Saturday, August 24th, 2013

Day two in California, and Dean and myself hit Cal Raceway, located in Orange, CA.  They have been running their Super Saturday Series, so we decided to hit that race.  It was a light crowd this night, because there were several large events going on this weekend.  But there was enough to run two classes.  Intermediate Sedan 17.5, which was a mix from Novice up to Expert.  The second class they ran was VTA, which eventually I plan on getting a car for.

Here is the series flyer:

Once we arrived, we met some of the local racers, and it was a great group of guys.  Once we got setup in the pits, it was time for some practice.  Below is a picture of the track layout.

Since it was a small crowd, and they were only running two classes this night, it was decided to run 3 rounds of qualifying, then the mains.

On to the racing:

Qualifying Round 1:
Intermediate Sedan 17.5:

Qualifying Round 2:
Intermediate Sedan 17.5:

Qualifying Round 3:
Intermediate Sedan 17.5:

A-Main:
Intermediate Sedan 17.5:

This was a great track, and it was a blast racing with this group.  I would love to visit this track again in the future.  Although I did not do as good as I would have liked, the traction was amazing and I was fighting with the roll-center all night, in some of the turns I would roll onto two wheels, and sometimes roll all the way over onto my lid.  Going to be working on this over the next couple of races down at HobbyTown Gilbert, will be playing with the setup.

Getting is some Carpet Practice at TQ Raceway in Chino, CA

Friday, August 23rd, 2013

This weekend I am in California for a small vacation, getting in some racing at some of the California tracks.  I am here with my Wife Rhonda and Daughter Laura, while they do Disney and California Adventures, I am hitting some of the local on-road tracks.  My friend Dean from WolfPak Racing and his family are also here is California.  His wife and kids are also hitting Disney and California Adventures with my family, and he is joining me in the racing fun.  The first night here in California we decided to hit TQ Racing in Chino, CA.  This is nice little indoor track, and the carpet was amazing, a lot of grip.  I have a feeling this is how the carpet will feel when Dean and myself go to Vegas is October for the IIC (International Indoor Championships).

Here is a picture of the track, I wish i would have taken a better angle from the drivers stand.  But you can always check out the track by going to their website (www.tqrcracing.com).

Tomorrow I will post about Saturday's RC fun.

Thursday Night Club Racing @ Hobbytown Gilbert

Thursday, August 15th, 2013

Got in another fun night of club racing down at HobbyTown Gilbert.  Its been a couple of weeks since I have raced here, and since I missed the 4th round of the Carpet Points Series down at Competition Hobbies in Tucson, I wanted to make sure I got in a Thursday night.  It was another small crowd, but it was a good group of people that showed up.  This night I decided to not only do my normal Sportsman Sedan Road Course, but also break out the Short Course truck for the Slash II class.

All setup in the pits, and ready for some action

Since it was a small crowd, it was decided we would run 2 qualifying round and then the Mains.  Normally on Thursday they only run 1 round of qualifying.  For my Sportsman Sedan class, we would be racing together this night with the Spec GT and Expert Sedan.  Now on to the racing:

Qualifying: Round 1:

Round Course - Mixed classes:

Driver   Laps   Time  
Mike D.   21   4:07.24
Frank L.  21   4:07.91
Mikey     18   4:03.78
Mike S.    7   1:26.67
Rudy     DNS   0:00.00

Qualifying: Round 2:

Round Course - Mixed classes:

Driver   Laps   Time  
Mike D.   21   4:06.12
Frank L.  21   4:09.64
Mikey     19   4:07.13
Rudy      16   4:10.22
Kyle      11   1:53.22
Mike S.  DNS   0:00.00

A-Main:

Round Course - Mixed classes:

Driver   Laps   Time  
Kyle      23   4:08.81
Mike D.   21   4:01.42
Frank L.  21   4:01.94
Mike S.   19   4:00.80
Mikey     19   4:09.48
Rudy      15   4:11.35

Over all the car felt really good, and I was able to stay very consistent with it all night.  I was still have some minor driver mistakes but clipping the corners too tight.  But with each time I go out, i feel the car coming around and my times are slowly improving.  Tonight was again a personal best of 21 all rounds.  A few more outing and I hope to get that up into the 22 and 23 laps range.

New TLR 22 2.0 Buggy - Time for an upgrade

Here is a preview video for the TLR 22 2.0:

Link for Team Losi Racing:

Club Racing at HobbyTown Gilbert

Thursday, August 1st, 2013

Got in another fun night of club racing at HobbyTown in Gilbert.  My friends Dean and Dragi (WolfPak Racing Blog) also make the trek down for some racing fun.  It was a real small crowd tonight, I think it might have been because last Thursday the racing was rained out part was through.  Tonight some storm clouds were lingering on the edge of the valley, so that might have scared some of them away.

It was a fun night of relaxed racing, I didn't write down any of the numbers or get copies of the sheets so I don't have any number for anyone.  But I did average 19 laps for each of the heat races, and finished 2nd in the A-Main for my class, 3rd overall.

I will be racing again this coming Thursday evening at HobbyTown Gilbert, and then on Sunday the 11th, I will be at Competition Hobbies down in Tucson for the 4th round of the On-road Point Series.