This year’s regionals had a one day race schedule. Three qualifyers follwed by the mains were all run on one day, Sunday. This gave more people the chance to practice all day on Saturday. I had put in my 801XT my old OS V-Spec from last season. At least, I knew that I wouldn’t have problems through out the day. I have sealed up my newer OS V-spec since the last time I raced and since the old motor runs fine I know it’s not my fuel tank or lines.

At first in practice my truggy pushed with the Proline Holeshots. I went back out and tried my AKA Cityblocks, but it seemed worse. I came to find that my servo saver had loosened up which what was causing my steering problems. I still felt more confident running the ProLine Holeshots for qualifying. The first round of qualifying was good. I kept a pretty clean line around the track. This new layout was technical. Horsepower was definitely not going to win this one. I needed the truck to have good steering and traction on the hard packed clay. I was able to get in a solid 8 lap run which put me about mid pack in the A. The second qualifyer I tried to push the 801XT too hard. I had a lot of mistakes which cost me a lot of time. So for the third round of qualifying, I decided to slow it down and drive more consistant. I was bouncing around in the top three spots through out the qualifyer. For the last few minutes I was on a new TQ pace. I made a few slip-ups and gave my position up to Team Scream’s John Cravotta. He ended up TQ and I was starting in the 2nd position.

The start of the main was good through out the first lap. Before my first pit I had ghost flamed. I had a feeling that the motor had enough. We got it restarted and back out I was. I was trying to make up time, but half way into the 30 minute main the computer crashed. We pulled in during the break and restarted the main as a 15 minute main. This time around I wasn’t so lucky. I got a good start but into the second corner a truck from behind got stuck in my rear wing and we drove straight into the pipe. Traffic was definitely tough on this restart. I made another clean pass for position with another guy and the following corner he t-boned me. My motor was definitely on its way out and we had it idling high to get it to finish the main. I finished in the back of the pack. I felt good about my 2nd place qualifying spot and was completely satisfyed with the 801XT’s performance for the day. I can’t wait to throw in the other motor to see how it runs under good horspower again.

Friday was practice all day for the RC Driver Offroad Madness at R/C Madness. The track was fast but technical. The six pack on the track was hard to get a good rythem through and timing was key. There was a huge triple along the back side of the track which held up great thru the whole weekend. The triple was my favorite part of the track. Practice went really well for me. The 801XT was handling well and the motor was running great.

Saturday was the start of three rounds of qualifying with a fourth round on Sunday morning. My first qualifyer was probably the best. I ran consistant laps and didn’t make too many mistakes. I took it pretty easy just to get in a solid qualifyer just in case my day didn’t turn out well. My second qualifyer was about the same. I tried pushing the truck a little harder but ended up costing myself a faster run. I should have just kept it clean and slow. The third qualifyer is when I started to have motor issues once again. I had my pit guy tune in the motor during warm-ups and it seemed to be fine. We started the race and my motor had richened up. It seems like this is the first year I’ve ever had this many motor issues. Since my third qual was a wash, I was hoping for a better fourth qualifyer on Sunday. In practice after the qualifyers on Saturday night, I ran a few laps and everything seemed to be alright.

Sunday was a beautiful day for racing. The start of the fourth round was ok, but problems rose again. The 801XT just didn’t want to run. I took advantage of the break before the main and took someone out to tune my truck. I tried another fuel just to try and eliminate one factor. We re-tuned the motor to the new fuel and I felt the truck to be running strong.

The mains were next and I was starting 10th in the A-main. I tried firing up the truck for warm-ups and it didn’t want to run again. We found that the fuel filter I had on was bad, so we took it off all together. I started the main and the 801XT was running ok. After a few minutes, it started to lean out and the tune was running all over the place. I pulled the truck off after only 5 minutes just so I didn’t ruin anything more than it already was. Next things I’m going to try is another motor than replace the fuel tank if I’m still having problems.

I had a week off since I had to work in my local hobby shop for the Short Course Truck Nationals that were held at R/C Madness.  This past Sunday I was glad to return to the track!  We have been running Friday night electric under the lights at R/C Madness but I hadn’t18 had the time to get my 4wd running.  Today was a good day to pull my Baldre off the shelf!  We had about five or six heats.  I ran my 801XT to see if my motor was still acting funny on a new bottle of fuel.  I was the only one with a 4wd buggy so I got to run with the 4wd short course trucks.

The track was a little rough for my 4wd after a huge turnout the weekend before.  The rear end on the Baldre seemed stiff so I lightened up on the shock oil and springs after the first round of qualifying.  It was definitely a challenge running with the short course trucks since they were like hitting a tank.  I qualified in second place for the start of the main, but for short course we all line up in a single row and start heads up.  I got a good start up front in third right behind first and second but hit some ruts and fell behind.  I had such a fun day with my Baldre I can’t wait for the new track layout this week and try it out on this Friday night!

My truggy was pretty dialed in on my VTR Holeshots.  My motor was running well today and my truck was fast.  I did TQ truggy for the day and by the third qualifier my Holeshots were like slicks.  For the twenty minute main, I changed to AKA City Blocks and I-Beams (my old trusted tire setup for my home track).  I ran out of fuel so opened up another quart of fuel.  And once again my motor richened way up.  It didn’t seem to hurt me since I held the lead for most of the race.  After the first pit stop, my motor was running normal, but after my second pit stop it richened up again.  I was able to almost put a lap on the field with the motor not running to all its ability.  This week I’m trying a different fuel too see for sure if my own quarts of fuel could be bad.  Hopefully it’s just a simple fix.

Since I had not much to do on July 4, it was great that my home track was open for racing on the holiday.  Not a huge turnout, but it was enough to make the day fun.  We had only one heat of truggy, but it was a good group of us that usually race together weekly.  My first round of qualifying was pretty good.  If I had less tumbles, I would have done a ten lap run but instead had a fast nine lap run.  My truck has been pretty easy to drive and consistent.  I kept my shock setup the same from last season with running 40 weight in the front and 35 weight in the rear.  I think the narrower arms and drive shafts get the 801XT to the same width as the competitor’s trucks and doesn’t affect the overall handling.  I have kept with the yellow springs on the front and rear.

The second qualifier didn’t go as well. I finally blew my last servo.  I have been definitely running the servo saver too tight and it has worn the servo saver tube.  Since I didn’t have a new tube, I used some fine grit sand paper to smooth out the gouge.  Then I took some polishing compound to the tube to finish up any rough spots.  Now my servo saver works perfectly and I should not have any issues from it in the future.

In the main, I got a good start was close behind the leader.  The main was twenty minutes and there was still plenty of time to make a move for first.  My motor was running well during practice and after the start of the main it richened up a lot, but I made it work.  On the first pit stop I ran out of fuel.  My husband (my pit guy) also had to corner marshal since it was a light day and usually I run at least 7 ½ to 8 minutes but barely made 7 minutes since my motor tune changed.  That flame out set me back in the pack.  I was too far from the leader to catch up now.  I ended up finishing in 3^rd.

It was a great race day along with the truck handling awesome!  Hopefully I can figure out the tuning situation before the R/C Driver race at the end of the month.

The first round of the RC Pro Series June 11-13 in the Northeast was held at one of my favorite tracks to go to , CRC Raceway in Rome, NY.  My weekend definitely didn’t start off on the right foot and I should have taken it as an omen.  On the day of practice on Friday, it was beautiful and sunny.  To my misfortune, I ended up sick all day and missed all my practice, but I would still be able to get a few laps on Saturday morning.  When Saturday morning came around, we stepped out to a whole lot of rain.  It finally broke for a little while, but the track was definitely wet!  My first qualifyer was my first run on the track.  I was doing ok and taking it easy since I hadn’t had any time on the track but something just wasn’t right.  It felt like my throttle was sticking and my steering was not working properly.  I was not able to finish the qualifyer.  I came back to my pit and changed out my spektrum system and switched to my Futaba FASST system.  And to be on the safe side I also switched out my steering servo.  The second qualifyer was not run on Saturday due to rain so it was run early Sunday morning.  I started off well in the second qualifyer with my electrical problem fixed.  Then it fell apart.  I lost the motor mount plate screws and I was doomed from getting a full qualifyer on the track.  Being still hopeful going into the mains, I was qualifyed for the C-main.  I was fighting for second for a while and fell back to a solid third place.  With only a few minutes to go, a marshall stepped out on the track as I was in mid air.  My tires caught him just right and I wrecked my servo gear.  Definitely one tought race weekend for me overall, but weekend like this make me try even harder the next time.

The BBQ Blast, June 27,  is one of the best races of the season at my local track, R/C Madness.  The race day consists of 2 qualifyers and then mains along with a free BBQ.  My first qualifyer I ran a quick 9 lap run.  TQ was set at 10 laps and I knew I had it in the 801XT to get 10 laps.  I was running AKA City Blocks in the front and AKA I-Beams in the rear.  The 801XT had good traction and a decent amount of steering.  When the second qualifyer came around I was sorely dissappointed.  I turn on the truck and my steering servo was dead.  I had put my 801XT on charge and left the track for about 20 minutes.  I didn’t know the truck was left on and it burned out my servo.  So I wasn’t able to see if I could have gotten a 10 lap run.  I ended up in the 6^th qualifying position in the A-main.  It was a twenty minute main and I thought I had a great start.  I came around the sweeper into the quad section and someone rear ended me and got caught in my wing.  I fell back in the pack to last place.  I got really focused and drove one consistant lap after another and was able to work my way up to the top three.  In the last 5 minutes, I was able to get by second and take the second place position.  First place was in my sights only about a half straight back.  My steering was starting to slow down fast.  I had to pull my 801XT into the pits.  The servo I had put in after the second qulifyer stripped a gear because I had the servo saver locked down.  I was pretty bummed out, but knew that I was the reason why I didn’t finish.  I will make some adjustments to my servo saver and fix my servo before my next event for sure!

The O’Donnell race was held for the first time on the east coast at R/C Excitement in Fitchburg, MA.  This was the first time for me at this facility.  I finished up some loose ends on my 801XT with the throttle and steering linkage and finished the last tank of break-in on my new OS V-Spec.  The track layout was fun and a little challenging for me.  The back sections had a few spot where the track angled away from you just slightly but almost appeared to be a straight from the drivers stand.  The weather was not too cooperative for the weekend.  We had some rain overnight Friday into Saturday and rain on Sunday morning before the mains.  However, the weather was not a challenge for the hard-working track crew that kept the show running.

For the first round of qualifying, I ran some old Proline Calibers.  I felt that my 801XT had a slight push going into the corner causing me to use a lot of break to try and get the truck into the turn.  Overall, it was a solid qualifier for me and I felt I ran pretty consistent.  I mounted up a set of AKA City Blocks and I-Beams for the second round of qualifying.  I also changed the wheelbase of the truck to help redistribute the weight to gain more steering and traction.  Since the track was getting a few rough spots, I raised the rear hinge pins to help keep the truck more stable.  The second round of qualifying started off well in warm-ups and the changes I made seemed to have made a huge difference, but after I refilled for the start of the race my truck stalled out.  I quickly changed the glow plug, but that wasn’t a quick fix.  I came back to the pits to diagnose the problem by checking the clutch and drive train.  Everything seemed free, so I rose up the idle just a bit and went out in the last few minutes to make sure the truck was ok.  Just the slight motor tune seemed to be the trick and I was now set for the last round of qualifying for the day.  The last round I wasn’t able to get much faster, but felt more confident now that my 801XT was handling better for the main.  I was seated fifth for the start of the main.

The start of the main was pretty clean and I was able to get up to the third and fourth position.  After the first few pit stops, I did fall back in the pack.  I kind of lost my rhythm and it was such a tight field it was hard to regain ground.  Towards the last 10 minutes of the main, I was running in the 5-6^th position and my motor had richened up.  Since there was not much time left, I decided to remain out on the track.  It caused me to fall to the 7^th position.  It was a great weekend and I hope this track has this race again next year!

Definitely the morning did not start off on the right note. The first qualifier with my 801xt I came off the quads and lost the left front arm and tie rod end.  I must have come down at a bad angle for me to break an arm. That's probably the second one I have broken since I first started running the 801xt.

The second qualifier went much better.  I ran an ok 8 lap run, but I needed a good nine lap run to get me in the top ten.  The B-main was a tight field of good drivers.  We had over 40 truggies there and well over 60 entries for the day.  I got an ok start, but had trouble with traffic.  I fell back in the field and was trying to work my way up to the top two into a bump position.  Unfortunately, halfway in I broke a clutch spring and this ended my race early.  No worries since I have been working on my new 801xt to prepare it for the next upcoming race. I'll be at R/C Excitement for the O'Donnell race June 5-6.

Still running my801xt from last season motor and all! The truck is holding up really well and my motor runs like a top!  I decided to hold back on running buggy this year to focus more on truggy.  I decided this one reason due to the fact that I had gotten a new puppy and I'm working on breaking her in to the r/c track.  As the season progresses, I will probably dive back into the buggy scene but for now would like to better myself while running in the Pro class at the R/C Pro series events.

So my Sunday started off to a rocky start. I drove very inconsistent the first qualifier, but was still able to qualify in the top five.  My second qualifier was not much better, but I was starting to get into a more consistent line around the track.  I started the 15 min main in the 5th position.  Not a good qualifying spot since I got caught up in a major first turn pile up.  I fell way back to the back of the pack, but was able to work my way up to the lead.  I bobbled a few times and lost the lead.  Unfortunately, I pushed on lap too many and ran out of fuel.  I finished 3rd overall and had a fun and close racing day!

Off to a rainy start of my off-road season.  For the last few Sundays, it has been a washout for racing.  Hopefully the weather is on a turn around and it will be better from here on out.  What to do when the weather is not cooperating?  Well, this is a good time during my down time in racing to sort through and organize my parts and equipment.  Mostly I like to have separate tools and equipment for both my nitro offroad and electric onroad.  During my winter I didn't have much time to do this.  The past few weeks have been a good opportunity for me to finally sit down and take a minute to organize.  Most likely my next blogs will be more interesting with more racing hopefully through all this bad weather!