Frank's RC/Electronics Hobby

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: