Turnouts at the local track are getting better and better, and the competition keeps going up every  week. We're lucky enough to have a couple of the best drivers in the world run on a some what consistent basis, and several national talent drivers from a few different teams as well.

 I'm still working with setups every week with the buggy, changing things here and there just to see the effect it has on the car. Lately tire setups have become extremely important along with suspension, so it can keep you on your toes- last night was a prime example:

 The track was run dry all day, but temps were only in the lower 70's with low humidity. Somewhat over cast as well, so the track never would really groove up. It started with a fine layer of dust that just didn't seem to want to polish off. My first heat was ok, was one of only 4 drivers to turn in a 10 lap run, but I definitely had room to improve that time. Several mistakes cost me more then 10 seconds.

 2nd Heat- Switched out some tires and made a tune adjustment. The car felt good in warm up, but certain areas of the track were beginning to break up throwing small clods onto the track. I was lucky enough to hit one on the first corner right after going "live" on the loop and it threw me right into the tube. Normal laps for me are in the 31- 32 second range, but that first lap was an astounding 44 seconds! Finished that heat in third, 5 seconds short of a 10 lap run.

 Final heat- Changed tires again to a brand that I've never had good luck with. By this time the track had finally polished off some, so I just wanted to see if they'd hook. By chance I stumbled on the perfect tire choice for those exact conditions and the car was on rails. Early on I was several seconds ahead of TQ, but between traffic and my own mistakes I ended up 2 seconds off of TQ but still 2nd qualifyer overall out of a very talented 10 car field.

The main: While it had been roughly an hour and a half since my final heat, I decided to stick with the same tire setup as the track conditions didn't appear much different to me. The temps had come down some more, and the sun was low in the sky, but I just didn't realize how  different things really were. From my first warm up lap I knew I was in trouble: the car was drifting everywhere. Since it's just a club race, I left the tires on and attempted to use throttle control and a steady wheel hand for the experience if nothing else. I can honestly say that was one of the hardest 20 minutes I've ever ran as the car struggled to hold any line on what felt like ice.  No where on the track could I take a breather as even on the straight any correction on the wheel could send the back end sliding past the front. At first I thought it had to be a blown out diff, but careful examination after the race proved the diffs were still good to go. Just a very bad choice of tires on my part. Ended up with second, but should have been third as the leader purposely pulled off  with a very large lead over the rest of the field mid race.

I am very happy to report that after all the weekend of racing I've put my 801X and XT through in the last few months, I still have yet to break a single thing. I've had my share of problems with pins in the cvds, fly wheel pins, and the king pin screws early on, but those were easy resolutions and have definitely not been a factor after taking time to properly address the root cause of each of those issues.  These cars are extremely durable and don't require the constant up keep that I see many other brands needing. Don't get me wrong, I pull my cars down every week to inspect, clean, and rebuild as needed, but I am very impressed with the way the components are holding up. The CVD's are still originals and the drive pins show hardly any wear at all. Diff gears still look very good, and shock seals haven't leaked a drop yet. Definitely all very high quality components, but that's what you expect when you get a TRF vehicle.

 No matter what, I'd still take a "bad" day of racing my Tamiya's over a good day at work, they always put a smile on my face!