Beat the heat!

So, I decided not to run at HRH Saturday because of the heat. I checked the temps in Santa Clarita at 1pm and it was about 95°! I then went back to my air conditioned living room and watched a movie :) I would race at OCRC Sunday.

The turnout at OCRC was really light, due to the fact that The OCRC Surf City Classic was run Saturday and most of the regulars raced that event. I did not run this race, since I didn't think I'd be competitive racing such an old truck.

There were only 3 trucks racing tonight. The track owner (Robert Black), Justin (the son of a friend of mine), and myself. Robert is really fast, finishing 2nd the weekend before. My truck felt good with the changes I made (loosened the slipper, ran a smoother throttle curve on my esc, turned up the drag brake, and increased my brake epa). Robert just took off and ran away, so the race was for second between myself and Justin. I made a mistake and let Justin get by :( A few laps later though, I was able to make a clean pass on him! He went wide over the big double after the straight, and I dove for the inside, jammed on the brakes, and made it to the inside of the hairpin before him, and took 2nd place. Justin would catch up to me, but he kept making mistakes, while I didn't. Thus, even though his laps were faster, I was a little slower with more consistent laps. I finished the heat in 2nd.

The track would be dry for the second round, so I switched over to my new SS Panther Stingers. During warm up they felt hooked up and I could clear all the jumps with short run-ups! WooHoo! Although my truck felt hooked up and fast, I didn't drive as smooth, making more mistakes. My lap times proved this. I finally started turning 19 second laps (!), but they were less consistent. They ranged from mid 19's to 23 seconds. Robert and Justin disappeared, but we all finished on the same lap, but I was more than 10 seconds behind the leader.

Because of the light turnout tonight, we got to run 7 minute qualifiers, and had a 10 minute main! FUN! The track was watered after round 2, so I went back to my R3 Holeshots. At the tone, Robert bolted and ran away, so the race was on again for 2nd between Justin and me. I followed him for couple of minutes, then he made a mistake on the double-single leading to the straight, ending up on his lid! I went by and into 2nd place! For the rest of the 10 minute main, Justin would run me down, make a mistake, then I'd have some breathing room again. The announcer even mentioned that I was had not made a single driving mistake for 7 minutes! The only bobble I had was when Robert caught up to me and I got a bit sideways as I moved over to let him by. Even with the announcer calling out the interval between me and Justin, and the fact that Justin was gaining on me, I blocked all of that out, and concentrated on keeping a good pace and not making any mistakes. Justin finally caught me with about 45 seconds left in the race. This is about 2 laps of racing! I slowed a little in the corners, so I could keep my line tighter! Justin would have to run me over (which I know he would never do on purpose) or go around me. Justin was right behind me through the S-turns going over the hill, I kept my line tight, and as we crossed the line for the final lap, Justin stuffed his truck into a pipe! All I had to do now was not wreck, and I'd take 2nd:) I cruised around for my final lap and finished 2nd! What a fun race! Afterwards, Justin's dad (my friend) picked his son's truck, and I told him I nearly had a heart attack every time Justin caught me! LOL! It was a good race though :)

I felt pretty good! 10 minutes of racing and I made only 1 minor mistake :) I checked my lap times, and I turned a good number of 19 second laps :) Most of my laps were in the low 20's, with very few above 20 :) For the main, I concentrated on driving a good pace and not making mistakes. I was driving at about 95% of my ability and running my own race. In round 2, I was trying too hard to turn 19 second laps, driving at about 101%, thus making more mistakes :( I ran much better when driving at 95% :-D

For my next visit to OCRC, I picked up some Pink Taper Pins. While the Stingers worked well on the dry track, they showed alot of wear after only one run. Some of the pins were even ripped off! If the Pink Taper Pins don't work as well as the Stingers, I'll try the next harder compound for the Stingers. I also need to pick up a new pair of Holeshots, as I've been using my current set for 5 race days, and they're looking pretty tired now.

See you at the track!