Ah.  Reedy.  A great week this year in SoCal. 

This year I took the week off of work to head over to SoCal for the Reedy Race.  Lee Martin contacted me earlier this winter with his plan to practice at Orange County RC Raceway (OCRC) for the week before to get accustomed to the American clay tracks. 

We arrived at OCRC on Monday morning ready to hit the track once we mounted up tires.  We mounted up the same handout tires we would be running at West Coast RC (WCRC) which were JConcepts gold Bar Codes in front with Pro-line MC Suburbs in the rear, all with Pro-line Closed-Cell inserts.  These tires require a little break-in and start getting good after the 3rd run.  Lee was out with his TRF201 learning the track while I was doing some shock modifications for the larger big bore springs.

Lee and I both started with Jake Thayer’s WCRC setup except I was running the stock 201 body (#54210) and Lee had on the Sand Viper DT-02 body (#1825429.)  Lee liked the setup better than his standard European setup and kept running to break in tires.

Monday was only 2wd.  Tires came in and our cars were very good.  Lee was definitely on the same pace as the other pros practicing. 

Tuesday we got to the track right when they opened.  I had tires for the 4wd mounted and partially broken in from last Reedy.  Lee went out right away on his standard setup, and I had the same setup from the Spektrum Race six weeks earlier.  The cars were stable but lacked steering exiting the corner.  Lee played with his weight in the rear end by moving his batteries and removing weight between the two cells.  He also was playing around with the top deck flex.  Stiffer front then stiffer rear.  The car looked similar on the track but he said feel was different.   I moved my rear lower shocks to the inside whole and limited the shocks 3mm.   I also removed the 1.5mm spacers I had for more ackermann to make the car a little more aggressive.  We both liked our progress. 

Wednesday we made our way to WCRC.  Track was to open at 3pm when we will be allowed to practice and get our race tires.  Lee wasn’t allowed to practice until Thursday and I stayed in the pits mounting those new race tires.  We modified the front PL Closed-Cell foams to make them a little softer to gain some steering.  This was very common for all teams.  Every driver had their own special way of doing it, but our way really worked for us.  We cut the inside of the foam along the wheel across the foam, very similar to the AKA Closed-Cell foams.  I never hit the track Wednesday.

Thursday is when controlled practice started.  We got to WCRC right when the doors opened.  Practice was controlled by heats with the fasted three laps used to seed qualifying.  The downside to this is that practice was very chaotic as drivers used this as qualifying for qualifying.  Anyways, my car felt drivable as I was learning the layout.  The layout was fun but had minimal places to pass.  I liked the flow and the jumps were very consistent.  Big motors were not needed to make any jump.  Slower motors were definitely an advantage for some.  A good friend of mine switched to a 13.5 and went much faster as I still only had a 10.5.  Lee was starting to get his controlled practice as well.  His cars both looked good with a little on power push.  He was working on shock locations and dampening.  He was running in his tires to get them broken in.  One set for each car and the invite drivers had to turn in their tires every night.

Friday was the first day of qualifying.  It was only 2wd for the Invite guys while the open class had three rounds of each class.  The only change that I made to my 201 was running a PL B4 Bulldog body that was modified to fit.  After my first run, the car felt great.  The down force over the front wheels was very noticeable and my little push was gone.  Lee was watching my car and noticed the same thing.  He mounted one up for his second round won his race!  Lots of bad racing luck the rest of the day left Lee with a couple 8^th place finishes but eager to race on Saturday with only 2 rounds of 2wd left and all 4wd!  My qualifying went as well as I expected.  The cars felt great but I lacked concentration with a few mistakes at bad times.  I had one final round on Saturday and then my mains.

Not much changed for Saturday.  I removed the sway bar on my 502 for the last qualifier which helps the car tremendously rotating but made it a little inconsistent through the middle section of the track.  I made too many mistakes which didn’t help in my qualifying efforts.  Mains were 10 minutes with the top two racers bumping to the next main.  I raised my rear ride height and added a little more rear camber on my 201 and went out for my main.  I had some bad luck at the start but kept going.  10 minutes is a long time in an off-road race, and anything can happen.  I was moving my way up slowly but getting caught up in a few wrecks.  The bump positions were long gone so I just ran around the track and had some fun with it.  I ended up 6^th in the L main with a fun race to the finish.  After the race, we noticed that my front upper chassis was completely stripped out and the bulkhead was just flopping in the breeze.  Then it was my 4wd main.  I was in it with a local friend and after another first lap blowout we just raced around.  Lots of accidents caused another broken part but I was able to finish5^th in the J main.

Lee referred to the rest of his race luck as his “Worlds Luck.”  His cars were both very competitive and he was able to pull out victories with both cars.  Racing will always be racing.  A lot was learned, new people were met and good times were had.

Pro-line was nice enough to borrow my 502x to design a new Bulldog body for it.  Hopefully it is available before Cactus but at least we will have a vehicle specific option.  Keep your eyes out as it should be out soon!

Cactus is the next big race.  Anyone that is attending, please get in contact with me.  We will have pit spaces available.  Official practice starts on Wednesday, March 21 with international racers heading to Tucson the days before.  It should be a great weekend of racing in the sun.

Thanks again to Tamiya USA, Speed Passion, LMR, LiveRC and WCRC to make this event happen for me.

BK

Well, its that time again.  The Reedy race will be starting one week from today at West Coast RC in LaMirada, California.  Its both 2wd and 4wd off-road, open and invite.  Some of the best racers in the world are there to race in the unique format.

Luckily for TRF drivers, West Coast RC (WCRC) is Jake Thayer's home track.  He has been working very hard getting the TRF201 and TRF502x setup for their unique surface.  He has given us a good setup to start with.  It's posted under "My Gallery"

I am flying in to LAX on Sunday night and meeting up with Lee Martin.  We are going to start practicing Monday at whatever track is open.  I think that WCRC is closed until Wednesday afternoon, so Orange County RC is the other option.  Lee is starting with his standard European car setup on one car, and Jake's setup on another.  I just got a lengthened chassis and am finishing up that build with Jake's setup.

On my 502X, I am running almost the same setup as the Spektrum Race at Trackside in Milwaukee in early December.  The only changes are going to TLR big bore springs (Silver/Yellow) on the standard TRF shocks and a PL Bulldog body.

There are a few parts that are needed to get the big bore springs to fit properly. They are (per car):

Qty:1  TLR5095 - lower shock spring cups 

  or

Qty:2  Kyosho W5303-05 - Big bore plastics (Needed for the lower spring cups)

  and (for either of the above #s)

Qty: 2 Traxxas 3768 - Needed for the upper collar adapters.  Minor tapering of the ring is needed for proper fit and operation.  A dremel works magic!

Look me up on Facebook.  I try to keep the Invitational class standing posted during the race.  I'll have a blog after to keep everyone posted on what was going on.

It'll be fun.. more to come!

Here's a preview of my 502x: (I'm having problems uploading more...)

Well, I'm a little late on this one, but I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!  This year is going to be a busy and fast year and I'm very ready to get it started.

Reedy is coming very fast.  Jake has been really helpful getting things together for this race.  I'll be heading out the week before to test with him, Lee and Kiyo at OCRC until West Coast opens for practice.  We will have some new things to test and try which is always exciting.  Lee has some of his soon-to-be famous LMR brass front bulkheads as well as all the shock testing that Jake has been doing.  It will be an exciting week in So Cal and hopefully the team gets its well deserved finishes.

More stuff to come this year, but now its time for the Rose Bowl... Go BUCKY!

BK

The 2011 Spektrum Off-road Championships was one of the top races of the year.  With more that 400 entries and top industry support from TLR, Team Associated and Kyosho this was the chance for all in the Midwest to showcase their abilities on their fun, race-able layout.

Trackside's track consists of high bite clay.  With this their second year with the larger track, and the addition of many new tires and compounds, tire choice was very important.  Jconcepts blue Bar Codes were the tire of choice.  Most were running the newer V2 tread, yet other still believed the older V1 tread provided more forward bite.  Now that you had your tires, it was time to pick foam.  I went with a closed-cell insert front and rear with my TRF502x.  In the 201, I went with a 3/4 stock rear insert in the front tire and another closed-cell foam in the rear.  Now it was on to breaking the tire in...  Motor spray was the additive of choice at first, then it moved to a bunch of different chemistry lab experiments.  When I lived in Wisconsin growing up, I remember the Zip-grip-a-gon and was happy to hear it is still around.  Tire wear was none, so one set of tires was perfect for the whole weekend.  It was also advised to get 3 to 4 packs minimum on each set of tires (advise I missed out on.)

There were five TRF201 cars running.  North American TCS winner, J.B. Catricala and fellow Canadian racer, Steve Bortolotti were both there as well as Trackside local Aaron Reichow.  I had two buggies running with one in the hands of retired fast guy, Kyle Stark.  There were four TRF cars running wheeler, three TRF502x and the one TRF511 of Aaron.

I got up there Thursday afternoon to practice.  After a long time of visiting with friends, talking with the TRF drivers and showcasing the new LMR products , I started building up shocks and mounting tires (I was a little behind after the holiday weekend.)  I never made it on the track until late Friday with my 502x, and the first qualifier was to be the first time on the track with the 201.

J.B. was doing a lot of running as well as Steve.  Their first impression was that the car was pushing.  Some of this was due to the front tires not worn in yet.  Aaron was  a huge help to all of us in the tire battle.   They had long cars with big bores and shorty batteries.  I told them to try a few things that Jake and Randy were testing and working on.  J.B. did and felt a great improvement.  Steve tried a few things including going to the 25 deg caster blocks which really helped his car.  Steve was also running the RTR "old School" body which he said made the car much more aggressive than the standard TRF body.

One round of qualifying was Friday night with three rounds on Saturday and mains Sunday.  Round one went well for all the TRF cars.  Everyone finished and learned a few things to take into the next day.

I missed round two on Saturday morning.  I had other plans for that morning that I had to get done.  More on that later.

Round three started about 2pm which meant round three was going to be very late.  Anyone that has ever been a "Scotty" race knows that they are run very efficient with minimal or no delays.  To get three rounds in on one day with over 400 entries is very commendable.  Steve was mid-pack in 2wd and 4wd.  J.B. was mid pack in Mod 2wd and 4wd and in a bump spot for the A in Stock Buggy.  Aaron was in the B-main in 4wd and in the C-main in 2wd.  Kyle was in the E in Mod 2wd which isn't bad for not running in a few years.  I wasn't doing well...but was having fun!

Saturday then turned into Sunday with the last rounds finishing up around 1am.  It was then home for a quick nap then back to the track for my early main.

Everyone was happy with their cars and finishing.  There were only a few broken parts (J.B. destroyed his wheeler in the Main)  We all worked well as a team getting set-ups together.  Steve will be heading to Reedy this year and will definitely be an asset to the team.  J.B. and Aaron will be racing at the Cactus this spring and hopefully we can keep improving on the 201 and 4wd platforms. 

That's about all I know.  The 2012 Spektrum race will be a good one to go to, but get your entries in early.  I'm sure it will sellout again fast!

Special thanks to Tamiya America, Jconcepts and LMR for making this race great.  Also thanks to LiveRC.com for the photos and great race coverage.

BK

Here are a few more pics...

The AZ State Championships are the second "Big" race at Scottsdale RC Speedway during the year.  Drivers come from Arizona, California, New Mexico and Utah for this fun and well run event.  The promoters at SRS are well known for their fair, exciting and fast racing environment.

This years race was set for the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I was all excited for this race and my first vacation home this year the following week.  I was working on my TRF201 and 502x the week before by freshening them up with some new plastic, fresh diffs and new shock oil.  Plans were set, we were leaving Friday after work for a great weekend...

Then when I get to work the first day of the week, I am told I will be needed at work during the States weekend.  I was very disappointed but when the Department of Defense tells you to do something, you WILL listen.  I called my wingman for this trip and passed on the bad news.

I did manage to head up Saturday to visit with Jackie, meet the new John at Jconcepts and see other friends I haven't seen in a while.  Jackie was working very hard with both his cars to get them better.  In the few runs I saw, he made some great improvements with both cars since the Cactus.  The 201 was really rotating well and carrying good corner speed.  It still had a drivable push but seemed very capable of the A-main.  His wheeler (502x) looked a little sketchy on the run I saw.  He was trying a new shock package and wasn't impressed.  He then went back to his old setup.  Jake is great at trying things, his brain is always thinking and in every run, something is changed.  He works very hard and it was paying off.

That's all I know about that race.  I finally left SRS around midnight, with a 90 minute drive ahead and work starting at 0600.  It was a long day, but very worth it.

Next was the Spektrum race at Trackside in Milwaukee the week after Thanksgiving.  I'll get that report up very soon.  It was a great race with over 400 entries.  More to come...

BK

Electric time is picking up again.  With the temps dropping and people starting to head indoors in the northern parts, it only means that indoor electric racing is picking up.  As a Wisconsin native now living in Arizona, the racing season is backwards.

Scottsdale RC Speedway is the host for the AZ State Championships November 19 and 20th.  With class speeds really being separated again (Mod, No Boost 13.5 and 17.5) it will make some interesting qualifying and racing.

Jacky Thayer and I will be there representing the TRF line in both the Modified 2wd and 4wd classes.  Jake has been doing a lot of testing in So-Cal and getting some great setups for clay tracks.  I have ran his setups at SRS already on a wet track (Double Dees tires) and the cars felt great.  The State Champs will be a dry track, blue groove condition.  With November temps much lower than the temps for Cactus in March, traction isn't quite as good but it puts us in a good condition to test.  A lot of setups have been tested since, so the TRF cars should be right on pace.

Then the first weekend in December, I head back up to Wisconsin to the Spektrum Race at Trackside Hobbies in Milwaukee.  I'll meet up there with TRF driver Aaron Reichow and finally get to run on their larger dirt track.  I haven't been there is almost 2 years, so it will be good to run and see my friends from the Midwest.  They have really cut the classes down there as well.  Stock is 17.5 no boost and then a modified class.

I'll be getting up there a few days early so I will get getting good testing with the TRF201 and TRF502x.  Their track is clay and blue Bar Codes are the tire of choice with tire wear almost non-existent.  Many local fast guys as well as a few national drivers from all manufacturers will be there.  Plus Milwaukee is a great time for after race festivities!

Then off to Reedy in January with all the "big" TRF team!

BK

I made it up to SRS (Scottsdale RC Speedway) in Phoenix last weekend for some testing.  It was the first time in a long while that I wasn't rushed to get up there.  I made it up by noon for 6pm racing.

I originally was planning on testing out the long chassis that I had made, but those plans changed.  I talked with Jackie (Jake Thayer) earlier in the week and he told me what he and Randy Caster have been working on.  I decided to try their setup and send my long chassis out to Jackie for him to try out.

The first run on the track was very good.  The track was dry so bite (and tire wear) was high.  Temps were in the low 90s.   The car reacted very well.  It jumped awesome, transitioned great and was very stable.  Unfortunately, I burned a set of Double Dees / Groovys down in one run.  I mounted up a new set, threw in a fresh shorty battery this time and hit the track.  Track again was still dry.  With the shorter battery forward, it increased steering and felt more stable under braking.  I ran for about 5 minutes and saved tires for racing.

I then grabbed my TRF502x equipped with the new option aluminum steering rack, center shafts and slipper hubs.  Car was fast, quiet and consistent.  Very easy to drive.  The setup I have on now is the same as the last time I ran it at Competition Hobbies (CH) in Tucson, which is a medium to high bite clay/sand mix.  I changed the blue bar codes from CH to green Double Dees at SRS.

Qualifying went OK.  I ran in the mod buggy class (with a boosted 13.5) and in the mod Wheeler class.  The locals at SRS are very fast.  I managed to almost stay on the lead lap in the first 2wd qualifier and stayed on the lead lap in 4wd.  My 201 was starting to get a little pushy as the temperatures dropped.  I dropped the shock oil down to 27.5 and that helped in the second qualifier.  I was able to run a faster time and bump up a qualifying position.

My 502x was good again in the second qualifier, but a few mental mistakes as well as some traffic problems gave me a slower time.  The battle of attrition was going to be on for the 10 min main.

Temps continued to drop.  When my 4wd main was up it was a frigid 64 degrees.  My native Wisconsin blood has really thinned out the last few years living in Arizona.  I broke my right rear arm during the warm-up so my 4wd day was over.

In the 2wd main, I had a few accidents early and ended up in the back, a ways back.  The car was a little sluggish and my times were off pace.  I would have liked to drop the oil down to a 25wt and try the 25 deg blocks again, or a different front tire choice (Rips instead of Groovys.)  I ended up last in the 10 minute main but learned a lot and got a great deal of testing in.

Next trip will be in a few weeks on a new track layout for the JConcepts AZ State Championships.    The States race will be run on a dry, blue-groove track with tire choices being orange Bar Codes, BK Bars and/or Rebars.

BK

So, with the current trend in 1/10 electric buggy to be LONG, I went long.  I asked my friend, Mr. Kinwald if he would make one for me.  He has been making chassis for many years and pretty much has it down to a science. 

Since we don't have a truck chassis, like other manufacturers do, I had to supply two chassis.  I talked with Jimmy Wright a few months ago about his luck with doing this.  Jimmy has been lengthening chassis for his TrackStar Short Course trucks for some time.  He told me that the kit chassis (#9334135) material works better for gluing.  Its something with the chemical make-up of that chassis that adheres better to CA.  I'm just gonna go with that.

Dirt lengthened the chassis the same amount as they have been on the B4.1.  I'm hoping that the 8mm longer chassis will help with on-power steering and stability over jumps.  He also made some little carbon fiber reinforcements for the seams.

I also had to make a new longer battery hold-down, which I made from an old Xray T2 '007 top deck.  The stock body still fits fine.  I dremeled the top plate dimple off to keep everything smooth.

Big test is this weekend.  I'm heading to to Scottsdale to do a club race.  I'll be running this car and my 502x with the new upgraded parts installed.  After this weekend, I'll be sending the long car out to SoCal to Jake Thayer to let him see what he thinks.

Happy Racing!

BK

Hey all!

So TRF has released a few new parts for the 502x.  I am waiting for them to get here so I can start testing.  The new parts are:

#54232 - Alum. spur gear plate set

    This set is an updated slipper set that includes the alum. slipper  hubs that are milled larger to allow the use of CVD blades on your center driveshafts.  It also lowers the rotating weight allowing for better acceleration.  Anodized gold.

#54231 - Alum. blue prop shafts

    Also known as center driveshafts (CVA).  Comes as a set of two in the awesome Tamiya blue.  Also lightens the rotating weight.

#54230 Alum. steering bridge

    Steering bridge.  This is a great idea for durability and bling.  Tamiya blue!  I know I've broken a few plastic ones.  I believe its the exact geometry as stock and will let you know.

Again, I don't have these parts yet, but will very soon.  I'll weigh the differences and have more details then.  All are available now through TamiyaUSA or your local Tamiya hobby shop.

I'll be testing them out at Scottsdale RC Speedway (SRS) near Phoenix.  They have their annual Arizona State Championship race coming up in November, so if anyone is thinking of coming, its always a great event.

Happy racing!

BK

I made the trek up to Scottsdale RC Speedway (SRS) with my trusted AE wingman, Mr. Richard "Captain Salad" Lake, last night for a little club racing.  We had to wait to leave until mid-afternoon and after a very common 1-10 closure, so any practice was out of the question.
SRS rebuilt the track last week, so it was an awesome new layout.  Fast, super smooth and lots of places to race.  I was a bit nervous with the new car I built up, with some crazy setup changes.
Biggest changes were I added the High Traction chassis (#54263), less rear toe (2.5 deg) and the shorty RevTech Double Deuce battery.  The car was very stable but still had an on-power push.  I changed the rear upper shock location, new front JC tires and removed some weight from under my battery spacer foam.  Second qualifier went much better.  The car turned, and was a little loose.  Still jumped awesome and made up good time in the rhythm section.
I qualified as the Bq, which was fine for me.  SRS has bumps, so I was hopefully going to bump and make a few more changes.  I took an early lead and got caught with about 1 minute to go.  I made a mistake and was down into second.  I finished this way and was going to start 10th in the A.
Car was a little too loose in the B main, so I added a little bit of rear toe for the A main and moved my lower front shock mount in.  In the A, I moved up to 6th in the first lap.  I only made a few mistakes (shocking) in the 10 minute main and finished 7th.  Car was feeling good.  I have a few more things to try when I head back up Labor Day weekend.
I'm heading over to So Cal this next Friday to check out the TCS Nationals at the Tamiya track and visit Jackie Thayer who will be running the invite class at the Surf City Classic at Orange County RC.  I have never been to either track and am really looking forward to a weekend away!

BK