Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Hot Rod Hobbies, Offroad Shootout, Days 5 and 6

Was too tired to recap the last 2 days of the Shootout, so I'm doing it now :)

In Stock Buggy, I had a really good run in round 3 finishing my heat in 3rd with a 17:00 and about 15th or so in the round. In round 4, I decided to run my new Murfdogg 17.5 that I picked up from Matt Murphy at the track. He suggested I run a 72:34 ratio, but not having time to switch my spur I ran a 69:33 ratio, which was pretty close.

I didn't have as good a run in round 4 though, making a lot of mistakes during the 1st 3 minutes of the run :( I finished 7th in my heat and in the high 30's for the round. I ended up qualifying on the pole for the C Main. I was tied for the last spot in the B Main, but lost the tie breaker :(

In the main I had a good start and made no mistakes for 5 minutes! Then, I got sideways coming up the peristyle, allowing the 2nd place car to get really close! Coming down the hill I aimed for the inside of the turn, to block the inside line, but I clipped the pipe and ended up on my lid. The 2nd place car passed me for the lead! Then, on the last lap I got hit by a lapped car, allowing 3rd place to close! I was marshaled in time and was able to hold on to 2nd :)

My Stock Truck runs were the opposite of my buggy runs! I had a not so good run in round 3 and a decent one in round 4. Again, I tried my new Murfdogg 17.5 motor in round 3, along with the Orange Bar Codes I finally finished mounting up. The motor was quick!, but the Orange front Bar Codes felt too twitchy! It also probably didn't help that I mounted them wrong :( I finished 9th in my heat and high 20's in the round :(

I pulled it together in round 4 though, putting in a solid run! I went back to my Taper Pins, as I wasn't comfortable on the Bar Codes. I was fighting for 3rd place, but eventually finished 5th in the race and in the low teens for the round. This seated me 6th in the B Main.

In the main, I got a killer start and made my way up to 3rd on the 1st lap! I was in 3rd for about half the race, but the 4th place truck went for a pass at the bottom of the hill and we got together, and I got the worst of the deal, as I got stuck on the pipe and needed to be marshaled, dropping to 5th. I chased down the 4th place truck, which happened to be Matt Murphy, who sold me the Murfdogg 17.5 I was running in my truck! lol! He made a mistake in the small triple, allow me to get by for 4th, where I finished.

I didn't take 4wd Super Stock as serious as my buggy and truck classes, as I don't have the latest batteries for this car. I'm using the TrakPower 20C packs, while everyone else is running the latest gen 25-40C packs. I had a decent run in round 3 turning an 18:21 (my 1st 18 lap run of the weekend btw), finishing in 4th. In round 4 I turned in another 18 lap run (18:08) and finished 3rd. I ended up qualifying 4th in the C main. I got into a few accidents in the 1st minute of the main, dropping to the back. I wasn't able to recover and finished in 6th. Oh well, I need to get some batteries to be more competitive.

Random thoughts:
-It was freaking hot! My pit area reached 110°F on Saturday!
-Need to bring a towel to put in my ice chest next year.
-Don't make big setup changes between rounds of qualifying!
-The line around the track still makes a difference in offroad. Sometimes I forget that, since I'm too busy just trying to clear jumps, and my lap times suffer.
-Once qualifying starts, just drive!

2 comments:

ra98gs said...

I'll be there next year racing with you!

Kevin Deselms said...

Yeah the heat was the number one reason I wasn't sure I was all that sad I missed racing the Shootout :) I'll be at the Reedy race, though!