Alabama Manufacture Shootout- Cullman, Alabama:  The anticipation for this race was the highest I have seen yet in time in this hobby.  The promoters did a tremendous job and at promoting this event to the hilt.  Racers from all across the country headed out to this race with the hopes of performing their best in a national event of this size.  The racer list had some really big names from the west, including names such as Ryan Lutz, Jesse Robbers, Adam Drake. Mike Truhe etc….Also I had friends that I have not seen in many months and they were planning on making this race as well as many online friends that I had never met in person.  Needless to say I was excited about the weekend ahead. 

We showed up on Wednesday about noon.   I walked into the arena and in looked really nice.  The track was the perfect size for 1/8 scale off road racing.  Not to Big…Not to small….The track was a dark red clay surface that stay pretty much in tacked all weekend.  Traction was slick at first but as more rubber got laid down the traction got a lot better.  The track layout was relativity easy with some nice elevation changes and only one tricky step up section in the center of the track.   The real challenge of the weekend was the event provided Turn marshals.  Though their heart was in their work, many just didn’t understand the since of urgency that was needed to get the marshalling done fast and effectively.  As frustrating as it was I still enjoyed not having the marshal after every heat and especially the 40 minute mains.  Also they got the opportunity to raise money for their organization.  

Practice - We Started early because of the massive number of racers.  I started out with some soft City Blocks.  A little slick but would prove to be the tire for the weekend.  Lutz and I had the plan to do a 3am practice extravaganza, but was shot down after they announced that practice would be closed after 12 midnight.   So along with dozens of other racers we scrambled to get some last minute practice in.  This proved to be more frustrating that productive….

Qualifying -  I was able to get in a smooth 1^st round in without needing the help of the turn marshals.  2^nd round was about the same…but did have a couple of bobbles that would cost me a decent finish for this round.  For the 3 rd round I chose some super soft City Blocks.  They were hooked up!  I ended up turning a good 10 lap run securing my position in the A main.

Main  - I qualified 9^th over all.  A little disappointing but I knew there were several fast guys that didn’t even make into the A Main.  The Start…I rode the pipe all the way down the straightway and made the turn as tight as I possibly could…it paid off.  I was able to get a decent start and was able to settle in for a 30 minute main.  After the 1^st pit stop I totally lost my brakes due to fuel soaked brake pads. This slowed me down considerably in the turns.  Also I was having a hard time hearing my pit guy calling me for fuel…I was running a conservative pit strategy, so I was able to pit with no flame outs from no fuel but was frustrating to say the least.   Also I had a strange hooking in action in some turns…It turn out my rear diff sprung a leak and I had no fluid in my rear diff.  I was able to make up to 3^rd but dropped down to 7^th by the end of the race.  I felt I had what it took to podium but I would have to settle for a top ten at one of the largest races I have attended.

The event was fun.  I got to see some really fast racers, hang out with Lutz, and a few other friends in the R/C racing that I have made over the past couple of years.

Thanks to Byron Fuels and Tamiya USA for their support!

JP