www.johnnyboy.ca - Almost Live Race Coverage

New lid!

2012-01-21T20:43:00.004-05:00

Got local kid Nick Schweiger (NCS Custom Paint) to do up a Pavidis replica. I have always liked his colours since I was a kid back in the 90's. It is also the colours of Re/Max which ties in with my job...LOL. I still will have a traditional johnnyboy digital flame one done up though from my boy Kris Norlock (Darkside Designs). You can never have too many cool lids! The car is slowly turning into a Kyosho hybrid..Going on the car will be Kyosho bearings, ball studs, ball end caps, Big Bore shocks and hopefully idler gears and gear diff (if they fit). Not too impressed with the quality of some of the parts on this car to be honest (gets sloppy quick). Cheap Chinese plastic. The A Arms are quite strong though!

Case in point. How does this happen???

Shin Adachi Leaving Kyosho!

2012-01-13T20:37:00.002-05:00

Wow. Legendary Shin Adachi announced on Facebook that he is leaving Kyosho. Here is the post:

Dear All,

I will leave from Kyosho on January 20. It was hard decision for me to leave the company, please understand.
I thank you very much for your support and your cooperation past days. I really enjoyed working with you.

I think I will see you some racing track. Please free feel to speak me at that time, it would be pleasure for me.

Thank you again and wish you the best.

Best regards,

Shin Adachi

Kurt Wenger, another legendary designer at Team Associated is also leaving his post to start a new venture with David Joor of Avid Bearings.

Not just drivers jumping around!

Universal Raceway Grand Opening! Toronto finally has a track!

2011-12-17T16:41:00.009-05:00

So got a chance to sneak out and check out the new track for a couple of hours.
Made it door to door from West Burlington in 25 minutes (Sport # mode in my new STi...haha).

This place is awesome. Easily the nicest indoor track in Canada. 90' x 60' of carpet off road goodness. The layout flows well and the traction is sweet. Absolutely amazing place! Nice and bright, private rental pit rooms (or plenty of space in the regular pits). Concession stand, Timing projected onto wall, parts on site as well as their regular Hobby Shop across the street. Should be some sweet racing here for sure!

Back room has a drift track and space for flying Heli's and small planes

Front lobby with lounge

Measured the track at 90' x 60' Great first layout. Justin DaSilva laid down a 17.9 in 2wd buggy. My best was an 18.2 I think. Might drop the 7.5 in next time (versus my 9.5)

www.bigboyswithcooltoys.ca
www.universalraceways.com

Universal Raceway. Sick new track in the GTA!

2011-12-15T16:04:00.003-05:00

The guys at Big Boy's with Cool Toy's have been hard at work and in stealth mode keeping the details of the new track a secret until now. Opens this weekend! I stopped by there today and the place is amazing (from what I could see in the window). More to come when I can actually get into this bad boy.

Teaser Video:

Gonna be a fun winter!

I'm Baaaaack!

2011-11-29T19:06:00.005-05:00

Wow, dust off the keyboard! I have been on a R/C hiatus pretty much all year. I only did 3 Nitro races all season. I started a new career in Real Estate (www.burlingtonliving.ca) and have been really busy. Also have a 1 year old daughter and my son is now 4 so they have been keeping me busy! I have decided to do some 10th scale electric offroad racing this winter now that we have a few indoor offroad carpet tracks spring up. Fastcats really had set the bar high (and I miss their facility and the family behind it). We will have to see how the new tracks stack up! I'm excited to get back in the mix and can't wait to race again!

See you at the track!

johnnyboy.ca

Sneak Peek!

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage: Canadian Indoor Off Road Shootout!

2011-04-13T07:37:00.003-04:00

300+ Entries, Converted Indoor MX Track, Nitro, Smoke & Dirt = Ontario, Canada's season kick off race! Always a good time shaking off the cobwebs and seeing who put in the time over the winter! I am bringing my own internet with me so I should be able to update often! Gotta start packing! See you at the race!

Update

2011-02-23T07:29:00.000-05:00

Hi guys,

Sorry there is no report yet. Wife's grandfather passed away so I am back on the road for a few days. Will do it when I get back home.

John

Countdown to Motorama! Heats posted!

2011-02-15T15:59:00.005-05:00

FRIDAY:
As I had told everyone things are completely controlled by the MR management and as much as I know everyone wants to get in on Thursday night to set up their pit, that is not an option. That being said, I did talk to them about giving us some more time on Friday and they will allow us to open the pits at 7AM on Friday! So now you have 2 hours to set up your pits before the track opens.

TUNING AREA OUTSIDE:
As I have heard all kinds of stories from past MR events where guys were ripping their cars in the parking lot between parked cars to break in engines. this is something we don't want to happen so we have arranged with the MR organizers to have a sectioned off area outside the pits that will be used to break in engines, tune cars ect. This is the only area that you will be allowed to use.

PRACTICE HEATS:
As promised, here are the practice heats for Friday. Track goes live at 9am with heat 1 of Monster Trucks. Everyone is required to corner marshal after their practice heats.

Remember, for round 2 and 3 of practice, we will be using your 3 fastest consecutive laps from either round 2 or 3 to seed you into your qualifiers. I will do the reseed after the last heat on Friday night so you will not know what heat you are in until Saturday morning, the order of class will remain the same for Saturday's qualifying.

Now if you see a mistake in your entry info, wrong spelling, wrong class, transponder or you don't see you name in the listing. first of all DON'T FREAK OUT! It is a simple thing that we can fix and I can make the correction.

Heats can be downloaded here:
http://www.rctech.net/forum/attachments/racing-forum/709026d1297801718-2011-motorama-rc-nitro-championships-hosted-scotty-ernst-2011-motorama-friday-practice-heats.pdf

Ryan'isms
- I was killing myself laughing when I saw Ryan was in the same heat as Jesse Robbers....How does this happen!? HAHAHAHA

"Just in Time" delivery from JC! Gonna be up late gluing up some new race shoes for the race!

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage: US Indoor Championships @ Motorama!

2011-01-31T11:37:00.004-05:00

http://motoramaevents.com/rccars/

Switching it up from going to CRCRC has us going to Harrisburg, PA for the annual Motorama show. Will be the first time for me there and it looks like it will be a cool event. Ryan, Steve and myself are road tripping this one, but there are several other Canadians making the trip down for this. See you at the track!

Act of Dominance Comparison: Wheel comparison

2011-01-16T19:58:00.006-05:00

Did some weighing and measuring of some wheels and took a look at some tires and foam too.

johnnyboy.ca Facebook page (because uploading lots of pics on here is a total pain in the ass...)

Act of Dominance update

2011-01-05T19:18:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the delay in the test. Engines and servos are on their way so hopefully I will have them up and running soon!

"Act of Dominance" Test #1 Update

2010-12-24T15:30:00.002-05:00

Busy with the holidays so the write up is going slow. Here are some teaser pics though comparing the two cars.

"Act of Dominance" Test #1 - Kyosho MP9 TKI2 & JQ Products THE Car

2010-12-16T10:46:00.006-05:00

So to kick off the test, we are putting the new Kyosho MP9 TKI2 up against the new JQ Products THE Car. Samurai vs Viking! Should be a good fight.

We are going to start off with the build and comparing some of the parts. I am just waiting for them to both arrive (will both be here in the next few days).

In the meantime a quick comparison:

Japan: Saki
Finland: Vodka
Winner: Finland

Japan: Samurai
Finland: Viking
Winner: Japan

Japan: Total Area = 377,994 km2
Finland: Total Area = 338,424 km2
Winner: Japan

Japan: GDP (per capita) = $33,478
Finland: GDP (per capita) = $34,044
Winner: Finland

Japan: Drives on left hand side
Finland: Drives on right hand side
Winner: Draw

Japan: Flag: Two colours with a circle
Finland: Flag: Two colours with a cross
Winner: Draw

So so far we are at a draw in the comparison. LOL.

Stay tuned.....we are far from done with this.

2011 coming in fast!

2010-12-15T10:40:00.009-05:00

So the so called "silly season" is over (for me at least) and for 2011 I have re-signed with Kyosho America and JConcepts. I have also added Team Orion to the official list and will be excited to run some of their new gear.

As for the 'ol Blog, I am going to try out a couple of new things:

- "Act of Dominance" car reviews. I am going to take a couple of cars this season and put them up against the MP9 TKI2 at some of the local club races and timed practiced sessions. I am going to run them back to back and compare lap times and subjective feel. I will also add in reviews on the quality of the parts and build up with lots of pictures and videos. Don't expect too many cars as it will be self funded and will depend on how much money I can hide from the wife for the purchases...haha (Unless some manufacturers want to man up and send out a kit to see how it stacks up). This should be a cool little comparison project and it won't be a fluffy magazine review. I am going to "keep it real" pull no punches and call it like it is. Stay tuned for more info!

- I am also going to dig around and answer a lot of racers questions on products. I will compare stuff like tires, wheels & inserts with dimensions, weights and quality. Again lots of pics etc.

- I am biting the bullet and buying a pretty cool new camera. Not wanting to lug a SLR around, I am going to pick up a Panasonic Lumix DMCLX5K. Pretty bad ass little camera. Hope they are on sale for Boxing Day!

- I would like to welcome Jerome Treignier to the Red Army. Jerome has always used Kyosho cars but now has been officially brought on-board the program (good call Joe!). He is actually French (France French, not Quebecois) but is living here for school and will be doing the race scene here. It will be nice to have an official Team mate and hopefully we can fill up some of the podiums spots this year.

Ryan'isms
- Now if only someone would pic up this kid (of maybe he needs to get off his ass and make a proper proposal up...haha). Ryan has the speed and the desire and is a good kid. You will see him in the A Main this year.

Chet'isms
- Time to buck up and pick up an 8th scale nitro buggy buddy! I was in your shoes before and I really have grown to like nitro racing. The competition is awesome here too. Screw buying a house...haha.

So that is it for now. Thanks for checking out the blog and I guess the real season kick off race will be Motorama in Februray. Super stoked to be going to that race!

Dirt Trax RC Fall Classic

2010-11-23T10:57:00.017-05:00

So after about 5 hours we arrived at Dirt Trax RC. The place was PACKED with a total of around 80 or 90 entries I think. Tracked was freshly packed and looked decent. The jump faces were a little abrupt and there wasn't too much of a landing transition but the layout looked fun and should make for some tight racing. the track blew out pretty fast as they have a large sand content. Big pin tires were in order early on in the day. I used JConcepts Goosebumps and Proline Step Pins in the back with JConcepts Green Groovy's up front. I ended up changing camber link positions, wheelbase, shock oil, shock position, ESC settings, gearing, slipper setting and ride height...haha. Base set up was way off! First round was a little sketchy with too many mistakes. I still managed to pull off a 17 lapper, but it was a slow one. Round two the car was better but I just had too many crashes. Third and fourth round were no good either. the track was pretty loose in some spots and I struggled trying to lay the power down. This left me 3rd in the B main (wow). I really needed some more track time but Friday practice wasn't in the cards for me.

2wd Open B Main
Everyone pretty much ran Step Pins or Goosebumps. I noticed by later in the day there was a harder surface exposed on the racing line. For the main I decided to use JConcepts Flip Outs and I think it was a good choice (for me at least). A bit of a gong show start put me into second place and then I biffed it off the double table to go to like second last. I managed to work my way back up into the mix. The race was pretty good with the top 4 of us training around for a bit and jockeying for position. Not a whole lot of passing but lots of gifting of the lead by all of us. I worked my way into the lead for a bit but I crashed off the double table and gifted the lead to a hard charging Matt Stacey. Chased him down for a few laps and got within a second of him when we got into some lapped traffic. Eric Deschenes must have thought the battle for last place was important as he would not move over even though the announcer told him he was a lap down and the battle for the lead was coming through. We tangled a couple times before I could get around him (yes I am bitter). Drove my ass off and closed in on Matt about a second per lap but I was one or two laps short as the buzzer went and he managed to hold me off to the finish to take the bump up spot to the show. Matt drove a super clean race. So my day was done.

2wd Buggy B-Main Results

1. Stacey, Matt	-17 Laps - 6 min 18.32 sec	(X Factory X-6²)
2. Summach, John	-17 Laps - 6 min 20.03 sec	(Kyosho)
3. Catricala, John	-16 Laps - 6 min 5.94 sec	(Tamiya TRF201)
4. Laliberte, Steve	-16 Laps - 6 min 16.38 sec	(X Factory X-6²)
5. Glover, Joe	-16 Laps - 6 min 20.13 sec	(Tamiya TRF 201)
6. Breen, Sean	-15 Laps - 6 min 0.41 sec	(PSI LMX)
7. Wright, Tom	-15 Laps - 6 min 3.11 sec	(Tamiya TRF 201)
8. Deschenes, Eric	-15 Laps - 6 min 8.21 sec	(Schumacher)
9. Gutuescu, Mihai	-15 Laps - 6 min 18.95 sec	(Tamiya TRF 201)

2wd Open A Main
Total gong show! Rough start and lots of banging going on. I think in the first 1/4 of the race half the field broke out! (I think they all did it on the same lap too!) Matt did the B Mainers proud by getting into the third spot, David Lecuyer was in the second spot and Damian Lamy was GONE in first place. He stretched out a comfortable lead and then smartly put it on cruise control for the remainder to take the win.

2wd Buggy A-Main Results

1. Lamy, Damian	-17 Laps - 6 min 1.86 sec	(Associated FTB4)
2. Lecuyer, David	-17 Laps - 6 min 15.63 sec	(X Factory X-6²)
3. Stacey, Matt	-17 Laps - 6 min 18.38 sec	(X Factory X-6²)
4. Solt, Jake	-17 Laps - 6 min 19.42 sec	(Associated B4)
5. Tyler, Kevin	-16 Laps - 6 min 3.28 sec	(X Factory X-6²)
6. limlaw, Joe	-4 Laps - 1 min 41.49 sec	(X Factory X-6²)
7. Lamy, Gaetan	-3 Laps - 1 min 1.93 sec	(Associated FTB4)
8. Gagnon, John	-2 Laps - 0 min 38.9 sec	(TQ Racing)
9. Legault, Benoit	-2 Laps - 0 min 42.69 sec	(Schumacher)

4wd Open A Main
Another gong show start. I missed a bunch of this as my loaner camera was all screwed up and I tried fixing it. I think it was Joe Glover out in the clear from the start and took the win with Benoit Legault in second and Damian Lamy in third. I'll let the video do the talking.

4wd Buggy A-Main Results

1. Glover, Joe	-19 Laps - 6 min 16.39 sec	(Tamiya DB01R)
2. Legault, Benoit	-18 Laps - 6 min 0.58 sec	(Schumacher)
3. Lamy, Damian	-18 Laps - 6 min 7.98 sec	(Associated FTB44)
4. Birku, Abiye	-18 Laps - 6 min 9.36 sec	(Tamiya 512)
5. Bortolotti, Steve	-18 Laps - 6 min 13.51 sec	(Tamiya 512)
6. Gruver, Chris	-18 Laps - 6 min 15.85 sec	(Team Durango DEX410)
7. Stacey, Matt	-17 Laps - 6 min 3.48 sec	(Mihai Tamiya 511)
8. Wright, Tom	-17 Laps - 6 min 13.21 sec	(Tamiya 512)
9. Lecuyer, David	-4 Laps - 1 min 15.08 sec	(Team Durango DEX410)

Random Thoughts:
- We rolled into town in a bad ass pimped out right hand JDM Mitsubishi Pajero that Ryan Luna bought. It was totally trippy being on the left side of the car and in control of nothing.
- I can only wonder what the racing surface was like before they dumped some clay into the mix. Was pretty "beachy". Must have been a sand trap before!
- Good to visit other tracks! Good bunch of guys there and great support from the local hobby stores. Tons of great door prizes! Still can't believe we can't have a track in the Toronto area.
- The drive sucked. Up at 1am Saturday in bed at 11pm. 21 hours up takes its toll. I guess I am getting old. I fell asleep in like 5 minutes.
- California set ups DO NOT work at this track...haha...I must have changed a dozen things and while it was getting better it still wasn't where I wanted the car to be.
- Little Damien Lamy drove really well for a 12 year old! LOL Laid the smack down. I was told his dad built a nice track in their back yard for him to practice...I thought of this too, but my kid is going to play golf...where the $$$ is...haha
- Good racing for the most part. Most of the guys were pretty clean but the guys who weren't were REAL hacky.
- Who would have thought that a British Pub would serve decent butter chicken?! Abiye convinced me that it would be good simply because the picture on the menu "looked legit". It was actually really good.
- You cannot go wrong with Holiday Inn Express. Totally worth a few extra bucks to sleep in a nice room with nice bathroom and sweet free breakfast. I hate staying in cheap ass ghetto hotels.
- Insane variety of cars being raced there, which is refreshing. A/E, Losi, Kyosho, Tamiya, Durango, Hot Bodies, Schumacher, X-Factory, PSi Racing, TQ Racing and MRC/Academy were all present...crazy.

JB'isms
- JB I think actually took his shoes off when he went to sleep. I may be wrong though.
- JB set Abiye's Bose iPod dock to repeat play Milli Vanilli's Blame it on the rain and then left for lunch.

Abiye'isms
-Before we left Abiye rebuilt his shocks. I was shocked (haha pun) with what was inside them. half filled, black oil...awesome.
- Abiye trusted JB to glue his tires even though 3 tires coming off the rims that JB glued cost him the win at the RC Pro Series Canadian Finals.
- Abiye had zero luck in the A Main. He got the short end of every stick when it came to pile ups and marshalling.

Abiye's lovely shock oil...

Pics:

The Pajero! This thing had LED lighting, 7" DVD, Bluetooth stereo (streaming iPad and iPhone music), GPS, independent rear heating controls, turbo timer, insane off road lighting etc etc.

The Track Layout (sorry I lost my auto stitch program)

Close up of the beach (freshly tamped)

The GTA Crew

"The Prodigy" 12 year old Damian Lamy (nice kid)

Damian's unique rear end (complete with sway bar and lead weight on the hubs)

A little tagging on Steve's Tamiya

Some of variety of cars at the event:

PSI Kit?

TQ Mid Motor

Schumacher 2wd

Schumacher 4wd

Durango

Damian's B4

Steve's Tamiya (sweet paint..haha)

Schumacher 2wd

Concourse winner

I think I got the shaft on concourse. Come on this shit is TIGHT! haha

High flying action over the double table (note plexi wall to keep everyone in check)

See Mike I was smiling!

Roostin'

Abiye and JB were playing on the beach and making sand castles with my car stand!

Local CTV news crew was there.

Thanks to Ryan Luna and Robert Bekkers for letting me use some of the photo's and video's. I am waiting till after Christmas to get a pimpin' new camera!

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage - Dirt Trax RC Raceway, Ottawa, Ontario

2010-11-14T19:20:00.006-05:00

We'll with a bit of luck, I managed to get the green light to go to our nations capital to duke it out in my first 10th scale dirt off road race in over a year! I have been meaning to make it out to Dirt Trax RC for their annual big race but just have not been able to do it (it is a 5 hour drive from Toronto no less). Old skool loamy dirt with a Goosebump type tire will be fun to race on. The race is drawing some of the fastest local racers, some of the fast guys from Southern Ontario and some fast racers from Montreal Quebec area as well. I will miss Fridays practice but when you have a newborn and a 3 year old (and a crazy border collie/cattle dog mix) you take the days the wife will give you! LOL. Still seeing who I can rustle together for the road trip but either way it should be a great time!

See you at the track!

Race info:

http://www.rcottawa.com/index.php

http://www.rcsignup.com/events/displayEvent.cfm?ID=1688

Quick video of the place

New lid ready to go!

Starting set up

2010-11-08T18:52:00.000-05:00

Told you my new body would show up Monday! Never fails.

The Toronto Hobby Show: Day 2 Race Day!

2010-11-06T10:08:00.018-04:00

So Day 2 is here and 3 rounds of qualifying and single mains will all be run today. Round one for me was good. I was on a good pace but with a few laps left Steve Bortolotti was on my ass and we tangled going up the final jump before the finish line. This cost both of us the extra lap but the runs would be good enough to make the show.

1st round is done.....holy crap it is fast.

Round 2 was a bit of a gong show and I just made too many mistakes. Got in some hot laps but couldn't string them together for a clean run. This bumped me down a few spots.

Round 2....faster still...

Round 3. Tried a couple of set up changes, but they made the car traction roll like crazy so this round was a write off. I never got to see the list but I don't think too much changed order wise.

Not sure what happened to the computer system but something crashed and they ended up losing the first round data and had to build the mains from rounds 2 and 3. This...pardon my french...really f'd a few people and saw many racers who should have been in the A Main bumped out. Not sure what solution could have come about, but it wasn't fair at all to these guys. I know we were pressed for time from the delays but I would have been PISSED if it was me.
2wd Open A Main:
My race was over before it really started. At the tone we were all off ok, but in turn 3 the guy behind me on the grid (I think it was one of the Ottawa guys) figured he could win the race in the first lap and T-Boned me onto my lid. It wasn't even close to being a pass and this dropped me to dead last. I tried to triple the big jump to make up some time and just cased it and flipped onto the roof...right as the marshal was running to get another car. Even the announcer said that sucked...lol. This comedy of bad luck had me being lapped by the end of the first lap. So I now had to pull over and let the top 4 guys through and kiss any chance of a decent finish goodbye. I think TQ JB bobbled on the first lap and let Steve lead for most of the race but a traction roll later on let JB back into the lead and take the win. I couldn't see what was going on as the track and racing was just to fast and you had to really focus on your car. On a track this fast and with 11 second laps, one crash will put you down half a lap. I was hoping to finally have a good carpet result as I think I found a really good set up finally but it wasn't to be. Can't wait to get the RB5 dirty now though!

2wd Open A Main results

2wd A Main Video (my hack got missed but nice view of me getting lapped pretty much on the first lap...haha)
2wd Open B Main
I usually don't include lower mains, but this was one of the best races of the night. Ron's last lap Hail Mary pass at the finish line was a sweet attempt. Lots of lead swapping during the race too. Awesome.

2wd B Main Results

2wd B Main Video
4wd Open A Main

JB hates calling races so I said I would do it. Another amazing race to watch. Numerous lead changes and bumper to bumper racing. I'll let the video do the talking (I'll try and find a better one as my camera cut out part way through...) but Leonard Shinzano took the win with Abiye Birku in second and Steve Bortolotti in third (after a failed Hail Mary attempt off the triple let Abiye sneak in for second).

Random Thoughts:

- It was a really fun event and I think we got some awesome spectating (and hopefully some new racer!). The show was small but pretty busy throughout the weekend.
- Thanks to Tamiya Canada for making the race happen. The track layout was super fast, flowy and fun.
- While I still prefer dirt, not having to clean your car is a definite bonus.
- Niftech traction compound is crazy stuff on this carpet...insane traction boost.
- I really feel bad for the guys who got hooped out of the A Main after the computer crash. That was balls.
- Some weird action in the 4wd B Main. They stopped the race after a couple laps cause someone didn't get marshalled???? All I got when I didn't get marshalled (in an A Main no less) was "That Sucks"...lol.
- I think the hottest item at the show were small RC helicopters. Every other person had one. I did see a fair share of guys leaving with RTR cars so that is good. I bought a little 4 channel heli myself.
- Nice to see people from Montreal and Ottawa come to the event. I don't think the Ottawa guys (who just race on dirt) were prepared for the crazy lap times some of the carpet off road aces could throw down. There is a learning curve for sure in adjusting your driving style and car set up.
- Nice to see the nitro guys show up too. They did quite well for not driving electric in ages.
- I was finally happy with how my RB5 performed on the carpet. Figures I find a set up and fastcats closes down.
- 140 entries. Hopefully this shows we can support an indoor facility? Rumours abound about a new indoor track opening up...but that seems to happen every year here.
- Fast lap in 4wd was Abiye with a 10.8 (only 10 second lap). Fastes in 2wd was JB Catricala with an 11.2. SICK SICK SICK times. I was pleased with an 11.4 for myself.

Fred'isms
- Fred never hit one pole....

Jay'isms
- Jay was one of the guys who got hooped out of the 4wd A Main due to the computer crash.
- Jay handled it with immense poise. I would have raised hell over it. His other qualifiers were crap and he had to race in the C Main.....ridiculous!

Ryan'isms
- So much for his trash talk. I must have scared him with my texting of my lap times as he didn't have the balls to show up...haha...he actually got stuck at work so I teased him all day with text messages and picture messages. Missed a good race boy!

Mike'isms
- Mike got 2nd in the C Main. Good driving for a guy who has been away for 2 years and was using 2 year old gear.
- I am trying to convince him to go 8th scale this summer too. Good to have you back!

Pics:

These two poles I thought were Fred's destiny...but he kept it clean and never did end up hitting either of them!

There were 4 or 5 Durango's here. Sweet looking car.

Nitro Ace George Stilliadis not having fun wrenching on 10th scale cars...haha

Carpet offroad Ace JB Catricala is running a little weight on the front of his B4

Overview of track

Steve Bortolotti singing Karaoke

Steve Bortolotti's Tamiya cars

Daniel Yachnin's Losi 4wd....old skool!

One of the Ottawa guys.

Another Ottawa racer...cool charger

Leonard Shinzano's RB5

Marelene & "Gump"

Hardcore Raceway's Jay getting prepped

Now that is a car stand

Should put these in a pop machine

Some of the "interesting" booths at the show:

Not sure what this game was but it was an airplane dogfight board game...

Yummy prawn & Worcestershire flavour chips and other food not normally sold in Canada!

Didn't know people still played with Mecanaco.

Not much was going on in this booth

Plasma cookware....the guy was not as exciting as the Shamwow guy (Shamwow had a booth here as well but the guy in the commercials wasn't in it)

Lots of Robot War booths. These things are BIG!

Some kind of Halo tourney or something like that. Lots of acne and virgins in this booth....not a chick anywhere near it either...lol

the latest thing here. Mobile gaming trailers. 5 50" TV's all networked etc running PS3 and XBOX's. Cost about $300 for the day at your house for a party. It was pretty pimp inside.

I will assume this booth will not be back next year....only because it is steam engine model building and...well who uses steam engines anymore and everyone in the booth was like 90 years old.

A fair amount of model train stuff this year.

Extras:
- Forgot about the Dungeons & Dragons booth
- Insane Legoland booth
- Cool booth with 3 old skool Nintendo Entertainment Systems running Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Super Mario with a prize for highest score.

Quick few laps with my RB5SP2. Sorry, the camera flew off the roof after a few laps and I can't remember how to edit the video down.

2010 Toronto Hobby Show Offroad Carpet Race - Day 1

2010-11-05T21:33:00.006-04:00

So day one is in the books and it was a good day. The Hobby Show has shrunk in recent years, but I suppose there is some cool stuff in here and some decent deals on stuff (I bought a 4 channel mini RC heli for $45 and some knock off European Lego for my son). The track is right in the limelight in the center of the show which is cool. The track layout is fun and fast! I am using a modifed Shin Adachi set up and the new RB5SP2 is sick out there. I have never really been competitive on off road carpet but I managed to snag fast lap of the day in 2wd open with a 12.0 second lap. Anything in the low to mid 12's is good though. One mistake on this track will put you a half lap down though. In 4wd open Martin Petrie is laying it down with a 11.4 which I think was fastest for them. Wasn't paying attention to SC Trucks so not sure what is going on there...haha Tomorrow is the race day though and there will be more fast guys showing up. We'll see how it goes!

Random Thoughts:
- God, i miss 2wd electric. Soooooo much fun. Can't wait to hit up some dirt action soon!
- B-Fast RC diff kits are wicked smooth. I ran around the pits feeling diffs and mine is definitely the smoothest.
- The Tekin RS Pro with the 212 software is pretty good. Still could use a tweak or two to get to LRP smoothness, but it is pretty close.
- There is some funny shit here at the show. I'll grab some pics tomorrow for sure.

Chet'isms
- Chet came up to me and said he did a 12.0 lap. I said damn that is good. Then I realized it was in 4wd...boo-yah sucka!

Fred'isms
- There are two SWEET poles in-line with the big jump. It has Fred written all over them...haha..Fred informed me that he has not in fact hit the poles yet.......It is coming though :P

Jay'isms
- Jay is looking smooth and consistent out there. Must be the Niftech sauce I gave him.

Ryan'isms
- Ryan is trying to intimidate me on Facebook with some smack talk...not working bitch. Act of dominance on the track is coming tomorrow.

Mike'isms
- YES! After a two year hiatus (Mikey was overseas working in Korea) Mike is making his Ali like return to the ring! Using his 2 year old gear, he is looking pretty good out there and is getting up to speed fast. His pit space is still a landfill and is like a dike ready to burst into Steve and John's pit area. Good to have you back Mike!

Exhibit A: The Landfill!

Some pics:

Some slot car action

Loads of rift raft working in this booth...haha

Caged in flying area

Track from the pits

Told you my new body will show up on Monday after the race :(
* Notice nice clean pit area....

Quick lap with Bill Jones..I think.

A Main Hobbies Video Contest = $1000 Shopping Spree!

2010-11-03T19:22:00.006-04:00

Not sure why this hasn't gotten more press? Pretty sweet little contest and a G note will buy a lot of RC goodies for next season. There are some talented guys out there who are putting together some impressive RC videos (sorry Calvin Mercer, but it is for US residents only...you would totally win though if it was open to Canada) . I'll be honest and say that right now there isn't anything on there that would get my vote so far. Haven't people heard of video editing software! LOL.

Come on! Lets see some creativity!

Link to contest here:

Some of local racer Calvin Mercer's work:

Hardwood RC Racing from MSPvideos on Vimeo.

Some Kyosho Electric Info

2010-11-02T17:28:00.004-04:00

A friend of mine took his cars and put them into a CAD program or something at his work and started measuring things. Here is what he came up with. Pretty cool little guide.

Edit: I have actually had this for over a year now but never thought of publishing it. Let me know what you think.

Tebo's Kyosho MP9 TKI2 Worlds Car Preview

2010-10-31T08:27:00.004-04:00

Pretty sweet looking with the Red White and Blue theme right down to the wheel and shock nuts. Can you see the new stuff?

Best of Luck to the Red Army!

How To: Make Closed Cell Foam Inserts for 10th scale

2010-10-27T20:20:00.006-04:00

Kind of late to the party as most companies (JConcepts and Pro-Line) will be releasing pre-fab versions in the next few weeks (so I have been told). But here is how I made my own out of old 8th scale foams.

Step 1: Bust out 8th scale foam

Step 2: Cut foam on a 45 degree angle using sharp scissors. The 45 degree angle helps mask any hard spots. The 3M glue dries with a soft seam (well at least way softer than using CA)

Step 3: Figure out how much to cut off (through some trial and error I found a good length and marked it on my super pimp quartz set up board :P)

Step 4: Match up a 45 degree cut at the desired length and cut.

Step 5: Check fit of cut.

Step 6: Ideally use 3M 74 Fast Foam Adhesive (I ran out so had to use 3M 77). Shake the crap out of it.

Step 7: Spray both sides for maximum hold.

Step 8: Align ends and hold in place for a minute for the glue to tack up.

Step 9: I throw mine in the inside of a packaging tape roll. This will hold it's form and keep pressure on the joint until the glue dries. I found it better than using elastics or tape.

Step 10: Check bond after glue dries. Mount 'em up!

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage: Toronto Hobby Show!

2010-10-27T11:21:00.004-04:00

Been a little quiet in the "off season" around here but thought I'd get back in the groove on the 'ol blog.

So thanks to the guys at Tamiya Canada for putting this together for us up here. 10th scale in the Toronto area has died but maybe this will spur a little rejuvenation of the class. The Hobby Show used to be THE race of the year "back in the day". We even had another race there a few years ago on dirt (this year is carpet off road...but cool carpet off road with real features) that was an awesome race (I won 2wd :P). Lots of old skool local names will be in attendance and I think it is well over 100 entries already. I just finished building up my new Kyosho RB5SP2 and can't wait to get it out there. I am hoping to make some winter trips to Ottawa's Dirt Trax and into the USA to Glenwood RC and AMS Raceway (also to CRCRC Midwest Champs). I have to finally buy a new camera as mine finally kicked the bucket. I'll have internet at the race too so I can try and do some live updates as well.

Random Thoughts:
- Even though JConcepts will be releasing their 10th scale closed cell foam tire inserts in the next few weeks, I will post a how to on making your own from old 8th scale foams.
- Special thanks to Fred @ B-Fast RC for the diff kit. I have carpal tunnel syndrome on my wrist from spinning the diff all night....it is that smooth! I am running the new ceramic thrust bearing kit from them as well. I'll have a RB5 diff built write up up soon as well.
- There are always rumours up here about someone opening up an indoor dirt track but it never seems to pan out. Hopefully someone can figure out how to make it happen (our rent up here is insane)

For more info on the race go here:

Tamiya Canada
The Toronto Hobby Show

Edit: Just got word my new lid from Darkside Designs (www.darksidedesigns.net) is en-route. Hope it makes it here on time! Kris is the man and paints for some of the fastest racers on the planet...Hopefully some of that rubs off onto me!

RC Pro Series Round 3 - Average Joe's R/C - MAINS!

2010-07-21T10:38:00.012-04:00

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

Another hot sunny day for the mains. I got to the track around 7:30am so that I could change out my shock oil (went 1/2 wt lower all around on the Nitro car as the track was pretty rutted out, bumpy and loose). We were going to run 10 minute triple A Mains for electric and a 1/2 hour A Main for Nitro Buggy.

Electric A1

At the tone we all took off with a clean start and 1-2-3 had a bit of a gap on the field. Lots of lead swapping for the first half of the race. It was a hard race as you needed a little bit of luck through some of the blown out sections. You would catch a rut here and there and it would flip you or spin you out. I managed to stretch out the lead to about 12 seconds over the field with only 3 laps left and pretty much had it in the bag when I felt the car starting to slow down (thermalling). I tried to baby the car around and second place was gaining fast. With two laps to go I was still up by 7 seconds when the car had enough and quit. I tried to let it sit for a couple of seconds then go but the car was done. I was so bummed as I really wanted to get one win under the belt. Andy took the win followed by Abiye. I still ended up in 8th out of 12 with the DNF. Andy forgot to bring his car into tech after the race though and they DQ'd his run. So Abiye ended up with the win!

Electric A2

Tried a different tire set up (switched from my trusty JConcepts Subcultures to a Tebo style AKA City Block / I Beam combo) and it was the wrong choice. Surprised with the difference actually. The car was crazy loose and very hard to drive. Lots of crashes later I ended up in 5th place. Good battles up front though and Jay Lovegrove pulls off I believe his first A Main e Buggy victory with a superb drive over Andy in second and Caster's Kevin Taylor finally getting things sorted out for 3rd.

Electric A3

Back on the JConcepts Subcultures and the car was back to being awesome. This was probably the best race of the three. Myself, Andy, Abiye and Steve all battled with the lead swapping around again for the race. Andy checked out a bit as 2nd, 3rd and 4th were all battling for position. Steve and I had a great battle and I was gapping the big jump to table top almost every lap in an effort to make a mid air pass or gain some more ground on him. Super fun race to end a frustrating electric day for me.

Overall Results

(Damn thermal cost me a podium spot....)

Nitro Buggy A Main

I was slotted into the 6th place (which is a dangerous spot to be for a nitro start..haha). The car was running great though and the Subculture tires are my new tire of choice as they seem to work really well in Ontario. At the tone we got off fairly clean but after a couple of laps I was down to 7th or 8th I think. I buckled down and with the track all blown out people were crashing a lot and I managed to get up to 2nd. I then got tangled with another car and flamed out. Steve Mostacci got me back in the race quick, but now I was a couple of laps down. I tried to just drive a clean race but the damage was done. I ended up in 7th. Still pretty happy with the drive and I know I'll get on the podium with a flame out free run one of these days! There was some drama during the race of a parent who was marshalling that was watching her sons car instead of her corner. I couldn't see it obviously, but I was standing right next to the driver on the stand and got an earful of it and was down in pit lane when it escalated into a full on shouting match. People need to chill as it is supposed to be a fun time out with friends racing. I know people want to win, but you can't take it to seriously or it is not going to be fun anymore!

I know I don't show any love for the Truggy class, but frankly, I just don't care about them and the day is too busy for me to cover them properly. Here are the results anyways. haha

Daniels Truck is pretty much un-stoppable as of late. The kid is ripping it out there.

Random Thoughts

- RC Pro Series is a great race series up here. Super fun so far and the competition has been quite good. No one is running away with anything out there.
- Average Joe's track was better than initaially thought. I just needed some track time on it.
- I like the Tebo Nationals set up on my Nitro car, but think I might go back to the old set up on my electric. I will test at Hardcore then decide.
- e-Buggy gets the shaft for the mains...We have to marshal 3 times (usually 15-30 minutes each time). This is very tiring.
- I don't get the whole anger thing in Nitro buggy. Shit happens during a race but man I never hear so much cursing than during a Nitro Buggy A Main! A lot of us need to remember we are almost role models for the younger kids out there watching and none of us are getting paid to race, so have some fun out there and chillax. Your driving will be better when you are not so tense and you will come off the stand feeling like you had fun instead of having road rage.
- I curse the Kyosho shock clips every weekend I am racing. I can't wait to get my MP9 TKI 2 kit with the threaded collars!
- JConcepts Subcultures in Blue compound are a fantastic tire! I have used them at most of the races this year and love them. They hold up so well too.
- Some new faces (and fast drivers) out this weekend. Nice to see some new names ripping it up to keep us on our toes!
- Word up to Jordan Krupp. I might catch some shit for calling him old, but this "old dude" can really lay it down out there. Nice 2nd place finish to give the punk kids a lesson or two in driving every now and then and keep them in check!

Jay'isms
- Great racing for Jay this weekend! Solid driving lept him into a podium finish in 3rd overall in e-Buggy!
- No tire bucket was spilled all weekend either!

Some Pics:

"Chewy" laying down some H2O to keep the dust at bay.

Waiting for the Mains to start

Track was getting torn apart in the, sun, heat and wind.

Some custom painted goodies from T & T

Marlene's MP9 TKI waiting for battle.

My MP9SE warming up....I love the Competition Heat engine warmer. Makes life easy!

JConcepts Subcultures in soft blue compound after a 1/2 hour main. Lots left!

Told you my new lids would arrive on the Monday after the race...haha. Never fails!

Some Pics from Joe from "Average Joe's"

A Main buggy line up

thanks to O'Donnell's Steve Mostacci for the pit work in the Main!

Braaaaaap!

The now traditional "Act of Dominance" at the races. Me forcefully mounting Willy Howells. haha

See you all at Round 4!
www.rcproseries.com

RC Pro Series Round 3 - Saturday Qualifying

2010-07-17T21:37:00.010-04:00

So qualifying is in the books. It was a long day but after about 10 hours, we got the 4 rounds of Qual Points Qualifying in! The track has changed quite a bit from Friday's practice. You could really drive the track hard on Friday and clear a lot of the jumps easily. The sun was out in full force though and the track really dried out and got dusty and loose. The truggies looked pretty good out there on the rutted and blown out track and the buggies were all having their share of difficulties. No one in Buggy looked like they were laying it down. In electric buggy, Andy Vetor's buggy was really good out there and he TQ'd 3 of the 4 rounds. Abiye and I battled in the last qualifier for second place and we both swapped the lead throughout the race. Abiye held it together more then I did though and he secured the second place with me in third.I am not sure the new set up is as good as my old one, but this track is so blown out that it is hard to tell.

Top 5 Electric Buggy A Main

1. Andy Vetor - Hot Bodies
2. Abiye Birku - Tamiya Canada
3. John Summach - Kyosho America/JConcepts
4. Steve Bortolotti - Tamiya Canada
5. Jay Lovegrove - Associated RC8Be

In Nitro Buggy, It was all over the place in qualifying. I managed to bag a 4th and a 2nd in rounds 2 and 3. I was in good shape for round 4 but just before I crossed the loop to start, my front shock came off on the tower! I guess the nut had fallen off somehow. Marco ran back to the pit and got me sorted out but I was already a couple laps down so I just tried some new lines and jumps. that unfortunately dropped me to 6th place in the A Main grid.

Top 5 Expert Nitro A Main

1. George Stilliadis - Sprucewood Losi
2. Abiye Birku - Tamiya Canada
3. Jordan Krupp - Mugen Canada
4. Daniel Yachnin - Sprucewood Losi
5. Derek Sousa - Hot Bodies?
*6. John Summach - Kyosho America/JConcepts (Shamless plug for me as it is my Blog)

Random Thoughts:

- Weather was crazy today. Sunny morning, overcast/threatening thunder showers afternoon, windy as hell evening.
- Announcer Nick Imenio managed to pull off 4 rounds of qualifying in one day. Good job. Many (myself included) did not think it could be done!
- The track was really fun on Friday and gapping the big jump and table top was fun in e buggy. The dryness and blown out jumps on Saturday put and end to that fun...lol.
- Thanks to Tamiya Canada's Abiye Birku for tuning my motor. I still am learning on what to do when weather changes...slowly getting it but it is great to have people at the races that know a lot about tuning and the fact they don't mind sharing the info!
- Trying Tebo's new set up from National (including moving the RX pack up front). It seems pretty good. A tad nose heavy on jumps though here.
- So many cool trailers at the race this weekend. I NEED to get me one for next year! haha
- I find it comedic that EVERY race has marshaling problems. 80% of us have been doing this enough to know where you should be and when. There were so many empty cones out there throughout the day. It is just sad.
- Cool little venue. Motel, Food, Bar, Paintball and Lake all within walking distance. It is also 25 minutes from my house which is nice!
- Lots of junk in the dirt though geting exposed as the track deteriorates. I found a big ass brick, some glass, rocks, exposed tree roots & some kind of mesh.
- Atmosphere seems a little more chill here which is nice for a change. Less cursing on the stand for some reason.
- I am still digging Nitro. It is still more fun that I expected it to be.

Jayism's
- Jay is showing prowess at his home track and all the practice is paying off. Solid runs out there today.
- Jay's car only had one mechanical today (bent CVD)!
- No spilt tire bucket!!

Ryan'isms
- Ryan has finally discovered the female sex and has chosen Ho's before Bro's this weekend

Fred'isms
- Fred I am sure is enjoying a rum and coke or two up north at his cottage this weekend.
- Fred would be cursing out the ripples and blown out sections anyways.

Chet'isms
- BLAH BLAH BLAH have to fix my real car
- BLAH BLAH BLAH girlfriend this and that
- Pffffft Pussy.

Pics:

Some of the pit area

The track

More pits

Kyosho Korner

Neighbours bad ass pit tent...I love this thing.

New set up...seems to be working for me.

Crazy ass spider I found hiding on my car.

Speed dirt.

George's Truggy

Driver stand area

Pit lane. You can play where's Willy?

Next "Almost Live" Race coverage: RC Pro Series Round 3 @ Average Joe's RC

2010-07-14T09:32:00.010-04:00

So this weekend Average Joe's R/C (www.averagejoesrc.ca)will host their first big event. The new track looks pretty good and is in a great little area with lots of amenities (Food, Bar, Hotel etc.) all within walking distance! Could turn out to be a hot little race venue! I have not been there yet and have only seen a few pictures of the place so we'll see what all the racer think come Friday. The track is only 1/2 hour away from me too which is always nice. New on my side are total set up changes. I'll post up some pics on Friday as I am waiting to get some parts to finish the ride off. I am really excited to get out there as I have been off the last few weeks with the house move and a little camping vacation with the family. I don't think my new bodies are going to make it here in time though :(

Kris @ Darkside Designs never lets me down. I give him vague design descriptions and he always nails it! Thanks Mang! www.darksidedesigns.net

Hardcore Raceway Sunday Series #3

2010-07-04T19:44:00.004-04:00

Round 3 came around and I was a little better prepared. I struggled in qualifying and with only 2 rounds of qualifiers I could only muster up a mid pack B main slot. I managed to weave my way into the lead about halfway and was already thinking of the bump up when a flameout took me out of the running and I ended up in 5th place. The car was way better though this time and my lap times were up there with the best just needed a little more luck. In electric I had TQ in the first round and then everyone stepped it up in the second round. I was on my way to TQing the second round when the car started to fade. I was thermalling with maybe 4 corners to go! it cost me my TQ spot! In the pits I saw that the Tekin fan had broken a fin and caused the fan to jam. Those fans really suck balls as it is the third fan I have had to replace in a few months. I ended up qualifying in 3rd and was pretty gutted. I was confident I could make a good run in the main and at the tone the top 3 took off and were checking out. I made the switch to JConcepts Double Dee V2 in Blue for the main and the car was fantastic out there. Then the rain hit...pretty fast and pretty hard. They had to call the race and use the qualifying order for the points....great. One little fan blade cost me some good points! Oh well, that's the way it rolls sometimes.

Sunday Series # 2 @ Hardcore R/C

2010-07-04T19:27:00.005-04:00

Well the decision was made easy thanks to Mother Nature. Lots of rain forces Full Throttle Raceway in NY to Cancel the GLORCS opening round. So local track Hardcore Raceway (with their insane drainage) was able to host their Sunday Series Race #2. Attendance blew out at over 110 entries with some coming from Ohio and even some by private plane! Traction was great and JConcepts Blue Subcultures worked awesome. I managed to qualify 3rd in the Electric 8th scale A Main and also finished in 3rd for the main. In Nitro I was somewhere in the B Main. My cars were not as dialed this time. This track really treats the MP9 differently. I am going to have to do some testing and get my set up right for here as I really didn't have anything for the competition today.

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage: Ummmm not sure!

2010-06-02T18:35:00.003-04:00

Where to race this weekend????

Well I am actually on the fence between the GLORCS Round #1 at Full Throttle Raceway in NY or Hardcore Raceway's Club Series Round #2. I know that the GLORCS race will be well attended BUT I think I have to limit my 3 day race weekends this year with a new kid on the way and a new house. I am moving in like a week and should really work this Saturday as it is our busiest time of year (and help set up our moving/garage sale). I think I can afford to miss one round of the GLORCS series (I have already missed one round of the Club Series). So I will have to decide pretty soon I suppose but I am leaning towards the 1 day race instead of the 3 day right now. Such a healthy 8th scale race scene up here with RC Pro Series, GLORCS, Tillsonburg, Sprucewood Invitational, Hardcore and DORC Club series....so much racing so little time!

Random left field thought: Why don't manufacturers make man sized shock oil bottles....The 10th scale sized ones are practically empty after one full shock rebuild! I need to buy stock in the oil companies!!!

RC Pro Series Canada Round 1 @ Niagara

2010-05-24T09:42:00.003-04:00

So I finally got the results! Looking at the fast laps, my car is definitely working!

R/C Pro Series Ontario, Round #1 - Niagara R/C Raceway

2010-05-17T17:27:00.020-04:00

3 MP9's in the A Main!

RC Pro Series Round 1

Wow what a fun weekend of racing! Showed up late in the afternoon on Friday for practice as I had to find out what the next kid is going to be (I will be having a girl in October!). Didn't make much of a different as the rain had kept the track pretty moist. The pit area was pretty soft as well so we mostly crammed into the same area. Our little area was "Little Japan" as we had the Kyosho, Mugen and Tamiya teams all in our own tent city. This years layout was much smaller than the last time I was at this track, but it offered a bunch of varied terrain such as ripple, sweeping turns, technical jumps and a super man jump. The dirt changed constantly, starting out moist and gradually drying out to a very hard and dry surface by the mains. Tires choices were all over the place and not many were running the same tires! I went from JConcept sevens to AKA City Blocks to JConcept Cross Hairs and finally deciding on JConcept Subcultures in Blue compound sauced up with Buggy Grip 2 and felt they were awesome. I don't think anyone else was running JConcept tires and I really think it put them at a disadvantage as the Subcultures were Dialed!

Qualifying was Qual Points using 3 rounds on Saturday and a forth on Sunday.

In 8th scale Electric It was really down to myself and Tamiya Canada driver Steve Bortolotti. Steve took three rounds of qualifying to take the TQ. I was on a TQ pace in round 3 but a last lap, last corner roll took it out from under me (grrrrrr! haha)! I had 2 second place finishes in the rounds and ended up in P2 for the 10 minute triple A Mains. I think the top 5 in qualifying was

1 - Steve Bortolotti - Tamiya 801Xe / Proline Caliber M4

2 - John Summach - Kyosho MP9e / JConcept Subculture Blue

3 - Abiye Birku - Tamiya 801Xe / Proline Caliber M4

4 - Chet Kelsey - AE RC8Be / Proline Crow/Bow M3

5 - Tom Wright - Tamiya 801Xe / Proline Recoil M4

In Nitro, I think I have finally stumbled upon a set up that suits my driving style. I had struggled quite a bit at Tillsonberg (even for it being my first Nitro race ever) but for my outdoor debut things were coming together. Again, the car was pretty much as good as any other one out there and I did manage to get one 3rd place in the round and a 4th place in the round (both part of the semi exclusive 12 lap club) to tie Abiye for 4th. His tie breaker was better though, so I ended up in 5th place in the A Main (I'll take it though for only my second nitro race!). As memory serves me the Top 5 in Expert Nitro Buggy were:

1 - George Stilliadis - Losi 8ight 2.0 / AKA City Block Super Soft

2 - Steve Bortolotti - Tamiya 801X / Proline Caliber M4

3 - Jerome Treignier - Kyosho MP9 TKI / Proline Crime Fighter M2 (custom cut)

4 - Abiye Birku - Tamiya 801X / Proline Caliber M4

5 - John Summach - Kyosho MP9SE / JConcept Subculture Blue

Electric Main

A1 - Right off the tone, I put a mid air pass on Steve off the superman jump to take the lead. Steve had a bad landing and broke something in his steering I think. I managed to stretch it out a bit but then my motor must have been over heating as I started to lose power and braking. I knew I had a decent lead so I tried not to push it too far so I wouldn't thermal. Abiye was gunning me down but I managed to take the win.

A2 - I iced my motor, geared down and even installed a fan on the motor to try and keep it cool but I think the damage to the rotor was already done! LOL. At the tone, I took an early lead over Steve and started to stretch it out and again my motor started to lose power and I was having problems making the big jump. Steve and I diced it out swapping the lead many times and it came down to me narrowly leading him into the last lap. Steve was on my ass and I ended up getting a bit of a love tap from behind a few corners from the finish and Steve took A2. I honestly feel it was a pretty aggressive "pass" for such a respected driver (I use it in quotes as passes in my book usually do not involve rear ending the car in front to make the pass). I know a few people came up to me after who saw it and thought I was robbed, but the overall win was on the line and things happen when pressure is on. Whatcha gonna do right? It is just toy car racing in the end. Besides, there was still one more Main.

A3 - I didn't even wait for the superman jump this time as Steve left a door open in the third corner and I dove right in. This I must say was probably one of the best races I have ever been in. I do not know how many times we swapped the lead! The track was super blown out and the superman jump became a crap shoot to land. It came down to whomever was chasing the leader had to do the superman jump to gain ground. It worked as I made numerous passes on Steve over that jump as he was single singling it for most of the race. Back and forth for most of the race. I did manage to stretch out about a 5 second lead with only a few minutes left but then unfortunately got tangled with a back marker which dropped me to third. I didn't even know I lost the lead as the announcer didn't say much during the race and I was single singling the big jump. Once I found out where I was I put the hammer down and had to really pin it to make the jump as my motor again was overheating. I managed to get back into the lead (by jumping past Steve on the big jump) with a few laps left. With Steve on my ass I knew that we were both going to have to go big on the jump for the last few laps. Sure enough Steve stepped it up and started jumping it as well. I lost the lead after I cased the jump and had to again try and make a move on Steve. I was ALL OVER him for the last two laps trying to force an error or get a line on him and it came right down to the wire, but he held me off to take A3 and the overall. It was a fantastic race!

Equipment Used:

Kyosho MP9e

Peak Racing 5400mah 45C 2 cell pack x 2

Team Orion VDS 1409 Servo

Mamba Monster Max ESC

Tekin T8 2050 Motor (12/46)

JConcepts Mono Max Wheels

JConcepts Subculture Tires (Blue)

JConcepts Illuzion RC8e Body

Team Orion Race Spec Charger (2C charging)

My MP9e Set Up

Expert Nitro A Main

My first 1/2 hour race! I didn't know what to expect as I have never run for this long. Fellow electric racer Steve Mostacci was my pit man for the race and he did a great job! At the tone I had a pretty good start and while 1 and 2 stretched it out I was comfortably in 3rd place. about 10 laps in or so though my car just died. Steve ran it back into the pits and it would not start. He checked out the car and box but we couldn't figure out what was wrong. The pitman next to us took a look and it turned out that my exhaust gas line was torn in two (not sure how that happens?). He shortened it and they got me back in the race. At this point I am about 8 laps down (took 245 seconds to fix me). So at this point I am just out there to run and at least finish the race. I flamed out a couple of times but the car was still pretty good in the super loose conditions. Not too sure what was going on in the race, but there was some drama with George Stilliadis. I think it was something about his car flamed out and they restarted from his pit tent or something (I don't really know the Pro Series rules). It was also a race of attrition as meny did not finish the race. My boy Jerome though ran a superb race with his MP9 to take the win for the Red Army and Marlene had a good race with her MP9 for bumping up from the B Main. Good to see Kyosho putting cars in the A Main again! I think I ended up in 5th or 6th place maybe? Justin William made a mid air pass on Jordan Krupp on the last lap to take second place. I didn't see it, but the crowd went wild!

Equipment Used:

Kyosho MP9SE

Team Orion MTE CRF Alpha Engine

Team Orion VDS2015 Throttle Servo

Team Orion VDS1409 Steering Servo

Peak Racing RX Pack

JConcepts Mono Max Wheels

JConcepts Subculture Tires (Blue)

JConcepts Illuzion RC8e Body

Team Orion Race Spec Charger (1C charging)

Kyosho Multi Starter Box 2.0

Jerome's and My MP9 Nitro Set Up's

Random Thoughts

- I really do think my MP9e was superior on the track this weekend. The handling was exceptional in the ripples and over the superman jump (I made up a lot of time in those sections) and had lots of forward bite compared to many. The JConcept Subcultures provided really consistent and predictable grip too. I don't know why more people don't run JConcept tires. They come out of the molds with ZERO flashing or bead defects and mount up really sweet (much better than Proline, WAY better than Losi and even better than AKA).

- Out of 12 cars in the Electric A Main, there were at least 8 different types of tires chosen for the mains!

- I am not a fan of Truggy's.

- I am really not a fan of getting a flying Truggy to the shin....they break skin (at the bare minimum)

- I cannot imaging a 1 hour race. I thought half an hour was more than enough.

- At tech, I had lots of room for more fuel...time to add some extra line and maybe get to 10 minute pits!

- Starting to get into the Nitro thing more and more. Especially now that the car is working better for me. (I told you guys to watch out.....there are more electric crossover's coming too!)

- Great to see hardcore racers Marco and Marlene drive out here from Montreal to race in lots of the Ontario races. They are great to have around the scene and are a big part in what makes the race scene fun.

- There were a fair amount of trailers at he race. I need to get me one of these. I am sure the night life at these races is quite fun. Maybe I'll start a johnnyboy.ca "R/C Cribs" section at the next race!

- GREAT bunch of guys at the race. Everyone was helping everyone out with parts, pitting or whatever needed to be done.

- I am going to get a new camera. I think all the dust over the years has pooched my current one as I had some problems with it AGAIN!

- I will publish the full results when they get posted. They had some issues with the RC Scoring Pro system at the end of the day and couldn't get it to print out.

Click here for Facebook Picture and Video Page

Fred'isms

- While Fred wasn't in attendance...he did let Jay Lovegrove drive his D8 (Chet brought if in case his electronics failed) after Jay's car broke. I noticed that he had put the camber blocks on the wrong sides and the car had some funky chicken steering going on until we fixed it

- Fred did show up to watch though on Saturday and he bought us lunch! thanks Fred!

Jay'isms

- Jay I think was last in the B Main for electric and battled in the main all the way into the lead (with a borrowed car) to bump up into the show. Good job buddy!

Ryan'isms

- Ryan let a little think called "work" get in the way of his racing fun....pfffffft, pussy.

Chet'isms*

- Even at 7am, my boy Chet has game with the ladies...LOL...He pretty much picked up the girl at Coffee Culture while grabbing some grub on the way to the track.

*while Chet is part of the "No 'isms" Club, I made an exception due to this impressive display of Machismo...haha

Having problems with pics....they are coming.

Pits were a bit soft from the previous days rain...

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage: RCPS Canada Round 1 - Niagara, ON

2010-05-04T19:18:00.004-04:00

May 14, 15 and 16 brings us the opening round of the Canadian RC Pro Series at Niagra RC. I will be running both 8th scale electric and 8th scale nitro buggy. Matt's tracks are always a blast and it should be a great time. See you at the track!

Race Details
First Class: $30.00 CAD
Second Class: $15.00 CAD
Third Class: $15.00 CAD
Qualifying Type: Qual Points
Best 2 of 3 rounds

To sign up and more info go to RC Sign Up - http://rcpro.rcsignup.com/

Edit: I just sent in my RCPS number request 34C...wifes bra size..haha

Update.

2010-04-13T10:33:00.006-04:00

We'll last night I received an e-mail from Barry Baker himself personally apologizing to everyone at the race for his behavior at the Canadian Indoor Off Road Shootout. I won't go into details, but it was fairly lengthy, well written and genuine sounding. It takes a big man to admit faults and I think this was a really nice gesture to take the time to find a nobody like me and write a letter to. Everyone has a bad day and I know at the top level it must be hard to contain sometimes. I just know that all the locals were so excited that there was some world class driving talent coming to the race and were so stoked to race against and meet them (as many do not travel to the races in the US and never get to see the big names live) and some felt a little let down at the end of it. Anyways, it is water under the bridge for me and I hope to trade paint with those guys again sometime!

It's Over!

2010-04-12T11:56:00.023-04:00

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

Canadaian Indoor Off Road Shootout: Mains!

2010-04-10T23:17:00.006-04:00

Here are some snap shots of the main order. I sneaked into the 8th scale e buggy A Main with only one qualifier and am sitting in 3rd in the C Main for 8th scale buggy (missed the B Main by less than a half second!). Pretty happy with that though for my first ever nitro race. I will expect more once I figure these things out! Can't type more as it is sunny and there is waaaaaay too much glare out here on the screen...

Canadian Indoor Off road Shootout: Qualifying

2010-04-10T23:17:00.002-04:00

Man, bit of a gong show today! Took like 12 hours to get through 2 round of qualifying! Weather was warmer albeit a bit windy. I think Dakota Phend is TQ so far in Truggy and Buggy (Barry Baker might have got buggy in round 2?). I forgot who is TQ in e buggy. Track is slightly blown out but holding together alright. It's late and I need sleep so I will keep it brief.

Random Thoughts:
- Waaaaaaaay, let me repeat: waaaaaaay too many mercy minutes. I had to be re-fueled 3 time the one heat before it got started!!! With 333 entires, you cannot do this. Start the clock 5 min quali's, 2 minutes between and let it go. If you are not on the track, sucks being you....
- I am now officially part of the Tekin RX8 Blow Up club. While I love the sensored systems smoothness, I would like more to finish my heat...I think there are at least 4 or 5 Tekin RX8's that went poof in so far at this race...Yes, mine was mounted properly and ran fine for 3 race days prior. thanks Steve Mostacci for loaning me a Mamba Monster to keep me running.
- Dakota's cars are killing it out there. The boy can wheel!
- I still have not learned nitro finger...lol Still amazed the difference in feel between my two cars!

Ryan'isms
- Ryan gets off scott free today! many thanks go out to him for pitting for me!
- wait Ryan did overfill my tank once...does that count? haha

See facebook for pics....

Canadian Indoor Off-Road Shootout: Day 2

2010-04-10T09:55:00.003-04:00

Ok, day one was practice but I was busy trying to learn this "nitro finger" business..haha

The track is a really fun layout. Tire choices are all over the place: City Blocks, Subcultures, Holeshots, Grid Irons, Double Dee V2, Recoils...you name it

There are about 330 entries, so that is pretty good. Going to be a long day.

Random Thoughts:
- So much for opening at 12 noon Friday. Got here at 11:45 and there was no room left as most people were allowed to set up Thursday night...thanks for telling the rest of us. Luckily we brought our tents. Dakota Phend was in the same boat so they are pitting in with us.
- It was snowing Friday but today is a nice day!
- 6 heats of electric 8th scale!
- It is hard to drive a nitro....much different power delivery than electric. I am having difficulties..haha

Got some spy shots of the new Tamiya 801x electric

Going to post more pics/videos on the facebook page tonight as the uploader on the blog sucks balls.

"Almost Live" Race Coverage: Canadian Indoor Off-Road Shootout!

2010-04-08T23:14:00.009-04:00

The show kicks off tomorrow afternoon and here are some of the build pics (Thanks Martin Petre!). Track looks sweet! Keep your fingers crossed for some warm weather and let the season begin! They easily topped over 300 entries. Don't know the final tally till probably Saturday though. See you at the track!

Click here for Facebook Picture and Video Page

Random Thoughts:
- I am going to try and pimp Martin by getting the scoop on the new Tamiya 801xe electric prototype that is going to be raced here.
- I will also try to not embarrass myself in my debut Nitro race (picked a nice small race to go to first...haha). Go big or go home right?
- It is going to be a bit of a challenge to figure out the right tires and set up as practice will probably be pretty limited.

Ryan'isms
- Ryan is sad because Jesse Robbers isn't here...
- To cheer him up:

Next "Almost Live" Race coverage: Canadian Indoor Offroad Shootout!

2010-04-03T13:57:00.004-04:00

Season kick off race up in these parts starts next weekend. Cool ass indoor MX track is the venue and many local and not so local top name racers from Ontario, USA and even Western Canada will be in attendance! Should be about 300 entries for this one!!! This will be my first 8th scale Nitro race and only my second 8th scale electric race. I have no idea what I am doing in nitro...haha so this will be a steep learning curve! I have had good success at this race in 10th scale electric and have won it a few times but this is mainly a Nitro race and the competition will be insane this year. I will have my own internet set up so I should be able to be more "live" than usual! See you at the track!

Getting there.....

2010-03-25T23:13:00.003-04:00

My entry into the nitro circus is almost done! just have to break it in and fine tune the linkages etc. Lots to learn for this nitro newbie!

New Lids from Darkside Designs

2010-03-24T11:25:00.002-04:00

Well, I figure I am new to 8th scale racing, so I might as well freshen up the bodies a bit. Let Kris @ Darkside Designs go to work adding his creative twist to my design for the 2010 season. Looks bad ass and can't wait to get them dirty! Check out his work (he paints for Cavaleri, Tebo, Pillars, Theilke etc etc.). He also has reasonable turnaround time and prices. e is now also doing wraps and stickers too. Thanks Kris!

AMS Raceway / FTR Racing 3rd annual March Madness

2010-03-23T10:23:00.005-04:00

2wd Mod A Main

8th Scale Electric B Main

8th Scale Electric A Main

Electric Results
http://amsraceway.com/Results/03202010.pdf

Nitro Results
http://amsraceway.com/Results/03212010.pdf

Track Website:
www.amsraceway.com

JC Illusion bodies make great hotdog holders!

Picked up my new lids from Kris @ Darkside Designs (www.darksidedesigns.net)

All whored up and ready to go! (crappy iPhone pics as my son hid my camera somewhere in the house...)

Thanks F1Freak1964 for taking the videos!

Some new cars!

2010-03-11T15:58:00.005-05:00

Wow, some cool new 2wd cars and the new Kyosho Lazer 4wd. Too bad electric is dead up here now. Would be cool to see some of these on the track!

Shin's new Lazer

Ryan Cavaleiri's new set up

Durango 2wd

New Tamiya TRF 2wd

Check out more here: http://rc4ever.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=85&t=1985

It's ALIVE!

2010-02-26T22:10:00.006-05:00

Well with what seems like the death of 10th scale electric around here, many of us have jumped on the 8th scale bandwagon. I just put the final touches on my new MP9e (MP9SE (part #31783B) with the Kyosho e conversion (part #IFW451)). The kit was so easy to put together (aside from some forearm pump from all these big screws!). The fit and finish of this kit is typical Kyosho. Pretty much stock except for some bling turnbuckles from the TKI kit and the alloy rear suspension mount and rear hubs. I also love mounting 8th scale tires compared to 10th scale. So much easier and the JConcept tires mate perfectly with their rims. So stoked to get out and try this thing! Only thing left is to get my bodies back from some sweet new paint from Darkside Designs (www.darksidedesigns.net)

Equipment List:

- Kyosho MP9SE with e conversion kit
- Peak Racing 5400mah 45C packs (14.8V)
- Peak Racing VDS1409 Servo
- Tekin RX8 ESC
- Tekin 2050kv motor
- JConcepts Tires & Rims
- JConcepts RC8e Body
- JConcepts Wing

Sad Day for R/C in Ontario....

2010-02-10T15:39:00.005-05:00

Fastcats has announced they will be closing their doors at the end of March. One of the great family run RC operations with a truly world class facility. This leaves the Greater Toronto Area (with a population of about 5 million?) with ZERO indoor RC tracks. Amazing how this population level cannot support one indoor track. Here is what John and Pam had to say on their site (www.fastcats.ca):

To all of our supporters, customers and friends..... It saddens us to make this announcement, but the FastCats track facility will be closing at the end of March this year. We have had 5 great years here in Oakville and hope that we have created a racing legacy people will remember for years to come. We have always strived to do our best in everything we have done and we feel that would not be who we are, if we simply closed our doors one day without any notice. As many of you who have been here with us for the last 5 years know, the hobby has seen many changes. We have tried to embrace them all and support the r/c community the best we can. However the past summers have become more challenging and while we are very busy now in the winters we are just not able to support ourselves over the summer months. We have remained open this winter to provide the winter season a place to play, but as the months of April/May arrive and we go through the usual downtime, while people wait for the outdoors, we are confident that it will be October/November before most of you will miss us and you never know what might happen locally by then. We don't feel that FastCats is done....we just feel that FastCats at this location is done. It would be our future hope to still be involved in the r/c community but cannot be specific in what capacity at this time, but we do have some plans....stay tuned! We hope you will continue to support us for the next 6-7 weeks, as it is still time to play indoors and we will still be here for you. So the facility goes on as usual until the end of March, with our schedule as follows.... offroad Feb 8th-14th - trophy race on the 14th onroad Feb 15th-28th - Northeast Grand slam Feb. 19-21 and TCS Feb. 28 offroad March 1-14 - "the Big Finale" trophy race March 7th (because of march break) onroad March 15-28 TCS tba Our website and forum will continue as a local gathering place for the r/c community. We thank each and every one of you that has made the last 5 years so memorable and for your support, we have made many friends. We especially want to thank our children: Stephanie, JB, Matt & Michael who have sacrificed many family moments for the sake of the track and to Nick Imineo, who has been with us since the beginning for his endless help, and to all “the guys” who have helped us over the years to run this place, maintain it and we hope make this a place to remember. We are proud to have been here and look forward to hanging out with you all in the future.

John & Pam

This family (and friends) have poured their heart and souls into RC and have sacrificed so much to make things happen here. I don't think they will be out long though (I hope). I am excited to see what they have in store for us as I don't think they can stay out of the industry long!

Thank you for all your hard work and the good times. Hopefully we will all be racing at Fastcats again soon...wherever it is.

Sidenote:
Looks like 10th scale is really taking a beating up here. Fastcats closing, Sid's Raceway on the brink of closing.

I will have to say: 8th scale electric is the future of electric up here! Time for people to pony up and convert I think. My MP9e is already on it's way....

7th Annual Big Kahuna Shootout

2010-02-08T19:50:00.009-05:00

Another race weekend in the books. This time out we had Myself, Abiye, Jesse's Girl and a last minute jail break of JB from school. Fred and Chet went ahead of us while we waited for JB. Took us 4 hours to get there including a food stop so not too bad. We arrived to a HUGE building and a rather large track. Sweet. It is a little dark in there so bring your pit light! That or you can rent a private pit room. The track looked sweet (as usual Al's layouts are super fun) and the drivers stand is nice and high. Tire choice seemed to be all over. Lots of fast guys running Panther Switch, Losi Pink Taper Pins or BK Bars, Proline MC Suburbs and JConcepts Gold Barcodes. Most ran them full pin. There were so many entries that we had to run only two qualifiers (with rocket round). This didn't pan out so well for a lot of us...lol. Lots of people broke in one and a few broke in both. I broke one of mine and got tangled up with lapped traffic in the second so I ended up in the B Main for 2wd Mod. No Canadians in the 2wd Mod A main this year. We were all stuck in the B Main :(. In 4wd Mod All the guys made it to the show and Chet was up into 3rd place before he broke. I think everyone else finished mid pack. In the 8th scale electric A Main, Abiye swapped it out with Dakotah Phend for the first bit, Dakotah put an inside pass on him right before the big jumps and Abiye gapped the whole section, passed Dakotah in the air and ALMOST stuck the landing. It was an awesome pass attempt but Dakotah passed back while Abiye was waiting to get marshalled and took the win. 2wd A Main saw Al Horne and Dakotah trade spots early but Al ended up with the win. I didn't see the truck A Main as I was taking a nap before the 4 hour drive home at 1 am. Al gave me shit for not taping the truck main as he finally took Dakotah off the top step (which is the class he usually owns). All and all a great two days of racing and definitely a track you should check out ( http://www.amsraceway.com/) when in Michigan! Can't wait to get my 8th scale electric MP9 built up and get back there to try it out.

Random Thoughts:

- US Customs always does a double take when 4 adult men say they are going to a model car race. We cruised through though.
- Only took 3.5 hours to get home. Not too bad even with a double stop looking for an open gas bar at 2:30 am in the middle of nowhere.
- Thanks to Visa for security locking my card during those gas stops thinking I was a fraudster.
- The track was sweet. We can only dream of having a facility like this in the Toronto area.
- Our private pit or "igloo" was awesome. Tons of light, our own heater and tons of space. Very cool. It is a little impersonal not getting to chat with all the locals, but the private pit is a cool idea and our was always open to visitors....Dunno what our Canadian nitro counterparts were up to in there weeks prior as locals kept coming in looking for Heineken...lol
- 8th scale electric is friggin cool. I think that it is the future for electric in Ontario at least. With 10th scale on the decline....again...many people are jumping on the 8th scale electric band wagon.
- Cheers out to Sarah Ernst for making the trip out. Good to see the Filipino infiltration into the hobby...haha
- Thanks to Johnny Loguidice for letting me check out his TQ cars and giving me the lowdown on them. TQ have some fast drivers out there and are quickly giving the car credibility. Johnny also did the memorial lap honoring the Big Kahuna. Very cool.
- Abiye's superman jump/pass attempt on Dakotah was one of the coolest moves of the night. If he could have stuck the landing he might have held off for the win. They both raced a very clean race. There were a couple of times where they could have pulled off a hack pass but they didn't.
- Nancy came trough with the cupcakes again. Awesome. I even got a few for the trip home. I suppose I feel a little better in that we are now getting beat by a teenager at least. Happy 13th Dakotah!
- Sorry to Al Horne for not getting the video of the Truck A Main. He said it was rare Dakotah didn't win that class and was super stoked to take the win with his RT-5. The downside to the private pits I suppose. Was quiet in there and I thought I'd take a nap as I had to drive home and didn't want to drive off the road with some head snapping. Props to the new Red Bull mini shots. Tasty and effective on those long tired drives.

Ryan'ism's

Ryan: "Should I unplug my Lipo for the trip home?"
Us: "It will be fine for now"
Ryan: "I unplugged the positive lead"
Us: "So it is fine"
Ryan: "Should I unplug the negative lead though?"
Us: "Do you know how a circuit works?"
Ryan: "Yes I know how a circuit works, but I don't know if it would back feed through the negative lead or something."
Us: "So you don't actually know how a circuit works then...."
Us: (insert laughter)

Some pics and Vids:

The Kahuna Memorial Lap

2wd A Main

8th scale A Main

4wd A main

2wd B Main

The track is HUGE!

One of the many killer 8th scale electrics

Johnny Loguidice's TQ Racing SX10

Nancy baked up a storm. Yummy!

Another act of dominance on JB's car

In the end I was dominated by the big jump...

More Pics Here: "Almost Live" Facebook page

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage: 7th Annual Big Kahuna Shootout

2010-01-29T12:30:00.003-05:00

Back out to the USA for this great event. This time it is at a new track so we'll see how things shake out. I think it is Chet, Fred, Ryan, Abiye and myself heading down this time. Al Horne always puts on a good show and we are looking forward to this event!

More info on the race here: http://rcracingextreme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6591

2010 CRCRC Midwest Championships - Mains

2010-01-19T12:17:00.036-05:00

So the track was still in good shape come Sunday and was still slicks up until the last half of the mains when most then changed to half pin to full pin Tapers/Barcodes/BK Bars. Jared Tebo pulled off the hat trick to take a sweep of the TQ's. To be honest the Kyosho cars just looked soooo hooked up out there. Way better looking than the A/E cars for some reason. The Losi cars also looked better than the A/E cars. I heard that A/E has been testing a lot of different set ups and maybe they just got lost in them. I only finished one Mod qualifier so I was in like the F main...(better known as the hard luck main as there were some quick guys in there who had similar luck haha). I managed to to work from 12th on the grid up to 5 th (after getting swallowed up a couple of times in the second lap to the tune of 38 seconds for the lap). I take solice in the fact I at least had the fastest lap of the main and I only used the 13.5 stock motor as I was way to lazy to switch back to the 8.5 for an F main! In stock (I don't have a 4wd car right now so I raced the 13.5 class to keep the boredom of the long day at bay) I had two medium runs to slot me in the top of the C Main. I was down to 5th on the start after a pile up and then managed to get back up to third and we were all spaced apart and then I go and break a shock tower. Perfect end to the weekend. I just quietly chuckled out loud and took a seat behind the drivers stand. That is the way it goes sometimes guess. CRCRC takes driver skill but it also takes a little bit of luck to place well. I will let the videos speak for the A Main runs but Tebo, Cavaleri and Evans were just rocking it out there. Dakotah qualified well but had a few problems in the mains. He is only 12 though and is the future of the sport!

Side Note: 4wd Mod A3

There was some controversy at the start of the main. On the warm up lap, Cavaleri's car started making a clicking noise. He pulled into pit lane and Pillars took a quick look. He couldn't fix it so he threw it up to Cavaleri and A/E Team Manager Brent Theilke to look at. Turns out his rear diff ring gear or something was going. With a mercy minute on they raced back to the pit to try and fix it. Someone mentioned that they could run the SCT A main instead and then the 4wd main so that they could fix his car (Both Ryan and Jared had won an A main leg so it was going to come down to this main). I think they put it to a vote on the stand and it was like 50/50. There were some grumblings on the stand that started and some heated words exchanged by drivers from all camps but the CRCRC officials stepped in and said they couldn't wait any longer (a few minutes had passed by this point) or change the race order/rules. So Theilke had to put Cavs car back on the grid and they lined up for the main. At the tone Cavaleri drove with some anger and was all over Tebo for the first few laps clicking diff and all. He started to slow down though and it looked like he was almost trying to break the car by airing off the jumps to hard slap bounce landing. The diff finally gave out on lap 7 and he pinned it until it just wouldn't move anymore. The next thing you heard was a loud SMASH. Ryan smashed his radio on the drivers stand and broke the radio in two (the bottom half of the radio that holds the battery went flying!). He then stormed off the drivers stand. someone brought his car over and it looked like he was going to spike it into the ground as well, but regained some self control and didn't. Last year we had the "Theilke/Cavaleri incident" and now this year we had this. 4wd has not gone well for him here.

I am going to get shit for this but come on it is funny....

Edit: We just missed getting it on tape. In the video you can hear the radio get smashed at 2:21 (or 2:27 for the video with a title at the begining) from the other side of the arena no less, then he comes into frame picking up the broken base and walking off the stand.

Random Thoughts:

- The track was the best I have seen there so far (only my 3rd time here though). Great layout and great traction (unlike last year)
- CRCRC crew ran a smooth operation for having approx. 430 entries! I saw very few hiccups the entire time.
- There are so many friendly people there. All of the Pro's were very open to helping/talking to anyone that came up to them. I will say Matt Chambers and Dustin Evans from Losi were two of the nicests guys I talked to. They helped me out with tire and sauce secrets all week and were very cool.
- Thanks to Tebo and Pillars too for all the team help. Also two great ambassadors of the hobby. i don't know how Joe can qualify so well while looking after all his top Orion/Peak/Kyosho guys.
- I will not be eating McDonalds or Pizza anytime soon. I have eaten enough of it now to last me for a few months I think. By the time you get out of that building, everything else is closed and the locals said this wasn't a great part of town as well.
- I have has 14 hours of sleep over the 5 days of racing (not counting the 4 hour "nap" on the drive home on Monday. Thank for driving Steve!)
- I noticed that a lot of the lower main guy REALLY take the main seriously. There were a few hot heads out there for sure. People need to chill and remember to have fun.
- Even with my misfortune, I still had a blast here. Awesome race. There is a reason this race has been going on for like 25 years.
- Cavaleri didn't look like he was having fun all week. His cars were not looking as good as a lot of the others out there and I guess it all manifested to the boiling point by the last main and the diff just put him over the top. Still, smashing your radio on the stand in front of everyone is a very uncool thing to do and VERY unprofessional to all the young racers there who look up to him. I understand that there is money on the line for these guys but to conduct yourself in that manner is very childish...
- Staying over till Monday was a great idea. Not having to drive 7 hours home on Sunday was sweet. Beers and Rums were flowing back at the hotel room and went on till about 4am. lol.
- Dustin Evans and Cody King are champs with the ping pong balls. 7-1 record by the time I left.

Fred'isms
- Fred had matching leopard slippers in his room...
- Fred broke his fair share of parts again this year.

- If you look close you can see the leopard print bag...

- I found this for Fred at the Cracker Barrel and thought it would match all his stuff nicely.

Jay'isms
- Jay upgraded his luggage to one big garbage bag instead of a bunch of small ones
- Jay almost told Canada Customs that were were coming from Columbia RC Car Club. Probably wouldn't have gone over very well in a rented van full of big bags with two white guys, a Filipino and an Ethiopian saying we were coming from a toy car race...lol
- Jay was enjoying a bit of celebrity as some people recognized him from "Jay'isms"..haha
- I will say that Jay has really upped his game and drove really well this week. All the practice is paying off and you will see him on the podiums more this summer for sure!

Ryan'isms...I mean "Jesse's Girl"
- Ryan took the ball busting in stride...paid your dues for sure Rookie!
- Ryan did forget about his 4wd main and missed it though. I would laugh but.....more on that further down.
- Ryan did beat me fair and square in the Mod F Main though. It was a much anticipated show down for us Canadians...haha. I think Jay lost a bet on it though (sorry Jay for letting you down!)

I got Jesse to sign Ryans B4 before we left. Jesse was a great sport.

johnnyboy'isms
- This will be the ONLY time there will be a "isms" for me....I dish it out pretty hard sometimes, so I need to take it sometimes as well I guess?
- I did miss one of my 2wd Mod qualifers. Time is in a Vortex there and I swear the last time I looked at the board I had lots of time. The next thing I heard was them calling me out to marshal. This DID happen to quite a few people though so at least I am not alone.

Random Pics:

The JTP Sweep!

I saw Ryan checking out my set up before our F Main showdown so I kicked it old skool A/E style and covered my car...LOL.

Sauce of choice: Some used BG2 but most of the Pro's used Zip Free until Sunday when they switched to Zip Grip. Most of them with the label peeled off to keep people guessing.

Dustin "Rock Star" Richards had one of the funniest mains of the night. His front wheel broke with like a minute or so left and he held his position off right to the finish (I think this was the B Main for 3rd place). Lap after lap he drove a tight line and nobody could get past him. Now THAT my friends is driving!

Abiye using a drill AND a dremel to make some slick tires

Speaking of tires...Jesse Robbers I think does some HB tire R&D and I can tell you he is doing a good job. There was rarely a moment that he was not grinding up tires to test out there.

Jesse getting ready to grind tires...

Jesse grinding tires....

Jesse thinking about grinding tires...

Jesse getting down to some serious tire grinding business...

Jesse had lots of tire sauce on the go too.

You have to be good to pimp these:

Fred and Brenda from B-Fast RC were at the race. They are some of the nicest people in the biz. They have quite the following and there were lots of guys wearing B-Fast shirts. They even gave me a pit towel and some drink insulators. Thanks! I did rebuild my diff at the race and the wear on the rings was so even. I will have some comparison shot later on. Check out www.bfastrc.com to see the diff!

Renting a Minivan was essential...

Abiye playing cowboy at Cracker Barrel.

All the Pics are here: "Almost Live" Facebook page

Rodney has some great pics etc too here: http://crcrc.blogspot.com/search/label/Midwest%202010

Edit: Having problems uploading the Mains. I will have them up ASAP.

Special THANKS to all my sponsors for helping me out so I can attend some of the coolest races around with some of the best gear around! 2010 is going to be a great year. See you at the track!

Kyosho America
Peak Racing
JConcepts

Also a special Thanks to Fred and Brenda @ B-Fast RC

CRCRC Sunday Sunday Sunday!

2010-01-18T03:59:00.006-05:00

Kyosho Sweep TQ & Win All Mod Classes @ CRCRC!!!

Pics stolen without permission form: http://crcrc.blogspot.com/search/label/Midwest%202010

Going to bed now...it is 4am. Will post pics and vids tomorrow.

- Tebo TQ'd and won 2wd mod, 4wd mod and Truck mod. Word up.
- Tebo won A1 & A2 of 2wd and Truck. Won A2 & A3 of 4wd (Cav won A1)
- I broke...a lot, but still had fun. I will keep coming back until I at least make the B main
- There was MUCH drama in 4wd A3....more on that later. But a loud bang was followed by flying debris of a smashed in two M11x radio....I guess that is why it is missing from the podium pics.

- Thanks to Joe Pillars, Al Horne, Jared Tebo & Matt Chambers for the set up help
- Lots of funny shit happened.
-Thanks to CRCRC for hosting another great Midwest Champs. See you next year!

CRCRC Day Two

2010-01-15T19:33:00.013-05:00

So the track was soaked last night and traction was awesome all day today. Slicks were still in fashion and hopefully it will be again for qualifying. The track is so much fun to drive. Again the lap time battle was on and times are now into the low 17 seconds for 4wd (Jesse Robbers with a 17.1 I think). Robbers is looking good out there (always does here) so are Tebo and Losi duo Chambers and Evans. Cavaleri looks a little ragged out there but his times are fast still. The Losi cars looked dialed out there right now. Not much practice time with the controlled practice, but that is par for the course with almost 400 entries!!! The old "watch the triple" had been replaced with "Watch the double double". The announcer is a machine and does not get the thanks he deserves. Things have been running smooth and efficient as can be with this many people. My car is pretty good. I think there are a couple of different basic set ups people are running on the RB5's (Betts and Tebo) and mine is pretty similar to Tebo's with minor camber height differences. I didn't think I would like running the 13.5 class as I typically just run mod, but I'll say that it didn't feel that bad out there.

Random Thoughts:
- Henry from CRCRC personally gave me a Medium sized shirt...lol...I got a XXXXXXL last year as a joke cause they ran out of mediums. Thanks my Filipino brotha!

- Still lots of tire grinding all day long. There was a constant whir of belt sanders, drills and dremels
- Again props to the CRCRC crew for running a great event and keeping it running smoothly today
- I will pray to the traction Gods tonight hoping the traction stays like it is.

Jay'isms
- Jay spilled the tire bucket...although it was NOT entirely his fault as Steve had moved it under their table without telling him it was there.
- Jay is looking good out there and is driving well. Props to Jay.

Jay trying to hide from the "Almost Live" lens after the bucket was tipped.

Ryan'isms
- We placed a wake up call to Ryan this morning consisting of blasting "Jessie's Girls" over the phone.
- Ryan is being relentlessly ball busted over this whole thing still.

Teasers:

Chet proceeds to mount Ryan in an act of dominance...

JP Richards new TQ Racing car.

Tebo's RB5SP

Theilke's car (new body???)

Pics here: "Almost Live" Facebook page

And just for shits and giggles:

CRCRC Official Day One

2010-01-14T21:34:00.009-05:00

So we left at 3am and cruised here pretty painlessly in about 7 hours. We had to make a slight detour to Parma International to drop something off from the fastcats gang. No crazy blizzard though so that is nice (weather is pretty mild actually). So day one is in the books and I have to say that this is the best layout I have encountered here so far. Fun, technical and flowy. Tires were slicks all day...thank god and I hear that water is in the plan for tonight and they are hoping it will be slick for the whole event (unlike last year which was pretty dry and slick by the mains). It is good to see everyone again and the locals are so nice. Some new faces are here too. Steven Hartson has made the trip out here for the first time and he got up to speed pretty quick. Times were dropping and the typical guys were the front runners (Cav, Tebo, Robbers, Evans). I will try and break out the spy camera tomorrow and grab some pics of new gear.

Random Thoughts
- Awesome layout. They have made great use of the space for sure
- Tebo has a new paint job and also has the new RB5 rear end kit
- Speaking of paint...EVERYONE looks like they have new bodies and paint...except me :(
- US Customs only grilled us a little bit. He didn't understand that people race RC cars...lol...We had to dig one out to show him.
- Had the traditional Pancake House breakfast somewhere in Ohio. Yummy.
- Lots of grinding of tires going on...like 24/7 sounds of drill presses, belt sanders, drills and dremels. Jesse Robbers I think had his belt sander going for almost an hour. He did have earphones on though.
- Nancy Phend informed me that the Big Kahuna is not on Dakota's birthday this year....I will still expect cupcakes though...You don't get off the hook that easy!!!

I will now throw everyone under the bus with some 'ism mania:

Fred'isms
- Fred has a leopard print suitcase for some reason....
- Fred is somewhat of a celebrity now because of this column . Some guy came up to him today and mentioned "Fred'isms"..haha
- There are no poles here for Fred to hit.
- There is rum in Fred's room...a fresh bottle of Appletons!

Ryan'isms

-Ryan was called the "Whipper Snapper"...he is now known as "Jesse's Girl" as he kept crashing like a pansy under the pressure of having Jesse Robbers standing behind him waiting for a spot.

Abiye'isms
- Abiye shaved the big super fro. I think he used the afro to make special tire inserts....

Jay'isms
- Well Jay didn't forget any cars, but he couldn't find his travel bag so he packed his clothes in a grocery bag...Jay'isms will now be called Hobo'isms. I am going to get him a big stick so he can carry the bag around properly...

Jay's "luggage"

Note: Chet, Steve and I are exempt from "ism's". That is just the way it works.

Pics here: "Almost Live" Facebook page
Vids here: johnnyboy.ca Youtube page

CRCRC: Day One...sort of.

2010-01-13T21:35:00.003-05:00

Well, all packed up and ready to go. Departure time of 3am should be fun. At least we ended up renting a van so we can all go in one car with lots of room!

The track looks good from what I have seen online at the track build site: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/2010-crcrc-midwest-track-build

Can't wait to get out there!

Ummm don't mind the Huggies box...mix up in some parts from Kyosho that I am giving back to Joe. They just fit perfectly in this box...haha

No new body :( It wasn't ready in time. C'est la vie sometimes.

New RB5 Rear End...again.

2010-01-10T08:00:00.002-05:00

Well the top racers & designers at Kyosho have once again improved the rear suspension design of the RB5. They are the first to revise the rear end for brushless motor use (as who uses brushed motors anymore). Too bad it won't be here in time for CRCRC (for us mere mortals anyways). Cool!

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage: 2010 CRCRC Midwest Championships

2010-01-03T19:21:00.004-05:00

Well having to do inventory at work kaibashed my racing efforts this past weekend. I also have to work at the Toronto International Boat Show this weekend so that I can take the 5 days off to go race toy cars. So, I won't have much track time under the belt (only three races since getting back into racing). For a seasonal business, I seem to be working a lot in the winter....

So the Toronto contingent (aka: CRCRC Rat Pack) will be down to 7 people as J.B. isn't making the trip anymore. This leaves: myself, "Old Guy" Fred, Chet, "Whipper Snapper" Ryan, "Super Fro" Abiye, "86mph" Steve and "I left my 2wd at home" Jay. We are trying to pack all of us down into 2 cars, but we'll have to see what pans out. I wanted to leave the trusty Subaru at home this year, but it looks like we will need the cargo space. I threw it out there for Ryan to use his brand new F150 but that e-mail went unanswered...lol (The others are all 4 door sedans). I mean who doesn't want to put 1500 km on their car in 5 days...oh wait I did it twice now. haha

Boxes are arriving daily now from Kyosho, Peak, JConcepts and some last minute little stuff from A Main Hobbies.

For all you race nuts there should be lots of coverage for the event. Here are some links to bookmark:

www.johnnyboy.ca (of course)
johnnyboy.ca facebook page (pics and videos)
www.crcrc.blogspot.com (Rodney's)
http://www.aeforums.co.uk/forum/index.php?showforum=145 (Not sure if Brent will be doing again this year?)
www.liverc.com (pony up and become a member already...)
www.crcrc.com (host site)
www.peopleofwalmart.com (There should be some good ones being in Columbus...)
www.rcsignup.com (for you stragglers still not entered)

Well that is it for now I guess. I better go get some tires mounted.

See you in the C-Bus!

johnnyboy

Ultima SC: Almost here....

2009-12-30T15:51:00.002-05:00

Latest teaser for the new SC truck. I kind of dig a stock SC class...I think. Maybe I'll try it out.

Also: some new Peak Racing goodies are on the way :)

Also Also: boxes are arriving like crazy gearing me up for CRCRC :)

B-Fast RC Diff Ring Review Update:

2009-12-24T06:48:00.011-05:00

So I had been running the stock rings and balls for a few races now and decided to open up the diff the see what was going on. I took everything apart and cleaned everything up. I took a close look at the stock rings for wear and could see the high and low spots on both rings. I was pretty surprised at the difference in wear marks on the rings! I was also examining how all the parts fit together and noticed some binding in the two small inner bearings (the ones in the diff gear). I found a thin Kyosho shim that fit between the bearings perfectly and prevents them from binding with each other (credit to local racer Bill Jones who mentioned this to me at last weekends race). I cleaned all the new parts with motor spray and then put the B-Fast Carbide diff balls in the diff gear and then the B-Fast rings on the outdrives with a couple of small dabs of CA on the outside to help secure them in place. I took the thrust washers and worked them with some 800 grit paper, cleaned them and installed Earls ceramic thrust bearings. The B Fast lube syringe is pretty sweet. Makes application precise, quick and easy. Re-assembled the whole gearbox and threw it back into the RB5SP. Fired up the car and ran a quick break in process on the diff and then made some final tweaks to get the tension right. Right off the bat I noticed I needed less tension on the diff to keep it from barking. Also, I really can't stop playing with the diff...lol...It is that smooth (it is sitting on the couch with me..haha). I have never had a diff this smooth and free..seriously, this is a nice kit. I would have never had guessed this kind of prep could make this much of a difference. I can't wait to try it out on the track (especially if it is a bit loose traction wise). I am hoping to head out next weekend to Glenwood Rc to try it out. Stay tuned for the results!

Stock rings. Hard to see uneven wear in the pic (crappy camera)

BFast ring ready to go in.

BFast Carbide diff balls

"Earl's" ceramic thrust bearing balls

Lube syringes

Accurate and easy application of lube and balls

I forgot to snap a few more pics of the build (including the little washer I was talking about). I will grab those when I tear it apart next time after some racing on them. Stay Tuned!

Edit: Speaking of Bill Jones. Ummmm I was checking out his RB5 and talking with him about his diff process as his car had THE absolute smoothest diff I have ever felt in my life. I will try to get some more pics and pick his brain on his diff building process, which is pretty extreme (talking slotting the outdrives to use blade inserts, sanding the diff rings, pinning the diff rings to the outdrives etc etc).

Clubbin @ Glenwood RC

2009-12-18T11:50:00.003-05:00

So made my first race back on dirt since the hiatus @ Glenwood RC's new place. Much nicer than the last building. The Glenwood crew has stepped it up and gave us a really cool little track to race dirt on this winter. Young gun Ryan King made the trip with me. He won the 2wd A Main last week. Chet was absent because he was celebrating Christmas early with the family and Steve's passport has not shown up yet. The track surface is the weirdest dirt you will come across. I think it is river bed silt and feels like talcum powder. When wet the traction is pretty good, but if it dries out you will be fighting for traction. I ended up using JConcept Green Goosebumps in the rear and Green Groovy Fronts. The rears were slicked out and the fronts were taken down about 3/4 of the way. In 2wd TQ changed every round. Kyosho teammate Scott Cimato took round one, Ryan took round two and I stole it in round 3. For the main we were all debating tire choice and I kept the JC's on. I lead out right from the tone and never looked back. Ryan started to gun me down near the end but I managed to squeak the extra lap in on them (just to show them who the boss is still...haha). It felt good to get back onto dirt and really needed the practice for up coming CRCRC.

Random thoughts:
- Only took us just over an hour to get there including border crossing. Sweet!
- No hassles either way from Customs. Sweet!
- I wish 2wd was more popular there. Funny how different tracks have different big classes. 4wd is big at Glenwood.

More Pics here: Facebook Page

Coming soon: 2010 CRCRC Midwest Championships coverage!

2009-12-03T14:30:00.005-05:00

Hide your daughters.....It is getting closer to that time of year again! "Almost Live" will be on the road again to bring you the scoop from the 2010 season kick off race. A little preview for the year to see who is on their early season form. Hope to have some new features for you, but again it will depend on how good the on site internet is.

CRCRC Wishlist:

- Good internet (gonna be hard with that many people)
- Slick tire track (not having to grind tires to 5 different types of "Ghost Pins" would be nice)
- A huge ass triple (kidding, but a nice flowy fun track with good visability would be cool)
- Not insanely cold weather (or have provisions for block heaters...haha)
- No tire bucket spilling (for once please)
- Nobody forgetting a car at home (I will be all over the Jay & Fred "isms")

Peak Racing Sneak Peek (sneak peak?...haha)

2009-12-01T12:22:00.004-05:00

Yummy new race packs coming your way soon!

4600maH, 5000maH & 5400maH 45C stick packs

4500maH & 6000maH saddle packs

www.kyoshoamerica.com

www.peakmotors.com

Word to yo mama!

Product Review: B-Fast RC Performance Diff Kit : Part 1

2009-11-30T20:36:00.007-05:00

So once again Hot Bodies Team Driver Scott Olenik was in touch to rave about these diff rings that all the locals have been using made by a company called B-Fast. He got me in touch with Fred at B-Fast and low and behold he sent me some kits to try out and give my opinion on them. They arrived two days after the initial build of my RB5SP (go figure) but at least this will give me a good comparison between the build and feel of the stock rings and balls over their hand finished rings and carbide balls. I know the stock Kyosho balls are soft and wear out relatively quickly and I have been using ceramic diff balls for ages now so it will be interesting to see if I can feel/see differences between them all.
I was browsing their website: www.bfastrc.com and see that B-Fast comes from a 27 year background as a machinist so they know a thing or two about carbide and precision parts. Their philosophy is that perfectly flat diff rings coupled with the extreme toughness of carbide diff balls will make your car handle better, make your diff last longer and smoother in action by sharing the load on all of the diff balls equally (not possible with stock rings which have slight high and low spots). I am a firm believer in having a properly built diff for optimum performance on the track (and smooth shocks) .

Showing the difference between stock rings and B-Fast rings using a bluing agent that machinist use to see high and low spots on a metal surface:

So I have been running on the stock rings and diff balls for a little bit now and when I break it down for a rebuild I will take some pictures of how the stock parts held up and change it out with the B-Fast gear......To be continued.

Power Supply Envy....

2009-11-30T13:30:00.004-05:00

MuchMore Power Master Legend (~$200)
So I broke down and got what I think is the coolest power supply out there. 44 amps of DC goodness. I looked at smaller cheaper ones along the way but just couldn't get away from this one. Price be damned, it is too damn sexy! Too much power is never a bad thing and all the hook up ports are sweet. I may be a fashion whore, but hey, I have to look at it on the bench all day long at a race, might as well be pretty! haha. So if you are pitting next to me, feel free to tap into the gluttony of power I now possess!

The contenders were (quick rundown):

Much More Power Master 24 Amp (~$140)
+ Powerful little package
+ Good looks
+Dual outputs
- Higher priced
- No USB port

ProTek RC 40 Amp (~$130)
+ Awesome value
+ USB Port
- Not as good looking
- Only 1 output for this much power

Competition Electronics 23 Amp (~$130)
+ Decent power for price
- Single output
- No USB

ProTek RC 20 Amp (~$65)
+ Good value
+ USB Port
- Not sure if 20 Amps is enough for me
- Single output

Integy Super Station 27 Amp (~$150)
+ Good power for value
+ Good looking
+ Multi outputs
+ Nice footprint
- No USB

Checkpoint 25 Amp (~$90) (Available Here)
+ Great power to value ratio
+ Dual outputs
+ Small footprint
- No USB

Generic 40 Amp (~$100) (Available Here)
+ 40 amps for $100!
+ Multi outputs
- A little thick in height
- Wonky terminals
- No USB

Thanks to A Main Hobbies & Robot Marketplace for the pics!

New Indoor Dirt Track!

2009-11-23T12:41:00.005-05:00

So the new Glenwood track is almost ready to go! Those guys don't mess around and got it built fast! I think it is just outside Buffalo, so it is a short drive for us in the Greater Toronto Area. Here are some of the pics of the new place. They should be open next week I think.

Picture credit to: http://www.kdactionphoto.com/
More info at: http://www.wnyrcinfo.com/site/modules.php?name=Forums

Fastcats Fall Trophy Race

2009-11-23T11:30:00.008-05:00

Great turnout, great track, great racing. Par for the course for a race at fastcats. John, Pam and crew there always put on a professional show and the track always delivers fast tight racing. Truly one of the best racing facilities in North America.

Well, I was off for a good 6-8 month hiatus not racing at all. Had the RB5SP built up two days before the race but didn't have any time for pre race day practice. I made sure to get there first thing on Sunday though and managed to bang off two packs worth of practice. My set up was vastly different than the current crop of fast guys there (I just threw the Tebo dirt set up on there with the exception of stiffer rear springs). I wasn't too too far off the pace though (better than expected after not driving for so long). I had a few fast guys in my qualifying heat and managed a couple of third place finishes. Man, it is tough here just to make the A Main as there are so many fast guys and the pace is really tight. I managed to squeak my way into 6th place on the grid for the A Main though, bumping some pretty fast guys out of the show.

At the tone for the main we all got off pretty clean. A few laps in though there was some carnage up front and I managed to weave into 4th place. Didn't last long though as a crash dropped me back a few spots. You ABSOLUTELY cannot make a mistake here. Clean, precise driving is what it takes to win when the field is so tight. One crash can put you literally down to the bottom! TQ Justin DaSilva I think had a pretty clean go at it from the tone and took his RB5 to the win. I tried to push from the back, but a few more bobbles really costed me and I had to settle for 7th place. I am still pretty happy with that actually as most of these guys have been running here for months and have their cars dialed in pretty good. My goal was to put the car in the A Main for my first race back. I think there were some videos of all the mains and I will see if I can steal them. Results should be posted soon too for everyone. Kind of short coverage this time out as I had to duck out right after my race to go to a family dinner (good thing it was only 10 minutes from the track as I just made it on time!). Thanks to Steve for grabbing the door prize for me (I think I won a Lipo battery...sweet). I know the 4wd A main was going to be killer too as racing was crazy tight as well.

Random Thoughts:
- Fastcats "Fast Laps" computer is quite possibly the coolest piece of hardware (and software) you will encounter at any race. You can track all your laps and print out all the data. this will provide proof if your changes are working or not. I believe John programmed and built this whole thing himself (he is a computer guru). Amazing.
- I love 2wd.
- The Orion 8.5 V2 is a great motor. Not too many people know about it as shops don't seem to stock it.
- Carpet racing is soooo much different than racing on dirt. Traction is insane and the cars really rail around the track
- I think it is easier to get up to speed on this type of surface and I think that helped me make the A Main after so much time off. If it was a loose surface I probably would have been cursing. The high traction is forgiving to the trigger finger.
- I want to thank everyone again for helping me get everything built up and for the power supply use etc. Great bunch of friends!
- The Durango 4wd buggy is SUCH a work of art. Cool to see someone buy one up here. Can't wait to see it on dirt too.
- Half of the place shut down when the hot chick came in to watch her nephew race. This I would think would be par for the course at any RC track...lol
- There is lots of talk for CRCRC this year. Looks like there will be about 8 of us making the trip from these parts this year.
- Panzerotti's are soooo good.
- I love my wife. She actually set foot into an RC track to bring me some bubble tea (Asian thing) on her way to her parents house who live a few minutes away from the track. Local tracks have their advantage!
- My 2.5 year old was in tow as well and he loved watching the cars. He didn't want to leave! Watch out Tebo...he is coming.
- Lots of DSLR cameras out there now. Not in Almost Live's budget (and the wife won't let me use hers) so you guys will have to deal with my trusty pocket camera!
- I applaude Martin P's pit space. Very OCD in its cleanliness and organization!
- Anyone else ever see the Tamiya shock pump? It pumps the air out of your shocks when building for a perfect build every time. It was pretty cool even if it looked like a penis pump....

EDIT: Tools showed up today...haha typical!

jayism's
- Jay had some of the worst luck today.
- I don't think he finished any of the first round quali's (and he was running 3 classes!)
- I say it is the diffs....haha
- Jay may be the new Mike Gremk. His pit was all over the place. My space shrank as the day went on.
- Jay's Pop Tart shock oil box is awesome although it made me hungry.

Pics and video are on the new "Almost Live" facebook page as it is way easier to upload stuff there: "Almost Live" facebook page

A Few pics that camera pro guy Martin Pillmajer:

Me snipping up some tires.

A Main line up

J.B. Catricala staging up.

Concourse winner

Track shot

johnnyboy working the blog

More pics by Martin here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41111661@N03/sets/

Almost Live is Back!

2009-11-21T19:15:00.008-05:00

Well off to fastcats for the one day trophy race on their indoor carpet off-road track. I have been out of the game for a good 6-8 months and was up until 2 am building up a new RB5SP car. Thanks to Tamiya Canada racer Abiye Birku for loaning me some tools to build it (as my new Kyosho Kanai super bling tools are still on order). Going to be a little rusty, but no better way to shake out the cobb webs than to just jump right back in on a race day with zero practice! LOL. I forgot a bunch of set up stuff but Joe Pillars at Kyosho/Peak endured all my e-mails regarding car set up and motor settings. I know the car at least turns on and goes straight from testing it in my basement and I only had a few extra screws left over after the build...haha. The new body isn't done but my old one still has life in it. So good to go. I know a lot of the guys there have stepped it up and gotten quite fast on the super high traction surface. I guess I will have to get there early and get as much practice in as I can as I missed Saturday practice and it is really quite different than driving on dirt. Anyways, stoked to be back and can't wait to get some indoor action in!

Randon thoughts:

- The RB5SP has some great running changes. Mainly the new beefed up steering racks. No need for alloy ones anymore.
- The new turnbuckles, while not as bling as the gold ones, do not bind up on the springs and are just as strong.
- I have finally made the switch to the Kyosho hex wheels over the proline ones. The hex is where it is at! No more roll pins!!!!
- The Orion servos are really quite good. Very fast and strong.
- I am so stoked to have an Orion 8.5 V2 Vortex brushless motor. 8.5 is my favourite wind in a 2wd.
- I still need to clean up/stealthen the wiring but it was 2am and I was too tired to change wiring etc.
- The new Orion charger is also killer! up to 10 amp charge for LiPo. 2C charging finally!
- I sold my power supply to Fred and Chet then like a week later I decide to race again and have no power supply. I am a dumb ass sometimes.
- I will however sign the cheque and get the new 44A Much More power supply and be the envy of all!

.:insert photo here:.
Jayism's
- Jay went back to the B4
- Jay hopefully will not forget to pack his 2wd for this race
- I am willing to bet Jay's diff's need re-building
- Jay is stoked for CRCRC Miswest Champs race

Happy Holloween!

2009-10-30T15:59:00.002-04:00

Thanks again to everyone who checks this blog out. 2010 should be an exciting year!

Also, thanks to all my sponsors for all the support. Great bunch of companies and people helping me out and I look forward to a great 2010 season with them all!

Cheers,

johnnyboy

p.s. - My wife will think I am a huge dork for the pumpkin...haha.

Gear from the Tokyo Hobby Show

2009-10-11T11:58:00.007-04:00

Some quick pics I found from the Tokyo Hobby Show. Some of the new Kyosho and Team Orion gear including the 8th scale electric stuff, the new SC truck and some of the new packs. Nice Nice!

So the season is over!

2009-10-09T11:57:00.004-04:00

Well 2009 is over and was pretty much a write off! I don't remember the last summer that rained this much! Lots of events cancelled. It was a good time to take a summer off from racing! Between work, the kid and my wife racing Triathlons I had a busy summer! Looking forward to 2010. Lots of new teams and people changing teams around here. 2010 should be an exciting year. As for me, well I can't say a whole lot just yet, but I have a few things in the works for sure. I will be adding a Twitter race update (I think anyways, well see how annoying it is to me) and a Facebook race page (which I think will be easier and better for uploading stuff). Click the links on the logo's above. There has been a fair amount of local e-speculation on what I am doing in 2010. The only thing I will say right now is that I have bought a nice shiny new Futaba 3PKS FASST system!

Later,

johnnyboy

2009 Sid's Raceway Fall Classic Cup

2009-09-16T11:07:00.003-04:00

Well, lets see if we can get one race off without a hitch. The Fall Classic is back again to finish off the season. Hopefully the weather holds! Looking for a 3 peat Kyosho sweep!

www.sidsraceway.com

johnnyboy "world wide"!

2009-08-29T10:20:00.004-04:00

I got an e-mail from Hot Bodies Team driver Scott O asking me if I was in Europe...lol. I told him I had sold my buggy to a dude in Spain and with the European Champs on there now and with Oople's always great race coverage, it was only a matter of time before "the 'ol girl" made it to the net I guess. Wonder how he made out (forget his name now).

oOple's European Championship Coverage

Pictures from: www.oople.com

Long time no see!

2009-08-07T19:05:00.004-04:00

Hi guys (and gal's?)

Sorry I have not had any reports as of late. There are a couple of reasons. First off, our "summer" up here has been nothing but rainy weekends and a lot of the racing has been canceled or miserable! Secondly, I work for the family business (shameless plug: www.texpromarine.ca) and we have expanded quite a bit this year and I have had to put in some man hours selling and getting things organized. It has been pretty crazy there (which is good in this economy I suppose) so I have had to put racing on the back burner this season. I will be back though (I have really missed racing this year)! Might have a couple of changes in the wings too. I have been on the fence on wether to enter Nitro Buggy racing. I know nothing of nitro engines, but it is still a huge class up here and quite frankly I have some serious competitiveness issues (I thought it is supposed to wain as you get older?) and might just want to see if I can do any damage in that arena.

Thanks to everyone who checks out my little blog and you will see some more cool coverage in the future!

Cheers,

johnnyboy

workin hard or hardly workin? I'm sure there is a R/C website open in the background...haha

Sid's Raceway 2009 Summer Mayhem Trophy Race

2009-06-13T15:27:00.005-04:00

Well the Summer Mayhem race will go off without a hitch as the weather is great. It will however also go off without johnnyboy! I unfortunately have to work all weekend and will miss the event :( Work has been killing me lately (I guess in these economic times though I can't complain). Gotta pay the mortgage! Hope to get back in the mix soon. You sucka's will have to wait to beat me...haha

Misc Notes:
- I see that is Chet's car in the action shot...Looks like he is driving hard...trying to catch me! Booyaa!

2009 Spring Shakedown....Rained Out :(

2009-05-10T14:25:00.002-04:00

Well, it starts again. Rain Rain Rain...even some hail in some parts. Mother nature gives us another kick in the nut sack and we are forced to cancel the race. Sorry guys.

John

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage: Sid's Raceway Season Opener 3rd Annual Spring Shakedown!

2009-04-28T21:00:00.006-04:00

Well the 2009 Outdoor season is coming upon us up here in Canada and no better way to kick it off with Sid's 3rd Annual Spring Shakedown!

Hopefully the weather co-operates with us as we are looking to draw racers from all over Ontario, Quebec and even the USA!

Lots of new faces, new gear and all the manufacturers will be represented well. The track committee is getting things in shape. A lot of rain up here has stalled the opening of the track, but everything should be ready to go in a week and a half!

Trash talk is starting up on www.offroadrc.ca and your truly will be providing coverage. I have been hibernating lately and only attended a couple of races at fastcats indoor carpet off road as I have been crazy busy at work with some major expansion going on there. I have somehow gained access to the wife's digital SLR as well so we will see if I can come up with some good shots!

Let's see if Kyosho can dominate Sid's again this year. I know there are lot's of guys looking to get on the top step of the podium and have been practicing throughout the winter keeping their game fresh. 4 words: Lets Get It On!

See you at the track!

Kyosho/Orion/JConcepts swept the top step last year (and a 1st in 2wd and a 2nd in 4wd in 2007). Let's see how 2009 shakes out!

2009 Factory Tracks 6th Annual "Big Kahuna" Memorial Race

2009-02-16T17:11:00.051-05:00

The Big Kahuna

When you have to put up protection pipe vertically, nothing good can come from it. Just ask Fred!

Off to the races again. This time it was just young gun Ryan and myself (meeting Fred & Chet there) making the trip. Factory Tracks is in Highland Michigan and we got there in a fairly un-eventful 4 hours. There was a bit of ice/snow just after crossing the border but only a few cars in the ditch this time around. Upon arriving at 10:30 we were greeted by Al and crew getting the track prepped up. The layout looked KILLER! Racers started trickling in and things started to get underway. Factory Tracks has ample pit space, a well stocked hobby shop and friendly staff. Also has a nice big and tall drivers stand. The wet clay track provided unreal traction on Friday's practice session and lap times dropped quickly. There were a good mix of jumps and technical sections. A big triple, whoop section, off camber corner, table top and a good sized straight. It was slicks all the way on Friday (JConcept Gold or Losi Pink) with traction degrading only a little bit by the end of the day. A nice soak overnight gave us some good traction again for the first two rounds at least. We ran 3 rounds of qualifying on Saturday (4th would be on Sunday). I continued my Qual Point jinx and messed up a couple of my heats in 2wd and broke in one of my 4wd heats. I would have to have solid last round to make the show as there was a lot of good talent at the event. Al Horne, Johnny Loguidice, Dakota Phend, JP and Dustin Richards were all looking fast out there. The last round saw traction start to fade and most moved to "Ghost" Pin tires as the track dried out a little. You could smell the Buggy Grip and Zip Free in the pits and the sounds of Dremel's and Drills as racers grinded down tires. Sunday rolled around and the track wasn't as wet as the previous days. Again most people started the day out with "Ghost" Pins in either Losi Taper Pin, BK Bars or JConcept Barcodes. I proceeded to break in my last round in 4wd and only had a average run in 2wd as you couldn't give'r as hard as on Saturday. I did manage to sneak into the 4wd A Main (10th!) with my only two runs and could only muster 5th in the B in 2wd (even Dakota only made BQ in 2wd!). Johnny Loguidice was TQ in 2wd Mod and Dakota was TQ in 4wd and Truck. On to the Mains

2wd Mod A1

copy coming

2wd Mod A2

copy coming

2wd Mod A3

copy coming

4wd Mod A1

Two words: Gong Show. Pile ups at the start let Dakota stretch it out and crashes and breakage from the rest of us continued early in the race to take out some of the front runners (check out the car into the support beam in the video). I managed to go from 10th to 5th. I don't really know what happened during the race as we were spread out.

4wd Mod A2

Technical difficulties with my camera preveted A2 to be filmed. Of course as it was my best finish, again coming from the back to nail a 3rd place finish. It was a bit gifted as Dustin broke while in 3rd with 2 laps to go, but I'll take it. There was some drama with the top three as they were all battling and swapping paint and getting tangled up more than a few times. At the line though it was Dakota taking the win and also wrapping up the the Overall Victory.

4wd Mod A3

Again a bit of a messy start let me weave my way into 4th spot. There were good battles with Chet, Dustin and myself for the 4th spot. I think it was JP taking the win.

2wd Mod B Main

Again technical difficulties with the camera so no video. Dakota, Chet and myself got out clean on the first lap and started to pull away. I managed to snap my rear shock tower on a mild case (it must have had a slight crack in it from earlier and just gave way) on lap 3 and that ended my day in 2wd. Dakota built up a lead, but Chet managed to chip away at it and just ran out of time. Dakota took the win over Chet by like 1 second I think.

Full Results can be viewed here: http://www.factorytracksraceway.com/Results/02152009.pdf

Random Thoughts: (I'll probably add more as I remember stuff as I am rushing to get this out)

- The track layout was the most fun I've had in a while. Great mix of features and everything was perfectly spaced and timed.
- Attendance was down from last year (I think they had 170 this year versus 230 from last year). Those who didn't attend missed a really amazing race weekend! The track was awesome!
- Nancy came through and baked up a storm of cupcakes again to celebrate Dakota's 12th birthday. A big thanks as they were yummy
- We all got schooled again by this 12 year old again this year...It wasn't something in the cupcakes as I had 3 of them and it didn't help me.
- You really needed to have your timing down on both the triple and on the table top section. This proved difficult at times for all the racers at some point and caused a lot of cars to DNF.
- It never got old seeing someone hit the vertical pipe/support girder...good times.
- That was only outdone by an 8th scale buggy getting wedged on the second girder (they were going HUGE!).
- I need (and will have) a better camera for the next time. I had a few problems with my trusty old digital camera and need to step it up. Time to sign the cheque!
- Ryan has only been to the USA once before and was fascinated by the thick bullet proof glass and sliding money tray at the gas station we went to. I told him he wasn't in Kansas anymore...
- To all the American laughing at us for having a National holiday called "Family Day", just remember you are at work and I am at home drinking a beer....
- The 8th scale electric buggies are cool.
- The 8th scale Truggies are....just plain scary. One dude took one to the head and it drew blood.
- Anthony from Glenwood R/C and I disagreed at dinner over the "threshold" line of "do-able" chicks at the pub. I like my line better. Anthony's line included a rather large women in pink...haha sucka.

- We all did agree the waitress in red easily made everyones cut though....
- We all endulged in good 'ol Rolling Rock again while in the US. I nursed my last one though and ended up walking out with it to take it to the hotel as it would be a shame to waste.
- Ryan thought it was funny that so many people kept coming up and asking me: "are you the guy with the blog?". It was nice meeting everyone and putting faces to all the "screen names".
- We Canadian are finally learning when to use slicks, "ghost" pins, 1/4 pins and full tread during the day. We did not have this knowledge last year.
- Chris Wolgast at Gotham Graffix lays down some of the most bad ass paint jobs I've seen and is a cool dude to boot (and a good driver too!). Check out www.gothamgrafix.com
- Al's kids are the future of R/C...lol... I think the one is like 6 years old and I think he won the C Main or something. I watched both of them run and they are pretty smooth and quick out there.
- The Richards duo are both fast guys too. Their George Foreman grill sent out taunting smells throughout the day. Both had their share of misfortune in the mains though.
- Everyone at the race was friendly. There really was a great atmosphere there. I wish we had a track like this in our area.
- Customs was a breeze in each direction again. So it really is Chet who curses me at the border...lol
- 4 hours to get to the race, 3 1/2 to get home. That is not that bad. We will have to come out there more often.
- McDonalds "Cafe" coffee's are crap. I may be a bit o a coffe snob, but I do know a good latte. I wasn't expecting greatness, but it was still dis-appointing.
- I appologize for not filming every main. It is hard when you are trying to race, marshal and prep your own cars and that is my primary function when at a race. The coverage comes second (and my little camera only lasts so long and hold so much. I am going to try and set up a camcorder on a tripod next time so I can get all the mains. I need a camera sponsor!

Fred'isms
- I hate to throw Fred under the bus, but Mike and Jay were absent and I need to have an "ism" section.
- Fred ran a red light
- Fred drank a Strawberry Cupcake Valentines Day Daquiri at the Irish Pub we went to....ok I bought it for him as a joke, but he still drank it.
- Everytime we heard someone hit the girder we all asked if it was Fred
- Fred didn't dis-appoint in his main...he hit the girder. Chet and I were actually crying from laughing so hard.
- Fred is a modern day bootlegger
- I have noticed over the years that Fred likes steak and rum
- Fred does share his rum though. Thanks Fred!

Pics:

Again up at the crack of dawn to race toy cars

The man behind the event Al with the Kahuna Truck

Al getting dirty prepping the track

Al getting dirty in his VIP pit area. Owning the track has it's perks!

Well stocked with all of your racing needs.

Action in the pits

The now infamous birthday cupcakes courtesy of Nancy Phend. Awesome!

High flying triple action

How come Dakota didn't have to wear this?

Grilling action in the pits. This was a good idea. I was jealous.

We had the same room as last year. It was huge...very RC friendly

2wd Mod A Main line up

Again the 4wd did better than the 2wd here.

The future of R/C. Al's kids are fast!

Size does matter in stock class. That is a big fat pinion. Anthony would like that pinion...HAHA

Chris at Gotham Grafix does some amazing work

Al was running the Kyosho RT5 Prototype

Fred staring down his nemisis

Made his peace with it by the end

And he is still faster than you...JP Richards car

Random Car Shots

There were a fair amount of Academy cars there.

Dustin "Rockstar" Richards pit and cars

I am still not sold on the big pink wing. Anthony likes big things in pink though...HAHA again

JP Richards B4

Will try to add more when I get some time...gotta go pick up the wife and kid at the airport. Thanks for checking out the Blog!

Next "Almost Live" Race Coverage: 6th Annual Factory Tracks "Big Kahuna Shootout"

2009-02-12T11:45:00.004-05:00

Screw Valentine's Day! Actually the wife is away visiting family with the kid soooooo...back out to the USA to attend Teammate Al Horne's event. I think there were 230 entries last year and it is now a 2 day event. I hear traction is up (unlike CRCRC). My slicks finally get a workout this year! I will be joining fellow race nuts Fred and Chet for this road trip! Giddie Up!

Edit: I love the fact my wife doesn't celebrate Valentine's Day.

Glenwood 3rd Annual ProFactory Trophy Bonanza!

2009-02-12T11:43:00.001-05:00

Report coming soon. Back to back race weekends, busy work day and kid on sugar is killing me!

New Feature: Bored at work rant!

2009-02-02T15:08:00.010-05:00

So I am bored and figured I'd bring to light the fact that there are way too many knock off/clone hauler bags out there! I mean can we have some creativity out there for a change? I guess the same can be said for a lot of re-badged brushless motors and LiPo batteries as well, but I will quickly focus on the harmless hauler bags. These are all ones I found in a quick google search that are all the same. If someone wanted to actually be creative and not just e-mail the same factory in China with their artwork, they would at least modify their bag with wheels that could actually handle an off road track area. Maybe Upgrade RC should get in the hauler bag business and at least offer some custom logoing for the bags. That's all, back to work....

Team Magic - The First with this design???

New RB5SP Coming!

2009-02-01T09:04:00.004-05:00

I am not sure if the release date is confirmed so I won't say, but here are some pics of the new ride! Sweeeeeet!

Comes stock with everything needed. No more sourcing out upgrades. Can't wait!

More info and Pics: http://www.redrc.net/2009/02/kyosho-ultima-rb5-sp-edition/