Who Is Going To Nitro Challenge??

Rounds 1-2 TLR Winter Series @ OCRC

I had a very successful week of clubbin at WCRC. with a lot of help and insight from Lee Martin and Jimmy Wright, and thanks for all the support from our teammates like Brad Krans and Ray Kindstrom, I am confident I have hit on a setup that is SUPER competitive, and possibly very universal from track to track. 

FRONT
1.4 piston,losi 35wt, kyosho BB pink spring
No limiting-shock length 83.5mm
Second from inside tower, outside arm
Camber-inside tower, inside block with 1.5mm shim under Ballstud
30 deg blocks, spindles middle, blocks all the way forward
Axles forward
3.5mm shim under spindle Ballstud, short Ballstud on rack
-1 camber
Hard arms
24mm ride height
21g weight under servo horn
MIDDLE
SHORT pack(201g) all the way forward. 21g weight in front of pivot block
21g on outside of electronics on both sides
REAR
1.3 piston, losi 27.5wt, TLR yellow BB spring
Second from Inside tower, middle arm. 
501x arms part#51279
XA block, with 3mm shims antisquat
3.0 rear block upside down for HRC
TLR 22 plastic hubs, middle hole front row, 3mm under Ballstud, hubs middle
Link- inside chassis with 2mm under inside Ballstud, middle hub
Tranny mounts on t plate cut off, using nuts under U brace
Diff- med. tight(approx 1.5 revolutions)

When you use the 501x arms, and with HRC and the 3mm of antisquat, you have to dremel the arm where it hits the chassis brace at up travel. When you put the shock on, you'll see where you want to dremel. 

TRF cvds, with shims on outside of hub(max wheelbase)
TRF/LMR wing, 4mm wick
+8mm chassis
JConcepts b4.1 finisher body, cut to fit

2nd annual ko propo grand prix

It was back to west coast this weekend for the 2nd annual ko propo offroad grand prix. Top drivers in the invitational and open classes for the upcoming reedy race were in attendance, so it was a sort of warm up, to see where they stacked up with the best of the best. I would be running both 2wd and 4wd mod, as well as 2wd stock, to get as much time on the track as possible with the 201, still getting it dialed in. 

It was an up and down weekend for me. I was still throwing setup changes at the 201, and it was fast, and had glimpses of greatness, but overall, just not fast enough, and inconsistent at times. After qualifying in the mod class, I would be starting 5 th in the C, definitely not what I had hoped for. With bump ups, I was close at the end, but would finish one spot out of a transfer. 

2wd stock went ok, considering I have never ran a 17.5 motor with no timing. I was a lot more consistent in this class, qualifying second overall; the dreaded triple jump that plagued me in mod was not doable In stock, to my advantage. 

But of course, the 502x was great all weekend. I have gone back to the stock aeration shocks instead of the kyosho big bores, but using the big bore springs instead of the stock trf springs. We need to put more time in the BB's, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the TRF shocks. It proved to be very effective, especially in the rear of the car. Instead of cutting a TRF spring to make ride height, I used a TLR white rear spring, paired with TLR spring retainers, dremeled to let the stock shock end fit all the way through, so the spring retainer slides to the bottom of the end. For the top of the spring, I used traxxas big bore spring rings(part# 3768). I was in the top 7 all through qualifying, only losing my top 5 starting spot on the last qual. 

Triple A mains would decide the overall results for both 2wd stock and 4wd mod classes. In 2wd stock, I got off to great starts in both, getting by tq, but in both instances, make mistakes to finish second in the first two mains. In the third main, to secure the second spot on the podium, I would need to finish 1st or second. But with careless mistakes throughout the race, I would finish third, taking the last podium spot. Not what I had hoped for, but nonetheless satisfactory. 

The first 4wd leg went well. My 502 was super fast, and battled for the 4th, 5th and 6th places the entire race. At the end, I finished 5th- not bad, considering the top 3 were invite drivers. In the second main, I got a rough start, only to saw an arm off midway through the race. In the last leg, it would go much like the first, battling with kyosho driver zach Rodgers almost the entire race for fourth. The second to the last lap, I had the slightest bobble coming onto the straightaway, but enough for him to get by, where I would finish 5th once again, securing my top 5 finish overall. Very good result!

In conclusion, I had a great time at the ko propo off road grand prix. Special thanks to jimmy wright for all the help, and throughout the year as well! I'm very excited to work more with jimmy, pres and the rest of the team in 2012 in the electric and nitro programs! We will strive to continue to get the 201 on pace,  to contend once again for the prestigious open classes coming up very soon at the reedy race of champions right here at west coast- home to the first ROAR " super nationals" this year as well!


Sent from my iPhone

This past month, I feel we have made great strides in the 201. Myself, Randy Caster, and Jimmy Wright have been running almost 2-3 times a week, bouncing ideas off eachother, ultimately making the car faster and faster.With the Reedy Race of Champions coming up very quick at the end of January, I have been in overdrive, running and testing as much as possible, making up for my lost time behind the wheel, taking much of september and some of October off, with work and family taking alot of my time lately.

The two biggest changes have been the chassis, and the big bore shocks. The chassis I've been running, as well as Randy, is a chassis elongated by 8mm, just like the Associated team expermiented with, and ultimately making a permanent change. The initial difference for me was overall feel, and landing. To me, it was generally easier to drive, especially under power when youre trying to make up time, or making tight lines before a big jump. It feels more predictable, especially landing. Paired with the bigger shocks, lap times just continue to fall. I feel that the car needs a bit more tweaking, but its alot more fun to go to the track, knowing that for myself, I'm confident with what i want out of the car, and a better idea of what changes i want to make when the track surface, or overall layout changes.

Another big change has been the use of the smaller and lighter "shorty" lipo pack, becoming more popular with the weight and size reduction being the main advantages. This has made the car considerably better at jumping and anding. Weight distribution has been a big change with the reduced weight. Right now, I've been running 21g behind the battery, with battery middle, 21g under servo horn, and 15g in the void of the front bulkhead, right in the nose. I will get my hands on Lee Martins' LMR 30g brass bulkhead; I think this will be the hot ticket, taking the weight under the servo and putting it all the way in the front.

I am posting some setups I have run over this month, and also from the State Championships in Arizona, to give everybody an idea of where we are with the car here in Southern California. If anybody has any questions, comments, or maybe suggestions, please dont hesitate to email me at Jake_Thayer@hotmail.com.  

The 26th Annual Arizona State Championships took place at the prestigious Scottsdale R/C Speedway November 18th-20th. Top drivers from all the major manufacturers were in attendance, including Ryan Maifield, Brian kinwald and Billy Fischer. The race takes place at the perfect time, when the hot Arizona desert cools down enough to be almost perfect weather for this race every year, and I couldnt wait for my 4th State race in a row. My god friend Brent Feige and myself took the 6 hour trek thursday night for the race over the weekend.

Friday practice was just that, practice. No scheduled times, no controlled chaos, just relaxed, pressure free practice! This gave me time to get quite a few runs on both the 201 and 502x. The team and myself have been rigorously been testing the 201, taking similar ideas from other manufacturers like big bore shocks and an extended chassis (8mm). The past couple months, we have made great progress, so i was excitedto see how the 2wd would feel on an outdoor track with less grip than the indoor tracks I've been accustomed to. out of the gate, it was very competitive, with lap times very near what the top pros are running. The only changes I made was less pack in the front shocks, gong from losi 55 to losi 54 pistons in my Kyosho big bores, to take more weight off the rear end to make up for the decreased grip; and went to .5 deg hubs from the standard plastic 0 deg hubs for more grip. the 4wd was a bit of an animal all weekend. At the end of practice, i was able to get it a litle better with some diff adjustments and tire/foam combinations, but with a rebuild overdue and less time on the wheel than I would like, I was pretty content with the 502.

Saurday would be a full day of qualifying, with 3 qualifiers for each class. The first three rounds with the 4wd were up and down. Both the first and second, I was off to a great start, only to make mistakes and fall off a tq pace in both rounds. But, both runs would stil be within the top 6, so not a total loss. The first 3 of 2wd would be alot better. In round 1, everybody got a sense of what times we need to shootfor, who was fast, and the track conditions throughout the day. All three rounds would be in the top ten, with the second round coming out with a five. But with the other rounds not as good as I wanted, I was still looking for a good run in the last round, and that went the same for 4wd.

The fourth round of qualifying went great for both vehicles, and would prove to be the fastest times all weekend. The sun was out, and both quals went off just before noon, so tack conditions were perfect. With a fourth round resort, the fina round would be great ones to watch, and compete in! I managed another five in 2wd, and a third in 4wd, securing my spots in both finals, triple-A's for 2wd, and a single 8 min main for 4wd. With competiton so tight in both classes, I would start ninth with ten points in 2wd, losing the tiebreaker for fourth between five drivers! With 9 points in 4wd, I would start fifth with the 502x.

The finals did not go very good with the 201. in the first main, i would get a great start, battling for third by the two minute mark; only to have a steering link failure. the second main went the same, with a front end break right at the start of the race. With confidence less than great, i just couldnt muster a good efforet in the last main, ending up 10th overall. 4wd was alot more exciting! At the start, I worked quick to pass up to third, then it was a battle to the end between my travel buddy, Brent, and myself. We both were very close to eventual winner Billy Fischer, but with us battling, he made quick work of extending a considerable gap, leaving the battle for second and third to the both of us. Unfortunately, with tire wear towards the end of the race, it only got harder to drive, forcing me to make mistakes, with Brent ending up finishing ahead of me by about 4-5 seconds. I would finish third, not bad considering the hard-to-drive 502x, and a battered vehicle nonetheless!

Overall, I had a great time, and it was great to be back with all of my close friends in Arizona. I was glad to be there to see my good friend and now previous owner of SRS, Keoni AhYat, officialy hand the keys to now new owner, and also owner of a brand new Hobbytown USA on the property as well( for some reason, his name has completely skipped my mind lol)! Looking forward to getting back home to get back to work, preparing for the busy couple months ahead, and the Reedy Race in January.   

October has been a slow, but fun month of racing for me. It's been great racing and testing with Randy again, and we have made great progress with the 201. Between club racing at OCRC and West Coast, we have come up with solid setup changes for different track conditions, preparing for the Reedy Race in January. 

The biggest strides have been the addition of a +8mm longer chassis, thanks to Brad Krans, and different shock setups, with the stock TRF shocks, as well as a big bore shock setup that Randy has been successfully tested and raced with. My contribution to a different shock package with the stock shocks has been the addition of a third hole, and running similar shock packages that the Losi car runs( I'm currently running 55's in front and 56's in rear). This setup makes the car way more planted in my opinion, and a lot better through bumps and landing. Another big change has been removing the weight we have been running in the rear, similar to the AE car, and putting it in the front. With running about an ounce in a half in the front of the car, it takes away the "double bounce " feeling upon landing, as well as making it more stable in high speed corners. Randy has done a great job in his blogs with describing in detail exactly what we've been doing, but the main things have  even weight placement, shock setups, and the extended chassis. 

I'll be back at the track this weekend, at West Coast , with more things to try.  I'll keep every key updated!!

well after a busy week of catching up on some much needed rest and moving AGAIN, I can finally get back to my blog to write about this past weekend at the Surf City Classic. What a ton of fun! It was my first time to the race, let alone only the second time to OCRC in beautiful Huntington Beach, CA, so I was very excited for a fun weekend of racing and friends. I got to club race the Wednesday before the race to get a feel of the track and layout. Even though it was a bit slick due to the freshly packed layout, grip gradually increased by the mains, and it was a fen and very informative night for my 201. 

 The following Friday started the weekend- long event with a full day of practice, which was great. I got quite a bit of running in with both the 201 and 502x. The 4wd was ace to say the least right out of the box, so i just put a few runs with her to break in tires. I ran the 201 most of the day, trying small things to help improve handling. I'd say overall it was very good all day. But as the day started winding down, the track started drying , forming a very slick surface. I know they have run slicks before, but didn't think they would let the track dry to that point. Well, it did!! The last few runs of the night, a few guys practiced with slicks, and the verdict was in- I would be in for a long night of dremeling rubber!! 

The Saturday program would start promptly at 9am. Nick Black, son of owner Robert Black, and a heck of a race director/ announcer, would be running 3 qualifiers, with 32 heats per round. This year would mark the biggest turnout for this race , with over 315 entries. I would be up first with the 201 in race 6, so it was nice to see a few races run before I hit the track. I didn't change anything from Friday except slick tires, thinking I would be ballpark with what I ran Friday. WRONG. I found quickly that the car was a different animal. Hard to drive, very inconsistent. I bucked it around the track for an 8th overall in the first round-whew. Though it was way worse than that. After discussing with a few other drivers, I was told it was probably the first run on slicks being the cause, and that they only get better. I didn't have any good ideas on a safe direction to go setup wise with the car, as it was very good Friday; so I left it alone, ran my tires in the parking lot to take the edge off, and sauced(with WD-40 I might add ;)) just like the locals did. Well, the second and third qualifiers would turnout to be the exact same, ending with a 7 and an 8. Dismal to say the least- that would put me second in the B, with the possibility to bump up. Now, the 502x, well, the exact opposite of the 201. Out of the gate, it had even more grip and cornerspeed than it did with "tread" tires. It was so fun to drive, it was easy to get distracted and make mistakes. I would come out of the first round With a 2! That was fine with me, as I had plenty of mistakes to clean up for the next two rounds. The next two did go very well, with the last qualifier going 17 laps , the fastest time in our class for the weekend. That would put me out front in open 4wd for a A. Now with OCRC being located directly across the way from a church, races are postponed until services are finished, so the Sunday program would not start until 1, with doors opening at 12. I was so frustrated with my 201 from qualifying that I decided to run a pack with treaded tires to see if it would be easier to drive like it was Friday. No go. Felt the same as Saturday, and even worse in some aspects. So slicks it would be in the B main, and with a goal to just drive it easy and hope for the best. In the meanwhile, I prepped the 502x for the A, checking my diffs and gears, and polishing her up. ;) The B was crazy, to say the least. I started out ok, but mistake after mistake put me back in mid pack with about halfway to go. Toward the end, I was able to string together a few decent laps to make it back up to third, trying to chase down the last bump up spot with just 30 seconds to go. Fortunately, I got a huge break, with third rolling it over twice coming onto the starightaway, allowing me to get by. I would then limp it around the track toward the line, taking the last bump to the main, to start 10th. Now it was time for a full setup change on the 201! I went to my good friend, and R/C legend, Brian Kinwald to see what he thinks about what I was running. Little did I know, he watched the B, and let's just say he already had some ideas on what to change! I quickly realized my shock setup was way too soft, My car was too light, and roll center was off as well. So after stiffening up the whole car one spring, adding weight, and changing my roll center, I was ready for the A, confident that the car would be better. In warm up, it did feel waaay better. It had more grip out of the corner, jumped better, and was way less twitchy. At the start, it was very clean, with the whole field single filing for the first couple laps. After that, it was Malay! I ended up getting into cars that were getting shuffled back, putting me dead last, and seconds back from 9th. From there, all I could do was stay calm, hit my lines and do my best. I would end up seventh overall in open 2wd. Looking for redemption in 4wd, and starting out front, I would never look back in the A of open 4wd. I've never had a vehicle thus consistent on this type of surface. I would lead every single lap with my 502x to take the win! Overall, I had a great weekend at the Surf City Classic. I got to hang out with great friends in a great facility, and enjoyed a great race program put on by the OCRC crew. I'd like to thank fellow teammate Steve Butts for all the help and fun the whole weekend; we'll be working on our cars together in the very near future. I'd also like to thank all my great sponsors for all the support: Tamiya, TRF, Jconcepts, Novak, TFR, Stickit1racing.com, SRS, West Coast R/C, Pacific Coast Hobbies, LMR, and MR33. Also, congratulations to my buddy and TRF factory driver Lee Martin on back to back European 2wd titles, and another podium in 4wd! :-) announcer

This weekend I will be piloting the TS-201SC at the Short Course Showdown at West Coast! Jimmy Wright has been gracious enough to let me run one of his highly competitive trucks, might I mention the ROAR national A-main finalist chassis! I am very privileged to have this opportunity. With all my previous short course racing the last couple years, I'm confident I can support Trackstar and Team TRF in this highly competitive race, and can only hope I can keep the awesome results this chassis already had in the hands of Jimmy. I'll have pics and updates coming soon!