What a rewarding weekend!  I have been working with our county for almost two years designing and creating plans for a top class Off-Road Track here in the Atlanta, Georgia area.  We started construction in early December of 2009.  Needless to say the local government works slow but the end results will be worth it.  The construction resumed back a couple of months ago with the grading the old baseball field and the construction of the drivers stand.  We are on our way to having one of the best tracks in our region.

The Henry County Parks and Recreation has a verity of nontraditional sports and clubs inside the county parks.  paintball field, lawn mower racing, R/C flying club are just a few of the kind of activities our county supports. Our recreation department hosts an annual Independence Day Festival on a huge former farm spread just on the out skirts of the county.  For two days this festival celebrates our countries independence in huge way.  Over 10,000 visitors are expected to visit and celebrate and have fun.  Along with some of the other Henry County groups and clubs, we set up a booth showing th visitors a little about what R/C Racing is about.  We displayed several buggies and truggies and other R/C related equipment.  We also had a TV with several videos showing racing from the 2008 Worlds and R/C Pro Series.  We had so many people come up to the booth in amazement over R/C Racing.  Eyes glazed over dozens of kids eyes as they looked at these R/C cars on the tables.  It reminded me of how I felt as a kid when I seen R/C for the first time. 

JP

GCS Round 5 –Battlefield Raceway, Rossville Georgia - Our state race had us heading up to the extreme tip of the state.   Only 5-10 minutes from the Tennessee state line, Dion Potter operates one of the nicest R/C off Road tracks in our state.  Thanks to the help of the local county allowing them to have a track inside a county park, Dion also runs a small town hobby shop which caters to the racers and weekend basher alike.   Round 5 of the Georgia Championship Series was on tap for the weekend.

Practice – After setting up the computer and hanging the banners for the weekend’s race, I headed out for practice.  The track was medium size with a few technical sections, but nothing too tricky.  At first the track was loose and dusty.   Traction got a little better throughout the day.  The track had a good irrigation system that allowed for regular water that really helped with dust.  The track looked a lot more technical than it was. I had the track down after only a few laps.  I knew I had what it would take for a good finish at this race.

Qualifying - Tire selection is always key.  The track had not changed much from the day before.  I decided to go with some used I beams that I wanted to get a little more life out of.  Mistake!  As soon as I hit the track my 801xT felt loose out of the turns.  Coming out of a dog leg into and large double, My worst nightmare came true.   I went too wide getting into the fluff causing me to hit the double a little sideways.  One of the young racers (7 years old) was standing right beside the landing to the double.  We had just begun warm up so no one had time to tell him he couldn’t marshal.  My truggy hit him right in the hip.  I freaked out dropped my radio and ran down the stand to see if he was ok.  I feared the worst! The truggy hit him right in the thigh giving him one heck of a “Charlie horse”.  He would be o.k. but I was in no state of mind to race that heat.  Shortly after he was laughing and cutting up so I knew he would be ok but it was still very terrifying for me.   Round 2 – I finally got settled in after my scare and started thinking about the race.  I was able to pull a 5^th finish with several bobbles. Round 3 – I was in the zone.  I choose to take a chance and use a Small pin tire( Raptor).  They felt awesome.  I was able to finish 2^nd overall for the round securing and good position for the main..  Truck felt great!

Mains - After a short rain delay we were ready to start the main.  The track held off the rain really well but it was a 15-20 heavy rain so we were not sure just how deep the mud went.  After the start  we realized that the track was going to be fine.  The trucks were not muddy at all.  Halfway through the first lap I was in the 4^th spot and feeling good.  At about ¾ lap down I had gotten flip on my lid due to some tight racing.  Unfortunately it was on a plateau section of the track that was challenging for any turn marshal.  This would cause me to drop down to almost last.  No problem…I had 30 minutes to make it up.  Then it happened again in the same spot…..this time it was totally my fault.  These 2 bobbles were going to be tough to overcome.  I kept a clear head and started to drive the best I could.  I knew I had the truck and the ability to catch up and making a showing on the podium.  I made it up to fourth only seconds behind 2^nd and 3^rd.  Then disaster struck.  Flameout !  I didn’t need this!  I knew my chances where over for a podium this late in the race.  All in all…It was a great day racing with friends and I felt like I had what it took to podium for Tamiya and Byron Fuel.  Always next time!

JP

Alabama Money Race, Opelika Alabama June 19^th 2010 -  The Onion Patch Raceway was the on tap for a quiet afternoon of R/C Racing.  Logan and I traveled about 2 ½ hours  to race this race.  I have heard from several racers that the group of guys that run this track where some of the nicest folks in RC.  They were right.  They made us feel like we had been racing with them for years.  A really nice group of guys!

It was extremely hot and humid.  Also a chance of rain later that afternoon.  Unfortunately the turnout was low.  I was able to TQ and Win the truggy class.  I took advantage of the laid back atmosphere and tried some different driving techniques etc.  

A nice calm day racing reminded me of the illusive local club races.  Though I love the hustle and bustle of the large races….it’s nice to have easy day of racing from time to time.

Next stop....GCS Round 5

Jp 

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

RC Pro Series East Division Round 1 -Richland North Carolina…Wow what a drive!. Close to 8 hours on the road to make it to the Turkey Farm Raceway.  Don’t let the name fool you…it was a great place to race.  Track owner a turkey extraordinaire Dwight Horne was an great host and made all of us R/C racers feel at home.  The track footprint was medium size but overall it was a tight technical track with a few tough sections that had me frustrated during practice.  The track had 2 small sweeper style turns with telephone pole style logs spread evenly in a spider web like shape. They were crazy fun and tricky. 

Practice-  Sandy and loose.  The track is known for grooving up and getting high traction….so the locals say.  First few tanks I didn’t even worry about setup or tire selections.   I just wanted to get familiar with the layout.  After a few hours the track started to groove.   

Qualifying -   1^st round I was trying to get by with some tires that where a little worn( running a little Low on truggy tires)…Mistake!  The 1^st few laps where like skating on ice and I didn’t have enough traction to get over the jumps coming out of the turn. But I was able to finish second overall this round.... And the 2^nd place finishing bug would get all 4 rounds…making me qualify 3 over all….But I felt good going into the main..my 801xT was hooked up!

Main – Horn sounded and my pit Duane Evans(Tamiya driver) set me down and my engine went Rich causing me to struggle for a hole shot. I instantly dropped down to 4^th on the straightway but regained 3^rd in the second turn on a tricky step up.  After a few laps I gained the lead and  was able to get a 10second lead over 2^nd  place.  This started to change after the pit stop a few bobbles  had  Mugen driver John McGinty catching me fast.  We battled it out for the entire main.  It was a great race….the crowd was cheering  and the intensity was high.  After John (2^nd place) pitted that placed me a few seconds in front and all I had to do was hold him off for a few laps.  I knew John could click off some fast laps and he could make up 3 seconds with only slight bobble on my part.  My 801xT was hooked up !  I was able to hold  on and win …VICTORY!

AMS…here I come!

JP

After the warm up race last weekend,  I was confident that I had the setup and practice needed to perform well at the race.  A new addition to the track was a whoop section that took some skill to navigate.  The surface stayed the same even with 80 plus racers.  Great weekend of racing ahead!.

Practice- It only took a couple of laps to feel like I have a handle on the track layout.  The new Whoop section was tricky at first but my 801xT found the rhythm fast.  I felt good about this race.

Qualifying -  1^st round was mine!...or so I thought.  I missed TQing the 1^st round only by 4 seconds. This was due to a slight bump from a fellow racer on the last lap that caused a spin out into to the fluff…Grrr!  That’s racing..2^nd round of qualifying I was able to pull off a TQ and was on my way to a TQ of this event.  Unfortunately a few mistakes in the 3^rd round had me hoping that a 2^nd and Tq would be enough to take home TQ  honors.  There was a 3way tie for TQ…so we went to the Fasted single race time…This placed me qualifying 3^rd.  Either way I was excited about my performance heading into  the A-Main.

Main – We had a clean start and I was in the 4^th spot for the 1^st few laps.  I made my way up to 2^ndand looking for the leader. After the 1^st pit stop the race director starting calling me in 2^nd almost laping the 3^rd place racer and called 1^st almost 2 laps ahead of me.  Thinking that catching 1^st was a tough order….I decided to put it in cruise and conserve my truggy making sure I finished in a respectful 2^nd place.  Unfortunately  there was a issue with the results…the direct had been calling me in 2^nd when I was actually in 3^rd only 8 seconds behind 2^nd and only 15 seconds behind the winner.  Tough Luck again! I felt I could have pushed harder and made a challenge for the win and 2^nd.  But I will have to settle for a respectful 3^rd place finish.  Hats off to the winners...It was close!  My Tamiya 801xT and Byron Fuel performed great.

JP

I finally got the chance to visit a former local racer’s track that he started down in Midville Ga.  PineLand R/C will also host Round 4 of the Georgia Championship Series.   The track was Sandy light clay with medium Traction with a couple of large jumps that took a lot of power to clear.  Also had a real trick triple double in the middle of a dog leg turn. Very low turn out..but all I wanted was some practice before nest weekend.

AKA soft City Blocks where my tire of choice.  I think that grid Irons will be a better selection next weekend when more racers run on it and the track groves up.  I was able to get some much needed track time and get a feel of the track condition and layout.  Overall my truggy didn’t feel that bad on the track, however I do have a few setup changes that I want to try for next weekend.   I did however blow my 4th steering servo adding to my growing DNF list.  Grrrrrrr!

JP

GCS Round 3 Augusta Ga 

The track was rough and had some really large jumps that where a real challenge getting over during practice due to the blown out faces.  The track had some red clay areas but had lots of sand that made lots of area rough and constantly changing.   I felt that traction was going to low so I went out on light sway bars and started there. Traction didn’t seem to be an issue but the rough surface made drivinbg fast a challenge.  I made only 1 tank during practice when I tripped yet another steering servo.  I felt that maybe my saver was to tight because I had not had a crashes or hits.  The servo saver spring seem to be fine with a little play in the saver.  Not sure why I keep blowing servos…I guess 280oz servos are not strong enough.

Qualifying – With the threat of rain moving in, Qualifying was cut short… I only had 2 chances two get a some good qual points. No throw out round means  = no mistakes.   I knew from practice that I was going to be battling a little bit of a handling issue.  I just couldn’t go fast on the rough surface.  Round two rear hinge pin came loose causing me to limp around the track hoping to at least finish.  With 1 moderate round and slow dnf round…I was still able to qual in the 6^th position.

Main -  The sprinkling rain kept the moisture in the track.  NO dust but the track felt a little faster with it being a little dryer. At least for me….. Fairly clean start had me sitting in the middle of the pack.  I knew that staying clean and not wrecking was going to be my best chance at the podium.  From the qualifying time I knew that 1-6 were going to be a close battle.  At the halfway point I started battling heavy for the 3^rd position.  I tried to push a little hard on the rough sections and dropped back after 8-10 minutes of traded spots with 3^rd and fourth.  With only 2 minutes to go I seemed to have ran out of fuel….another DNF !!! Geez!   Come to find out It was a throttle servo. Finished 5^th…. Grrrr!  I have to shake these DNF’s

2010 Spring Sting – A few friends and I decided to make the trip to Badlands R/C in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. If you have not had the chance to visit this track, you are missing out on one of the best ran R/C racing facilities on the East Coast. More information can be found here - www.badlandsrc.com. We also decided to take out families and make it a dual Racing/Family vacation at one of the biggest beach destination on the East coast. The best of both worlds..Racing and vacation …Waahooo!!!

I was really pumped heading into this weekend.  After  GCS Rnd 2. I knew I was getting more familiar with running the 801xT.  I decided to stick with my basic setup.  The track was med in size. It didn’t have large jumps but did have some medium sized technical jump sections that where tricky to navigate.  Traction! Traction! Traction!...I do not get a chance to say “ we have to much traction” that often.  The track grooved up and had more traction than we could deal with.  I knew this was going to be a fun weekend !

Practice – We headed into practice after 2 days of fun and sun at the beach.  Now it was time to get down to racing.  During the 1^st tank on the track….the 801xT had a very bad on power push.  I went up on the rear swat bar.  Going up on the sway bars was all I needed to do to get my truggy feeling dialed. Next was Tire selection... AKA Grid Iron/Hole Shot where the ticket event when they wore out..the traction was that high.  Along with the high traction was a very abrasive surface that loved to eat tires. After Practice I pulled my clutch to do the regular bearing/clutch inspection and found that my standard 3 shoe clutch was sticking open. I tinkered with it for several minutes until I decided to change the entire system over to the New Ascendancy 4 shoe clutch provided to me by Alex from Champion RC.  It’s exactly the same as the JVD Clutch system that Lutz has been running.  And wow!..what a difference in the power transition. The 4 shoe system has a lot more controllable and usable acceleration.  I wish I had made the switch sooner.

Qualifying – From practice…I felt comfortable that I could lay down some good times provided I got some clean runs.  1 Round I went out on some worn City Blocks that just didn’t seem to have the traction I was looking for…..the run was clean but just wasn’t as fast as I could have been. 2^nd round I switched to some Hole shots..these where just what I was looking for…however I made a couple of bobbles and only bettered my time only by 8 seconds over round 1.  On Fire!!! The 3^rd round of qualifying I was in the zone….a place I haven’t been in many months of racing.  I increase my time by 1 full lap over my 2^nd round finishing 4^th only seconds behind some of our fastest guys on the East coast.  This secured my place into the A-Main. After round 3 I knew that my 801xT and I had what it would take to have a strong finish on the podium.

Main – Show time! With only one fast run in the 3^rd round of qualifying..I was in the 6^th position.  All I wanted was a nice clean start…something I hadn’t been able to achieve in past several races.  I knew with the level of competition the start was critical. The horn sounded and we where off..I took a high line on a large sweeper at the end of the straight away.  It paid off…Byron Fuel teammate Barry Pettit and I got the hole shot after the second turn.   Barry is crazy fast!  It was a long race and I know that if I could run a clean race I would have a chance at a good finish.  I finally got my clean start!  After 4-5 laps I started to notice a issue with my steering.  At first I couldn’t tell it it was my mind playing tricks or if I had an actual issue. Suddenly my truggy went straight in the middle of a turn but straighten up instantly. This confirmed my feelings that my truggy wasn’t handling correct.  I thought that I was having radio glitches at 1^st.  I started to lose position 3^rd,4^th,5^th……and then after coming and going the steering finally went completely out crushing my hopes for a good finish.  Now its time to go totally KO PROPO.  The steering servo just striped out. 

Even with another DNF from servo failure…I felt the weekend was a success.  I finally received that performance from myself and my Byron Fuel powered Tamiya 801xT that could take the podium at the track.

Tamiya 2010 !

Georgia Championship Series Round – During my tear down after the PNB I noticed something that I have been dreading, and knowing that sooner or later it would happen to me.  And it did.  I have been running a OS Speed for about 6+ races now.  Needless to say..I really like the Speed engine, I just don’t like the price.  Well during my inspection I realized that my air filter was doing its job properly(torn) and the engine sucked a large about of very fine dust during the main.  OUCH!  I tore down and didn’t see any scaring or bad bearings inside the case.  I was hoping I got lucky.  The rest of my 801xT looked great.  The Diff look good and the Arms seem to be holding good tolerance as far as play and wear. 

Practice – Being a director and promoter of this series I knew that I would not be able to give practice day 100%.  Also my son Logan(10 year old) was racing also and he is really excited about racing this year I was excited about the race weekend, mostly because I was sporting a new Ko Propo Eurus radio system.  After months of radio issues…I was confident that I would not have radio issues this weekend.  And I was right.  The new radio performed flawlessly, I kick myself in the head for not switching sooner!  I was also trying out some setup changes on my 801xT.  I was trying running the 801x buggy wheel hubs mod that Jimmy Wright had been talking about on the TRF forum. This narrowed the wheel base and gave the truck a tone more steering. Goes Bad HERE- I went and fired up engine and bench tune I realized my fears that I may have ace’ed a $450.00 engine have came true.  The engine just would not stay running consistently.  I now own a very expensive paper weight..;-).  Installed another engine and hit the track late in the evening after the sun went down.  The track was slick but was able to get some time learning the new track.  The truck “rotated on a dime” and seemed really stable in the air.

Qualifying – Not 100% familiar with the track each qualifier I got faster and faster.  But so did many other racers.  My 801xT felt good.  .  It was a red clay grooved up but not abrasive. It was a tight and technical track with a tricky step up in the middle.  My truck felt nimble and turning was spot on!  So far the narrowing by using the buggy wheel hubs will be permanent on my 801xT.  We see what happens next weekend.  After the Qualifying, I was sitting in the 12 spot 2^nd in the B-Main…uggh!

Main – Heading into the B-main though disappointing I realize that the times that separate 3-12 positions where extremely close.  I was confident the way that my truggy was handling and my Lap times reflected that I was on point to bump into the A-Main.  Race started…after a decent start, I was 3^rd in a freight train of truggies. On lap 2… I got the wrong end of some close racing that resulted in me in the pipe upside down.   This would not have not been that bad except for the area was not guarded well by marshals(I should have not crashed..doh!!).  Even so just like at the PNB I found myself battling from Dead last for a bump spot.  I started making my way into the top 5 fast and clean when it struck again….turn marshal threw a truggy right on top of mine inside a turn…I just cant catch a break!!!  I was not upset with the marshal…its tough turn marshaling in some areas of the track and this was one of them. Just bad luck!  Even so I was back on track after a 5 minute battle with 2^nd place I finally secured a comfortable position in the “magic bump spot”.   After 16 minutes of battling from dead last twice..it look as if my patience was going to pay off.  Then suddenly coming out of turn and hammering down the front straight…Wizzzzzzzzzz!  I now had a front wheel drive only truggy crushing my hopes of a bumping.  At first I was thinking it might be a blown rear diff.  But the Diff design of the 801xT is so tough and well designed I really doubted that that was it.  After inspection It was a pinion gear bearing that blew apart.  After the extremely loud noise I felt certain that the gears where toast.  The pinion gear and ring actually survived with no damage. 

My engine ran great on Byron Gen2 Race blend and no radio issues with my new Ko Propo made the weekend less stressful.   Even with a terrible finish I had a great time with friends and really enjoyed running my Tamiya 801xT

Tamiya 2010!