Posted by: bgivens
on Dec 28, 2011
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Well it’s been a fantastic year for me with the Tamiya 801x buggy. I’ve really got to a comfortable place where I know what she likes and doesn’t like. The buggy has gotten better and better every time we go out with it. I just wanted to give a special thanks to everyone at Tamiya for their amazing help this year. I also would like to thank Bill McEuen (teammate/pitman). I couldn’t have performed as well as I did without their help. I also would like to thank my other sponsors that helped me along the way.
Of course Tamiya America, Airtronics, AKA Tires, TKO Bearings, LRH Hobbies and Mike Tess for painting up my bodies. One more thing. I just want to highlight that I finished 27 out 28 mains that I started this year. The only reason I didn’t finish that one is because the turn marshal stepped on my buggy and broke the high speed needle on the carb. The Tamiya 801x is a very durable machine. Get one!!!!
Brian Givens
Posted by: bgivens
on Dec 25, 2011
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Just popping in to wish everyone out there in Tamiya land a very happy holidays. I hope Santa brought all of you what you wished for.....I know I did. Santa (Mailman) brought me my new charger yesterday.
Brian Givens
Posted by: bgivens
on Dec 15, 2011
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Christmas time again!! With that comes the Toys for Tots at Revelation Raceway.
The turn out was pretty light so I decided to toss my hat into the pro class for the day. I figured it was a good warm up for next year as I try and run some pro at limited races.
First heat went pretty good I wanted to drive smooth not super punched and it worked out for me and ended up fifth overall after round one. Round two didn't go as smooth as round one and was three seconds slower. My Tamiya 801x felt very good all through practice and the heat races so felt pretty good about my chances of getting into the top five after it was all said and done.
I ended up P7 for the main and was happy with that considering I'm racing against the World Champ (Cody King) and a multiple time ROAR Champ (Adam Drake) in the same main. My warm up didn't go so hot and I had a good tumble on lap 2 and bent my rear shock shaft. I didn't know it at the time but the car was going to get worse as the main went on. Of coarse I got a horrible start and had to battle for about 5-6 minutes before getting some much needed open track to try and learn the car with my bend shock. I started to figure out what turns I could push and the ones I had to lay up and tippy toe through. About half way through the 30min main I got into a battle with Andrew Smolnik (Agama) for a a few laps and actually picked up some speed. After that I just cruised around by myself and pulled in the 6th place finish. It was one away from my top 5 finish goals but very happy with my speed with a bent shock shaft.
Next time I will not be such a squid in the warm up and get to race those fast guys with a non bent vehicle.
Next stop the Snowman Series at ARC Raceway and then right into Jan. for the Airtronics Championship.
Brian Givens
Posted by: bgivens
on Oct 26, 2011
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I know this entry is a little late but I wanted to share it with you anyway.
This was the 7th round of the JBRL series at Revelation Raceway. So far I'm sitting third in points only 2 points away from that second spot. You are probably saying to yourself why the heck does he care about second place? Well there is a cash payout for the top five people at the end of the series. With one round to go I'm in the money! First place is really far out so second would be a great finish to the season.
Practice went ok but couldn't really get comfortable with the buggy. I went into the first heat and did ok until I totally brain farted and ended up on the wrong side of the track. That pretty much killed that qualifier. The second heat went a lot better and I ended up winning my heat but it was only good enough to seat me 10th in the main. I had my work cut out to say the least.
At the start of this main was super hard. There were cars flipping over everywhere and I just got lucky and pulled off the Days of Thunder move and just pinned it through the wreckage and came out of it in like third or fourth. Sweet now I can just try and put some solid laps together with no mistakes and maybe get on the podium. Well the leaders had there dual and it gave me a chance to catch up to the leaders. After I caught them I tried to make a pass or two but none of them stuck. I ended up running the last few minutes about 5 seconds back from the leader and running the same lap times as the leader. I ended up finishing second after it was all said and done which is a great end to a poor beginning.
Next stop.....Hotrod Hobbies. The final round!!
Posted by: bgivens
on Sep 29, 2011
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This past weekend was the Gas Champs at Thunder Alley RC Raceway. This year the track proved to be the toughest track I've ever driven. Like always had lots of elevation change and very difficult sections. One of the sections in the middle of the track made even some of the pro's look human.
Practice wasn't so good for me. I only got 6 laps and ran out of gas. I thought I filled it up but I guess not. I wasn't worried because I was told we would get another practice round but they were incorrect. Apparently there were a lot more other people that had a hard time as well because I still qualified for the heat race 10th overall.
The heats were run like motocross so every start was heads up racing....three rows of four. The first heat I got second which was a great start to the day. The second heat I messed up good in the first couple laps and got buried in the back and charged my way to the front and got another second place. With that result I knew I was in the A-main now. The third heat I figured I would try some different lines and try and find some more speed somewhere. I got a good start and got in front and never looked back and finished qualifying very well and with a little momentum for the next days mains.
This particular weekend they ran a double A-main....each 30 laps long. I ended up qualifying 4th overall....how I don't know but that's where I ended up. I got off to a great start and just missed the big pile up in the second turn. I only had one person in front of me to track down. I put in some good laps and caught first and past him with about 10 laps to go. The worlds greatest pitman and also teamate (Bill M) brought me in for a quick splash of fuel to play it safe and still had a big lead and took the victory in the first A-main.
The second A-main didn't go as smooth. I did get a good start but got hit from behind in the second turn and flipped on my lid and went from second to last just like that. I tried to stay calm and put in some strong laps to try and catch up to the lead pack. Eventually did catch up to the lead four guys and fought with second and third for a while but the leader was gone. I ended up making a little mistake on the second to last lap and letting by second and third. I thought I threw away the overall but a 1-4 ended up winning the overall by 1 point. I really couldn't believe I won.
Really fun weekend and took home the first place trophy too. Couldn't ask for anything more.
Thanks for stopping in for this read. Next stop Revelation Raceway for the 7th round of the JBRL nitro series.
Posted by: bgivens
on Aug 05, 2011
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Well, it has finally happened. I am officially a member of the AKA army! I'm super excited to be using nothing but AKA rubber from here on out. I've used there tires for quite some time now so I know the product line well and already have a good head start on testing.
Wanted to say thank you to Joel and the rest of the AKA crew for giving me this opportunity to represent AKA.
Thanks, Brian
Posted by: bgivens
on Mar 11, 2011
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| Hey all....this past weekend was the 2nd race of the Grass Roots Series at Thunder Alley Raceway. Things started off kind of rough for us. When we arrived the pits were packed. There was no room for me or Bill to set up shop. Come to find out they had 220 entries! Wow....for a one day event that's crazy.
Practice was crazy as well. The line to get up on the drivers stand was rapped around the corner. I finally got up on the stand and ran my 10min. stint and had to come off. The track was pretty easy to get down but still would have liked to get a little more practice but that's all I got because of the crowd.
First round: It was going pretty good....I figured with the little practice I had I would try and keep it slow and steady and not take any chances and stay on the wheels and not the lid. My Tamiya 801x was handling fantastic. I only made one mistake and thought I had a good run in the books for the day and boy was I wrong. When I went to check on my position I had only logged in 6 laps and I know I did more than that. A 10 lap run was top 5....6 laps got me 4th from last! My transponder was on the fritz. It's ok I told myself because I have one more heat to run and my pace was good on the laps that did record. Well after the first round was run they (Thunder Alley) decided to not run the second qualifier due to the time limitation. So now I'm in the Cmain 4th from last. :(
C-main: I got a little bit of a late start. I don't think the Bill the "World's Greatest Pitman" heard down and quiet because when the start tone went off he was still holding the buggy. Ha! So now I'm in dead last. Thankfully everyone that was in front of me crashed early and before I knew it I was in the top three. I quickly made my way to the front and never looked back. Bumped to the B-main.
B-main: This time I had a new pitman because I was racing my pitman in this one. Apparently he likes my buggy also and didn't want to drop it on the tone either. At least this time I'm already in the back of the pack. I tried to stay patient and not use too much fuel because I was going to try and go the whole 10 min. and not come in for fuel. So I picked and chose my battles carefully and slowly but surely moved towards the front and got a real good fight with a Hotbodies driver for a good three or four laps and ended up making it and getting second and bumping again to the A-main final.
A-main: Well I'm in dead last in the A-main now. Starting from here is easy because there is nobody behind me! :) The start went pretty good. I tried to avoid as much as I could in the first lap but got tangled a couple of times and finally got some clear track to work with. I put my head down and got to work...one by one...slowly moving my way to the front. My pace was good and I wasn't taking any un-needed risk and still passing people. My Tamiya 801x was still handling great even though I had no time to work on it in between the lower mains. With about 10min. to go I came in contact with a lapper and my body began to come off. At this time I was up to fourth or so. I brought it in and the "World's Greatest Pitman" fixed it quickly....filled me up with fuel and I was on my way. Lucky for me when I came out of pit lane I had open track ounce again. Got some good laps in and before I knew it again was fighting for 3rd place with about 3 min. to go. I fought for 3rd for a few turns and he made a mistake and I was free and clear for the remainder of the main.
Ending up on the podium was a huge success for me coming from the bottom of the C-main. I ended up getting my money's worth after all even with only 1 qualifier.
Next race.....Losi Series Race 2.
Check back and thanks for the read,
Brian Givens
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Posted by: bgivens
on Jan 24, 2011
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Last weekend was the the Airtronics Winter Nats and this was the first big nitro event locally that I would attend for 2011. With 200 entries, an Airtronics Sponsorship for a year up for grabs and the Am class going down to a D main I knew I would have my work cut out for me. I ended 2010 very good with a win at the Toys for Tots race in Dec. now it was time to get 2011 off to a good start.
The first heat was very good for me. I got off to a good first couple of minutes....I had no traffic at all to work around and my Tamiya 801X felt perfect. With about 1 minute to go I ran into a pack of three buggies fighting for position going into one of the hardest sections on the track. I followed them into the first set of doubles and all three buggies tangled and I past all three safely with no time lost. I was very lucky and got through that and won my heat with being the only driver to run 9 laps. Very happy but I knew there were some other fast guys that didn't get a good run in yet.
Second heat I tried to push a little harder and make a run at a better time and see if I could up the pace without making mistakes but made one good one and lost the TQ run. I ended up second in that one but didn't beat my heat one time. Unfortunately I got bumped out of TQ by less than a half second.
Come main time I knew I wanted to try and get around first place straight away because I was afraid of the rest of the pack swallowing us both up in the first turn. The start horn sounded and of coarse third and forth hit me in the first turn and put me back to fifth or sixth. A few laps went by and I started to feel a flow starting to happen and I was getting past people pretty quickly....next thing you know I'm in second fighting for the lead. Lucky for me I have the best pit man/teammate in the world (Bill M.) that timed my pits perfect and got me in and out very quickly with one less stop than everyone else. As soon as I got into the lead I never looked back and took the victory with almost no fuel left in the tank!
Great start to the new year....new Airtronics sponsorship and looking forward to the Losi Winter Series over the next couple of months. Check back for the next installment....Thanks!
Brian Givens
Posted by: bgivens
on Dec 29, 2010
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Well this year was pretty good for me. It started out a little slow but as I drove and tested the buggy more and more I felt more and more comfortable with it as time went on.
The first race in December was the Toys 4 Tots in Palm Desert CA. I was lucky enough to practice the weekend before so I was ready coming into the race day. The track was very tricky due to the very, very, very high traction. The track was actually built with glue in it. Yes you read that correctly....glue. The grip was crazy.
First heat I drove smooth and calm and managed to TQ the first round by a couple of seconds. I wasn't going to celebrate just yet because there were two or three people in our class that didn't get a good run in the first heat. Second heat came and went and I was still TQ due to the track falling apart fast.
Main came around and I got a good start and tried to check out but made one mistake and next thing you know I'm in fourth now. I put my head down and tried to stay as smooth as possible and ended up catching second place and battled with him for a few minutes before he made a mistake and I cruised to a second place finish.
A couple of weeks later was the second Toys 4 Tots race at Revelation Raceway in Ontario, CA. I wanted to do really well here because this was the last race of the year for us and I wanted to go out with a bang.
First heat I went out and was running really well but ran into a problem about two or three minutes in. My mechanic (ME) let me down and my screw that holds the shock piston in backed out.
On to round two and I had to get a good run in to go straight into the A-main and to beat my teammate Bill because he was sitting third or fourth overall and I couldn't let that happen or I would get heckled the rest of the day. =) I got a good start and had just a little traffic to deal with and ended up TQing the round and overall.
In the main I got off to a great start from pole and let all the mayhem go on behind me. Two laps in I made a big mistake which put me back into third. So I battled with third place for about three or four laps and passed him and first in one lap. From there on I cruised to victory!
I can't say enough about the Tamiya 801x. Two 30min. mains and two podiums. The car gets more and more reliable everyday. I want to thank everyone at Tamiya America for there HUGE support and knowledge with the 801x and hopefully we can get 2011 started off with a bang at the Airtronics Winter Nationals on Jan. 15.
Check back next month for my Airtronics Winter Nationals blog entry
Brian Givens
Posted by: bgivens
on Nov 19, 2010
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Recently I put together a new buggy and was looking to better my package for more steering and quicker mid-corner performance. Mr. Jun (David) was kind enough to help us out with a set-up that would achieve this. And this is what I came up with....
Well it's been a few weeks I've been running the new set up on the new buggy. At first I had a hard time getting to grips with all the steering and rotation I acquired but after two club races I was starting to feel quicker in some areas where I struggled before. So I stuck with it another week made a couple little changes and the very next club race I TQ'd and won by a lap or so. Dropped a second off my old fast laps. My old set-up required me to drive it much more aggressive and wild in order for it to do what I wanted in the turns. Now I don't have to whip it into the turn to get the proper rotation to get in and out of the turn quickly.
The new set-up we have been running gets through rutted sections much better also....and at my local track it gets pretty bumpy at times.
I have now found my base set-up for a real good starting point at any track. Thanks David!!!
I will post this set-up on the set-up section soon.
Thanks for popping in,
Brian Givens
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