OCRC Sat Series Final

Last weekend was the final race of the OCRC Sat Series! I was in 2nd place in Stock Truck and 3rd place in Stock Buggy. I had a small chance of moving up a position in Stock Truck if I would be able to beat the guy ahead of me in the points, in the main. Up for grabs was about $100! My brother had an outside chance of placing 3rd in the Amateur class. To do it, 2 things had to happen. The leader would need to finish as low as possible (ie break) and he would need to place in front of the guy ahead of him in the points.

We ran the Friday night club race as a practice session for the series race the next day. We both needed to learn the new layout and jumps, as the track was slightly changed from the last series race. My brother would be running his new T4 for the 1st time on Friday! No more sharing my truck, which makes it a whole lot easier, since we were usually back to back in the round.

I did really well in round 1, winning the heat and setting the TQ time at 15:17. I didn't have as good a run in round 2, turning a bunch of slow laps and lost the TQ :( I ended up finishing 3rd with a 14:06. I would start the main in 2nd place. The start was clean, but I had nothing for the pole sitter. I closed the gap when he made a mistake, but he pulled away again, and I was never close enough to attempt a pass. I finished the main in 2nd place, earning $5 off my next race! Hey! That's new! :)

My brother had a good night too with his new truck. I set it up as a copy of mine, so he was running the same setup and gear. Gold Bar Codes, SPX esc, and Murfdogg 17.5! He did well in round 1 finishing 3rd with a 12:17. In round 2, he was running in 2nd when the sensor wire came out! I was watching his run and grabbed his truck then plugged the sensor wire back into the motor, but that gave him a 63 second lap :( He was turning consistent 21-22 second laps though. Not too shabby, considering I'm turning low 20's. He qualified 6th in the A with his time from round 1. He did really well, finishing in 2nd place! He also won $5 off his next race :)

The next day was the last race of the OCRC Saturday Series! Time to get paid! Since we ran Friday, all we did was take 1 run with our cars, to "warm up"' and get the "driving feel" back. I hate running a race without first doing a practice run.

In both my Stock Truck qualifiers, I got caught up with lapped traffic a few times (need to be more patient!) and finished 4th each time, only putting in 14 lap runs. I would end up qualifying 2 spots behind the guy I needed to beat in order to move up in the points and win more money :( I started the main in 4th place out of 7 trucks. Not too impressive :( I would need a bit of luck and a clean start to beat the guy ahead of me in the points! The start was clean through the 1st section of the track, but I guess the TQ or 3rd place truck stuffed a pipe right in front of me and I ran into the back of them :( I was able to "pop" out of the mess, by punching the throttle and jumping over one of the trucks, and I took off! I saw the lead truck going over the big double in front of the driver's stand, meaning I was in 2nd! Unfortunately, the leader was the guy I needed to beat. I drove as smooth and as fast as I could, but was unable to catch him. I would need a bit of luck or a mistake to close the gap, but no such thing occurred. Soon the TQ, caught up to me. I was able to keep him behind me for a lap, but he made a pass right before the finish line, and took over 2nd. I held on to 3rd, turning a 14:03. I ended up also finishing in 3rd in the series, taking home $85 :)

Stock Buggy would not be as exciting, as only 2 of us showed up to race. I was too far behind him in the points to beat him even if beat him in the main. So, $25 practice session :( He was too fast for me, out qualifying me and beating me in the main. Oh well, I still finished 3rd in the points, winning another $85 :) I walked away with a total of $170 from the series :)

My brother was getting the track down, and now turning pretty consistent 21-22 second laps. He was able to beat the guy in front of him in the points, moving up a position. Unfortunately, the other guy that needed to lose, won the main, thus he finished the series in 4th.

Because of the low turnout, we were done racing by 3pm, so Robert offered up some free racing! There would be 1 qualifying round and 1 10 minute main. The winner of the qualifier would get an OCRC t-shirt, and the winner of the main, $15 off their next race! My brother and I ended up in the same heat, so we decided to just race each other. In each race, I pulled away from him on the start, but when I came around to lap him, he sped up! I think I was only able to pass him once or twice in one of the 2 races! He was driving really well! Then Robert started following our race, instead of the leaders! LOL! He commented that the teacher has now become the student, and that my brother was smiling, while I was fuming, as I couldn't put him a lap down :( Hahahaha! We were having a lot of fun and continued racing, while letting the race leaders by.

Other stuff:
-My buggy was really loose on power! Need to play around with the slipper, throttle expo, and install the 0.5° hubs.
-The buggy's rear wheels were also flopping around a lot! I need some new bearings!
-Both the truck/buggy suspension's have a lot of slop! Need to freshen them up with new bulkheads and a-arms.