TRF Blog
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Time to regroup
Brad Krans on May 01, 2012
Tagged in: UntaggedFinally a minute to write something. I've been in the middle of moving, wedding planning, changing shifts at work and training for the awesome Air Force Fitness test (which doesn't like big people) so time hasn't been on my side.
I'm working on getting ready for the on-road scene again. I have a new TRF417x on the way as well as a few tweak parts to update my F104 Pro. I'm trying to make it up to the ROAR Asphalt Nats in Chicago in August as well as attending the SuperNats at West Coast RC.
Local racing here has been good, turnouts have been scattered since there are so many events so close to each other. I really have to chose what I need to run. I might even convert a TRF201 to run some dirt oval. Its definitely a planning game to get the most out of racing based on my schedule.
Nevertheless, my TRF801x is still in the box waiting on a few parts to complete.
Hope all is going well out in the TRF world. I look forward to seeing more of everyone in the next few months.
Thanks to TamiyaUSA for all the support!
BK
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26th Annual Cactus Classic
Brad Krans on Apr 01, 2012
Tagged in: Untagged

-Cactus Classic-It was time for the 26th Annual Cactus Classic at the famous Scottsdale RC Speedway (SRS) in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. SRS was under new ownership this year and branded as Hobbytown USA / SRS. The new ownership brought many changes to the race this year. First off, Scotty Ernst was the race announcer for the first time. Pro-line was back as the title sponsor and Hobbytown USA put their marketing team to work at the track providing new products and a game area under a huge circus tent.
Making the trip for Tamiya was Lee Martin from the United Kingdom, J.B. Catricala from Canada (eh?), Mac Mitchell and myself from Arizona, and David Gibson, a UK transplanted to Boston.
-New products-
Lee and David had the new TRF steering rack (#84283) for the 502x. This rack is angled back similar to the 511. It gives a more linear steering.
Lee was also testing a raised rear shock tower. The tower was raised 3mm to make up for running the inside hole on the arm. He was the only person running this prototype tower.
Rudebits in the UK also has made a carbon fiber inner camber link (RB 093.) This allows more of a camber link adjustment and flips the ballstud. All TRF drivers in attendance were running this mod.


Pro-line pre-released their 2012 Bulldog body for the 502x. I was told the body will be officially released on the dreaded American day, April 15th.

We also discovered that the Finnisher and Bulldog bodies for the RB5 fit the 201 better than the B4.1 bodies we were using before.
-Tires-
Cactus tire selection used to be easy, Losi red BK Bars with Pro-line two-stage in the rear and a Losi Taper Pin in either red or silver compound. This year was not that way, Pro-line had their Suburbs, JConcepts had their Bar Codes, AKA had their Rebars, Panther had their Rattlers, and Losi (TLR) still had their BK Bars/Taper Pins. Traction and tire wear never came up to the levels in the past. There were no definitive answer to why, but I’m going to go with the cold temperatures early in the week and the fact that there were so many different compounds on the track, the “blue-groove” never game to. With this happening, foam selection also became important. Many started with closed-cell in the rear, then switched to 2-stage and some even went to stock foams. In the TRF tent, we were all running different. The Losi tires worked better with stock foam during the day and two-stage in the cooler evenings. Pro-line and JC tires worked well with stock foam all day. Four wheel-drive front tires were mostly running two-stage.
-Controlled practice-
Cactus has always been known for long practice lines with anyone, and their brothers, reserving spots in line. The “leaving my radio in line” approach was also a common practice. This year was the same on Tuesday and Wednesday and went to a controlled by heats practice on Thursday. Thursday was also where they seeded your qualifying position based on your fastest three consecutive laps. This is the second race this year that I have been to that did this, and hopefully it doesn’t continue. This kind of practicing takes away from the testing that is very important at this race. Drivers tend to be more cautious to making changes to their cars to avoid losing out on TQing practice or being in a higher qualifier. Thursday also turned into an extremely long day. We were there over 12 hours with only two runs with each car.
Lee was going to run his 201 from home and not the standard setup that Jake Thayer has come up with. Biggest changes were running a long battery, 1.5mm anti-squat shim with the xB block and the plastic front bulkhead. He was also running TRF springs instead of the big bore springs. All our 502x’s were similar. The few were running the new steering rack and most were running big bore springs.
-Qualifying-
Qual points, Best 2 of 4Friday-
Qualifying was quite difficult for us. The “quad” took a toll on our suspension arms. Just the sound of the cars bottoming out was enough to cringe. We all installed the beefier 501x rear arms to help finish our qualifiers.
Lee had two top 5 finishes with his 502x on Friday, while his 201 only gave him one good run. I broke in three of my four qualifiers. Mac broke in both his 4wd runs, and had one good run in 2wd Modified and 13.5. JB had a top five run with his 502 and a rough day with his 201, finishing only one in the middle of the field.
We had a little meeting to give us some direction. We were all happy with our 502x’s, it was now time to work with the 201. I was fighting the car twitchy in really loose getting on power. I mounted up some new tires and tried a different insert as well as a freshening up of the diff and shocks.
Saturday-
We regrouped in the morning and got there early. JB and David got some early morning practice on a slightly damp track. I was mounting tires, fixing my broken cars and freshening up the 502x.
More to come, getting sleepy…
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2012 Nitro Challenge
Brad Krans on Mar 06, 2012
Tagged in: UntaggedI headed up Friday after work to Phoenix to the new location for The Dirt's Nitro Challenge. Fear Farm is a newer track in Phoenix right off the 101 freeway. Their facility is a great place to hold the kickoff race for the 2012 nitro season. The Dirt setup 3 separate tracks with racing going on all three at one time. They had the 1-8 track, a 1-5 track as well as a smaller Short Course track.
I wasn't going up to race but to help out the four TRF drivers in attendance. As anyone knows, nitro racing is a team sport requiring more than two people. This weekend was exactly that. With only 28 minutes per day of practice, qualifying is very temperamental. Many very fast drivers in the Open and Pro classes were hoping to make many bumps on main day.
TRF's Brian Givens was just that man. His 801x was one of the fastest, most consistent buggies on the track. But with an engine gremlin hindering his qualifying, he switched to a backup engine for main day. Starting in the "F" main, he made it to the front and never looked back until a few minutes into the B-main where an incident with a lapper cased him to break. Brian raced for over 45 minutes on Sunday making the way from the 13+ starting position four times an managing to head to the front of the pack. It was a true test of equipment and driver. Something it was fun to be part of, even if it was just corner marshaling.
Jake had an electrical gremlin (servos) all through practice and qualifying. He was running both Pro Nitro Buggy and Pro Electric Buggy. This was his first 1-8 race since joining TRF last year. He felt his cars were both very good just ran out of valuable prep time.
Bill McEuen was also racing in the 40+ Buggy class on Sunday. He qualified third in the C-main and was a contender until a few flameouts ended his chance of bumping up.
Ray Sherburn also made the trek from California to race. He ran Short Course with decent results. It was good to meet him and discuss the TRF201 platform and talk about different things that we both have been testing. It gave me a few more ideas to work on for the upcoming Cactus Classic in a few short weeks.
I'd like to thank all the TRF guys (Bill, Brian, Jake and Ray) for a weekend of fun and laughs. I ended up getting an 801x to run around here when I have the time. The TRF nitro team is going to be a good time this season and hopefully we can get together again soon.
Also, anyone heading to Cactus, get in touch with me. We have a few things planned that week and want to keep all TRF drivers included.
Brad
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Reedy 2012 Off-road Race of Champions
Brad Krans on Feb 19, 2012
Tagged in: Untagged
Ah. Reedy. A great week this year in SoCal.
This year I took the week off of work to head over to SoCal for the Reedy Race. Lee Martin contacted me earlier this winter with his plan to practice at Orange County RC Raceway (OCRC) for the week before to get accustomed to the American clay tracks.
We arrived at OCRC on Monday morning ready to hit the track once we mounted up tires. We mounted up the same handout tires we would be running at West Coast RC (WCRC) which were JConcepts gold Bar Codes in front with Pro-line MC Suburbs in the rear, all with Pro-line Closed-Cell inserts. These tires require a little break-in and start getting good after the 3rd run. Lee was out with his TRF201 learning the track while I was doing some shock modifications for the larger big bore springs.
Lee and I both started with Jake Thayer’s WCRC setup except I was running the stock 201 body (#54210) and Lee had on the Sand Viper DT-02 body (#1825429.) Lee liked the setup better than his standard European setup and kept running to break in tires.
Monday was only 2wd. Tires came in and our cars were very good. Lee was definitely on the same pace as the other pros practicing.
Tuesday we got to the track right when they opened. I had tires for the 4wd mounted and partially broken in from last Reedy. Lee went out right away on his standard setup, and I had the same setup from the Spektrum Race six weeks earlier. The cars were stable but lacked steering exiting the corner. Lee played with his weight in the rear end by moving his batteries and removing weight between the two cells. He also was playing around with the top deck flex. Stiffer front then stiffer rear. The car looked similar on the track but he said feel was different. I moved my rear lower shocks to the inside whole and limited the shocks 3mm. I also removed the 1.5mm spacers I had for more ackermann to make the car a little more aggressive. We both liked our progress.
Wednesday we made our way to WCRC. Track was to open at 3pm when we will be allowed to practice and get our race tires. Lee wasn’t allowed to practice until Thursday and I stayed in the pits mounting those new race tires. We modified the front PL Closed-Cell foams to make them a little softer to gain some steering. This was very common for all teams. Every driver had their own special way of doing it, but our way really worked for us. We cut the inside of the foam along the wheel across the foam, very similar to the AKA Closed-Cell foams. I never hit the track Wednesday.
Thursday is when controlled practice started. We got to WCRC right when the doors opened. Practice was controlled by heats with the fasted three laps used to seed qualifying. The downside to this is that practice was very chaotic as drivers used this as qualifying for qualifying. Anyways, my car felt drivable as I was learning the layout. The layout was fun but had minimal places to pass. I liked the flow and the jumps were very consistent. Big motors were not needed to make any jump. Slower motors were definitely an advantage for some. A good friend of mine switched to a 13.5 and went much faster as I still only had a 10.5. Lee was starting to get his controlled practice as well. His cars both looked good with a little on power push. He was working on shock locations and dampening. He was running in his tires to get them broken in. One set for each car and the invite drivers had to turn in their tires every night.
Friday was the first day of qualifying. It was only 2wd for the Invite guys while the open class had three rounds of each class. The only change that I made to my 201 was running a PL B4 Bulldog body that was modified to fit. After my first run, the car felt great. The down force over the front wheels was very noticeable and my little push was gone. Lee was watching my car and noticed the same thing. He mounted one up for his second round won his race! Lots of bad racing luck the rest of the day left Lee with a couple 8th place finishes but eager to race on Saturday with only 2 rounds of 2wd left and all 4wd! My qualifying went as well as I expected. The cars felt great but I lacked concentration with a few mistakes at bad times. I had one final round on Saturday and then my mains.
Not much changed for Saturday. I removed the sway bar on my 502 for the last qualifier which helps the car tremendously rotating but made it a little inconsistent through the middle section of the track. I made too many mistakes which didn’t help in my qualifying efforts. Mains were 10 minutes with the top two racers bumping to the next main. I raised my rear ride height and added a little more rear camber on my 201 and went out for my main. I had some bad luck at the start but kept going. 10 minutes is a long time in an off-road race, and anything can happen. I was moving my way up slowly but getting caught up in a few wrecks. The bump positions were long gone so I just ran around the track and had some fun with it. I ended up 6th in the L main with a fun race to the finish. After the race, we noticed that my front upper chassis was completely stripped out and the bulkhead was just flopping in the breeze. Then it was my 4wd main. I was in it with a local friend and after another first lap blowout we just raced around. Lots of accidents caused another broken part but I was able to finish5th in the J main.
Lee referred to the rest of his race luck as his “Worlds Luck.” His cars were both very competitive and he was able to pull out victories with both cars. Racing will always be racing. A lot was learned, new people were met and good times were had.
Pro-line was nice enough to borrow my 502x to design a new Bulldog body for it. Hopefully it is available before Cactus but at least we will have a vehicle specific option. Keep your eyes out as it should be out soon!
Cactus is the next big race. Anyone that is attending, please get in contact with me. We will have pit spaces available. Official practice starts on Wednesday, March 21 with international racers heading to Tucson the days before. It should be a great weekend of racing in the sun.
Thanks again to Tamiya USA, Speed Passion, LMR, LiveRC and WCRC to make this event happen for me.
BK
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Reedy 2012 Prep
Brad Krans on Jan 19, 2012
Tagged in: UntaggedWell, its that time again. The Reedy race will be starting one week from today at West Coast RC in LaMirada, California. Its both 2wd and 4wd off-road, open and invite. Some of the best racers in the world are there to race in the unique format.
Luckily for TRF drivers, West Coast RC (WCRC) is Jake Thayer's home track. He has been working very hard getting the TRF201 and TRF502x setup for their unique surface. He has given us a good setup to start with. It's posted under "My Gallery"
I am flying in to LAX on Sunday night and meeting up with Lee Martin. We are going to start practicing Monday at whatever track is open. I think that WCRC is closed until Wednesday afternoon, so Orange County RC is the other option. Lee is starting with his standard European car setup on one car, and Jake's setup on another. I just got a lengthened chassis and am finishing up that build with Jake's setup.
On my 502X, I am running almost the same setup as the Spektrum Race at Trackside in Milwaukee in early December. The only changes are going to TLR big bore springs (Silver/Yellow) on the standard TRF shocks and a PL Bulldog body.
There are a few parts that are needed to get the big bore springs to fit properly. They are (per car):
Qty:1 TLR5095 - lower shock spring cups
or
Qty:2 Kyosho W5303-05 - Big bore plastics (Needed for the lower spring cups)
and (for either of the above #s)
Qty: 2 Traxxas 3768 - Needed for the upper collar adapters. Minor tapering of the ring is needed for proper fit and operation. A dremel works magic!
Look me up on Facebook. I try to keep the Invitational class standing posted during the race. I'll have a blog after to keep everyone posted on what was going on.
It'll be fun.. more to come!
Here's a preview of my 502x: (I'm having problems uploading more...)

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Happy New Year!
Brad Krans on Jan 02, 2012
Tagged in: UntaggedWell, I'm a little late on this one, but I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year! This year is going to be a busy and fast year and I'm very ready to get it started.
Reedy is coming very fast. Jake has been really helpful getting things together for this race. I'll be heading out the week before to test with him, Lee and Kiyo at OCRC until West Coast opens for practice. We will have some new things to test and try which is always exciting. Lee has some of his soon-to-be famous LMR brass front bulkheads as well as all the shock testing that Jake has been doing. It will be an exciting week in So Cal and hopefully the team gets its well deserved finishes.
More stuff to come this year, but now its time for the Rose Bowl... Go BUCKY!
BK
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2011 Spektrum Off Road Championships
Brad Krans on Dec 07, 2011
Tagged in: Untagged

The 2011 Spektrum Off-road Championships was one of the top races of the year. With more that 400 entries and top industry support from TLR, Team Associated and Kyosho this was the chance for all in the Midwest to showcase their abilities on their fun, race-able layout.

Trackside's track consists of high bite clay. With this their second year with the larger track, and the addition of many new tires and compounds, tire choice was very important. Jconcepts blue Bar Codes were the tire of choice. Most were running the newer V2 tread, yet other still believed the older V1 tread provided more forward bite. Now that you had your tires, it was time to pick foam. I went with a closed-cell insert front and rear with my TRF502x. In the 201, I went with a 3/4 stock rear insert in the front tire and another closed-cell foam in the rear. Now it was on to breaking the tire in... Motor spray was the additive of choice at first, then it moved to a bunch of different chemistry lab experiments. When I lived in Wisconsin growing up, I remember the Zip-grip-a-gon and was happy to hear it is still around. Tire wear was none, so one set of tires was perfect for the whole weekend. It was also advised to get 3 to 4 packs minimum on each set of tires (advise I missed out on.)
There were five TRF201 cars running. North American TCS winner, J.B. Catricala and fellow Canadian racer, Steve Bortolotti were both there as well as Trackside local Aaron Reichow. I had two buggies running with one in the hands of retired fast guy, Kyle Stark. There were four TRF cars running wheeler, three TRF502x and the one TRF511 of Aaron.

I got up there Thursday afternoon to practice. After a long time of visiting with friends, talking with the TRF drivers and showcasing the new LMR products , I started building up shocks and mounting tires (I was a little behind after the holiday weekend.) I never made it on the track until late Friday with my 502x, and the first qualifier was to be the first time on the track with the 201.
J.B. was doing a lot of running as well as Steve. Their first impression was that the car was pushing. Some of this was due to the front tires not worn in yet. Aaron was a huge help to all of us in the tire battle. They had long cars with big bores and shorty batteries. I told them to try a few things that Jake and Randy were testing and working on. J.B. did and felt a great improvement. Steve tried a few things including going to the 25 deg caster blocks which really helped his car. Steve was also running the RTR "old School" body which he said made the car much more aggressive than the standard TRF body.

One round of qualifying was Friday night with three rounds on Saturday and mains Sunday. Round one went well for all the TRF cars. Everyone finished and learned a few things to take into the next day.
I missed round two on Saturday morning. I had other plans for that morning that I had to get done. More on that later.
Round three started about 2pm which meant round three was going to be very late. Anyone that has ever been a "Scotty" race knows that they are run very efficient with minimal or no delays. To get three rounds in on one day with over 400 entries is very commendable. Steve was mid-pack in 2wd and 4wd. J.B. was mid pack in Mod 2wd and 4wd and in a bump spot for the A in Stock Buggy. Aaron was in the B-main in 4wd and in the C-main in 2wd. Kyle was in the E in Mod 2wd which isn't bad for not running in a few years. I wasn't doing well...but was having fun!

Saturday then turned into Sunday with the last rounds finishing up around 1am. It was then home for a quick nap then back to the track for my early main.
Everyone was happy with their cars and finishing. There were only a few broken parts (J.B. destroyed his wheeler in the Main) We all worked well as a team getting set-ups together. Steve will be heading to Reedy this year and will definitely be an asset to the team. J.B. and Aaron will be racing at the Cactus this spring and hopefully we can keep improving on the 201 and 4wd platforms.
That's about all I know. The 2012 Spektrum race will be a good one to go to, but get your entries in early. I'm sure it will sellout again fast!
Special thanks to Tamiya America, Jconcepts and LMR for making this race great. Also thanks to LiveRC.com for the photos and great race coverage.
BK
Here are a few more pics...
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AZ State Championships
Brad Krans on Dec 07, 2011
Tagged in: UntaggedThe AZ State Championships are the second "Big" race at Scottsdale RC Speedway during the year. Drivers come from Arizona, California, New Mexico and Utah for this fun and well run event. The promoters at SRS are well known for their fair, exciting and fast racing environment.
This years race was set for the weekend before Thanksgiving. I was all excited for this race and my first vacation home this year the following week. I was working on my TRF201 and 502x the week before by freshening them up with some new plastic, fresh diffs and new shock oil. Plans were set, we were leaving Friday after work for a great weekend...
Then when I get to work the first day of the week, I am told I will be needed at work during the States weekend. I was very disappointed but when the Department of Defense tells you to do something, you WILL listen. I called my wingman for this trip and passed on the bad news.
I did manage to head up Saturday to visit with Jackie, meet the new John at Jconcepts and see other friends I haven't seen in a while. Jackie was working very hard with both his cars to get them better. In the few runs I saw, he made some great improvements with both cars since the Cactus. The 201 was really rotating well and carrying good corner speed. It still had a drivable push but seemed very capable of the A-main. His wheeler (502x) looked a little sketchy on the run I saw. He was trying a new shock package and wasn't impressed. He then went back to his old setup. Jake is great at trying things, his brain is always thinking and in every run, something is changed. He works very hard and it was paying off.
That's all I know about that race. I finally left SRS around midnight, with a 90 minute drive ahead and work starting at 0600. It was a long day, but very worth it.
Next was the Spektrum race at Trackside in Milwaukee the week after Thanksgiving. I'll get that report up very soon. It was a great race with over 400 entries. More to come...
BK
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November and December racing
Brad Krans on Nov 07, 2011
Tagged in: UntaggedElectric time is picking up again. With the temps dropping and people starting to head indoors in the northern parts, it only means that indoor electric racing is picking up. As a Wisconsin native now living in Arizona, the racing season is backwards.
Scottsdale RC Speedway is the host for the AZ State Championships November 19 and 20th. With class speeds really being separated again (Mod, No Boost 13.5 and 17.5) it will make some interesting qualifying and racing.
Jacky Thayer and I will be there representing the TRF line in both the Modified 2wd and 4wd classes. Jake has been doing a lot of testing in So-Cal and getting some great setups for clay tracks. I have ran his setups at SRS already on a wet track (Double Dees tires) and the cars felt great. The State Champs will be a dry track, blue groove condition. With November temps much lower than the temps for Cactus in March, traction isn't quite as good but it puts us in a good condition to test. A lot of setups have been tested since, so the TRF cars should be right on pace.
Then the first weekend in December, I head back up to Wisconsin to the Spektrum Race at Trackside Hobbies in Milwaukee. I'll meet up there with TRF driver Aaron Reichow and finally get to run on their larger dirt track. I haven't been there is almost 2 years, so it will be good to run and see my friends from the Midwest. They have really cut the classes down there as well. Stock is 17.5 no boost and then a modified class.
I'll be getting up there a few days early so I will get getting good testing with the TRF201 and TRF502x. Their track is clay and blue Bar Codes are the tire of choice with tire wear almost non-existent. Many local fast guys as well as a few national drivers from all manufacturers will be there. Plus Milwaukee is a great time for after race festivities!
Then off to Reedy in January with all the "big" TRF team!

BK
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Testing in Phoenix
Brad Krans on Oct 14, 2011
Tagged in: UntaggedI made it up to SRS (Scottsdale RC Speedway) in Phoenix last weekend for some testing. It was the first time in a long while that I wasn't rushed to get up there. I made it up by noon for 6pm racing.
I originally was planning on testing out the long chassis that I had made, but those plans changed. I talked with Jackie (Jake Thayer) earlier in the week and he told me what he and Randy Caster have been working on. I decided to try their setup and send my long chassis out to Jackie for him to try out.
The first run on the track was very good. The track was dry so bite (and tire wear) was high. Temps were in the low 90s. The car reacted very well. It jumped awesome, transitioned great and was very stable. Unfortunately, I burned a set of Double Dees / Groovys down in one run. I mounted up a new set, threw in a fresh shorty battery this time and hit the track. Track again was still dry. With the shorter battery forward, it increased steering and felt more stable under braking. I ran for about 5 minutes and saved tires for racing.
I then grabbed my TRF502x equipped with the new option aluminum steering rack, center shafts and slipper hubs. Car was fast, quiet and consistent. Very easy to drive. The setup I have on now is the same as the last time I ran it at Competition Hobbies (CH) in Tucson, which is a medium to high bite clay/sand mix. I changed the blue bar codes from CH to green Double Dees at SRS.
Qualifying went OK. I ran in the mod buggy class (with a boosted 13.5) and in the mod Wheeler class. The locals at SRS are very fast. I managed to almost stay on the lead lap in the first 2wd qualifier and stayed on the lead lap in 4wd. My 201 was starting to get a little pushy as the temperatures dropped. I dropped the shock oil down to 27.5 and that helped in the second qualifier. I was able to run a faster time and bump up a qualifying position.
My 502x was good again in the second qualifier, but a few mental mistakes as well as some traffic problems gave me a slower time. The battle of attrition was going to be on for the 10 min main.
Temps continued to drop. When my 4wd main was up it was a frigid 64 degrees. My native Wisconsin blood has really thinned out the last few years living in Arizona. I broke my right rear arm during the warm-up so my 4wd day was over.
In the 2wd main, I had a few accidents early and ended up in the back, a ways back. The car was a little sluggish and my times were off pace. I would have liked to drop the oil down to a 25wt and try the 25 deg blocks again, or a different front tire choice (Rips instead of Groovys.) I ended up last in the 10 minute main but learned a lot and got a great deal of testing in.
Next trip will be in a few weeks on a new track layout for the JConcepts AZ State Championships. The States race will be run on a dry, blue-groove track with tire choices being orange Bar Codes, BK Bars and/or Rebars.
BK




