It has been a long time since I last posted a 'race report' from Wolfpak Raceway, but the slot car racing is still going strong. We are actually nearing the end of a 10 race Points Series for 4" 'NASTRUCK' and 4" 'NASCAR'. Saturday 05/19/2012 was race 8 of 10.
With myself winning 6 of the last 7 weeks in NASCTRUCK, Ed was out on a mission to keep himself from being eliminated in the Points Series. Ed needed to win and sweep all the bonus points for the final 3 races and I needed to finish in last place for the 3 races and Ed would then have the Points Series win by .50 points. The possibility was there, as last night I could not get a handle on my Truck. Ed started on fire grabbing the TQ and earning the bonus .25 points and I had one of my worst runs in qualifying. My goal for the actual race was just to keep it in the slot and make laps, hopefully not finishing in last. Ed wins in NASCTRUCK and received all but one of the bonus points, Dragi edged Ed in the 'Yellow' lane for 'Most Laps' earning himself a bonus .25 points. I finished in 3rd Place and clinching the 2012 NASTRUCK Series Championships with 2 races left to go. (The Points Series is 10 races with only the best 8 races counting towards your total points, this allows a race the ability to miss 2 races in the Series).
A tight battle has been brewing in 4" NASCAR between Ed and Dragi. Going into the night, Ed was holding onto a 2.75 points lead over Dragi, but Dragi has been on fire as of late winning Weeks 6 and 7 and closing the gap. Going into the final Heat of the night, Ed had a 1 lap lead over Dragi and myself. Dragi was running on his best lane Yellow, and Ed was finishing up on the next fastest lane Blue. I was running the final Heat on White and knew that I did not have a chance. Dragi edged out Ed for the win followed by myself in 3rd an Frank in 4th. The points were now going to be close. Dragi managed to get the TQ bonus along with 1.25 bonus points between 'Most Laps on a lane' and 'Best Time on a lane'. Ed received a .75 point bonus, while I received a .25 bonus for tying Dragi with 'Most Laps' on the Blue lane. Dragi managed to catch the 2.75 point deficit in the Points Series and now Ed and Dragi are tied in points going into the final 2 weeks.
26th Annual Pro-Line Cactus Classic
The 2012 Cactus Classic at SRS HobbyTown USA is now in the books and I had a really good time. I did not drive nor finish as I good as I wanted to, but I had a great time pitting with my friend Ryan H and the camaraderie with all the other drivers that attended.
I was able to meet and talk with some of the 'legends' in the racing world like Gil Losi Jr. and the latest drivers like Jared Tebo and Joe Pillars from Kyosho.
Sponsor Wall and Cactus Classic Layout.
My friend Ryan was able to make it out to SRS on Wednesday morning to reserve us a pit spot. He setup up his tent and placed some tables so when we arrived early Friday morning we would be all set to go.
Our Pit Setup.
Ryan in the pits.
Here I am in the pits waiting for the next round.
My Kyosho RB5 SP2 WC on a 'pit mat' that was included in this years fees.
Besides all the non-pro drivers in attendance, just about every manufacturer in the business also had their tents setup for their factory drivers, or showing off some of their new products.
Team Tekin and Team Kyosho tents.
Jared Tebo under the Team Kyosho tent.
Gil Losi Jr. with 'AKA'.
Team Losi Racing with a large presence in the pits.
For my first ever Cactus Classic, I was only entered in one Class, Stock Buggy 17.5. My friend Ryan was also entered in Stock Buggy 17.5, plus he entered his SC10 in Super Stock Short Course Truck 13.5.
Ryan on the drivers stand (far right) racing his SC10 with Ryan Maifield marshaling the race.
Close up of Ryan on the drivers stand (far right).
Well my driving for the weekend was horrific, but I had a good time. I have not raced a 17.5 motor in my buggy since November and it just did not have the power to clear the front 'triple jump' and going over it 'double/single' was just giving me a hard time. A few times I did go for the 'triple' and got lucky, but other times not so lucky. I think the entire weekend I did not have one clean lap. If it was not the front 'triple', then it was the landing of the back 'double'. Also racing on a 'dry track' is a huge difference from our normal club racing 'wet track'. With 'dry tack' you rally have to be in the 'groove' at all times, you come out of the 'groove' then your car ends up in all the loose dirt. I spent the winter racing a smaller indoor track and going back outdoors on the large track was a big difference. I really need to hit the outdoors more and practice with my buggy.
Ryan and I both qualified our buggies in the 'F-Main'. He was starting 4th and I was starting 6th. Unfortunately with 2 laps to go Ryan broke an 'A-Arm' on his buggy. It had also turned out that he did not have his transponder in his car so his laps were not counting. The Mains on Sunday were suppose to start at 9:00 AM, at 7:45 AM I hear an announcement that Mains will be starting at 8:00 AM (thanks for the heads up). I quickly let Ryan know as he was still on his way to the track. Being rushed like that caused him to forget to switch the transponder from his truck to buggy. A lot of the other drivers also missed their Mains due to the early start. So where did I finish in our Mains? I managed to grab 3rd place (falling short of the1-2 for the bump up) but I had a great battle with 4th place, through out the entire race we were swapping positions, and it was not till the final stretch that I recaptured 3rd.
It was a fun weekend, and now I can say I raced in the CACTUS CLASSIC!
T-Minus 1 Day
Friday March 23rd starts Cactus Classic 2012 for myself at SRS RC Speedway. Officially the Cactus Classic started yesterday with 'open practice' and 'controlled practice' today, but with real life and work, I will not be able to get out there till tomorrow when we start 'qualifying'.
The weekend schedule for me is the following:
Friday (3/23)
Open Practice 7:00am to 8:00am - Drivers Meeting at 8:30AM
2 Rounds of Qualifying starting at 9:00AM
Saturday (3/24)
Open Practice from 7:00AM to 8:30AM
Qualifying starts 9:00AM – Possible Lower Main Events
Sunday (3/25)
Open Practice from 7:00AM to 8:30AM
Mains Events start 9:00AM
Yesterday my friend Ryan went out to SRS and reserved our pit space. I also did the final touches on my new body that I will be running on my Kyosho RB5 SP2 WC buggy. Tonight, the car will get packed and be ready for first thing Friday morning.
Kyosho PLAZMA Ra 1/12th On Road Car
I decided that I wanted to get into 1/12th On Road racing to give me something to do on Sundays. One of our local hobby stores (Cline Hobbies) runs their On Road racing program on Sundays. It will be a nice change of pace from all the dirt racing my son and I do with our buggies and short course trucks.
Seeing how I just switched my buggy to the Kyosho brand, I decided to also go with Kyosho for my 1/12th car. This past January 2012, Kyosho released an all new 1/12th scale car, the PLAZMA Ra.
I ordered the car on March 5th and had it in my hands on March 8th. The build was to begin so I could hit the track on Sunday.
Sunday came and the car hit the track. What a difference driving 1/12th On Road from my Off Road cars. It was a blast to drive, but practice is still needed.
Looking forward to getting in some more run times with this car.
Since I officially entered into the 2012 Cactus Classic that will be taking place the weekend of March 23rd-25th 2012, I decided to purchase a few accessories for the big event.
First I purchased a new Pro-LineBullDog body for my Kyosho RB5 SP2 WC (which is currently being painted by my painter, Chris Moore).
Second, I decided to get a factory logo decal sheet for my new body and a factory logo t-shirt. A local company here in Arizona, Stick It 1 Racing makes custom 'body wraps', 'logo decal sheets' and 't-shirts' for the RC industry. I just received my 'proofs' yesterday to confirm my order.
I may not drive like a 'Pro', but with the quality of work from Stick It 1 Racing, I'll look like one.
Friday March 2nd was the Finals of the Points Series at Warehouse 3. There was a chance that Dragi and I were not going to make it due to the 'fun' that I had last week, but since the two of us were still in the hunt in our classes, I decided to make the drive out.
I have been competing in the 2wd Buggy 13.5 Class, and Dragi was competing in the Novice Short Course Class.
The 2wd Buggy 13.5 Class had a very close competition between 1st and 2nd place. Brent was holding onto a 2 point lead over Aaron heading into the Finals with myself holding 4th by 1 point. Brent took the TQ for the night earning him another point, but in the A-Mains, it was Aaron with the win, earning 100 points and Brent drove for a 3rd Place finish earning 95 points. Aaron ending winning the Points Series by 2 points. I managed to hold on to 4th Place overall with a win in the B-Mains bumping myself into the A-Mains and finishing 2 points ahead of Kelly.
In the Novice Short Course Class, Dragi qualified for the B-Mains but fell short to bump to the A-Mains. He did manage to finish 5th Place overall in his Class.
Dean - 4th Place '2wd Buggy 13.5'
Dragi - 5th Place 'Novice Short Course Trucks'
The final points standings for the 2wd Buggy 13.5 Class can be found HERE
Friday Night Points Series #6
It was the last round of the Friday Night Points Series at Warehouse 3 before next week's Finals, and boy did I NOT have fun. Besides the racing in the Mains, my two qualifying runs were not fun for me. When I accidentally bump someone and they roll, flip or put into the pipe while racing, I have the respect to pullover and wait for them to be martial'd (as what happened this past Wednesday night). Too drive 'no holds barred' and ram everything in your way, is NOT racing. Maybe that is the way you must feel to race coming from Pro4, but not in open wheel buggy.
Like what Jim had done this past Wednesday, once again he ran a Novice 2wd Buggy Class on Friday night. Since Dragi is basically 'out' of the points race in 2wd 13.5 Buggy, he was going to be entered in the new Novice 2wd Buggy Class along with our friend Frank from 'Draft Wheels Racing'. The were joined by Schreck (who just purchased a new RC10B4.1 Worlds) and Kerri the 'Big Caboose'.
Heat 1: From the sound of the 'horn', I was rammed from behind in the first turn. This was not going to be good. Twice more in the race I was taken out by the same driver. He claims I had bumped him so he hit me. That is not racing when obviously at the starting grid I was hit from behind when the race just started, and other spectators did not see me doing any bumping. I did manage to get a pretty decent fast lap (my second fastest) and finished the Heat in 3rd. Brent cruised for the Heat win which happened to be the TQ time for the night.
Heat 2: The pressure was now on for Aaron to top Brent's time. The two of them are a heated battle for 1st and 2nd in the Points race and every point was going to matter. Aaron's time was just 4 seconds short of Brent's.
Novice 2wd Buggy
Round 1:
Heat 1:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Dragi
19
5:03.690
14.72
Schreck
19
5:13.290
14.25
Frank
18
5:11.110
14.64
Kerri
16
5:04.140
16.02
The debut of the Novice buggies on Friday night, and it looked like they all had fun. My son Dragi got the Heat win followed by Schreck (driving his buggy for the very first time) and Frank in 3rd. Fast laps were all pretty close between the top 3.
2wd Buggy 13.5
Round 2:
Heat 1:
Heat 2:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Brent
23
4:56.990
12.71
Aaron
24
5:23.000
12.46
Chris S.
23
5:04.070
12.64
Bryan M.
21
5:24.400
13.62
Dean
22
5:07.240
12.99
Juan
18
4:18.670
13.51
Hackwood
20
5:08.700
13.61
Heat 1: Gee, what do you know...... once again I was taken out.... I manage to improve my time over Round 1, but it still was not good enough. Round 2 finished in the same order as Round 1 with Brent once again taking the Heat win. His Round 1 time was still the fast time.
Heat 2: Last chance for Aaron to take the TQ spot away from Brent........ and he fell short... Brent was getting the bonus point for the TQ position.
The Top 3 qualifiers were guaranteed in the A-Mains, the rest would be in the B-Mains racing to get the 'bumps' to the A-Mains.
Novice 2wd Buggy
Round 2:
Heat 1:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Schreck
19
5:05.170
14.09
Dragi
19
5:10.880
14.74
Frank
19
5:11.960
14.19
Kerri
18
5:16.580
14.70
Round 2 saw Schreck get his first Heat win with the new buggy. He fell just 1.5 seconds short of grabbing the TQ position away from Dragi. Dragi and Frank finished 2nd and 3rd all on the lead lap. Kerri improved in this Round only a lap behind the leaders and driving for the 3rd fastest lap.
2wd Buggy 13.5 B-Mains
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Dean
22
4:59.710
13.06
Hackwood
22
5:08.530
13.09
Bryan M.
21
5:05.060
13.38
We lost Juan for the B-Mains, so it would just be the three of us, with the top two bumping into the A-Mains. It was a real tight race. I had the holeshot starting first on the grid, but an early mistake pushed me to the back. I know had to chase down Hackwood and Bryan. I got by Bryan and was chasing Hackwood. Hackwood was driving great and we had some fun racing that lasted for quite a few laps. I finally was able to get by him and held on for the win with a very fast 22 laps. The car and tire selection felt really good. Both myself and Hackwood were bumping into the A-Mains.
Novice 2wd Buggy A-Mains
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Dragi
19
5:00.300
14.64
Frank
18
5:13.870
14.62
Kerri
15
5:00.390
17.29
Schreck
13
4:59.710
14.27
Dragi managed to get his first A-Main win his Buggy. He had a clean start and kept the lead from start to finish. Shreck had early motor problems, but was able to throw his car back on the track. Frank finished in 2nd Place with Kerri taking the final podium spot in 3rd.
2wd Buggy 13.5 A-Mains
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Brent
23
5:03.390
12.65
Aaron
23
5:05.970
12.76
Chris S.
23
5:11.240
12.75
Dean
22
5:07.610
12.95
Hackwood
19
5:01.450
13.65
The race was on between Brent and Aaron. I had a bad first 3 laps and then I finally got a good feeling for the car and managed to actually stay on pace with Brent and Aaron for a few laps near the end of the race. Brent squeaked out the A-Main 2.5 seconds over Aaron in 2nd. I finished in 4th with Hackwood in 5th. Early in the race Aaron had faltered and fell back to 4th. When he worked his way into 3rd and was battling for the 2nd, that same driver who was bumping me around in the qualifiers, twice knocked Aaron around and did not show proper racing etiquette (in the video watch at 1:58 and at 2:12 the far right of the screen. Aaron is driving the Orange/Blue/White car, and the 'other' is all Black with Clear wing. The 1:58 mark you will see the Black car just cut crisscross in front of Aaron and again at 2:12 the Black car on the inside bumps into Aaron pushing him wide. Luckily though both times Aaron did not roll or need to be martial'd). Aaron finally managed to get by and then put the chase on for Brent but had fallen short. "Rubbin's Racing" is the famous phrase we all know about, but there is a difference with rubbin and driving too aggressive. Yes we all want to Win, but show some etiquette. Try to make a pass on the inside, keep it clean.
The Friday Night Points standings came be found HERE:
The "2" drops are accounted for and points are sorted. Next weeks scores in the Finals will be added to the current totals to crown the Points Champion. You can see Brent is holding onto a 3 point lead over Aaron in the 2wd Buggy 13.5 Class.
Another Test Session For The Kyosho
Wednesday night was Round #6 of the 'Wednesday Points Series' at Warehouse 3. For me it was another test session with my new Kyosho RB5. I am not in the Wednesday series, but I wanted to come out and get a few more laps with the new buggy. It handles/drives much different than my previous car, the Team Associated B4.1
Last night I just wanted to concentrate on 'rear tires. I also made a shock spring change from Friday night, but this was going to be all about the rear tires and see what works best.
2wd Buggy 13.5
Round 1:
Heat 1:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Chris S.
23
5:09.990
12.42
Brent
22
5:06.920
12.47
Dean
22
5:08.900
12.53
Ernest
21
5:10.410
12.82
Jeff
21
5:13.110
13.27
Ryan
19
5:00.160
13.99
We only had one Heat of 2wd Buggy 13.5 last night, Jim from Warehouse 3 decided to also have a 2wd Novice Buggy class for some of the newcomers which was a nice addition to the classes, so this split the buggies into two.
Round 1 was a good round for me. I managed to stay on the lead lap with Chris and Brent and finishing in 3rd only 2 seconds behind Brent. Seemed like the tire combination was right on and I set a personal best lap of 12.53. My friend Ernest has started at the back of the field and he had a few issues with his car which kept him in the lower half of the field. I think this was the first time I ever put lap on Ernest (and was the last of the night too.) Rounding out the Heat was Jeff and Ryan who are in a tightly contested battle for 2nd Place Overall in the Points Series.
Round 2:
Heat 1:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Brent
25
5:24.160
12.46
Ernest
24
5:16.340
12.86
Chris S.
24
5:19.320
12.11
Jeff
22
5:21.770
13.38
Dean
21
5:15.720
13.00
Ryan
12
3:47.070
13.71
I guess Brent did not like finishing in 2nd to Chris in Round 1 and turned it up notch. He drove a clean race (besides bumping me... LOL no hard feelings) and took the Heat win. My friend Ernest stayed on Brent's tail and grab 2nd followed by Chris in 3rd. My tire choice for this Round was not a good one. It is a great tire, but it still was fairly new and need a bit more breaking in. The car felt like it had too much rear grip and was just very hard to drive.
2wd Buggy 13.5 A-Main
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Best:
Brent
25
5:24.660
12.67
Chris S.
24
5:27.930
12.52
Ernest
23
5:09.750
12.88
Dean
22
5:10.160
12.73
Ryan
22
5:23.720
13.52
Jeff
20
4:54.150
13.20
I finished where I started for the A-Mains in 4th Place. My friend Aaron let me try another set of tires he had so that way I can see how the car felt with three different brands. It was better than Round 2 but not as good as my first Round. Brent started from the TQ and managed to keep it to the end putting 2nd and 3rd a lap down. My friend Ernest managed to grab 3rd place but no thanks to me, I probably cost him 2nd Place. Once Ernest put a lap on me, I tried to get my lap back and my car was handling great, I was just getting a bit too close to Ernest on the passes would 'rub' him the wrong way. I felt bad afterwards, but the 3-4 times I did do it, I pulled over and let him have the position back. Ryan got a much needed 5th Place finish over Jeff to hang on to 2nd Place in the Points Series (decided by tie-breaker) and they will have a great battle next week in the Finals.
This Friday night will be some more testing for me and my Kyosho. I will be trying another spring rate adjustment.
The Cactus Classic is going to be taking place the weekend of March 23rd-25th, 2012. As I mentioned a few months ago when I just got back into RC Racing, the Cactus Classic has always been a dream of mine as kid racing RC cars back in Chicago with my friend Aaron B. I was really looking forward to the 2012 Cactus Classic and was all set to go, then SRS was recently purchased by new owners and a few weeks ago they released the entry fee of $95 for the first entry. Seeing this fee really dampened my spirits. $95 is quite a bit of money for one race, especially when I could race a whole month of 'club racing' for that amount. But since it was a 'dream' and a few of my friends have decided to attend, today I officially signed up. I will only be running in one class, and that will be the 2wd Buggy 17.5 Stock Class with my new Kyosho Ultima RB5 WC.
The new owners are including a 'pit mat' and 't-shirt' with the entrance fee, so that lowers it a little bit. Now it's time to get all my tires ordered and get a new body painted for the event.
Friday Night Points Series #5
We are a little more than half way through the Friday Night Points Series at Warehouse 3 and this past Friday was race #5 of 6 (race #7 will be the finals).
As I quickly mentioned this past Friday morning, I had a new 2wd Buggy that I was going debut and spend the night testing with. Last week during KBRL Finals I had decided that I wanted to try either the Team Losi Racing 22 (like my friend Frank's) or the Kyosho Ultima RB5 WC like my friends Aaron and Rhino. I opted to go with the Kyosho Ultima. 25 years ago I had the original Kyosho Ultima and now it was time to get back to my roots.
Kyosho Ultima RB5 WC
Kyosho Ultima RB5 WC
Kyosho Ultima RB5 WC
Kyosho Ultima RB5 WC
Even though we are in the middle of a points series, I just wanted to use the night to test different spring combinations too see what works best.
2wd Buggy 13.5
Round 1:
Heat 1:
Heat 2:
Heat 3:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Rhino
24
5:21.070
Aaron
24
5:19.910
Juan
23
5:30.880
Schneider
24
5:24.060
Kelly
24
5:22.260
Dragi
21
5:28.260
Jeff
24
5:28.390
Dean
24
5:25.590
Moreno
15
3:40.550
Oregon
23
5:28.200
Scott
23
5:24.500
Hackwood
1
0:03.830
Brent
3
1:43.790
Ryan
14
3:25.570
We had a weird night of 'glitches' at the track.
Heat 1: Brent's car was glitching and had to pull off early.
Heat 2: the new Kyosho RB5 was fast, but a little loose with the springs I was using in the rear. I finished in 3rd place in my heat, just 3 seconds behind the leader, my friend Aaron.
Heat 3: Hackwood 'glitched' and pulled off, Moreno broke and it was left to just Juan and Dragi in the Heat.
Round 2:
Heat 1:
Heat 2:
Heat 3:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Brent
25
5:19.720
Aaron
24
5:08.820
Hackwood
21
5:03.120
Schneider
24
5:19.100
Kelly
22
5:03.300
Moreno
21
5:03.580
Rhino
24
5:25.300
Ryan
22
5:11.310
Juan
20
5:00.020
Oregon
21
5:20.400
Dean
22
5:13.690
Dragi
19
5:05.290
Jeff
19
4:58.770
Heat 1: Brent's car was back to it's old self and taking the Heat win.
Heat 2: the new RB5 'glitched' a few times for me with once being early on causing me to lose 2nd place to Ryan and Kelly. I also tried a different rear spring and the car was not as fast. Aaron was flying during this Round and was just about 2 laps on the rest of the field.
Heat 3 had Hackwood's car back in it, with a narrow win over Moreno.
After the two rounds of qualyfing I was sitting in 6th overall and would be starting 2nd in the B-Main.
Mains:
2wd Buggy 13.5 C-Mains
2wd
Buggy 13.5 B-Main
2wd
Buggy 13.5 A-Main
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Name:
Laps:
Time:
Hackwood
22
5:04.680
Ryan
23
5:19.510
Aaron
25
5:25.130
Ryan
22
5:13.110
Hackwood
23
5:20.160
Schneider
24
5:14.380
Moreno
21
5:04.930
Kelly
23
5:29.560
Brent
24
5:27.350
Dragi
20
5:07.930
Dean
22
5:25.140
Ryan
23
5:21.840
Jeff
19
4:38.240
Hackwood
19
5:11.060
Rhino
5
1:16.920
C-Mains: Hackwood and Ryan were battling it for 1-2 with Hackwood getting the win in the C-Mains. Both Hackwood and Ryan would be bumping to the B-Mains. Even though Dragi finished in 4th, he drove a very fast 20 laps and probably one of his best times.
B-Mains: I made a spring change all-around and it was a mistake. A first lap blunder pushed me from 1st to 6th and I was trying to play catch-up. I just could not do it, when I tried to push and drive hard, the car would tumble. Back to a different spring rate. Ryan and Hackwood were once again going at during the B-Mains with Ryan now taking the B-Main win and once again both of them are now bumping into the A-Mains.
A-Mains: Some great racing in the A-Mains. Brent had the TQ and started out front. Aaron was on his tail and was waiting for the perfect time to pass. A falter by Brent allowed Aaron and Schneider to pass. Ryan did a great job in the A-Mains and holding his own with the Top 3 only being lapped by Aaron. Hackwood finished in 5th followed by Rhino in 6th who pulled off early.
I probably should not have made all my spring changes, but that is was the night was for, 'testing'. I'm hoping to make it back this Wednesday for some more testing and then I can see what works best for next Friday night.
Dragi was also racing his truck in Novice Short Course and managed to finish 5th in the A-Mains and hanging onto 3rd place overall in the points series.
