Hot Rod Hobbies, Saturday 8/23
I showed up early again to get some practice in with my B3 buggy with a 13.5 brushless motor and my T3 stock truck on the 2008 ROAR Nationals layout from the previous weekend. I felt like I already raced on the layout, since I was at Hot Rod watching the races during the Nationals. I got there so early, that hardly anybody was there, and I was able to find a pit table in the shade of a big tree near the bleachers next to the track. Pitting here saved me the hassle of setting up my QuickShade! I setup my chargers, and started charging my practice pack. I checked the time and it was already 3:30pm, and I knew it would take almost 45 min to charge 1 battery. I guess I'll only get one practice run in before racing starts at 5pm. I guess I'll have to charge my practice pack the night before, if I want to get more than one practice run in. There goes trying out my B3 :( For practice the track was really dry and dusty, so I used my R3 Holeshots in the rear. They watered the track, but it was so hot out, that it quickly dried out. My truck was really loose on power, making it hard to put the power down to clear the big double-single (triple for the 1/8 buggies) on the back side of the track. There was so little traction that even the little double in front of the driver's stand was even hard to clear. I had to take the turn wide before this jump to get run up to it and clear/land the downside jump, roll the next jump, then try and downside the table top. The Nationals layout was fun to drive and since I watched so many races the last weekend, I picked up the fast line to drive fairly quickly.
The track was watered again before qualifying started, but dried out quick, so by the time my race came up, it was dry again, so I used the same tires as practice. After the first lap with it's wrecks, and the field sorted itself out, I was running in 3rd place. I concentrated on driving smooth and making the 2 doubles, so I wouldn't end up on my lid (I ended up on my lid a few times anyway). I passed second place and started gaining on the leader, a white buggy. I could see him a turn or two away, and I was gaining on him. He crashed on the big double on the back side of the track, and I passed and went into 1st! For the rest of the race, we traded 1st place each time either one of us crashed, but I guess I crashed less and won the heat with a 12:13 :)
They watered the track at the end of the 1st round, but it was much cooler now, and the track didn't dry out as much. Time to switch rear tires! I mounted up 2 sets of rears to chase the track conditions. A set of M3 step pins and a set of Red IFMAR pins. The conditions suited the IFMAR pins, as it was damp with a hard packed base and loose top soil. I took my warm-up laps and noticed that with the damp track and IFMAR pin rears, I had much more rear traction. NICE! This would be a fun heat! Again, myself and the white buggy traded 1st place each time we crashed. I think I only actually passed him a couple of times, with both of us right side up. LOL! With the increased traction and better rear tires, I was able to use shorter runs up to the harder jumps and still clear them, thus improving my time to 12:03, finishing in 1st place :)
Time for the main events! I TQ'd easily since I won both qualifying heats :) The track was nice and damp with good bite, and I was easily clearing the doubles, during the warm-up. I launched well on the start, and kept the lead through the 1st 3 turns. Time to run away! I lined up for the big double, and... landed short!@! and ended up upside down! The entire field went by, then the marshall got me going again. Great! I was in last place :( I lucked out though, because most of the field was in a pile up 2 turns later, which I just drove around :) I was in second place at the end of the 1st lap. The leader had a nice lead due to the pile up, so I would need to chase him down. Each lap I could see him getting closer. Finally, I was close enough to pass. He went wide on the turn leading to the straightaway, and I made the turn nice and tight! Goodbye! I cruised for the rest of the 7 minute main, and finished in 1st with a 17:10 :)
ORRC Raceway, Sunday 8/24
I arrived at the track early to get some practice in with my B3, since I wasn't able to the day before at Hot Rod's. I charged all my practice packs the night before, so no waiting to practice this time. The layout changed since the last time I was here, so I would need to get used to it again. My buggy felt a tab more nimble than the truck, but it pushed alot in the hairpins. Not the fast way to get around. I had a bit of trouble lining up the big double, landing in the wrong lane a few times, and with the S-hill in front of the stand. I moved to the other end of the stand so that I'd be looking at these sections from behind instead of the front. That helped alot and I crashed less. Controlled practice started, so now I'd have to wait to get on the track with my truck.I signed up for Sportsman Stock Truck this time, and we had a full heat of 10 trucks. This would be interesting. I started the heat mid-pack, and tried to stay out of trouble for the first lap. I got tangled up a few times, and finished the race in 5th. Ok, but not great.
They split up our heat for the 2nd round of qualifying, so I'd only have to deal with 4 other trucks this time. The track was drying out, so I changed my rear tires to an old set of M3 SuperSquares I had in my pit box. These tires felt ok during the warm-up laps, but as the race went on, they got worse and worse. I couldn't punch the throttle at all, or I'd spin out. I got lapped twice and finished in last place :( I really needed some better rear tires. I turn marshalled the other heat of Truck and watched the leader closely. He was able to keep the hairpin turns tight, while I would round them off, and take what seemed like twice as long to get through the turn. He was then able to accelerate hard into the next section, while I had to roll the throttle on too slow. I watched the winning truck pull off the track after the race, then followed the driver back to his pit. After he put his truck down and went to the track to marshall, I took a look at his rear tires. He was using a Panther tire with alot of small pins. I went into the hobby shop and found the tires he was using, and bought a set for myself! They seemed to work pretty well on his truck, as he set a new TQ in the 2nd round and was a lap faster than everyone else!
They lightly watered the track before the mains, but by the time my race was up, the track was completely dry again. I switched back to my R3 Holeshots rear tires for the main. While not ideal, they had to be better than the SuperSquares I used in round 2. I would use my newly purchased Panther tires for my next race at OCRC. For the main, Jeremy put all ten trucks back into 1 heat again, as he "wanted to see some violence" for the main. Great! :( I would be starting 9th :( The start of the main was pretty clean, with only a few tangles, and I was running in the back half of field :( I got lapped 3 times over the course of 7 minutes! The leader even took me out, when I couldn't get out of the way fast enough :( I did manage make it to 5th place during the race, and finished 7th with a 20:24.
Hmmm.... I think for my next race at OCRC, I'll turn up my brake settings on my speed control and radio to help turn the truck coming into the corner better, loosen my slipper a little to put the power down, and use my new SuperSoft Panther Stinger rear tires when the track dries out!
See you at the races!
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