Brian Givens

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Finally off the couch!!

Brian Givens on May 04, 2012
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Well it's been almost 7 weeks since I have been on the drivers stand. I tore my Achilles playing basketball and have been sitting on my butt ever since. Surgery went well and I'm still in a cast for another 3 weeks. (Add sad face here) Last night...thanks to some really good friends I was able to get out to Revelation Raceway and get some much needed track time under my belt. Fortunately for me the pain wasn't that bad. The main problem was balancing on one foot and trying to focus on driving and hopping up and down the stairs to the drivers stand. I was pretty squirly out there but still a blast to get some much needed time with the 801x. Next stop is Westcoast RC Raceway and LRH Raceway for some 201 laps. They have no stairs to deal with and I can bring a stool up there with me so I don't have to balance on one leg the hole time. Ha!

Next entry will be soon after I get my walking boot and get back to some real racing!

Thanks to Bill M and Sean G for all your help last night,

Brian Givens
The Dirt Nitro Challenge in Phoenix AZ

Brian Givens on Mar 08, 2012
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I'm a little late but last weekend was The Dirt Nitro Challenge in Phoenix AZ. This was my first NitroChallenge and boy was it a great facility. They had everything a RC nitro and electric person could ever ask for. At first glance when I walked up to the drivers stand of the 1/8 scale track it was pureexcitement. The track was beautiful. Practice went pretty well for both buggy and truggy. My 801x Buggy and 801xt Truggy were feeling very quick.

Buggy qualifying day came and it turned out buggy open had 160 entries....just open! I had my work cut out. I had good speed and my lap times were pretty good after practice so I was pretty confident I could get close to the front to middle of the A-main. Well that didn't happen.....flame out in the first qualifier and flame out in the second qualifier. The third qualifier went better after I changed to a different engine but made a couple of mistakes. So with all that drama I ended up in the middle of the F-main.

Truggy qualifying went pretty well. No issues in those qualifiers and ended up in the top of the B-main. I was pretty happy with that. We only had 110 entries in open truggy. Still pretty crazy for truggy.

Come truggy mains day I was ready for a bump up performance and the warm up went well. At the sound of the starting tone I hit the throttle and my right rear wheel took off but my truck did not. I lost the pin in the rear hub and did not finish the B-main. Bummer...

Buggy mains day came and I wanted redemption laps to make up for all the bad luck I had had leading up to that point. Starting in the middle of the F-main was humbling on all levels. I got a good start and went quickly to the front and won that main and bumped to the E-main....won the E and then got to the D-main and placed second. I got a shaky start in the C and really had to work for it but drove with little mistakes and won that one and went on to the B-main. I felt great at this point because I had a little over an hour on the track at this point. I started the B ok and got to the leader pretty quick because there must have been some crashing up front. I thought I had the leader in my clutches when he crossed the big double in the middle and crashed us both. Week over....broken rod end.

Had and awesome last day but it didn't end quite like I had planned. I want to thank Bill McEuen for a perfect week of pitting for me and dealing with me freaking out because of my rotten luck. I also want to thank Brad Krans for helping me out during the bump up session on the last day. This guy came out to hang out and watch and ended up turn marshaling for me at least three times while I got my car ready for the next main. Thank you so much....I owe you big time. I also would like to thank all my sponsors that helped me along the way. Tamiya America, Airtronics, AKA Tires, VP Power Master Fuel, TKO, LRH Hobbies and Mike Tess for the sweet paint jobs.
Next up Grass Roots at Thunder Alley and then the beginning of the JBRL season also kicking off at Thunder Alley. Good times!!
Brian Givens

Airtronics Winter Nationals @ Revelation Raceway

Brian Givens on Feb 06, 2012
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Last weekend (1-28-12) was the Airtronics Winter Nationals at Revelation Raceway. This was the first big race of the new season and everyone was in attendance. I believe there were over 200 entries and it showed because I had a hard time even getting a pit spot. Some of the names that showed up were...Adam Drake, Cody King, Jeremy Kortz and Chad Bradley just to name a few. I missed practice so my first qualifier was going to be practice.

My first round of buggy went pretty good and I only made one mistake that needed a marshall. Only problem is when you race pro one mistake puts you in the top of the B-main. My Second run with the buggy was a little better. I didn't need any marshall help but did get turned around ounce and wasted about 2-3 seconds and that put me in the bottom of the A-main. I was very pleased not to be stuck in the B-main because there were some tough names in there like.....

-- BUGGY EXPERT - B  Main -- 
Pos Car Laps    time     name                id    avg.mph
  1   4  20    15:12.15 JOSEPH QUAGRAINE    179     15.38
  2   1  20    15:18.54 DANNY ENSENAT         8     15.28
  3   8  20    15:21.01 DREW MOLLER         174     15.24
  4  12  20    15:32.70 MASON ELLIOTT       204     15.04
  5  13  19    15:05.86 GREG DEGANI         205     14.72
  6   5  19    15:08.43 RONDA DRAKE          49     14.67
  7  11  19    15:20.43 MARCO ALLEND          4     14.48
  8  10  19    15:22.14 GARY EYSTER         184     14.46
  9   2  19    15:29.38 TIM LONG             45     14.34
 10   7  19    15:47.97 JEFF GUEST           77     14.06
 11  14  18    15:10.49 PRIMO OLIVARES      180     13.87
 12   3  18    15:34.53 EDDIE FIKES         194     13.51
 13   6  17    13:08.67 STEVE ANTILL        137     15.12
 14   9  17    13:42.05 KAULIN HALL          55     14.51
 15  15   9     8:12.02 CHRIS NUNEZ          83     12.83

The main went pretty good I qualified 13th overall and finished 7th. Pretty good day for my 801x buggy.

Next stop...Losi Winter Series and then The Dirt Nitro Challenge at the end of Feb.

Thanks for stopping by,

Brian Givens

Fantastic Year....Thanks Everyone!!!

Brian Givens on Dec 28, 2011
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Well it’s been a fantastic year for me with the Tamiya 801x buggy. I’ve really got to a comfortable place where I know what she likes and doesn’t like. The buggy has gotten better and better every time we go out with it. I just wanted to give a special thanks to everyone at Tamiya for their amazing help this year. I also would like to thank Bill McEuen (teammate/pitman). I couldn’t have performed as well as I did without their help. I also would like to thank my other sponsors that helped me along the way.

Of course Tamiya America, Airtronics, AKA Tires, TKO Bearings, LRH Hobbies and Mike Tess for painting up my bodies. One more thing. I just want to highlight that I finished 27 out 28 mains that I started this year. The only reason I didn’t finish that one is because the turn marshal stepped on my buggy and broke the high speed needle on the carb. The Tamiya 801x is a very durable machine. Get one!!!!

Brian Givens
Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Brian Givens on Dec 25, 2011
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Just popping in to wish everyone out there in Tamiya land a very happy holidays. I hope Santa brought all of you what you wished for.....I know I did. Santa (Mailman) brought me my new charger yesterday.

Brian Givens
Toys for Tots @ Revelation Raceway

Brian Givens on Dec 15, 2011
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Christmas time again!! With that comes the Toys for Tots at Revelation Raceway.

The turn out was pretty light so I decided to toss my hat into the pro class for the day. I figured it was a good warm up for next year as I try and run some pro at limited races.

First heat went pretty good I wanted to drive smooth not super punched and it worked out for me and ended up fifth overall after round one. Round two didn't go as smooth as round one and was three seconds slower. My Tamiya 801x felt very good all through practice and the heat races so felt pretty good about my chances of getting into the top five after it was all said and done.

I ended up P7 for the main and was happy with that considering I'm racing against the World Champ (Cody King) and a multiple time ROAR Champ (Adam Drake) in the same main. My warm up didn't go so hot and I had a good tumble on lap 2 and bent my rear shock shaft. I didn't know it at the time but the car was going to get worse as the main went on. Of coarse I got a horrible start and had to battle for about 5-6 minutes before getting some much needed open track to try and learn the car with my bend shock. I started to figure out what turns I could push and the ones I had to lay up and tippy toe through. About half way through the 30min main I got into a battle with Andrew Smolnik (Agama) for a a few laps and actually picked up some speed. After that I just cruised around by myself and pulled in the 6th place finish. It was one away from my top 5 finish goals but very happy with my speed with a bent shock shaft.

Next time I will not be such a squid in the warm up and get to race those fast guys with a non bent vehicle.

Next stop the Snowman Series at ARC Raceway and then right into Jan. for the Airtronics Championship.

Brian Givens
JBRL Round #7@ Revelation Raceway

Brian Givens on Oct 26, 2011
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I know this entry is a little late but I wanted to share it with you anyway.

This was the 7th round of the JBRL series at Revelation Raceway. So far I'm sitting third in points only 2 points away from that second spot. You are probably saying to yourself why the heck does he care about second place? Well there is a cash payout for the top five people at the end of the series. With one round to go I'm in the money! First place is really far out so second would be a great finish to the season.

Practice went ok but couldn't really get comfortable with the buggy. I went into the first heat and did ok until I totally brain farted and ended up on the wrong side of the track. That pretty much killed that qualifier. The second heat went a lot better and I ended up winning my heat but it was only good enough to seat me 10th in the main. I had my work cut out to say the least.

At the start of this main was super hard. There were cars flipping over everywhere and I just got lucky and pulled off the Days of Thunder move and just pinned it through the wreckage and came out of it in like third or fourth. Sweet now I can just try and put some solid laps together with no mistakes and maybe get on the podium. Well the leaders had there dual and it gave me a chance to catch up to the leaders. After I caught them I tried to make a pass or two but none of them stuck. I ended up running the last few minutes about 5 seconds back from the leader and running the same lap times as the leader. I ended up finishing second after it was all said and done which is a great end to a poor beginning.

Next stop.....Hotrod Hobbies. The final round!!
Gas Champs @ Thunder Alley RC Raceway

Brian Givens on Sep 29, 2011
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This past weekend was the Gas Champs at Thunder Alley RC Raceway. This year the track proved to be the toughest track I've ever driven. Like always had lots of elevation change and very difficult sections. One of the sections in the middle of the track made even some of the pro's look human.

Practice wasn't so good for me. I only got 6 laps and ran out of gas. I thought I filled it up but I guess not. I wasn't worried because I was told we would get another practice round but they were incorrect. Apparently there were a lot more other people that had a hard time as well because I still qualified for the heat race 10th overall.

The heats were run like motocross so every start was heads up racing....three rows of four. The first heat I got second which was a great start to the day. The second heat I messed up good in the first couple laps and got buried in the back and charged my way to the front and got another second place. With that result I knew I was in the A-main now. The third heat I figured I would try some different lines and try and find some more speed somewhere. I got a good start and got in front and never looked back and finished qualifying very well and with a little momentum for the next days mains.

This particular weekend they ran a double A-main....each 30 laps long. I ended up qualifying 4th overall....how I don't know but that's where I ended up. I got off to a great start and just missed the big pile up in the second turn. I only had one person in front of me to track down. I put in some good laps and caught first and past him with about 10 laps to go. The worlds greatest pitman and also teamate (Bill M) brought me in for a quick splash of fuel to play it safe and still had a big lead and took the victory in the first A-main.

The second A-main didn't go as smooth. I did get a good start but got hit from behind in the second turn and flipped on my lid and went from second to last just like that. I tried to stay calm and put in some strong laps to try and catch up to the lead pack. Eventually did catch up to the lead four guys and fought with second and third for a while but the leader was gone. I ended up making a little mistake on the second to last lap and letting by second and third. I thought I threw away the overall but a 1-4 ended up winning the overall by 1 point. I really couldn't believe I won.

Really fun weekend and took home the first place trophy too. Couldn't ask for anything more.

Thanks for stopping in for this read. Next stop Revelation Raceway for the 7th round of the JBRL nitro series.
Team AKA Racing

Brian Givens on Aug 05, 2011
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Well, it has finally happened. I am officially a member of the AKA army! I'm super excited to be using nothing but AKA rubber from here on out. I've used there tires for quite some time now so I know the product line well and already have a good head start on testing.

Wanted to say thank you to Joel and the rest of the AKA crew for giving me this opportunity to represent AKA.

Thanks, Brian

Grass Roots RD#2 Thunder Alley Raceway

Brian Givens on Mar 11, 2011
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Hey all....this past weekend was the 2nd race of the Grass Roots Series at Thunder Alley Raceway. Things started off kind of rough for us. When we arrived the pits were packed. There was no room for me or Bill to set up shop. Come to find out they had 220 entries! Wow....for a one day event that's crazy.

Practice was crazy as well. The line to get up on the drivers stand was rapped around the corner. I finally got up on the stand and ran my 10min. stint and had to come off. The track was pretty easy to get down but still would have liked to get a little more practice but that's all I got because of the crowd.

First round: It was going pretty good....I figured with the little practice I had I would try and keep it slow and steady and not take any chances and stay on the wheels and not the lid. My Tamiya 801x was handling fantastic. I only made one mistake and thought I had a good run in the books for the day and boy was I wrong. When I went to check on my position I had only logged in 6 laps and I know I did more than that. A 10 lap run was top 5....6 laps got me 4th from last! My transponder was on the fritz. It's ok I told myself because I have one more heat to run and my pace was good on the laps that did record. Well after the first round was run they (Thunder Alley) decided to not run the second qualifier due to the time limitation. So now I'm in the Cmain 4th from last. :(

C-main: I got a little bit of a late start. I don't think the Bill the "World's Greatest Pitman" heard down and quiet because when the start tone went off he was still holding the buggy. Ha! So now I'm in dead last. Thankfully everyone that was in front of me crashed early and before I knew it I was in the top three. I quickly made my way to the front and never looked back. Bumped to the B-main.

B-main: This time I had a new pitman because I was racing my pitman in this one. Apparently he likes my buggy also and didn't want to drop it on the tone either. At least this time I'm already in the back of the pack. I tried to stay patient and not use too much fuel because I was going to try and go the whole 10 min. and not come in for fuel. So I picked and chose my battles carefully and slowly but surely moved towards the front and got a real good fight with a Hotbodies driver for a good three or four laps and ended up making it and getting second and bumping again to the A-main final.

A-main: Well I'm in dead last in the A-main now. Starting from here is easy because there is nobody behind me! :) The start went pretty good. I tried to avoid as much as I could in the first lap but got tangled a couple of times and finally got some clear track to work with. I put my head down and got to work...one by one...slowly moving my way to the front. My pace was good and I wasn't taking any un-needed risk and still passing people. My Tamiya 801x was still handling great even though I had no time to work on it in between the lower mains. With about 10min. to go I came in contact with a lapper and my body began to come off. At this time I was up to fourth or so. I brought it in and the "World's Greatest Pitman" fixed it quickly....filled me up with fuel and I was on my way. Lucky for me when I came out of pit lane I had open track ounce again. Got some good laps in and before I knew it again was fighting for 3rd place with about 3 min. to go. I fought for 3rd for a few turns and he made a mistake and I was free and clear for the remainder of the main.

Ending up on the podium was a huge success for me coming from the bottom of the C-main. I ended up getting my money's worth after all even with only 1 qualifier.

Next race.....Losi Series Race 2.

Check back and thanks for the read,

Brian Givens

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