Saturday RC Racing down at HobbyTown Gilbert

Saturday, April 5th, 2014

It was a great day for racing at HobbyTown Gilbert, the temperature was great, and I think it was about 75-80 degrees, the wind picked up now and again, but that felt nice.  I missed last Saturday racing, and was pleasantly surprised to see the new layout tot he track, the back stretch was setup North to South instead of the East to West, and the layout looked very cool.  Below is a picture I took of the new layout, not the best, but it gives you an idea of the layout.  I got there early enough that I was able to practice a little with both of my cars, and the feel of the track was very nice.

Not the best picture, but the new layout was fast.

I want to thank Mike S. for saving me a nice spot under one of his Canopy's.  It was very nice to pit under the shade.  It was also nice to see Gary McAllister from McAllister Racing down from Flagstaff, he was pitting with me an Mike S.  After getting all setup in the pits it was on to practice and racing.

All setup, and ready for some action.

I had Gary McAllister setup to my right, and Mike S, to the right of him.

On to the racing, today, I would do my normal Sportsman Road-Course, and also VTA oval.  I was going to VTA Road-Course, but I just don;t have the car setup right for that yet.  Currently I have a borrowed, 25.5 in the car (thanks Mike), but would like to convert this car to Spec GT, and get a 21.5 in it.  Then pick up a Associated TC4 and setup that car for VTA.  Now on to the results:

Vintage Road Course

Round 1

Since I missed last Saturday's racing on the new layout, I was unaware of the change for VTA Oval, it now a 34 lap break-out class, rather than the usual 32 laps.  They did this now, because the new layout is shorter.  So round 1 when I finished I thought I had the round with a 32, 4:01 run, but soon realized, Opps, I'm way to slow, lol :)

Driver  Laps   Time  
Jeff     33   4:00.25
Debra    33   4:00.66
Mike J   33   4:07.01
Carl     33   4:07.75
Frank    32   4:01.76
Norm     30   4:06.69
Don      15   1:52.48

Round 2

After making some adjustment to the car, round 2 was much better.  I was able to stay with the leaders, and the car was a little faster.  And this time I was able to finish with 34 laps improving my 5th place finish in round 1 with a 3rd place finish in round 2, so I ended up qualifying 3rd and would be starting on 2nd row for the A-Main.

Driver  Laps   Time  
Don      34   4:01.65
Debra    34   4:02.26
Frank    34   4:02.79
Jeff     34   4:03.40
Mike J   33   4:00.27
Carl     33   4:00.88
Norm     31   4:03.71

A-Main

In the A-Main, the traction seemed to be great, and some of the leaders looked to be flying.  I tried to stay with them, but they were hauling.  And in the end, better for me I didn't stay with them as the top three broke out, and I took home the A-Main win with an almost perfect 34, 4:00, although, some would say I squeaked by and almost broke out myself :)

Driver  Laps   Time  
Don      35   4:04.62
Carl     35   4:06.13
Debra    35   4:06.51
Frank    34   4:00.35
Mike J   34   4:02.54
Jeff     34   4:05.69
Norm     32   4:01.03

TC Sportsman Road Course - 17.5

I felt with the 13.5 TC Road Course Point Series starting today, there would be less of a turn out for Sportsman Road Course, but I was amazed to see 2 full heats of racers today, it was great to see the turn-out for today.

Round 1

The new layout was fun, the car was handling okay, and I feel overall I did well.  With a few laps to go, the car was not handling at all, and come to find out, I broke one of the battery braces, and the battery was swing from side to side in car.

Heat 1                  Heat 2               

Driver  Laps   Time     Driver  Laps   Time  
Gary M   22   4:09.27   Chris    21   4:06.77
Mike S   20   4:04.81   Frank    20   4:04.34
Carl     19   4:06.16   Bill     19   4:03.36
T J      19   4:12.02   Colby    19   4:07.93
Bryan     7   2:23.35   Dustin   18   4:08.67

Round 2

Round 2 felt better, and I was able to pick up another lap, and if it wasn't for a bad crash at the end I might have picked up 2 laps, as my 21 was a slow 4:16.

Heat 1                  Heat 2               

Driver  Laps   Time     Driver  Laps   Time  
Gary M   21   4:09.48   Chris    22   4:09.75
T J      20   4:10.95   Frank    21   4:16.56
Bryan    19   4:13.95   Bill     20   4:11.46
Carl     17   4:09.80   Dustin   18   4:06.02
Mike S    7   1:27.48   Colby     4   2:31.31

B-Main

Driver  Laps   Time  
Dustin   20   4:07.01
Bill     20   4:10.78
Carl     19   4:04.37
Bryan    19   4:07.56
Colby    19   4:09.22

A-Main

The A-Main was rough, the car was all over the place.  Besides me pushing too hard, the car just would not handle.  And I apologize to those I accidentally took out a few times.  I finished where I started the day off, and pulled 20 laps, finishing in 4th place, one spot off the podium.

Driver  Laps   Time  
Chris    21   4:00.72
Gary M   21   4:03.05
T J      21   4:11.83
Frank    20   4:06.81
Mike S   19   4:04.71

Final Thoughts

It was a great day of racing, and the company was fantastic.  It was great to see Gary McAllister (McAllister Racing) down for some racing action at HobbyTown Gilbert.  As always thanks to Mike S. for allowing me to pit under his large canopy with him and Gary M.  I won't be racing at HobbyTown next week, looking forward to a little break from Arizona, I will be heading to California with Mike S, as he so graciously invited me to come along with him to race at CalRaceway, as they are having their "King of Cal - Best in West for GT Racers" event.  Below is a flyer for that event, it should be a blast.

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