Race day!

I headed out to OCRC for some Sunday racing action! I wondered how the turnout would be since the JBRL race in Hemet was running today. For this race, I would be playing around with my brake epa, as I had it turned all the way up, since I wanted the truck to rotate around the hairpins. I also reset my toe-in to 0° and camber to -1°, since I've been running too much toe and camber.

During practice the track was pretty damp, and traction was good. I came into the hairpin and stabbed the brake, then promptly spun out. Next lap, the same thing. I pulled over and reset my brake epa, turning it down 3% from maximum. This time when I entered the hairpin, my truck slowed nicely and rotated! No spin out! I ran my practice pack out, getting a feel for the new brake and camber settings. During my next practice run, the track was starting to dry out. I was still running my nearly bald Holeshots and I was sliding around a bit, and couldn't get on the throttle too hard.

The track was watered after practice and would be slightly damp for the 1st round of qualifying. The fast guy (Joesph Smalley- Factory AE driver, btw) was running Holeshots. My Holesots were shot, so I ran my Stingers instead. The track wasn't so damp that the pins would clog up with dirt, so I'd be fine. During warm-up I had a ton of bite! So much, that I was clearing a small double that normally I would donkey kick (land a little short such that the rear end kicks up in the air, but doesn't upset the truck otherwise) and overshooting the big double with a short take-off! Wow! I like these tires! :) I would be starting the heat in 4th out of 7 trucks. We freight trained around the 1st turn and over the double and into the hairpin. The 2nd and 3rd place trucks tangled and I got around clean into and 2nd place behind Smalley! For the rest of the heat I drove as fast as I comfortably could. I pulled away from 3rd and 1st steadily pulled away from me. I finished the heat in 2nd, turning my fastest run on this layout to date, a 16 5:21! WooHoo!! Not too shabby for a 10 year old truck :) My lap times were mostly in the mid 19 second range with a handful of 20's. I also finally turned an 18 second lap! Well barely, 18.9 seconds LOL! Btw, Smalley was turning laps as fast as a 4wd mod buggy (mid 17's), with a Stock Truck! I hope he racing Sportsman, because there aren't enough drivers for Expert Stock Truck.

For round 2 of qualifying the track conditions would be the same, so I decided to try my new Pink Taper Pins as an experiment, since I was nicely seated in 2nd. OMFG! What a mistake! I had no rear traction at all! I was sliding around the corners and couldn't get on the gas :( I finished the heat in 6th with a horrible 13 lap run. Meanwhile 2 drivers went faster than my 16:21 run, and I would be starting the main in 4th. When comparing the Stingers to the Taper Pins, the Tapers have a shorter spike than the Stingers. I think this causes the tapers to ride up on the dust on the track instead of cut through, thus the Stingers with the longer spike have more traction. The rubber compund of the Stingers also feels softer compared to the Tapers. To test this theory, I'll try using some traction compound on the Tapers during practice. If the Tapers work better, then the problem was the rubber compound and not the spike length, On to the mains!

For the mains the track would be slightly more damp than in qualifying. Wet spots were visible in the dirt off the racing line. If I had some fresh Holeshots, I would've run those, but mine were about bald, so I ran my Stingers instead. (Smalley was still running Holeshots, FYI) During warm-up, I had a ton of traction again, and was overshooting the double! Cool! I guess the racing line was only slightly damp :) We all took off on the tone, went over the double, then in the hairpin the 1st 3 trucks got tangled! I went around the pileup as the TQ got free. I followed him around the next few turns, then he was gone. LOL! I went around the track in 2nd for the 1st 5-6 laps, then made a mistake :( I clipped a pipe and got sideways long enough for 3rd to get by, as he was only 2 or so turns behind me :( There were no further lead changes for the rest of the main. Smalley in 1st, Pierce in 2nd, and me in 3rd. I finished the main in 3rd with a lap on 4th! It felt good running fast and having people move over for me again, since I was one of the race leaders :-D

I picked up another set of Stingers before I went home, but this time I also got some different foam inserts for them. The ones the Stingers come with and I'm currently using are very stiff, causing the rear to feel a bit unstable, even though they have great bite. I'll try some Trinity Bomb One white inserts, which feel similar to the stock Proline inserts, but the foam is made from a denser material. I hope that doesn't take away from the traction of the tire! I also want to try shortening the length of my front camber links, as that's supposed to quicken the steering response.