Monday, August 16th,

HOT. Yup, that about sums it up! I have never felt such heat in my life. 103* with about as much humidity as possible. Yea, HOT.

Luckily it was also very fun and a great time! I first want to thank Corey Guidry for helping me to attend the race and putting on a great show! I also want to thank Barb and Martin Harrison for opening up their home to a stranger and hooking me up with a ride to and from the airport! So much appreciated!! And last but not least to local racers Chris and Ben for allowing me to pit in their AC trailer so I didn't melt! Thanks to all of you!

Now with my 7 hour delayed trip home to California well under way lets get to some racing action!

I chose to head to the south Rd # 3 because I needed a second round for points and I knew there was a very good turnout of 200+ entries for this event and that the competition would be very good. The track had some technical sections with many jumps in the corners or through the corners. A section called the "Wagon Wheel" brings that to light. Qualifying went my way for the most part. In Truggy I felt pretty solid all weekend. My 801Xt was handling the track very well and I was able to TQ the first 3 rounds solidifying my overall TQ.  I tweaked set-ups here and there and it gradually got better and better. In the 4th round I decided to have a little fun and put on a show. I drifted the fluff and managed 2 of 3 backflips on the front double. (No small feat, as it wasn't really a backflip type of jump) I had a good time and had some fun with Mr. Castleberry racing side by side and jumping over him and such! It was a good time.

Buggy was a bit more of a challenge. The track was a little blown and had loose marbles on the edges with a semi groove through the middle. This is generally my hardest track condition because It doesn't bode well for my free flowing driving style. I messed with my set-up every round and really didn't find anything I was comfortable with for all of qualifying. I was still able to manage to TQ the last 3 rounds of qualifying to take the overall TQ. The track had gotten rough and staying on your wheels was paramount and I was able to accomplish that pretty well which helped me in my cause.

Truggy A-main - At the tone we were off. I held the lead from the Start but local hot-shoe Derek Guidry was in hot pursuit. He remained close for the first 5 minutes or so but made a couple of mistakes which were all I needed. My truck was hooked up very well and I just worked at keeping it clean. I stretched my lead to about a lap and a half by the end of the 45 min main. On the last lap I barely squeezed out another backflip on the front double to finish my race.

Buggy A-main - I didn't know what to expect. We had gotten a bit of rain about 2 races earlier which was much needed. By the time our race was up though the track had dried off but I felt was in a bit better shape than it had been thanks to the rain. I went out for warmup hoping that my car would be hooked up. I was surprised to feel how good it actually felt! I had finally found the set-up I had been looking for on my 801X for this type of track! My car felt very good for the conditions and I took the lead at the start and just extended and extended. I was pleasantly surprised and very excited that I made the right changes to my car and by the end of the 45 min main had about a 2 1/2 lap victory.

All in all it was a Great weekend. Double TQ and Victory for my Tamiya vehicles! I was very happy with the performance my cars gave me this weekend. I also can't say enough about the type of people that were at this race. Everyone was so friendly and hospitable! Also that Cajun food is Awesome! Grilled Crawfish and Catfish are amazing!

Anyways, next trip up is South Korea. Not sure on what type of event it is but I know one thing for sure....I'm going to have fun!

Keep on Tamiyaing everyone!

Sunday July 11th, 2010

    Just finished up one of the best race weekends of my life! Here's how it went down!

Truggy Quals: Qual Points were the setup and best 2 of 3 was what we were faced with! Track was super slick as a slick groove started to form all weekend long! In the first Qualifier and had a pretty good run, just a couple to many mistakes and took 2nd overall behind Josh Wheeler. In the second Qualifier I took a commanding TQ over the rest of the field. In the 3rd qualifier I took a lead on the clock early but Josh and I battled with similar lap times the entire race! I ended up taking TQ by .8 seconds and thus securing the Overall TQ for my Tamiya 801Xt!

Buggy Quals: Round 1 was great as during practice we tried some new set-ups that we really have never tried before. The car handled very well though and I took TQ for the round. In round two we tried some more things and slightly went the wrong way on a couple elements. I eneded up having a couple horrible laps and got a 6th. In the final round we reverted back on a couple setups and the car was once again pretty good. Taylor James had set a very fast time but I pushed and pushed and ended up taking the TQ for the round by .04!! This gave me the overall TQ for my Tamiya 801X!

Truggy mains: We were to do 2, 20min mains and in case of a tie in points, use combined laps and times as the tie break. In the first main I extended out a 5 second lead or so before my first pit. After my first pit (2 stop strategy) Taylor James and I were neck and neck. We battle until the 10 min mark when he pitted for his 1 stop. I then tried to extend my lead knowing I had one more stop to go. After my last stop and with 7 min to go we were once again neck and neck and battling for the remainder of the race. It was some of the closest, most defensive driving I have done in my life. I felt like I was a nascar driver, holding my line and blocking his! It was a thrilling race. On the last lap I made a bobble on the back and got swirly and we both were side by side going for the second to last corner but in his avoidance of my swirliness he clipped the pipe I believe and slightly went off the track and I took victory by about 3 seconds.

In the second A I knew I needed another win. Again the same stage was set and playing out the same way! I built a 5 second lead at the start but again, pit stops evened it up coming into the last 7 minutes. Again, another classic battle, swapping positions. Riding each others bumpers, amazing racing! On the last lap going on to the back section again I tried to make a do or die move over the hip jump. I landed in front of Taylor but out of shape. We tangled a bit and both went off the track. We both got back on, finished the last jump and Taylor got me by .5 seconds! However the tiebreaker was total laps and times so I took Overall victory by about 3 seconds!!! What a Race! My 801Xt was working great!

Buggy A-mains: How can we top those truck events I have no idea! But in A1 it was a race to remember for me as well! I started strong and had the lead for the first 4 min or so. About that time Jessie Robbers and I began battling for the lead spot and we gaped the rest of the field! Around the halfway point I had a lap or two I would rather forget and fell back over half a lap. I was able to pull it together after that as a few rain drops began to fall. Myself and most everyone considered this race to be over but I wasn't done! I started to lay down faster lap times as rain began to sprinkle down. Then with about 5 minutes to go I started to hear my rear diff going bad! BUT my car was getting easier and easier to drive and faster lap times were a result! As the diff got worse, the car got easier to drive on this slick track! I ended up catching up and actually taking the lead on a Mistake by Jessie and took the victory!!

In A2 it was Matt Gosh who was on fire to start the race. Matt, Jessie, and I battled for the first 10 minutes or so. Eventually I was able to take the lead and start to gap them as they battled with each other! I cruised on to victory and the Overall Victory with my 801X!

What a great weekend! I haven't had a great weekend like this sense the R/C Pro finals in '08! It felt Awesome and my cars, engines, tires, you name it were great all weekend! It was great meeting so many new people in St. Louis and I thank OS, Futaba, and the Dirtburners Crew for putting on such a great event! Looking forward to next year!

Until Next time! Happy Tamiyaing everyone!

Mon June 28th, 2010

"Welcome To Colorado" - That's what the locals kept saying when out of state racers kept struggling with their engine tune. Also when the weather changed from one extreme to another in a matter of moments. It was a tail of extremes at this years ROAR Nationals held in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

We were some 6,200 feet in elevation! Thats nearly 1.2 miles into the stratosphere! If you've never raced at such an altitude just realize that engine tuning takes on a whole new meaning! With less oxygen in the air you are doing what you can to make more power. Most drivers were running 40% nitro. (some rumored to be running 50%). I personally ran 40% and removed the restrictor.

Truggy Qualifying: They were to take your 2 best qual point rounds out of 5. My best runs were in Rd 1 and 4 where I placed 7th and 6th respectively for the round. Each round I had some crashes which cost me some higher positions. Either  way though I was able to secure a semi-final position whilst qualifying 10th overall.

Buggy Qualifying: Again my best rounds were 1 and 4. First round I just made to many mistakes but managed 16th overall. Come the 4th round I needed a good run to get into the Semi's. They were taking 22 to the semi's so I needed at least a top 10 to feel good about it. I ran clean until my third to last lap when I made a big mistake. Lost about 4 seconds on the lap. Still finished strong however and got 8th for the Final round. Qualifying me 18th overall.

Truggy Semi's: My truck got better and better as the weekend went on and in the Semi's i felt confident. I worked my way up to a strong 3rd and felt great. About 10 minutes in however I noticed my front wheel tilting in and out. (sure sign of the knuckle screw coming out) I tried to take it a bit easier for the remaining 20min. I prayed that it would stay together and allow me to finish the Semi! I fell back to 6th by the end but held on to take the final guaranteed bump position into the Final!

Buggy Semi's: I had a great start and worked my way up to 3rd place. Then about 5min in I had the lap that just kept getting worse! A 50 second lap time! Lost about 12 seconds on a single lap. I just couldn't do a thing right. I settled back into a groove and ran in 10th place the remainder of the race. I had a front shock blow out with about 5 minutes to go but still tried to catch up to 9th place (as I knew that getting 9th would have given me a shot at making the main). I caught up and was withing a second or two on the last lap when I crashed over the tripple and blew my chance! Turned out my time was fast enough to get 5th in the Previous semi, but in my semi I settled for 10th and thus 16th place overall for the event.

Truggy A-main: Starting 12th on the grid I knew it would be hard to make it though the pack. Especially on this new surface we were running on. (it had just down-poured for an hour, track crew did an amazing job to get us racing again!) I had a rough start and got punted to the rear. I steadily worked my way up and got up to about 6th. Then I started putting together some quick laptimes. My truck was quick and i was giving it all she had. I had a few battles for 3rd - 5th place in between pitstops but made a couple to many mistakes. I had the car to finish top 3 but I just didn't do it justice. I ended up in 5th place overall.  5th Place at the Nationals in Truggy isn't to shabby and I just hope to build off of it for the next event!

Looking forward to going home tonight and seeing my little girl and wife!

Until next time, Happy Tamiyaing everyone! :-)

Sunday June, 6 2010

Well it's 4:45am and I'm sitting in the Birmingham Airport reflecting on my racing this past weekend. For the most part I'm pleased with what transpired and the event was great. So lets get down to what happened.

Event: The event was put on with the hard work of Alan Burton and his supporting cast. He has spent months on advertising for this event and preparing for it and it showed. The track was awesome, and the prizes for the sportsman drivers were unmatched. The event had over 450 entries and while it led to some long days, there was some great competition and a lot of fun to be had.

Truggy Qualifying - My 801Xt was working well all weekend. The surface was similar to what I had just run in Australia and thus I didn't have to change my set-up at all. The only mistake I made was bringing all the wrong tires. I thought it was going to be a high bite surface and very abrasive and it ended up being a bit slick. So first qualifier my Medium tires just didn't cut it. They were like iceskates but I still managed 6th overall. I went around the pits and found 2 sets of Soft Cityblocks and ended up running them in my final 2 qualifiers and the main. In the ended I ended up qualifying 5th overall, mostly just from making to many mistakes but I knew I had a good truck for the main!

Buggy Qualifying - My 801X started the event feeling pretty good and I tried different set-ups in each qualifier to try and get it better. For the most part though I made it just a little worse. I ended up qualifying 7th for the A.  In the A-main warmup we tried messing with droop and got the car to feel better. I was ready for the A!

Truck A-main - The start for me was UGLY. I had a miserable first 3-4 minutes as the tight track proved tough to pass on and I just made to many mistakes. I fell back 3/4 of a lap early and could never totally recover. I was able to work my way up to around 3rd place when I landed upside down in the center of the track on my pit lap. I was upside down a little longer than normal and flamed. I ended up loosing a lap and 20 seconds. I fought my way back and threw down the best lap times I could. My 801Xt was handing very well and I was giving it all I had. I ended up coming back and taking 5th position just 1 second behind 4th at the line.

Buggy A-main - My 801X was dialed at the start. At the tone I got knocked a bit on the first corner but fought back and with a few crashes by the lead packs I made my way up to 3rd. I then proceeded to have some good battles for 2-5 positions and I fought the best I could. I made a few mistakes during the race and fell back a bit. But at the end I was in a good battle with Kortz for 4th and I was able to take it in the end!

I thank Alan Burton for helping me to attend this great event. I look forward to attending again next year.

Next up is our US Nationals for both Buggy and Truggy!

Mon, May 24th.

Just got back from a fun trip to Australia. I was excited to be going back so quickly to see how the competition had progressed from last year. (They definitely  picked up the pace a bit!)

The format allowed for a LOT of racing. We got three, ten minute rounds of practice on Thursday followed by our first ten minute qualifier under the lights. Friday we then had another four, ten minute qualifiers with the last one again being under the lights. (It got dark there at 5pm, and I was just getting used to it getting dark around 8pm back home. That was my biggest adjustment). On Saturday we had a final qualifying round in the morning to complete our six, ten minute qualifiers, in which they took our best four to seed us into the mains. Just like IFMAR, no one made it directly to the A-main. You had to earn your way in through the semi-finals. I had consistent qualifiers and while never dominating, I had the fastest lap times the majority of the time. I finished top 5 just about every qualifier in both Buggy and Truggy. In the end I qualified 3rd in Truck and 5th in Buggy.

Buggy Semi Final - I got a okay start and eventually moved my way up to 2nd place. I was chugging along in 2nd place, completely complacent about my position to put me into the final. It was a 20min main and 18.5 min in and huge scare happened. I was going down a short shoot in the middle of the track and out of nowhere my engine went rich and flamed. I had no clue what happened. Eventually we got it started and I kept it running by not applying brakes and finished my final lap. I squeezed into the 12th and final spot in the final! Got very lucky!

Truggy Semi Final - I had a decision to make as I only had one set of Gridirons left for the weekend. So I chose to run Citiblocks for the Semi. It ended up being an awesome decision. I followed Renaud Savoya around for a couple laps before getting by and just pulling away. My 801Xt was flying and I ran away to a comfortable Semi-Final victory securing pole position for the A-final. 

Buggy A-main - 45min A-main was up and I had my work cut out for me. Sense I didn't know what the issue was from the semi, I simply changed my carb and hoped that would solve any issue. We got it tuned as best we could in the warmup but it ended up being a bit rich, especially on the bottom.  At the beginning of the race I did my best to work my way up through traffic. I at my high point got up to I believe 4th place and was slowly catching those in front of me. Then on my second stop my car ran out of gas! I fell back to 7th and lost a lap. So now to put in some work. I began to start working back and catching up and around the 35 minute mark or so as I was really getting into a fast groove. Then as I neared my pit stop again my engine flamed / ran out of gas again.. That put my nail in the coffin. I fell another lap back and just tried to stay out there the rest of the main. Due to attrition from other drivers and being able to put down some good laps with my 801X I was still able to come away with a 5th place finish.

Truggy A-main - After the Semis I had a big decision to make. I had a brand new set of Gridirons to run and ran them in the warmup. I had made the decision to leave them on when someone called a 10 min delay. I went down and decided to put my Cityblocks on from the Semi's.  As the main started I held the lead for a lap or so but made  a small bobble and fell back to second, then fell back to third. I wasn't worried as I was just biding my time and waiting for someone else to make a mistake to get back to the lead. It didn't take to long and I worked my way back up to first and would never look back. I slowly extended my lead the entire rest of the main. I didn't need to be marshaled at all the entire 45min main. My 801Xt was just so easy to drive and it made me look good out there! It all came together for a great race and a Truggy N.S.W State Title for me and my 801Xt!

I'm very appreciative to so many of the Aussies out there who made me feel at home! I had a pleasure racing with everyone!

Next up is the Alabama Manufacturers Shootout!

May, 1 2010

   Headed out to Philip Atondos track in Marysville yesterday for the 2nd round of the NorCal Championship Series.  I hadn't been to this track before but I had heard good things about it! The track turned out to be a lot of fun and the turnout was once again great with probably near 150 entries or so!

  In Buggy my 801X in practice was a bit hard to drive. I still had a setup on it from slicker tracks and this track had more bite and was a bit rougher than what I had been running on. Thus, I decided to shorten up my camber links all the way around and give that a try. I got back out there for a bit more practice and it felt much better. I also decided to run soft Cityblocks all day and they stayed very consistent and just let me do my job!. My job was to take TQ in the 2nd round by just tenths of a second over Philip. We had a good battle on the clock. Come main time I took off from pole position and didn't look back. The first 3 minutes or so were a little sketchy. I had a few mistakes and kept allowing Philip to catch back up but then I found my groove and was gone! I amassed a 2 lap lead after 15 minutes with 5 minutes to go. Then my rear diff started to blow! I slowly lost my rear wheel drive and had to limp around the track. Luckily my lead was large enough and I still came away with over a lap win on 2nd!

  In Truggy my 801Xt was feeling pretty good after I did the camber link changes to it as well. I also chose S Cityblocks for the day and hoped they would last. My Qualifiers were decent just had a mistake here or there on the first one. On the second one they called me done after crossing the line so I pulled off, only to find out after the race that I hadn't finished yet...... So I got jipped on that one and ended up Qualified 2nd behind Philip. In the mains leading up to mine I was asked to help pit someone. I went to warm up his car and noticed a couple of his tires coming unglued. He didn't have anything else to run so we ran over to my pit and yanked my Cityblocks off my truck and put them on his. He ended up taking the win but had to limp around the last lap due to blowing a rear diff in his Kyosho. He then had a 20min race he had to marshal for and then he would be right back up. So I took his truck and began rebuilding the diff and rear bulkhead. I got it done just as the tone was about to go off and got him to the starting line only for after about a lap his steering servo screw to come off. So we fixed that and got him out there so he could at least have some fun. I was hoping to still have some tread left on the tires for my main! haha

  Well I patched up the edges of the tires with some glue and was ready to go. After the Buggy main and then marshaling it was right into the truck main. I went to turn on my truck and wiggled my wheels and noticed a disconnect.  About 20% of my steering left and right was numb and didn't do anything then it would jump to that spot when you turned far enough. I'm like, geeze, I'm going to loose this servo in this race. Well we got out there and man was it a handful at the start. I had no fine steering inputs so it was like I was learning to drive the car full lock to full lock! At the start I fell back to 3rd and just didn't feel comfortable. It was just a handful not having precise steering movements. However I began to get used to it and caught up and took the lead about 5 minutes in and never looked back. I got stronger as the race went on and the servo miraculously held out and I took the victory!

So it was a nice day with a Double Victory for my Tamiya 801X and 801Xt!

Next event is Australia for the NSW championship in Sydney which I leave for on May 17th!

4-7-10

    Just got back from England where I attended the Neo 2010 event at Harper Adams University! Once again Phil and his crew put on an awesome event! Before you even get there you already know all the rules (driver handbook) and you know what practice heat you are in and at what time your race will be running all week long (time schedule). It is a well run and well organized event and the competition level is fierce with many of the best drivers in the world in attendance.

   My initial hopes of the week were to improve upon last years results. This wasn't going to be easy as last year I finished 3rd on the Podium. Once practice began I realized that last years set-up wasn't going to work on this track. There were more large jumps this year and some flatter landings. So as we worked through the 3 rounds of practice and into the 6 rounds of qualifying it was all about adjusting set-ups constantly to try to get a grip on the track. All week something just didn't feel right in my engine / clutch set-up.  I had what seemed to be a lean bog on the track and it caused me to have some issue in the first couple qualifiers. I couldn't tune it out so I went and changed out my tank and fuel lines. It was better but still not great. I struggled slightly throughout most of the quals trying to just get a nice feel to my car. I was still able to put in top 12 runs for the most part and get into a solid Semi-Final qualifying spot. (As no one qualifies directly for the A)

  For the semi I ended up changing my clutch set-up and the feel was back. I finally felt more comfortable on the track. Starting 8th on the Semi Grid I quickly moved up and was running in 3rd. Then halfway through the Semi i Lost steering for half a lap. My wheel was leaned over and I thought I was done. I lost some positions and fell back to 7th. I still tried to keep driving and somehow the steering came back. I was able to finish the race and came in 7th. (The top 6 qualified directly to the A-main. The fastest next 3 of the two semi's would also qualify) So I had to wait until the end of Semi-B. In the end I had the fastest time of the rest and qualified 13th for the A-main. Once I got my car back I found that my knuckle screw had come out. I guess I got very lucky that it allowed me to finish the Semi Final!

  We had 30 minutes to prepare for the A-main. At the sound of the tone I took it easy, checking up as to not run into the guy in front of me but the guy behind me wasn't as patient. He pushed me into the guy in front of me and we tangled and I got out last. Then about halfway through the first lap I was called in for a Stop and Go....My pit guy had taken the starter box to the starting grid. (Which wasn't allowed at this event) So now I was 1/2 a lap down after 1 lap. On top of that I had to stand on the side of the drivers stand that I hadn't stood all week and it wasn't an easy transition. Basically I just struggled the entire time I was out there. After about 30 minutes my rear cvd came apart and I just pulled it off. Two others bowed out before me and thus I took 13th.

   Overall it was a trying weekend. The car was actually very good in the main and it was down to tire choice and driving position that I feel really cost me. My set-up I think felt pretty good and I did get quite a few comments by people saying how good the Tamiya 801X looked on the track! I just wish everything else would have fallen into place to get that result! But Alas, there is always the next event and I was able to take away a good learning experience from the Weekend!

   Looking forward to staying home for a few weeks before I head off to Australia at the end of May. I will be doing some Nor Cal series races and club racing in the meantime!

3-15-10

Up, down, good, bad, fun, windy! What a crazy week of racing in Las Vegas Nevada. Joey from the 'Dirt' was brought in to build this track and he got it done just in the nick of time as weather held up the process in the beginning. But come Thursday morning we were racing and doing our best to figure out layout. In general the track was pretty simple in theory. Just a lot of doubles all around. The difference maker was going to be the whoop section which started as easier whoops and and gradually got deeper as you went through them. This is where races could be won or lost.

In Truck qualifying it was a tale of extremes for me. In my first qualifier there was a sudden delay at the 'loop is live' call. I guess the announcers michrophone went out and he had tried to say loop is live. Anyways I guess in that 30 seconds I had crossed the loop and thus when the call of 'the loop is live' finally rang out I figured I was just starting from the bak of the pack like normal. My first couple laps with my 801Xt were great feeling but I never heard my name on the leaderboard. I lost my mental edge as I'm tryign to listen for my name and eneded up making mistakes near the end of the run. All in all though it wasn't a terrible run. So after I marshal I went to check the results and find that my firfst lap was 14 seconds slower than my average lap, and my first lap was clean. So afer finding out the reason why they credited my time and I ended 7th for the round. In round number two I had a DNS due to mechanical failure in warmup. So it was up to round number 3. The track had started to groove up and traction was very high in the groove but there was also very loose marbles just outside of the line to where if you missed you were skating around! Well I'm still struggling with my high bite set-up and thus was only able to manage a top 16 run. So my 23 points put me 3rd in the B-main.

Buggy qualifying was a little bit better. In the first round the track was a challenge as it still had some looseness to all the corners as they were still watering every once in a while. I went to put down a clean run and did the best I could. I had a great line through the whoop section and was able to take TQ for rd #1 with my 801X.  In round two and round three the Whoop section began to change and my line actually got a little blown out in the back end of it. I was still able to put in top 10 runs with an 8th and a 7th respectively. Overall I was to start 4th on the A-main Grid.

Truggy main was up first. My starting position would be the closest I got to bumping up. From the start I began to fight the surface and got pummeled by other drivers. (whom apologized after the race). I took many bad tumbles and with the track in a high bite surface with loose edges I just never got the feel. With all the crashing and tumbling about 12 minutes in I lost a steering servo and it put me out of the running. (Looking forward to my next loose track!) :-)

Buggy main was the last main of the weekend and the track was probably at its hardest. Not only was there a groove but a lot of the edge fluff made it's way onto the driving line in certain sections of the track. As the tone went off I had a good first couple of corners and then got punted to near the rear of the pack. I was never able to make much of a charge but in the middle I began to put in as consistent of laps as I could. My line through the whoops from earlier in the week was all but gone so lap after  lap I was searching sor something else. My consistency through the whoops never materialized and I just had to do the best I could. After the dust cleaered and the 45 minute A-main was complete I was in 8th place.

All in all it's been a grueling last 4 weeks. Traveling all over the country to all different types of tracks. It's been great to meet so many people and hear a lot of the interest they have in the Tamiya products! The buggy is about a month away from it's one year aniversary and we have made some good progress with it already. The truck also has the new arms now which helped both Jimmy Wright and Ricky Racer take Victory this past weekend in the 40+ class and Open class respectively! Great job guys!

Next up for me will be the Neo-Buggy event in England! Hopefully I can take what I learned there last year and turn it into victory this year!

In the words of team GFD, lets go TA TA TAmiya!

Sunday March, 7th.

    Wow what a crazy, psycho, long, sad, happy, tired, all over the place week. That is what the Psycho Nitro blast turned out to be in 2010!

    To start off with my 801X buggy and 801Xt truggy came to play this weekend! On a track that I have always shown well but never finished well it was my time to try to shine.

   Qualifying went decent for the first two rounds. I was able to put top 3 runs in both vehicles whilst setting the fastest lap times. In my round 3's at 3am my luck wasn't there and I bowed out of both. Overall I qualified 3rd in both classes. A good starting position for the Hour long A-mains.

   Truggy main was up first and after warmups I decided to do a tire change. My choice to run AKA S Gridirons paid off and on the first lap I powered my way past Truhe and Drake to take the lead and never look back! My 801Xt was dialed and just floating over all the bumps! My 801Xt consistently laid down the fastest lap times and I ended up taking the win by about 30 seconds over the Drake.

   Buggy main was up last and by this time everyone was whooped. I had a good start and moved up to battle with Drake for the first 8 minutes. I took the lead before my first pitstop but Drake was on a longer pit strategy. It ended up working out for him as he extended a bit of a lead. I would stay right with him for the first 30 minutes or so but eventually with a few mistakes he pulled away a bit and with less pitstops I just couldn't catch up to him. My 801X laid down the fastest laptimes but it was only good enough for 2nd. Overall though after my last 2 weekends it felt good to get some decent finishes and have my Tamiya Vehicles working good!

   Next up Silver State!

March 1, 2010

    Heading back today from racing at the Icebreaker event at Indy R/C World just outside Dallas Texas. I'd like to give huge thanks to Carlton with R/C Pro and Steve with Indy R/C World for helping me to attend this event.

    I had a great time, it was an indoor track in an old bowling alley. The track was consistent the entire week and grooved up at the end adding traction as we went along.

   In qualifying my Tamiya vehicles were on Fire! I TQ'd both classes by good margins and broke the track records for lap times throughout the weekend.

   Unfortunately the mains were not to be mine. It started with the truggy main. Warmup went fine but when the tone went off I went around the first couple corners and the wheel and hub fell off. I must have messed up and not tightened the pin enough. When I went to fix it I got a new set screw and put it in and tightened it down. Not thinking that the other set-screw was still in there! So needless to say I got put down and 2 corners later the wheel came off again! I realized my mistake. Fixed it up and proceeded to get back on the track to put on a show for the people. My 801Xt was absolutely dialed on the track and once I got out there I was throwing down track record lap after lap. Eventually driving balls to the wall my tires went bald and I just started having fun and doing my best to at least show the true durability of my 801Xt and the power of my Alpha Plus engine and how hard a car can be pushed on a track! I hope that people appreciated the show! :-)

    Buggy main was up next....Before the race I went outside to bench tune my engine. I started to lower the idle and it turned out to be a mistake. My Buggy was handling pretty good all week. At the start of the tone I got to the first corner and I got on the brakes and flamed. Got back out there 1 lap down and went to first corner and flamed again. I told them to raise the idle a couple of hours and then viola. I ran the remaining 43 minutes without issue. I started the main 2 laps down and finished 1 1/2 laps down in 3rd place. All in all not bad all things considered. Just wish I could have put up the results my 801X deserved.

   Anyways this upcoming week I get another chance at redemption. Heading out to Atlanta for the Psycho Nitro Blast on Wednesday. Also as part of this race I get to participate in a World Record Long jump competition! We are shooting for over 200 ft this year! I have a semi-purpose built buggy to do this attempt with. I have huge thanks to give to Dennis Branecky, TT Motorsports, and Tex for all of there help in making this a possibility! I hope it goes well and can't wait to pilot a Buggy going 90+ mph! :-D