JBRL Round 5, Freedom Park, Camarillo *UPDATED*

The next stop of the 2009 Electric JBRL Series was held at Freedom Park RC Raceway, in Camarillo, CA; hosted by the Road Runners RC Club.

Stock Buggy
In Stock Buggy, I broke a front a arm in round 1 of qualifying, and still managed to finish 2nd in the heat! Only the front part of the arm broke at the inner hinge pin, and it stayed on the car. Surprisingly, it still handled ok! When I took the car apart, the front a arm and bulkhead were broken and my titanium hinge pin was bent :( I had the stock steel hinge pins, but no a arms or bulkhead. I asked my friend, and he had an a arm and a broken bulkhead. The mounting holes for the hinge pin brace were stripped out. He gave me the parts, and I repaired the car. I would need to superglue the screws into the bulkhead to hold the hinge pin brace on, then cross my fingers and hope it holds together for the rest of the day.

In round 2 for Stock Buggy, I was doing really well! In fact, I was leading the race! Until I clipped a pipe and I thought I broke the front bulkhead! The car still drove ok, but I slowed my pace made a few other mistakes, and ended up finished 3rd in the race, just missing the A main :(

I qualified 2nd in the B main for buggy. I would need to win to bump into the A! I had a great start! The pole sitter, went wide into the wagon wheel turn in front of the driver's stand! I dove to the inside and took over the lead! A bunch of accidents behind me let put a big lead on the field, so I slowed my pace a bit, to make sure I didn't crash. I was also patient with traffic, waiting to lap a car for a lap, before yelling out "White car, leader behind you!" Then, Jimmy heard me and also called for the car to move over, which he did, and I got by clean. By this time, the 2nd place car closed in! He got to about 1 turn behind me, but I held my line, and he clipped the pipe in the wagon wheel, giving me some breathing room. I made it by the line for the extra lap, while he got caught, giving me a victory lap and the bump up into the A!

Next race up was the A main for Stock Buggy. Starting in 10th, I wasn't expecting much, just hoping for a big wreck, so I could move up. I hung back on the start and moved up a couple of spots in the wagon wheel. But when heading to the roller on the right side of the track, my car got hit in the back going into the blind spot, and didn't come out! I had no idea where it was! All I could do was punch the gas hoping it would pop out someplace :( I guess it was stuck on a pipe and the marshal heard my car, and ran to it. I was way back in last now, so I drove as fast as I could, hoping I could catch back up to the pack. I was able to catch the 9th place car and pass it in the last 2 laps! Every point counts!

Stock Truck and 4wd Super Stock
I don't remember much about my truck and 4wd runs. I know I qualified 4th in the B for Truck, and 8th in the A for 4wd. Hey another A main! :) I was running 3rd in the truck main for the 1st half of the race, but nose dived off a jump, and landed on my lid, dropping me back a few spots. Then I lost my car again in the blind spot, behind the carpet roller, when getting hit in traffic, losing more positions. All I could do now was pass as many cars as I could, before time ran out! I think I finished 5th or 6th. I'll need to wait until the results are published online to see where I actually placed.

For 4wd, our A main (last of the event, btw), was run under the lights in the cold! My car was a blue blur that I tried to keep away from the white car breaking pipes! Hahahah! I think I got up to 4th, but rolled in the bumps on top of the hill at the end of the straight, dropping back. Driving my 4wd was fun! Even without the ideal tires. I moved up a couple of spots by "going big" over some of the jumps, to close the gap on the car in front of me, and it worked, as I was able to make the pass in the next turn. To think what I could've done on the right tires and 40C saddle pack batteries, as I'm running year old 20C TrakPower saddles. Hmmmm. Next time :) Not sure where I finished here either, but I know I moved up from 8th. I probably finished 5th or 6th. When will the results be posted anyway? :)

One liners:
-The weather was nice! High 70's with a nice cool breeze :) A welcome change after baking at the Shootout.
-Track was fairly nice. Decent traction, not too bumpy. But there was this carpet roller that created a blind spot, where I lost sight of my car during the Stock Buggy A main, ruining a great start :(
-The track was being run wet. So I needed to keep track of when it was being watered. Run right after water, use IFMAR pin rear tires. Otherwise, I was running Double Dees.
-Need new tires for my 4wd!
-A lot of cars broke on the unforgiving pipes :(
-Need more consistency. I either do really well, or blow out. Never the same.
-Qualifying is the most important part of the event! It's all about making the A main!
-Used the Racer's Edge 0.5° rear hubs on my buggy, as its been a touch loose on power lately. It was hooked up now! I also want to get some 1° (for lower traction tracks) and 0° hubs (they have less slop than the plastic hubs, so the wheel doesn't wobble around so much).
- I had a great time at this race! Probably due to the nice weather, and the fact that I made 2 of 3 A mains :)
-Race entry at West Coast is only $10 for the month of August!

*UPDATE*
The results from Freedom Park have been posted!
Stock Buggy, B 2/10, 1st 12 5:28, A 10/10 9th 13 6:28
Stock Truck, B 4/10, 6th 11 5:26
Super Stock 4wd, A 8/10, 6th 13 6:04

Official points standings as of Round 5!
Stock Buggy, 7th 284 points
Stock Truck, 15th 276 points
Super Stock 4wd, 11th 278 points