RC On-Road action at Competition Hobbies in Tucson

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

My friend Dean and Dragi from WolfPak Racing and I decided to go down to Competition Hobbies down in Tucson to get in some carpet racing.  Today was the start of there on-road carpet point series.  We all signed up for the 17.5 Rubber Tire Sedan class.  This would be the first time racing any car on carpet, so I was looking forward to the experience.  To get in some practice, we drove down early, and arrived when track opened at noon.  This gave us about 2 hours of practice time, as racing was scheduled to start at 2 pm.  The car felt pretty good in practice, but I was about 2-3 secs off the pace, but for never racing on carpet before, I didn't think I was doing too bad.

All setup in the pits, ready for some action.

Qualifying Round 1:
17.5 Rubber Tire Sedan
Heat 1
With the first heat things started off really well, the car felt good, but a mid race hit with another driver, and another hit off the wall, something in the front end broke.  I finished with 14 laps, but picked up a second on my laps times over practice.

Heat 2

Broke the steering block on both sides

Qualifying Round 2:
17.5 Rubber Tire Sedan
Heat 1
This heat the car felt a lot looser, not sure if I had the correct alignment on the front, I had barley got it back together before the heat started.  I ended up with 22 laps, but lost a second on my lap times in this heat.

Heat 2
I did not get a picture of the second heat of round 2.

B-Main:
17.5 Rubber Tire Sedan
Since they were not doing any bumps, there was only 3 of us in the B-Main.  I had made some fine tuning adjustments to the car, but it was still very loose and was not turning right.  I think I will have to re-build the front of the car to see what else may have happened when I broke in the first round of qualifying.

A-Main:
17.5 Rubber Tire Sedan
Here is the results from the A-Main.

Overall it was a fun day.  Racing on the carpet for the first time was really fun.  I should have the car all fixed and tuned for round 2.  We will see how it performs this Thursday at HobbyTown Gilbert.

RC On-Road Racing at HobbyTown Gilbert

Thursday, June 5th, 2013

Got in some racing down at HobbyTown in Gilbert, AZ.  This is my first Thursday event here at the HobbyTown Gilbert location, the crowd on Thursdays is smaller.  This day I was met down at the track my my friends Dean and Dragi from WolfPak Racing, and our mutual friend Ernest.  I decided I would race two classes today, Sportsman Sedan (Road-Course) for my Associated TC6,.1, and also for my TLR 22 Short Course Truck, I entered into the Slash 2 class.  Thursday nights are run a little different then on Saturdays, there is only one qualifying heat, and then the Mains.

All Setup in the pits, ready for some action.

On to the racing:

Qualifying Round 1:

Sportsman Sedan (Road Course):
  - the car was a little loose, I ended up with 19 laps
  - this qualified me starting 3rd in the B-Main

Slash 2 (with Ramp):
  - I ended up finishing with 29 laps, which placed me starting 4th in the A-Main.

Mains:

B-Main - Sportsman Sedan (Road Course):
  - Started 3rd on the Grid for the B-Main,
  - ended up finishing where I started in 3rd place, with again 19 laps
  - this time the car felt smoother, but still loose.
    - I think its time to go to 36's for my tires, since the weather has been so hot here in Arizona.

Slash 2 (with Ramp):
  - I started 3rd on the grid since the 3rd place qualifier left early.
  - I ended up with 31 laps, and finished where I started in 3rd.
      - This sounds like a great finish, but there was only three of us in the A-Main.
      - So I don't really count this as a podium finish.

From left to right, Dragi, Ernest and Dean

On-Road RC Racing at HobbyTown Gilbert

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

I met my friends Dean and Dragi from WolfPak Racing over at  HobbyTown Gilbert to get in some On-road RC racing.  Although the day was on the hotter side, I think it was around 103 or hotter, not sure the exact temperature, but I was excited about getting in another round of racing.  Today will be the debut of my new Associated TC6.1.  I bought it from someone in California, and since Dean was travelling this past week, he was nice enough to pick the car up for me.  So we met at the track at around 2, and with racing starting 4, I did not have a lot of time to get the car ready, it was a roller, so I had to add all the electronics, etc.

I ended up missing round 1 of qualifying but had the car ready to go for round 2.

Since I missed round 1 of qualifying I was not sure what the car would do, so I decided to not make any major changes to the cars setup, and just see how it does.

Round 2 Qualifying:
Sportsman Sedan (Road Course):
  - Ended up finishing is 5th in this heat with 19 laps.
  - Car handled okay, but was loose, I accounted that for not saucing the tires.

A-Main:
Sportsman Sedan (Road Course):
  - I was starting 5th on the grid for the A-Main
  - The race started off good, with the tires sauced up, it was handling a lot better.
      - After the first couple of laps I was as high as 3rd place, but a couple of mistakes knocked me back
  - I ended up finishing in 4th place in the main, and did a personal best 20 laps.

Overall the car handled great, and it was a blast to drive.  I will be going over the car this week, and will post setup and pictures.  I did not bring my camera with me, so I only had the one picture I took with my phone.

I will be racing it again this Thursday at HobbyTown Gilbert, and will post those results as well.