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Round 8, Hot Rod Hobbies
I struggled with a pushing truck for 2 of the 4 qualifiers. Then a loose one in the other 2. I end up starting 5th in the B main. I was in a good battle for 3rd with Keith Whisler (Product Manager for Losi) driving the new XXX-SCT! But, we crash off the step-off jump and drop to 4th and 5th then continue our battle. Unfortunately for me, my SC10 was really loose, due to a tire change I made for the main, and I couldn't find a place to make a clean pass on Keith. I end up finishing where I started, 5th.
I qualify 3rd in the B Main for Stock Truck after dealing with an overheating motor during qualifying. I also think I had too much push in my truck as during the main I would plow through the sweeper leading onto the straight. I almost lost 2nd place in the last turn on the final lap, when a lapped truck spins out in front of me and I tangle with it!
News:
I talked with Matt Murphy earlier this year about running his motors for this year's JBRL season, but he had some issues with stocking the new motors and getting approval from ROAR, so I put the idea on the back burner, and ran LRP motors instead. Well, he's got that all sorted out now, and he came by and showed me his new motors and let me know that his sponsorship offer was still standing and he wanted to know if I was still interested. I told him I was, but I wanted to think it over. Well, after a week of thinking it over, I emailed him last Friday, and now it's official! I will be running Murfdogg motors in upcoming races! I will be joining current Super Stock drivers Josh Mitchell, Brent Bissbee, Kevin King, and Brent Calvert. As well as Stock drivers Brian Halverson and Chris Wesson. I look forward to working with Matt and all the guys in the upcoming season!
Notes:
-Subrub MX's are really loose on Hot Rod's dry track, as I found out during my main! They were also hard to drive during the Shootout. I had been running M3 Bowties, since I tried them during practice on Friday (since I was running low on tires) and they worked pretty well and lasted a long time.
-I tried running the RTR front tires on my SC10 in rounds 2 and 3 of Int SC qualifying, since at the Shootout my SC10's steering was way too twitchy. These tires worked decent in the infield, but pushed way too much coming onto the straight! I tried moving my battery all the way forward for round 3, but it still pushed. So, for round 4, I went back to my M3 Bowtie fronts, which worked really well. I wish I stayed on them for the main, but they were a little loose, so I changed over the the MX Suburb, which was a mistake.
-My stock truck motor was running hot all weekend! Around 190-200F every run! It also felt down on power. I should have put a heatsink on it right away, instead of changing my boost or gearing. I even went to another motor for the main, a V2 Speed Passion, which alway ran cool in the past (below 160F). But even this motor temped at 190F after my 5 minute main! I hope my new Murfdogg motors run much cooler!
-This was also the 1st time I was running my T4.1 at Hot Rod. It had a small push in it the entire weekend, which I think was slowing my lap times by half a second or so. I plan to re-mount the front shocks all the way in on the tower and arm and maybe change to a silver spring.
-I also switched over to a Tekin RS speedo for my new B4.1 buggy, since Matt suggested that I run that speedo with his motors. If I like it, I may change all my the speedos in my cars over.
