It's Over!

Ryan hard at work keeping me running

Awwwww my first Nitro Race.




The Track

Dakotah's "Loonie" Award


Well the 2010 Canadian Indoor OffRoad Shootout is done and in the books! Overall it was a decent event. The days were long and they could have run a tighter ship (sorry, but I can't kiss too much ass and I have to say it) as there were way too many "mercy minutes" and the warm ups were also too long (I had one round that I needed to refuel twice before the loop went live!). It could have shaved hours off the day. I will probably catch shit for this too, but I think to get this race done in a timely matter, they need to axe 10th scale, monster truck, CORR and electric truggy from the event. I know the income from those entries help cover costs but it was just killing the day. It took just under 12 hours to run 2 round of qualifying! I know the forums will bash me for being negative but I know there are lots of people that are thinking the same thing. You can run big races in a timely matter, but you have to start the clock and not look back once it is started (5 minute quali's, 2 minutes in between including warm up laps and using running start qualifying). Look at CRCRC with over 400 entries (I think Matt did it that way 2 years ago and it went well)! Again I had fun, but it was a very long race! I know, I know people will say: "Well you run a race then if you know so much". Well, I am not looking to do that (although I have helped run a race), I have been racing long enough and have been to enough events to know what is good and bad. OK enough of that stuff.

Getting to it, there was some drama in the 8th scale Nitro Buggy A Main. Dakota Phend had a lap not get counted and there was some bitching about whether or not they should give him the lap. They decided to give him the lap and he ended up taking the win. I actually came through again by catching the "incident" on video (although they made the decision before they saw the video). As the main was too long to film, I randomly followed drivers for a couple of laps at a time and caught by luck where Dakotah bobbled, jumped a pipe and got back on (you can clearly see that he attempted to come back over the pipe by the loop and didn't try to short the course). Some guys in the pits were complaining and it is never an easy thing to fix but I think the right decision was made (I do think they should have given Mike Morales his missed lap in qualifying though as well). Dakotah is one of the nicest, honest, friendly kids in racing (Doug and Nancy are also very helping to racers at the event and saw them help out quite a few people). Unlike some of the other "Pro's" that were there, Dakotah represents his sponsors very well and he should be commended for it. Again, I will not ass kiss and I will say that Barry Baker seemed like a total douche out there. He was yelling at people in qualifying, complaining and whining and just seemed like an angry dude. I heard LOTS of people commenting on that as well. The O'Donnell team manager was good though and I saw him help out some of the people with 'O cars and go to bat for his drivers who had issues. I'm babbling now so I'll end it. Jimbo K was killing it until he broke out. Dave Henry drove an amazing race and Abiye Birku's car was dialed and he was driving awesome until he broke (he was a contender for the win as well).

In my Nitro debut race, I ended up qualifying 3rd in the C Main (I think the last two guys in the B Main and the top 4 in the C Main were all on the same second!). Not too bad considering I have NEVER owned a nitro car until now and the fact there was I think a H or I Main. The car was quite a handful on the track as I was chasing set up and the elusive "Nitro Finger". I was secretly hoping to make the B Main though so I came pretty close to the goal. In the main I got a great start into second but botched the big jump on the first lap and ended up going from 2nd to 2nd last..haha. Took me a few minutes to get in a groove, but I battled back to 5th place by the end and after the bump ups I ended up in 3rd.

In the electric A Main, I was 14th on the grid (last to qualify in the A but there were two bump ups behind me). Not too bad for only finishing one qualifier I guess. I got tagged off the start and was in dead last. The MP9e was DIALED though and I managed to chase down car by car to work back to a 6th place finish. Pretty happy with how the car was driving.

Random Thoughts:

- 8th scale driving has...lets say...less etiquette than 10th scale. A block pass or bump pass I guess is really accepted and you just have to drive aggressive out there and get your nose in there
- Nitro was actually more fun than I thought it would be. You guys better take notice as when I get the car set up and figured out I will be gunning for the podium....heh heh.
- Huge thanks to so many people for the help with tuning etc: Ron Prinzen, Calvin Mercer, Abiye Birku, Dave Henry, George Stilliadis, Steve Bortolotti & Martin Pillmajer. Great bunch of guys out there who are all willing to drop what they are doing to help a new guy out. Thanks!
- Huge thanks to Steve Mostacci and Ryan King for pitting for me. I really appreciate you guys doing that for me.
- I thought the organizers would have saved a pit spot for Dakotah. I know favoritism this and that, but when a World Class driver wants to make the trip out to your race, you could at least save him a nice pit spot. I did enjoy their company in out tent though and was glad I could help them out (as Nancy always makes up hundreds of cupcakes for the Kahuna Race/Dakotah's birthday).
- the 3M masks were great at filtering out the smoke. I just need them to make eye filters now...Nitro fumes were making me cry in the main...haha.
- Poor Chet. Brand new 8th scale electric car, finished building it at the track on Friday and first run out he becomes a member of the Tekin club. I think there were 6 guys who fried Tekins this weekend and I don't think it was the board problem.
- After driving a Tekin and a Mamba this weekend, I must say the Tekins are quite a bit smoother out there, but the Mamba's did finish the race!
- The food truck at the race was pretty good.
- The port 0 lets held up good...thank god there were no poo towers this year. haha
- The track layout was sweet. again Matt and crew never disappoint with layouts!
- Ummmm driving up pit lane takes a little bit of practice. I took for granted that I have never really done a pit stop before and I drove off the side one time...lol.
- I was amazed (for me anyways) that the set ups between my electric and nitro where pretty different by the end of the weekend.
- I think that if anyone had an obviously missed lap (in qualifying or in the mains) it should have been awarded. There was controversy on this.
- I have not seen my wife or son awake in three days..haha
- The France french guy Jerome Treignier 's MP9 was dialed and he drove a good race
- You couldn't have soft enough tires here. I think the O'Donnell guys had the new M4 Holeshots and they were hooked up! I ended up using Super Soft Grid Irons that I sauced up with Zip Free (as my JConcept Double Dee V2's are still in the mail somewhere) and I thought they were pretty damn good.
- Even with the hiccups it was a good weekend of racing on the whole and thanks to Matt, Vic etc etc for the race. It was good to see everyone and it is a great start to the year!

Pics are up here:
Almost Live Facebook Page

Videos are coming up here: Search "johnnyboydotca" on Youtube for now as they are still uploading


8th Scale Electric A Main


The Dakotah "Incident".... nothing escapes the "Almost Live" eye1 haha

Buggy A MAin Start

Some Pit Action

Up close pit action with Team O'Donnell

My Equipment List:

Kyosho MP9SE
Kyosho e Conversion Kit
Peak Racing 5400mah 45C Batteries (4S)
Peak Racing 1007 Servo
Tekin RX8 ESC (also used Castle Creations MMM)
Tekin T8 2050 Motor (46/16)
AKA Grid Iron Tires (Super Soft)
JConcepts Mono Max Wheels

Kyosho MP9SE
Team Orion MTE CRF Alpha 5 Port Engine
Team Orion 2013 Pipe
Peak Racing 1409 Throttle Servo
Peak Racing 1007 Steering Servo
Peak Racing Blitz RX Pack
AKA Grid Iron Tires (Super Soft)
JConcepts Mono Max Wheels