front. This helped, but caused my car to push in the main. Thus I continued my downward spiral in the class.
In Touring Car, I had car issues all weekend long. During the second qualifier I blew out my servo. I limped through it the third qualifier and changed it out that evening. I thought my car was in excellent shape and ready to go. In the LCQ on Sunday, I hit the track running, only to still have handling issues.As a result I was in the C Main, but not in last at least! I did learn a lot about tuning a car during this event though. Unfortunately in the main, I did even worse. My front spool came loose so my car went very inconsistent in the race. But I still managed to finish where I started and didn't finish in last! Woohoo.
In VTA, we had a stacked group of cars. My car had constant rollover issues all weekend long. I finally managed to get it solved before the LCQ when the unthinkable happened. I crashed into the boards and sent my battery flying down the track. My much improved run was thrashed there thus I was relagated to the 11th out of 13th spot in VTA. (All 13 cars ran in the main). In the main, I dove to the inside, but was flipped up and over the railing on my lid. So by the time I got righted, I was already 3/4 of a lap down. I managed to make my way back up and finished in 9th place by the end of the day. Overall, my car still had traction rolling issues that I'll need to work on solving the next time I visit a high traction carpet track.
Overall the CORRC group put on a nice event. It was well organized and ran quickly. I was surrounded by quite a few drivers that had won their fair share of nationals or competed in world events as well. That was quite interesting.
Next up I will be heading down to Rock Springs to race in their Season Opening Club Race. For this one, I'll only be racing Short Course, as my other battery will be borrowed by Nic to run his new Kyosho Ultima SC truck as well.
Cya,
Paul
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Mains from the 20th Magic City Classic
Well it's time for the mains... Since they were running bump ups, they ran all the B Mains first.
B Main Stock Touring Car
I had qualified 4th in the B Main out of 7 cars. The car was quite a bit better, and I ran quite well by my own standards. I started off in 4th place, and by the 2nd lap dropped down to 5th. From there I never really had any major issues, a couple of bobbles that would cost me 2 or 3 seconds on a couple of laps, but i held onto 5th place quite well, finishing 7 seconds behind 4th, and several laps head of 6th and 7th place. Overall, I learned quite a bit on working on my Touring car through the weekend and came away quite satisfied with the car. Additionally, I had finally found the appropriate gear ratio for the track's speed. a 56 tooth pinion gear! Wooo
B Main 1/12th Super Stock
My motor was still cool after the 4th qualifier, so i geared it up even more. I had qualified 2nd in the B main out of six cars. To have a chance to bump up I needed to finish in the top two. The race started off and I started off in 2nd place and held it for the first few laps. Then I was caught and passed by the eventual winner. I maintained 3rd place for quite a bit longer, but eventually fell to the 4th place spot. The 5th and 6th place cars were out of the race, so I was effectively running in last place. However as the rain came along, both the 2nd and 3rd place cars started losing their grip. My car was keeping the same level of grip and runing the same lap times. I hunkered down and after spending 5 laps in 4th place, I managed to make the pass and move into 3rd place. That car's laptimes went from 11 seconds to 15+ seconds per lap as his traction completely went away. Spending 4 more laps in 3rd, I caught back up to second place while he was on his lid and made the clean pass to move into 2nd place. The 3rd place car eventually crashed out, and I was able to catch up to the rear of the 4th place car. At this point, I relaxed my driving, and waited for him to make a mistake. When he did, I made the easy pass, and cruised for a nice solid second place finish. I managed to qualify into the A Main.
On a note, I believe I was the only one running the GTB ESC. My car had the slowest lap time by almost a full second. Yet because my car's handling was so dialed, I was able to run a consistent 8 minutes bumping myself into the A Main.
A Main US Vintage Trans Am
This race I was a bit nervous for. My car was still traction rolling, and I was having issues all weekend with it. The competition was much greater, and a few guys were flaunting the rules and running boosted Speedos. They inverted the starting order, and since I had qualified in 8th place, that meant I was starting 3rd on the grid. When the tone sounded, I punched the throttle out of the Lemans starting style and managed to get inside position on both the 1st and 2nd place cars. As we continued through the lap, I was able to avoid any contact and made it through unscathed. By some surprise I even managed to lead the first lap, even though i knew it wouldn't last. The TQ running his boosted Tekin was already in second place. I let him by and was in 3rd place on the second lap. That next lap I crashed and dropped to 7th place. I was running strong in that position, and eventually caught the 6th place car sticking a pass on him. I was holding it for quite a few laps with him on my tail. However, I couldn't hold it and with about a minute and a half left in the race, I wrecked letting him by. I managed to hold onto the 7th place spot, improving over my qualifying spot by one position.
A Main 1/12th Super Stock
I was a bit worried about this main. I only have a single pack for my 1/12th and had to throw it on the charger immediately after my b-main. Then while packing up my gear, my wife accidentally unplugged my charger. It was only off the charger for about 5 minutes, but that made me worry even more. Luckily due to a couple of track delays, my battery was charged in time, and I made it out on time to start in the 10th and final position. Knowing that I was in last place, I knew there would be a pileup in the first turn. So I didn't bother to hit the guns when the tone sounded. Instead I stayed as close to the inside pipe as possible and avoided most of the carnage. However, I did get tagged by a car pulling in on me and hitting me in the side. I was able to keep moving and had moved up to the 5th position on the first lap. On my second lap though, I bobbled, going back to 8th position. I eventually worked my way up to 7th place, then 6th for a lap, then I got myself into 5th place for a lap. I then got into it with one of the leaders a bit (Sorry Mario!) and dropped back to 7th, and then 8th. I worked by may back to 7th, then 6th place. Unfortunately it all went downhill here. I wrecked in the corkscrew with my closest marshall 3 lanes of traffic away from my car. By the time he got to me, I was in 10th place and basically out of the running. I drove the car hardand with about 30 seconds to go in the race, the 8th place car had a bad crash that left him out for quite a while. I was able to get back into 9th place where I would finish the race.
Overall the car ran well. Again my car was the slowest of the group, but outside of the lead pack, my car had the least amount of fall out thus I felt that I had I been able to avoid the long marshalling issue, I probably could have made a decent run at a Top 5 finish. As it stood out, I was part of a mix of 6 cars on the same lap at the end.
As always the Billings crew put on an excellent event. I had a lot of fun, and learned quite a bit. This was the first time in a long time that I had to spend so much time working on the setup for a car. I learned a lot by doing that, and I hope to take the success to my next race.
My next race will be the Carpet City Classic in Denver Colorado. I hope to see some of you there.
B Main Stock Touring Car
I had qualified 4th in the B Main out of 7 cars. The car was quite a bit better, and I ran quite well by my own standards. I started off in 4th place, and by the 2nd lap dropped down to 5th. From there I never really had any major issues, a couple of bobbles that would cost me 2 or 3 seconds on a couple of laps, but i held onto 5th place quite well, finishing 7 seconds behind 4th, and several laps head of 6th and 7th place. Overall, I learned quite a bit on working on my Touring car through the weekend and came away quite satisfied with the car. Additionally, I had finally found the appropriate gear ratio for the track's speed. a 56 tooth pinion gear! Wooo
B Main 1/12th Super Stock
My motor was still cool after the 4th qualifier, so i geared it up even more. I had qualified 2nd in the B main out of six cars. To have a chance to bump up I needed to finish in the top two. The race started off and I started off in 2nd place and held it for the first few laps. Then I was caught and passed by the eventual winner. I maintained 3rd place for quite a bit longer, but eventually fell to the 4th place spot. The 5th and 6th place cars were out of the race, so I was effectively running in last place. However as the rain came along, both the 2nd and 3rd place cars started losing their grip. My car was keeping the same level of grip and runing the same lap times. I hunkered down and after spending 5 laps in 4th place, I managed to make the pass and move into 3rd place. That car's laptimes went from 11 seconds to 15+ seconds per lap as his traction completely went away. Spending 4 more laps in 3rd, I caught back up to second place while he was on his lid and made the clean pass to move into 2nd place. The 3rd place car eventually crashed out, and I was able to catch up to the rear of the 4th place car. At this point, I relaxed my driving, and waited for him to make a mistake. When he did, I made the easy pass, and cruised for a nice solid second place finish. I managed to qualify into the A Main.
On a note, I believe I was the only one running the GTB ESC. My car had the slowest lap time by almost a full second. Yet because my car's handling was so dialed, I was able to run a consistent 8 minutes bumping myself into the A Main.
A Main US Vintage Trans Am
This race I was a bit nervous for. My car was still traction rolling, and I was having issues all weekend with it. The competition was much greater, and a few guys were flaunting the rules and running boosted Speedos. They inverted the starting order, and since I had qualified in 8th place, that meant I was starting 3rd on the grid. When the tone sounded, I punched the throttle out of the Lemans starting style and managed to get inside position on both the 1st and 2nd place cars. As we continued through the lap, I was able to avoid any contact and made it through unscathed. By some surprise I even managed to lead the first lap, even though i knew it wouldn't last. The TQ running his boosted Tekin was already in second place. I let him by and was in 3rd place on the second lap. That next lap I crashed and dropped to 7th place. I was running strong in that position, and eventually caught the 6th place car sticking a pass on him. I was holding it for quite a few laps with him on my tail. However, I couldn't hold it and with about a minute and a half left in the race, I wrecked letting him by. I managed to hold onto the 7th place spot, improving over my qualifying spot by one position.
A Main 1/12th Super Stock
I was a bit worried about this main. I only have a single pack for my 1/12th and had to throw it on the charger immediately after my b-main. Then while packing up my gear, my wife accidentally unplugged my charger. It was only off the charger for about 5 minutes, but that made me worry even more. Luckily due to a couple of track delays, my battery was charged in time, and I made it out on time to start in the 10th and final position. Knowing that I was in last place, I knew there would be a pileup in the first turn. So I didn't bother to hit the guns when the tone sounded. Instead I stayed as close to the inside pipe as possible and avoided most of the carnage. However, I did get tagged by a car pulling in on me and hitting me in the side. I was able to keep moving and had moved up to the 5th position on the first lap. On my second lap though, I bobbled, going back to 8th position. I eventually worked my way up to 7th place, then 6th for a lap, then I got myself into 5th place for a lap. I then got into it with one of the leaders a bit (Sorry Mario!) and dropped back to 7th, and then 8th. I worked by may back to 7th, then 6th place. Unfortunately it all went downhill here. I wrecked in the corkscrew with my closest marshall 3 lanes of traffic away from my car. By the time he got to me, I was in 10th place and basically out of the running. I drove the car hardand with about 30 seconds to go in the race, the 8th place car had a bad crash that left him out for quite a while. I was able to get back into 9th place where I would finish the race.
Overall the car ran well. Again my car was the slowest of the group, but outside of the lead pack, my car had the least amount of fall out thus I felt that I had I been able to avoid the long marshalling issue, I probably could have made a decent run at a Top 5 finish. As it stood out, I was part of a mix of 6 cars on the same lap at the end.
As always the Billings crew put on an excellent event. I had a lot of fun, and learned quite a bit. This was the first time in a long time that I had to spend so much time working on the setup for a car. I learned a lot by doing that, and I hope to take the success to my next race.
My next race will be the Carpet City Classic in Denver Colorado. I hope to see some of you there.
Monday, March 15, 2010
20th Magic City Classic
In what is starting to become an annual tradition, Katy and I went up to Billings for the Magic City Classic On-Road Carpet race. This year's event was just as good as last years. More competition, but fewer drivers. The bright note for me, was that they didn't do the short track oval racing this year, which made the day go by much quicker.
Katy and I arrived Thursday to do some shopping. After helping the Billings economy we went out to MacKenzie River Pizza for dinner. Great place to eat! Friday morning, we did a bit more shopping until it was time to head to the track.
We arrived at the track around 3pm found a pit location and setup shop. I started getting out my gear when I realized that I didn't have enough 3.5mm bullet connectors. I ordered some from Stormer earlier in the week, but due to a brain camp, ordered 3 pairs, when I needed 4. Luckily just in case my Stormer order didn't arrive at the hotel... I had another set on hold with a local hobby shop, Central Hobbys. I ran over there and grabbed my spares. When I returned, my Trans Am was ready for the track since its battery was charged. This car had the same setup as last year and upon putting it on the track... it proceeded to handle like crap. I only sauced the rear tires for the practice, so I just assumed that was it. Nope the main issue turned out to be that I need to sauce my tires well before the event to get them softened up for the show. Lesson learned.
Next, my 1/12th car was ready for the track. It handled quite well, and I was worried that I was under geared. Online, I heard most people were gearing between 70 and 80 mm of rollout. I decided to start in the middle at 75.
I went to put my battery in my TC and I realized I had taken off the velcro strip. Without my battery wouldn't stay attached. So what we figured would be an easy fix turned into a 45 minute search as none of the drug stores and grocery stores in Billings carry Velcro. We managed to get to an office store that was still open (only for about 15 more minutes). Once we got back I put my TC on the track. My Touring Car likewise had all sorts of issues. It had to much steering. I slowly made changes to it all weekend bringing the handling under control. It was also under geared.
After the velcro escapade I was tired, so was Katy so we called it a night.
We arrived on Saturday morning as they were turning on the lights. I got my batteries on the chargers, and started to work on my cars. I managed to get a practice in with my TC and VTA. Both had the same issue. My VTA just wouldn't turn and my TC still had to much turning (off power).
After pictures, it was time for qualifying. Touring Car was on deck first. The car still had a really rough time on the track. I just couldn't get my handle on it. I managed to stay out of everyone's way and somehow finished in the Top 10 overall.
Next up was 1/12th Super Stock. I put together a decent run, although the car was undergeared. My car wasn't the fastest, but it was very consistent all weekend long. I didn't have the fading issues some of the other racers had. I ended up qualifying in 8th place to start with.
Lastly was Trans-Am. The car was a pile of junk and I was in last place after the 1st qualifier. I didn't have any steering, and it became apparent I was going to have to modify the setup to get it working.
After a short break it was time for Round two of qualifying. They resorted the heats and I was on my way. I made some adjustments to my TC and they helped, but my steering issue was still there. My time only improved by a second. I ended up dropping to 12th in qualifying.
In 1/12th, I put together another solid solid run, improving by almost 2 laps. However, I still dropped from 8th to 10th.
For VTA, I had an even worse run. It was time to break out the major setup changes for round 3.
The third round of qualifying, the final round for Saturday, went well enough. In Touring Car, my tuning changes were coming around and I managed to get the car to improve by a full lap. However, I was still 12th place.
In 1/12th SS, my car improved slightly, due to a couple of bad wrecks (on my lid). I managed to improve, but only by a half second. As a result I dipped down to #11 in qualifying.
In Trans-Am, my setup changes started paying off. The car gained 3 laps and I managed to bump up to 8th.
After qualifying, I entertained the wife and we went out to dinner at Apple Bee's. It probably helped, as the time change was occurring that night, and without the break, I would have been burned out.
Sunday morning, we went to Cracker Barrel for a good meal. We then headed to the track to prepare for the Last Chance Qualifiers.
I charged up a battery the night before, so that I could get in some practice. During practice, as it did last year, the track conditions had significantly changed. Luckily my new 12r5 did not have the issues that my 12L4 did last year though. It was on rails. I geared it to the moon (86mm rollout) and let er rip for the LCQ. In TC, I also geared it up to my largest pinion gear.
First up was TC, and the car handled differently then the night before. I had a bit of a push. However, I'm not as comfortable with the car, and decided not to make any setup changes after the LCQ and the main. Figuring it was nearly impossible for me to get into the A Main.
My second class of the morning was 1/12th SS. After an early mishap, where I was racing behind somebody who slowed up for a crashed car, I sent us both flying into the pipe. My car made it out, but his didn't. After that I kept the car very clean and managed to bump my self up by 2 laps, finishing 2nd in my qualifier and 10th over all. They decided to run bump ups, meaning the Top 8 cars qualified and 9th and 10th had to race the B Main and bump to the A. Look for my Mains post later to see if I could get myself into the big show.
In Trans Am, my car now had to much steering and the car would roll over on any sweeper turn. I wasn't able to improve my lap time and ended up qualifying in 8th place for the VTA A Main.
Check back soon for videos and commentary about the Mains of the 20th Magic City Classic.
Katy and I arrived Thursday to do some shopping. After helping the Billings economy we went out to MacKenzie River Pizza for dinner. Great place to eat! Friday morning, we did a bit more shopping until it was time to head to the track.
We arrived at the track around 3pm found a pit location and setup shop. I started getting out my gear when I realized that I didn't have enough 3.5mm bullet connectors. I ordered some from Stormer earlier in the week, but due to a brain camp, ordered 3 pairs, when I needed 4. Luckily just in case my Stormer order didn't arrive at the hotel... I had another set on hold with a local hobby shop, Central Hobbys. I ran over there and grabbed my spares. When I returned, my Trans Am was ready for the track since its battery was charged. This car had the same setup as last year and upon putting it on the track... it proceeded to handle like crap. I only sauced the rear tires for the practice, so I just assumed that was it. Nope the main issue turned out to be that I need to sauce my tires well before the event to get them softened up for the show. Lesson learned.
Next, my 1/12th car was ready for the track. It handled quite well, and I was worried that I was under geared. Online, I heard most people were gearing between 70 and 80 mm of rollout. I decided to start in the middle at 75.
I went to put my battery in my TC and I realized I had taken off the velcro strip. Without my battery wouldn't stay attached. So what we figured would be an easy fix turned into a 45 minute search as none of the drug stores and grocery stores in Billings carry Velcro. We managed to get to an office store that was still open (only for about 15 more minutes). Once we got back I put my TC on the track. My Touring Car likewise had all sorts of issues. It had to much steering. I slowly made changes to it all weekend bringing the handling under control. It was also under geared.
After the velcro escapade I was tired, so was Katy so we called it a night.
We arrived on Saturday morning as they were turning on the lights. I got my batteries on the chargers, and started to work on my cars. I managed to get a practice in with my TC and VTA. Both had the same issue. My VTA just wouldn't turn and my TC still had to much turning (off power).
After pictures, it was time for qualifying. Touring Car was on deck first. The car still had a really rough time on the track. I just couldn't get my handle on it. I managed to stay out of everyone's way and somehow finished in the Top 10 overall.
Next up was 1/12th Super Stock. I put together a decent run, although the car was undergeared. My car wasn't the fastest, but it was very consistent all weekend long. I didn't have the fading issues some of the other racers had. I ended up qualifying in 8th place to start with.
Lastly was Trans-Am. The car was a pile of junk and I was in last place after the 1st qualifier. I didn't have any steering, and it became apparent I was going to have to modify the setup to get it working.
After a short break it was time for Round two of qualifying. They resorted the heats and I was on my way. I made some adjustments to my TC and they helped, but my steering issue was still there. My time only improved by a second. I ended up dropping to 12th in qualifying.
In 1/12th, I put together another solid solid run, improving by almost 2 laps. However, I still dropped from 8th to 10th.
For VTA, I had an even worse run. It was time to break out the major setup changes for round 3.
The third round of qualifying, the final round for Saturday, went well enough. In Touring Car, my tuning changes were coming around and I managed to get the car to improve by a full lap. However, I was still 12th place.
In 1/12th SS, my car improved slightly, due to a couple of bad wrecks (on my lid). I managed to improve, but only by a half second. As a result I dipped down to #11 in qualifying.
In Trans-Am, my setup changes started paying off. The car gained 3 laps and I managed to bump up to 8th.
After qualifying, I entertained the wife and we went out to dinner at Apple Bee's. It probably helped, as the time change was occurring that night, and without the break, I would have been burned out.
Sunday morning, we went to Cracker Barrel for a good meal. We then headed to the track to prepare for the Last Chance Qualifiers.
I charged up a battery the night before, so that I could get in some practice. During practice, as it did last year, the track conditions had significantly changed. Luckily my new 12r5 did not have the issues that my 12L4 did last year though. It was on rails. I geared it to the moon (86mm rollout) and let er rip for the LCQ. In TC, I also geared it up to my largest pinion gear.
First up was TC, and the car handled differently then the night before. I had a bit of a push. However, I'm not as comfortable with the car, and decided not to make any setup changes after the LCQ and the main. Figuring it was nearly impossible for me to get into the A Main.
My second class of the morning was 1/12th SS. After an early mishap, where I was racing behind somebody who slowed up for a crashed car, I sent us both flying into the pipe. My car made it out, but his didn't. After that I kept the car very clean and managed to bump my self up by 2 laps, finishing 2nd in my qualifier and 10th over all. They decided to run bump ups, meaning the Top 8 cars qualified and 9th and 10th had to race the B Main and bump to the A. Look for my Mains post later to see if I could get myself into the big show.
In Trans Am, my car now had to much steering and the car would roll over on any sweeper turn. I wasn't able to improve my lap time and ended up qualifying in 8th place for the VTA A Main.
Check back soon for videos and commentary about the Mains of the 20th Magic City Classic.
Monday, February 1, 2010
2010 Ice Melter Race
This Mini-z Race has quietly grown over the past couple of years. Now in its fourth year, the race has grown to include several drivers from out of state. This year we had a record 52 entries across five classes. Our largest class, The Mini-z racer class featured 20 drivers. I raced in the Mini-z Racer and Pan Car classes.
Mini-z Racer features any non-upgraded fets Kyosho Mini-z car. It can be an MR-01, MR-02, the newer 02 with a 2.4 Ghz radio, and the new MR-03 chassis. A total of 20 cars were entered in this class.
F1 includes any Kyosho Mini-z with non-upgraded Fets and can be run with standard or 2.4Ghz radios. A total of 9 cars were entered in this class.
Kyosho Stock class is meant for straight out of the box, and newer drivers. No upgrades, outside of tires are allowed. The stock Kyosho motor must be used. However 2.4Ghz cars are allowed. A total of 6 cars were entered in this class.
Pan Car is any Mini-z chassis with a Pan car body. Fet upgrades are allowed. A total of 12 cars were entered in this class.
NASCAR - Any MR-01 or 01.5 chassis is allowed with the NASCAR style bodies. A total of 5 cars were entered in this class.
This year the race was expanded to a two day event. Like last year the event was held at the Wind River Casino just outside of Riverton, Wyoming. The casino is a great place to host the event, as they have reasonable food prices, a sit down restaurant and free drinks. Plus if you bring along your spouse, she can gamble away your savings while you are racing away your savings.
Day 1
In the first round of qualifying we were seeded based on when our entries were received. I was put into the second group. In the Racer class, I managed to finish very well and was grouped with the A Main. In the first round, I was the highest finisher of the Riverton group as my main competition, Shannon and Nic both had mechanical troubles. In the Pan Car group, it was a much broader group. We had a lot more traffic to deal with. I was grouped with Brian, but same as last year, I did not have enough to keep up with him in this class. He finished in 1st, and I managed to take 2nd place. My finish held up, and I was 2nd qualifier.
We were reseeded after each round of qualifying. I liked this as it grouped similar speed cars together. In both of my classes, I was grouped in with the best. In racer, I was 2nd after the first round of qualifying. Same in Pan Car. In the second round of qualifying I fell to 3rd in my group of cars. Likewise, Nic had fixed his issues and out qualified me bumping me down to 4th place overall. (Top 6 make the main). In pan car I easily held onto 2nd place.
For round 3, in Mini-z Racer I did worse. I ended up having a car back into me on three occasions. I got so frustrated that I stopped pushing it, as I knew I didn't have a chance to improve my qualifying time. In Pan car, knowing I was safely in the 2nd spot, I ran a set of batteries that I had been questioning for a while. Sure enough, the batteries have lost their umph. They are very consistent the entire run, but they just lack the punch needed to get around a car at times. Regardless, I still managed to finish in second place.
Day 2
Wow! Well Day 2 came about, and we started off with our last chance qualifier. In Mini-z Racer I improved my qualifying time, and managed to qualify in the 4th spot. Throughout the race Nic and I battled it out very closely. I managed to beat him by 3 seconds. Shannon bumped into the A group making the A Main. In Pan car, my car was still performing the same, and I went out and landed another solid 2nd place qualifier.
Mains
Well the mains are here. In the A Main of Mini-z Racer, I started in 4th position. At the start of the race, I quickly made my way through traffic, avoided contact, and found myself in second place. Nic, Shannon, and Russ were all right behind me. As the race wore on, Nic and I battled it out for position over several laps of very tense racing. Eventually he prevailed and I fell back. Shannon and I battled it out as well. My batteries just not able to hold up to a 10 minute main. Eventually Russ through some very solid racing caught up to my rear bumper with Nic right behind him. I told Nic that I couldn't let him by as Russ and I were racing for position. He did the classy thing and waited behind us both until he got a solid clean pass on us both. Russ crashed a couple of times, and I was able to get a lap on him. For the rest of the race, knowing that I could not catch Shannon or Nic, I just made sure that I kept my lap on Russ. Sure enough I managed to finish in 4th place. Andy, who had qualified in 3rd had mechanical troubles and dropped out about 4 minutes into the race.
In Pan car, I qualified in 2nd place. At the gun, we had a clean start and Brian jumped out to a solid lead. I just didn't have the power to stay with him, so I concentrated on holding 2nd place. Shannon who had moved his way into this A Main as well, managed to catch me a few times, but as the race wore on, I kept ahead of him, eventually earning myself a 2 lap cushion. As the end neared my batteries (brand new ones) lost their edge, but stayed powerful enough that I didn't have to worry. I had two solid crashes in the race where my car ended up on its lid. Solid corner marshalling didn't cost me much time at all though. In the end I managed to take home the 2nd place trophy over Shannon.
Congrats to Brian for staking claim to 1st place in every class he raced. Additionally a big old thanks to All the drivers who made the trip including those from Colorado Springs, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. Also a big thanks for Brian bringing parts from the Salt Lake Mini-z Hobby Hobby shop.
Mini-z Racer features any non-upgraded fets Kyosho Mini-z car. It can be an MR-01, MR-02, the newer 02 with a 2.4 Ghz radio, and the new MR-03 chassis. A total of 20 cars were entered in this class.
F1 includes any Kyosho Mini-z with non-upgraded Fets and can be run with standard or 2.4Ghz radios. A total of 9 cars were entered in this class.
Kyosho Stock class is meant for straight out of the box, and newer drivers. No upgrades, outside of tires are allowed. The stock Kyosho motor must be used. However 2.4Ghz cars are allowed. A total of 6 cars were entered in this class.
Pan Car is any Mini-z chassis with a Pan car body. Fet upgrades are allowed. A total of 12 cars were entered in this class.
NASCAR - Any MR-01 or 01.5 chassis is allowed with the NASCAR style bodies. A total of 5 cars were entered in this class.
This year the race was expanded to a two day event. Like last year the event was held at the Wind River Casino just outside of Riverton, Wyoming. The casino is a great place to host the event, as they have reasonable food prices, a sit down restaurant and free drinks. Plus if you bring along your spouse, she can gamble away your savings while you are racing away your savings.
Day 1
In the first round of qualifying we were seeded based on when our entries were received. I was put into the second group. In the Racer class, I managed to finish very well and was grouped with the A Main. In the first round, I was the highest finisher of the Riverton group as my main competition, Shannon and Nic both had mechanical troubles. In the Pan Car group, it was a much broader group. We had a lot more traffic to deal with. I was grouped with Brian, but same as last year, I did not have enough to keep up with him in this class. He finished in 1st, and I managed to take 2nd place. My finish held up, and I was 2nd qualifier.
We were reseeded after each round of qualifying. I liked this as it grouped similar speed cars together. In both of my classes, I was grouped in with the best. In racer, I was 2nd after the first round of qualifying. Same in Pan Car. In the second round of qualifying I fell to 3rd in my group of cars. Likewise, Nic had fixed his issues and out qualified me bumping me down to 4th place overall. (Top 6 make the main). In pan car I easily held onto 2nd place.
For round 3, in Mini-z Racer I did worse. I ended up having a car back into me on three occasions. I got so frustrated that I stopped pushing it, as I knew I didn't have a chance to improve my qualifying time. In Pan car, knowing I was safely in the 2nd spot, I ran a set of batteries that I had been questioning for a while. Sure enough, the batteries have lost their umph. They are very consistent the entire run, but they just lack the punch needed to get around a car at times. Regardless, I still managed to finish in second place.
Day 2
Wow! Well Day 2 came about, and we started off with our last chance qualifier. In Mini-z Racer I improved my qualifying time, and managed to qualify in the 4th spot. Throughout the race Nic and I battled it out very closely. I managed to beat him by 3 seconds. Shannon bumped into the A group making the A Main. In Pan car, my car was still performing the same, and I went out and landed another solid 2nd place qualifier.
Mains
Well the mains are here. In the A Main of Mini-z Racer, I started in 4th position. At the start of the race, I quickly made my way through traffic, avoided contact, and found myself in second place. Nic, Shannon, and Russ were all right behind me. As the race wore on, Nic and I battled it out for position over several laps of very tense racing. Eventually he prevailed and I fell back. Shannon and I battled it out as well. My batteries just not able to hold up to a 10 minute main. Eventually Russ through some very solid racing caught up to my rear bumper with Nic right behind him. I told Nic that I couldn't let him by as Russ and I were racing for position. He did the classy thing and waited behind us both until he got a solid clean pass on us both. Russ crashed a couple of times, and I was able to get a lap on him. For the rest of the race, knowing that I could not catch Shannon or Nic, I just made sure that I kept my lap on Russ. Sure enough I managed to finish in 4th place. Andy, who had qualified in 3rd had mechanical troubles and dropped out about 4 minutes into the race.
In Pan car, I qualified in 2nd place. At the gun, we had a clean start and Brian jumped out to a solid lead. I just didn't have the power to stay with him, so I concentrated on holding 2nd place. Shannon who had moved his way into this A Main as well, managed to catch me a few times, but as the race wore on, I kept ahead of him, eventually earning myself a 2 lap cushion. As the end neared my batteries (brand new ones) lost their edge, but stayed powerful enough that I didn't have to worry. I had two solid crashes in the race where my car ended up on its lid. Solid corner marshalling didn't cost me much time at all though. In the end I managed to take home the 2nd place trophy over Shannon.
Congrats to Brian for staking claim to 1st place in every class he raced. Additionally a big old thanks to All the drivers who made the trip including those from Colorado Springs, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. Also a big thanks for Brian bringing parts from the Salt Lake Mini-z Hobby Hobby shop.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Riverton to get Hobby Shop!!
This summer Riverton will finally have a hobby shop. According to the owner, they hope to be open by the end of May. He's not going to start off carrying a lot of stock, but will have enough to get things going and will order in parts for those who need em.
The shop will be located at the corner of Federal and Sunset Blvd, just blocks from our track. I am working hard to work on an arrangement so that he can provide parts support for our larger races.
Stay tuned!
Not much else to report at the moment. My outdoor racing season starts this weekend in Rock Springs as I will be attending their club race. I'll be sure to post results here upon my return!
The shop will be located at the corner of Federal and Sunset Blvd, just blocks from our track. I am working hard to work on an arrangement so that he can provide parts support for our larger races.
Stay tuned!
Not much else to report at the moment. My outdoor racing season starts this weekend in Rock Springs as I will be attending their club race. I'll be sure to post results here upon my return!
Monday, April 6, 2009
WyMoPA Board approves new Track Material
Well the board approved my request to purchase new barriers for the on-road track.
The materials have been ordered. We'll be using a system similar to what the Billings Carpet guys use, as well as a couple of asphalt tracks in Washington and NorCal areas. For the track barrier, we'll be using 2.5x2.5" Raingo downspout. It's square in shape, which prevents 1/12ths from getting stuck below them in most cases. We're going to attach them to the track using Velcro. Initially we're going to try attaching the velcro to the track with it's own material. If that doesn't hold, we'll use liquid nails instead to hold down the velcro strips. The pipes will be joined internally by wood i-beams.
For the corners, we're using 2" conveyor belt. This is a durable material that will keep the cars soft on the corners.It should work out fairly well I hope!!
The new material should arrive Tuesday. Provided that occurs, I'll pick up the material, take the downspout out to the track and start building the i-beams. Overall, I plan on having a very busy week ahead of our first on-road race which is scheduled for Saturday, April 25th.
Cya,
Paul
The materials have been ordered. We'll be using a system similar to what the Billings Carpet guys use, as well as a couple of asphalt tracks in Washington and NorCal areas. For the track barrier, we'll be using 2.5x2.5" Raingo downspout. It's square in shape, which prevents 1/12ths from getting stuck below them in most cases. We're going to attach them to the track using Velcro. Initially we're going to try attaching the velcro to the track with it's own material. If that doesn't hold, we'll use liquid nails instead to hold down the velcro strips. The pipes will be joined internally by wood i-beams.
For the corners, we're using 2" conveyor belt. This is a durable material that will keep the cars soft on the corners.It should work out fairly well I hope!!
The new material should arrive Tuesday. Provided that occurs, I'll pick up the material, take the downspout out to the track and start building the i-beams. Overall, I plan on having a very busy week ahead of our first on-road race which is scheduled for Saturday, April 25th.
Cya,
Paul
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
