Frank's RC/Electronics Hobby: 2012

Practice for KRBL finals at SRS - HobbyTown

Saturday, December 29th, 2012

I missed round 6 of the KBRL which was held at HobbyTown in Tucson, which I am very bummed about. That would have been a huge points day for me, but unfortunately, it couldn't be helped. I dropped two spots in the points from 7th place down to 9th place in the 17.5 Buggy class. So this Saturday, I decided to get in some extra practice for the finals, which will be held at SRS - HobbyTown in Scottsdale, Az. I still may be able to break into the top 5 if I can do well at the finals.

On to the racing:

17.5 Buggy - Round 1

17.5 Buggy - Round 2

17.5 Buggy - A-Main

Weather playing havoc again with KBRL, round 6 rescheduled

Friday December 14th, 2012

Looks like the weather once again is playing havoc with another round of racing in the KBRL series. Because of the amount of rain that was received in the Tuscon area Thursday and Friday, HobbyTown Tuscon decided that their track would not be ready for racing on Saturday.

So Kenny (KBRL) has rescheduled with HobbyTown to hold the race next Saturday, December 22nd. There has been a few grumbling on the forums (RCTech.net) about this decision, but I fully support it. I feel it would better to have the race in good weather, and I feel it will be more fun for everyone involved. Just my 2 cents.

Looking forward to next Saturday, hope everyone can make it!!!!!!!

KBRL round 5 at Paddocks Short Course, Goodyear, AZ

December 1st, 2012

Round 5 of the KBRL series was held a Paddocks Short Course, in Goodyear, AZ. For this round I was joined by Dean from Wolfpak Racing, and our friend Ernest. Besides the practice round me and Dean got in, this would the first time I would be racing at this track. Coming into this round of racing, I was ranked in 9th place overall for the 17.5 Sportsman Buggy class, and for Pro-Lite I was sitting in 25th place out of 55 drivers for this class. We arrived early, getting there around 7:30 when they opened the gates, and were able to grab a nice pit space.

After arriving early, we were able to get all setup in the pits.

Qualifying - Round 1

Pro Lite - Round# 1

Driver Laps RaceTime Fast Lap
Ernest Palafox 10 5:15.162 28.532
Dean Vuckovich 10 5:32.792 30.223
Frank Lilly 9 5:04.137 29.911

For round 1 of Pro-Lite, I was not that happy with my performance. I am still having trouble keeping the nose of TLR 22 SCT down, as on almost every jump it wants to parachute and point up. I am going to try ordering some of the aluminum parts for the front, and I have almost all the cutout on the body removed. Dean and Ernest was able to pull 10 laps each, but at the end of round 1, none of us were in the top 10.

17.5 Sportsman Buggy - Round# 1

Driver Laps RaceTime Fast Lap
Kartman 10 5:14.696 28.716
Frank Lilly 10 5:26.783 29.667
Parker Ayers 10 5:29.299 29.739
Kevin Kilday 9 5:02.238 31.250
JR Rymond 9 5:04.263 31.205
Mike Burdeshaw 9 5:13.145 31.738
Robert Kakela 9 5:16.588 33.177
Dean Vuckovich 9 5:22.616 31.080
David Kellogg 0 0.000 0.000

This round was one of the strangest, after a restart, and a confusing restart at that, it showed me finishing in second place with 10 laps, and Dean finishing in last with only 9 laps. After looking over the lap times, it cam to our attention that I was counted for an extra lap manually by the race director, and that one of Dean's laps did not count. So after bringing this to the attention of the race director Kenny, I actually finished with 9 laps, and Dean had 10.

Me in the pits during round 1.

Qualifying - Round 2

Pro Lite - Round# 2

Driver Laps RaceTime Fast Lap
Ernest Palafox 10 5:03.879 28.718
Dean Vuckovich 10 5:22.896 30.240
Frank Lilly 9 5:05.628 30.878

Things didn't change much between round 1 and round 2, all three of us ended up about the same. I ended up qualifying 27th overall and starting 3rd on in the D-Main. Dean qualified 23rd overall and would start 7th in the C-Main. Ernest did the best out of the three of us, he qualified 15th overall and would start 7th in the B-Main.

17.5 Sportsman Buggy - Round# 2

Driver Laps RaceTime Fast Lap
Kartman 10 5:33.339 29.470
Dean Vuckovich 9 5:05.534 30.264
Robert Kakela 9 5:09.823 31.389
Frank Lilly 9 5:10.221 31.620
Parker Ayers 9 5:13.699 32.115
JR Rymond 9 5:15.299 30.497
Kevin Kilday 9 5:15.651 32.777
Mike Burdeshaw 7 4:06.315 29.673
David Kellogg 0 0.000 0.000

This was a very good round, and my buggy felt great. A couple of inopportune crashes close to the end of the race caused me some time, I felt I could have finished in 3rd or even second.

The Mains

17.5 Sportsman Buggy Mains:

For the Buggy A-Main, I was starting in 6th place. Although the buggy felt good, I feel I was pushing it too much and crashed a lot. I ended up finishing in 7th place, a little disappointing, as I felt I could have driven a much better race, especially how well I did in round two of qualifying.

Pro-Lite Mains:

For the D-Main I was having a fantastic race until the last two laps, I made some slight changes to the truck and it was handling great. It was a scary first lap, with the first place car clocking out and never looking back, it was a different story from 2nd place on back. When we started we were all lined up on the middle straight, with the first turn being a large high-banked 90 degree turn. We started okay, but the 4th or 5th place car must have had nitro because on of the two came flying into the corner and took out the entire front of the field except the first place truck. By the end of the untangling, I was able to race back into second place, and was able to hold that place up to about less the a minute left in the race. I got hung up on a pipe (totally my fault), and by the time I got marshaled, and back on the track I was down to third place. I only blame myself for what happened next, as I got over aggressive trying to catch back up to second place and once again hung myself up on a pipe and then dropped to fourth, were I ended up finishing the race.

Practice for Round 5 of KBRL at Paddock's

November 23rd, 2012

Round 5 of the KBRL will be held a Paddocks Short Course, in Goodyear, AZ. In preparation to the race, Dean from Wolfpak Racing and myself made the trek to the west valley to get in some practice. For myself, this was the first visit to this track, and I was looking forward to racing this round. Last years KBRL did visit this track, but I was unable to make that round or racing, and did not want to miss it again this year.

Dean in the pits, getting in as much practice as we could.

After getting all setup in the pits, we got in some good practice on the track. The owner's of the track was very nice, and they kept the track in great shape, watering for us an maintaining the track like it would be in race condition for round 5. I was very impressed that they did that, because Dean and myself were the only ones there that day practicing.

Last Race for Warehouse 3 in Pheonix

November 20th, 2012

I'm always sad when you lose something, and we have lost one of the better tracks in the southwest. Warehouse 3 closed its doors, and we celebrated the last night of racing on November 20th, 2012. Although I wish I would have been able to race more at this track, I did enjoy every event I did attend. Jim at Warehouse 3 put on a great show every time I went there, and it was a great place to hangout and race at. I hope that one-day he is able to open another facility, it was a blast while it lasted.

For this last night of racing, my friend Dean from Wolfpak Racing also made the trek down to say goodbye to a great track. There was a nice size crowd, and the atmosphere was great, although everyone was bummed about it being the last night, it was still a great time.

Below is some pictures that I took:

All setup in the pits, my TLR 22 Buggy ready for action

Always did love the great artwork on the walls.

This layout was a blast.

Jim and myself, thanks for the memories.

KBRL Round 4 - Competition Hobbies in Tucson, Az

Saturday, November 10th, 2012

With round 4, the original location was supposed to be at Canyon Vista R/C, but with the rainy weather we had Friday into Saturday, Kenny (KBRL) decided to make a last minute change on Friday afternoon to move the race to Competition Hobbies an indoor track, also down in Tuscon. Even though the weather did not turn out as bad as expected, I do appreciate Kenny trying to look out for the racers, and trying to make this a successful event. I was kind of bummed that we didn't race at Canyon Vista, with practicing there the weekend before, I really liked the track layout and had a blast racing on that Saturday. On the other hand, I was glad that we were racing at Competition Hobbies, I loved their layout, and its a great facility. Okay, enough of the into stuff, on to the racing.

All setup in the pits, tires a little dirty from getting in some practice time.

Qualifying - Round 1

For round one in the Short Course truck, I did not do as well as I hoped. I did manage to pull off 11 laps, but finished 8th out of 10 drivers. My fried Dean from Woldpak Racing finished 2nd in round 1, and our friend Earnest who was racing in the second group of Pro-Lite's finished 7th in his heat.

Pro Lite - Round# 1, Heat 2

Driver Laps RaceTime Fast Lap
Dean Vuckovich 12 5:14.191 24.764
Ernest Palafox 11 5:00.268 25.237
Frank Lilly 11 5:19.377 26.315

For round one for the 17.5 2WD buggy class, I managed a personal best of 11 laps in this heat, but ended up finishing 7th overall on round 1. My friend Dean broke early on lap 4. Our other friend from Warehouse 3, John finished right behind me in 8th place. For me the buggy felt good, I did not crash as much and was looking forward to round 2.

17.5 2WD Buggy - Round# 1, Heat 1
Driver Laps RaceTime Fast Lap
Frank Lilly 11 5:22.358 25.661
John Schreck 10 5:07.421 27.461
Dean Vuckovich 4 1:40.626 24.778

Qualifying - Round 2

Round 2 for the SCT ended up about the same for me. I still cannot get a handle on this truck, and will try to work on the setup before the next round of the KBRL. I still managed to get 11 laps, but I feel there is a lot more this truck can do. I can;t really blame it all on setup, as I need to get our more and practice with the Short course truck.

Pro Lite - Round# 2, Heat 1
Driver Laps RaceTime Fast Lap
Dean Vuckovich 12 5:09.304 25.137
Ernest Palafox 12 5:17.304 24.452
Frank Lilly 11 5:12.964 25.893

For round 2 of the buggy, felt AWESOME!! I upped my round 1 personal best, and pulled in 12 laps, which for Competition Hobbies is a personal best for me. I ended up finishing in 3rd in the heat, and was qualified 5th overall for the A-Main.

17.5 2WD Buggy - Round# 2, Heat 1
Driver Laps RaceTime Fast Lap
Dean Vuckovich 12 5:03.087 24.143
Frank Lilly 12 5:24.695 25.744
John Schreck 11 5:15.118 26.608

The MAINS

Pro-Lite Mains

Congrats to my friend Dean from Wolfpak Racing for making the A-Main.

17.5 2WD Buggy Main

For the A-Main, I had a great start, but some crashed in the first couple of laps put me way behind the eight ball, and I could not catch up after that. I was having a good battle with Kevin Kilday towards the end of the race, but he overtook me in the end. And a BIG Congratulations go out to my friend Dean for finishing 2nd and making the podium. This is his second podium finish in the KBRL, his first came in round 1 at this very same track.

Final thoughts

This was another great round of racing with good friends. Although I did not do as well with the Short Course Truck as I had liked, I still had a blast. I think with a few more round of racing, I will be finishing up towards the podium with my buggy.

Practice for Round 4 of the KBRL at Canyon Vista R/C

Saturday, November 3rd, 2012

My friend Dean from Wolfpak Racing and myself made a trek down to Canyon Vista R/C for some practice for the upcoming round 4 of the KBRL series. Round 4 will be on November 10th, 2012.

Since they were also club racing that day, we arrived when they opened to try to get in as much practice as we could. Each of us was able to get in some good runs while the track was fairly empty. We only brought the 2WD Buggies down with us to try out different tires/setup combinations, and to get an overall feel for the track since the layout won;t change for the KBRL race.

We did not stay for the mains, we only raced the two rounds of qualifying. There was 4 other drivers there also practicing for the 17,5 buggy class. It was nice to get in some rounds with other racers that will be in our class for the KBRL race.

KBRL - Round 3 at SRS Hobbytown

Saturday, October 27th, 2012

The third round of the KBRL series has come and gone, and again this race did not disappoint. Although I missed round 2, I was amp'd up and excited to get my racing groove back on with round 3. Round 3 of the series was held at SRS/Hobbytown in Scottsdale, AZ. The track layout was great, a good combination of speed and technicality. I made the pilgrimage down to SRS with my good friend Dean and his son Dragi. We were met down there by our friend Ryan, and the rest of the gang from Warehouse 3. Ryan had already setup his tent the night before, so we setup right next to him.

On to the racing:

Round 1:
For round 1, it was an interesting trial. Since I had not seen this layout before, it was interesting getting used to the track. For the buggy, it felt pretty good, it seemed to handle well on the track. For the truck, I'm still getting used to the TLR 22SCT. I feel that I don't quite have the setup correct, and need more practice time to try to dial in the truck.

Here is the result for round 1 for our group. After round 1, I was sitting 9th overall in buggy, and I won;t mention where I was sitting for the truck, I'll just hang my head and sigh, lol.

17.5 2WD Buggy:
Name: Laps: Race Time: Fast Lap:
Dean Vuckovich 08 5:05.734 35.493
Ryan Hackl 08 5:38.381 40.011
Frank Lilly 07 5:13.912 40.902
Dragi Vuckovich 07 5:40.088 46.199
John Schreck 06 4:30.690 41.154

13.5 2WD Short course (Pro-Lite):
Name: Laps: Race Time: Fast Lap:

Dean Vuckovich 08 5:27.619 38.537
Frank Lilly 07 5:45.942 46.13

Novice 2WD Short Course:

Name: Laps: Race Time: Fast Lap:
John Schreck 07 5:45.438 45.019
Dragi Vuckovich 06 5:12.709 49.831

Round 2:
For round 2, I made a front tire change on the buggy, and it not help. I ended up going slower with the buggy. With the SCT I was able to speed up a little but not the big improvement that I was hoping for.

Below is the results for our group after round 2. For buggy I dropped one position and was 10th overall.

17.5 2WD Buggy:
Name: Laps: Race Time: Fast Lap:
Dean Vuckovich 08 5:17.325 35.509
Ryan Hackl 08 5:42.177 39.699
Frank Lilly 07 5:22.943 41.144
John Schreck 07 5:22.966 40.351
Dragi Vuckovich 07 5:25.375 42.008

13.5 2WD Short course (Pro-Lite):
Name: Laps: Race Time: Fast Lap:

Dean Vuckovich 08 5:27.345 38.197
Frank Lilly 07 5:22.943 41.144

Novice 2WD Short Course:

Name: Laps: Race Time: Fast Lap:
Dragi Vuckovich 07 5:35.713 44.314
John Schreck 04 3:27.800 52.007

Mains:
Here are the Main

17.5 2WD Buggy

With the B-Main I was starting out in the second spot on the starting grid. I tried to follow Ryan who was in the first spot, but when I tried to hit the table top after the first turn I miss-judged the jump and landed wrong. I was able to recover and ended up finishing in 4th place.

13.5 2WD Short Course (Pro-Lite):

For the E-Main, the truck did really good, and I was able to pull out with a second place finish, bumping me into the D-Main.

For the D-Main, I had a few bad crashes, and could never really recover. I was able to squeak out 7 laps.

Novice Short Course

Final Thoughts:

Overall this was a great race, and as always Kenny puts on a great show. I am looking forward to round 4, which will be held down in Tuscon at Canyon Vista R/C.

Below is some pictures I took during the day: