Back In the Fight!

I was back to racing Sportsman 4wd Mod after taking a weekend off to visit my bother in San Diego (trying to talk him into coming out and taping some races and maybe try his hand at racing! hehehe) I wanted to try some new tires that I mounted up during practice tonight. A set on Proline M3 Inside Job's and Panther soft Bobcats and Switch 2.0's.

I tried the Inside Job's for my 1st practice run. Wow! I didn't feel comfortable at all :( It felt like I haven't raced in forever (even though it's only been 2 weeks since I last ran) and I wasn't driving smooth at all. I was also trying some different lines through the "leap of faith" jump section. I tried to clear the entire section, landing at the top of the step-up jump. I think I just barely made it once, and quit trying it after casing my car (landing on the chassis at the top of the downside jump) so hard that the ESC receiver plug popped out of the receiver, shutting off my car. I'd probably have a better chance of clearing this jump if I ran my 6.5 instead of my 8.5, but I feel its too risky. I also tried a line I saw Jeremy using on LiveRC. He was jumping from the step-up to the next lane, bypassing 2 of the 3 humps in the hairpin, then pulling a 180 and heading to the double. I could make it, but couldn't do it consistently. Anyway, the Inside Job's felt a little loose in the higher speed turns, probably due to the flat body of the tire. For my second practice run I tried the Panther Bobcats/Switches and concentrated on driving a clean consistent line. The Panthers felt ok, but without any lap times, I couldn't tell if either set of tires was faster than the other. I guess I'll head out for practice on Saturday to do more testing. I need to setup my T4 too anyways. For tonight's racing I'll run my trusty Holeshots, since that worked out well the last time I raced :)

It would be a crowed track in 4wd Mod, as there were 9 cars in the heat! I would be starting last for heat 1 :( We had a clean start with no wrecks, but after 1 lap was in the books, the wrecks started. I kept my nose clean and moved up to 5th by lap 2, but I was running with 2 other cars for 4th! We swapped positions a few times and it was fun racing so close with the other cars. The top 3 cars weren't that far away either, so we all had a chance at the win! Towards the end of the race, the top cars tangled, slowing each other down, and I was able to take 4th place, only 0.478 seconds out of 3rd, with a 16:04.

For heat 2, I spaced out watching the Super Stock Truck heat before ours, and didn't even realize my race was up until Jeremy announced that 4wd Mod was on the track! LOL! I ran to my pit, grabbed my car, and raced to the driver's stand. I was only able to take 2-3 warmup laps before we lined up for the start. I would be starting on the pole this heat and wanted to make the best of it and turn a fast time. I got a clean start, but 2nd was right on my tail! I landed long on the double and bounced a little wide, and lost the lead :( Fortunately I was right on his tail! I followed the leader for the entire race. Jeremy announced that we were both on a pace faster than the current TQ, so I thought it would be smart to just stay behind him. I had the opportunity to make a pass for the lead a few times, but I couldn't get along side far enough, so I backed off rather than risk a tangle, slowing us both down. Early in the race, there was a big crash on the straight, while we were in the infield! I heard a loud crash, some yelling, and Jeremy yelling into the microphone to go low on the straight! After all the commotion, Jeremy said the wreck was so bad, that had this been F1, somebody would've been killed! It was good for us though, as we now had a 10 second lead on 3rd :) I turned my fastest run on this layout so far, finishing in 2nd with a 17:07, just 1 second behind the leader :-)

For the main I qualified in 2nd for the A, for the 2nd race in a row! Woohoo! But my run of clean starts would end :( After going over the double leading to the scoring line, I got loose in the turn and stuffed it into the pipe. I tried to get off the pipe while the entire field went by :( The marshal finally got me going again and I was dead last :( Nuts!!! After the first 4 laps the field sorted itself out and I was running mid pack in 5th place. I spent the rest of the race fighting for position while trying to keep clean. I did have one bad crash though. I flipped my car in the "wagon wheel" leading to the sweeper onto the straight and got tangled with some other cars. When the marshal sorted the cars out, she picked up my car and held it in the air, while she got the other cars going. Great! :( Please put my car down! lol! I really had to make up some time now, to get back in the fight! I was running 6th, but I wasn't too far from the rest of the field. Toward the end of the race, the cars in front of me started making mistakes or taking each other out! I passed a bunch of cars, but had no idea what position I was in, since I didn't know if I was passing these cars for position or if I was lapping them. I just made sure I didn't crash while they did :) Jeremy announced that time had expired and the race was over. He announced the top 3. 1st- Mitch Stratford, 2nd- Alex Alvarez, 3rd- Rod Angelito! COOL! I finished in 3rd with a 16:07! Woohoo! I guess those cars I passed were for position :) When I checked the race results, it turns out almost everyone finished with 16 laps, only the winner went 17.

I had a good time racing! I felt I was driving well in traffic and turning in fast qualifying runs. The key to my fast runs though is starting in front. For both of my 17 lap runs, I started the heat in 1st or 2nd and ran away from the field. I wonder if I can turn 17 laps, starting in the back? I also need to stop landing the double long. The car usually bounces, causing me to lose some time. I bet my faster laps occur when I downside the double. I guess I'll have to wait until a practice day to find out...