1st Annual Snowball Classic @ Extreme Sports Dome

So Me, Chet, Steve M, Steve N, Ryan, Chewy, Gump, JB and Abiye all made the trip down to Michigan to check out their newest track: The Extreme Sports Dome! Literally across the Blue Water Bridge, Chet and I left my place at 5am and made it there in under 3 hours even in the crazy thick fog the entire way down there (you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you). The place is pretty cool. There are tons of amenities around and the building is huge. I heard it used to be an indoor golf range and it is now an indoor motocross track and R/C track. There is tons of space in the building, concession stand, hobby store and motorcycle shop. The track itself it big and the view from the drivers stand is good. The tires of choice seemed to be Taper Pins, Double Dee's and Holeshots (slighty worn seemed to have worked well). We also lucked out with the weather as it was about 13 degree outside so we were pretty comfortable indoors there without a sweater or jacket. On to the action:






I ended up using JConcepts Double Dee and Rounder Tires in Green Compound (with the stock foams) at this event. These have been great all around tires and I have used them in a variety of different track surfaces (shameless plug :P )


4wd Modified

3 rounds of intense qualifying! There were battles for the win in each heat for most of the 5 minutes. Young Losi gun Dakotah Phend fended (ha!) off advances from myself, on road crossover JB Catricala, Jon Finstrom, Abiye Birku and Chet Kelsey to take the TQ after the dust had settled. The top five for the main was Dakotah, Myself, Abiye, JB and Chet.

Driver Qualifying Order
	Phend Dakota																																													15														5:20.870																									2								1														1														20.820
	Summach John																																													14														5:07.588																									2								1														2														21.108
	Birku Abiye																																													14														5:14.488																									2								2														1														21.026
	Catricah JB																																													14														5:16.418																									2								1														3														20.650
	Kelsey Chet																																													14														5:20.173																									2								1														4														21.395
	Mostacci Steve																																													13														5:02.050																									3								2														1														21.270
	D'Amario Gino																																													13														5:06.127																									2								1														5														21.566
	Finstrom Jon																																													12														5:01.309																									2								1														6														22.451
	Belanger Brian																																													12														5:08.685																									2								2														3														21.873
	Archibald Rozzel																																													12														5:11.423																									1								2														3														21.901

In the Main, everyone got off pretty clean. A couple of small bobbles on my part let Dakota check out. We were pretty much the same distance aprt for most of the 7 minute race. JB made up some ground on me near the end but a couple of mistakes kept him from fully closing the gap. I think there were some pile ups with some of the other racers in the race and that made it impossible for them to get back up to the lead group. It was fairly un-eventful actually...haha.





2wd Modified

Again, fierce battles in qualifying. TQ and lead changes in every heat and every round. You really needed to have your timing down in the jumps or you lost precious seconds. After all and said and done, Dakota eeked out Mike Ciresi for the TQ spot by about a second I think. I slotted into the third spot, Chet in 4th and Jon in 5th.

Driver Qualifying Order
	Phend Dakota																																													13														5:02.716																									3								4														1														22.278
	Ciresi Mike																																													13														5:03.903																									3								5														1														22.043
	Summach John																																													13														5:13.170																									3								4														2														22.237
	Kelsey Chet																																													13														5:16.790																									1								4														2														23.218
	Finstrom Jon																																													12														5:01.983																									2								4														3														23.655
	Catricah JB																																													12														5:06.391																									1								4														3														22.080
	Mostacci Steve																																													12														5:14.334																									3								5														2														22.825
	Engel Jason																																													12														5:18.742																									2								5														3														23.198
	Rodney Mark																																													11														5:01.002																									1								5														2														24.808
	King Ryan																																													11														5:03.038																									2								4														6														23.564

So I put my car down and run up to the stand only to find out I had no throttle! I ran back down and started to troubleshoot. I checked the connections, put a different battery in and still nothing. Mike came down to help and we swapped a sensor wire but still nothing. I think I might have popped the ESC somehow? Absolutely gutted, I sat on the sideline for my favorite class. I do appreciate the "mercy minute" from all the drivers but I guess those are the breaks. I will have to dive deeper into it once I get home. At the tone they rocketed off the line and Mike got into some trouble to slide back to 6th! Dakota once again drove a pretty clean race and started to stretch it out. There were some minor crashes and the order was shaken up a bit. Mike was charging hard and was the only guy tripling the midfield jump section trying to get back in the mix. He reeled in Dakota a couple of times and then fell back only to reel him in again. After seven minutes Mike got right up onto Dakota after Dakota double doubled the midfield jumps and Mike triple singled it. Dakota left a small gap in the final corner and Mike dove in and put a sweet block pass on him. Neck and neck on the final stretch into the double double before the finish line they were both PINNED! There was minor paint rubbing as they dashed for the finish and Mike spun out and Dakota cartwheeled over the finish line to take his second victory of the night! Was a great race to watch!


Edit: The computer missed a lap for Chet hence the changes in the standings.

8th scale electric

Only 4 guys for this one, but the cars were so cool to watch out there. I think this could be the next big class for sure! 2 RC8's and 2 Losi 8ight were there to continue the long standing rival between the "Big Two". Abiye's 8ight was absolutley DIALED out there and proceeded to take the TQ from Dakota with Steve and Gino in Tow.

Driver Qualifying Order
	Birku Abiye																																													15														5:09.766																									3								3														1														19.873
	Phend Dakota																																													14														5:02.177																									3								3														2														20.032
	Mostacci Steve																																													14														5:12.146																									1								3														2														20.964
	D'Amario Gino																																													13														5:14.458																									2								3														4														21.706

Abiye would be the man to keep Dakota from a clean sweep of the event. Dakota might have been on Christmas vaction from regular school, but Abiye put school back in session for them all and drove an ultra clean and fast race to put a lap up on the field.



Modified Truck

Again, I never give Truck the respect it deserves when it comes to reporting (in my defence I am usually getting prepped for my mains). I was marshalling so I couldn't really watch the event unfold. I do know that Ryan worked his way into the lead from his second spot on the grid and stretched it out a bit before his....we'll....I will call it a meltdown! LOL. Still new to the hobby, Ryan's nerves out in the lead got the best of him and a couple of key bobbles let Rozzel reel him in and take over. Ryan would have to settle for second this time around. I was giving him a hard time at dinner about it!

Driver Qualifying Order
	Archibald Rozzel																																													12														5:10.742																									3								6														1														24.682
	King Ryan																																													12														5:19.413																									2								6														1														24.202
	Arntfield Kevin																																													11														5:00.550																									3								6														2														24.970
	Newstead Steve																																													11														5:15.122																									1								6														3														25.921
	Reynolds Mike																																													9														5:00.619																									2								6														4														26.778
	Ploeger Jack																																													9														5:17.793																									3								6														5														29.722

Slash Class

I give the Slash class even less coverage! LOL. It was cool to watch, But I was busy getting ready for my mains. I even forgot to take a picture of the results. Sorry guys. I think Chewy got 2nd.

Edit: Full Qualifying and Main Results Here:
http://www.extremesportsdome.com/2008_RC_Results/results12272008.html



Mike'isms

Mike was absent yet again from the road trips. He was probably sipping club soda's with some lady associates or something.


Random Toughts

- I think I did alright for being on 2 hours sleep (the wife made me go to a party and drink wine...) and then driving for 3 hours and not drinking enough fluids at the track. These early morning departures are brutal!
- Customs were not too bad either direction. We got searched coming home for a couple of minutes, but it was no big deal. It only seems to happen when I travel with Chet.
- I did declare the 3 tins of baby formula I bought for my son as part of the deal I struck with my wife so I could go to the race (You can't get it in Canada).
- Thanks to Gino for pointing out Chili's had Rolling Rock beer at dinner. Another drink you can't get in Canada. It was tasty (if you can call any American beer that...haha).
- There were concerns of the MX noise at the place. I brought my sweet iLUV noise cancelling headphones and some dollar store ear plugs just in case. In all honesty, when the MX guys were going full on, it was a little noisy (noisier than a Nitro event), but they were not going all day and I personally didn't mind it.
- The track was really cool and again all the locals were very cool and laid back. It's great to havev people like this in the hobby!
- Dakota is still one of the nicest kids in R/C that I know. Very calm and collected on the stand and very fast and clean on the track.
- I was excited to learn he was going to be racing there.
- I was disappointed when he showed up with out cup cakes....lol
- JB from fastcats came out to race dirt. He is primarily a pan car carpet ace and offroad carpet ace, but did just fine out there in the dirt. Hope to see you come out for more dirt action!
- Ryan, you will get over the nerves thing...Just need to race more.
- I was sooooooo disapointed I couldn't run the 2wd main. I looove 2wd.
- Gino, I saw you triple the midfield jump section a few time's in the 8th scale main...Awesome!
- I tried the new "Tebo" set up on my RB5 and while it looked really weird on paper, it drove quite well! Sweet to have a driver of his caliber on the Red Army to help out with set ups!
- Anyone know if the girl who climbed to the top of the rock wall ever got down...HAHA
- It was the first outing for my new Kyosho Lazer FS kit and I really have to say it drives WAAAAAY better than my SP did. I did not think it would be that mutch better, but it really is.
- I did not break one Lazer part either. The new parts are strong!
- Thanks to Mike Ciresi for the invite out and the hospitality and the $35 cash winning for my second place finish in the 4wd main.
- They gave out a whack load of door prizes. Enough that I think almost everybody got two. I picked up a sweet Racers Edge hole reamer and some pimp pink zip ties..lol.
- The Crispy Chicken Taco's at Chili's were awesome. Their fries are good too.
- I was in bed by 11:20pm. Not too bad.

So I think that might be it until CRCRC Midwest Champs. Can't wait to get to that one!

Some pictures and Video's (I'll try and get more videos from the other guys)


Dakota laying down some laps

The Canadian Contingent!

Tweaking the new Lazer FS

Some Brap Braaaap action on the other side.

Picked these up at the dollar store just in case. I didn't end up using them, but a few others did.

Gino filling up on some goodies before the mains

Overview of the track.

The Phends. One at work, one at play. haha

View of the stands from the pits

Mike on the mic....handing out door prizes.

John :Chewy" Baker...always working on a track!

I am a bad man. I will admit publicly that I smuggled an outside food product into the building. I needed to eat this though as it was calling my name from my car....

Dakota's Losi XXX-CR

Dakota's XXX-4

johnnyboy's RB5

johnnyboy's Lazer FS

Chet's B4

Chet's B44

Mike Ciresi's RB5

Gino's RC8. the wires were so cleanly done on his Mamba Monster Max until it went up in smoke and he had to scramble to put this unit in.

Abiye's Losi 8ight E. This thing was dialed!

Steve's BJ4WE as his B44 is still in the hands of the Post Office.
edit: could Steve be the new Grmek in regards to "The Landfill"? Only time will tell...


A Lap with Chet


A Lap with Dakota (early in the day)



A Lap of MX


My RB5 Set Up Sheet


My Lazer FS Set Up Sheet


Also have entered the 'ol blog in:

Next: "Almost Live" Race Coverage: Extreme Sports Dome!

So fellow team mate Mike C. e-mailed me to see if I could make it down to their new track. I have rallied the usual suspects (Steve M and Chet K) and hopefully a few more to head down to the 1st annual "Snowball Classic" at the Extreme Sports Dome (www.extremesportsdome.com). The track looks pretty cool. Nice and big with lots of amenities right on site! They are also looking to run an 8th scale electric class if they get enough guys, so if you are itching to try your newly built 8th scale electric, this will be a good place to do it. Also, some good last minute practice for the upcoming CRCRC Midwest Championships. I think with the help of Steve M we can make it there in under 2.5 hours. So not too far at all.

I will also be adding some new features to the coverage (testing them out for CRCRC's coverage) so check back for the race news!

Indoor Dirt at Glenwood!

Clubbin' @ Glenwood R/C

Well I have been off for a while working, but finally had time to sneak down to Glenwood R/C for some indoor dirt action. I couldn't make it down for Friday practice so it was off at 5 AM Saturday to get there early. Road tripping in the Subaru this time were two new guys: Ryan and Jay (Steve and Gino went down on Friday). The boys at Glenwood always make full use of their small track. Their layouts never disappoint! The fine talcum powder like clay is an interesting surface and slicks are always the weapon of choice. Usually Losi Pink Taper's, but I had success with slicked out J Concepts Goosebumps in Green compound. Anyway's on to the action:


Up Early...


2wd 10.5 Class

A few guys were missing this weekend, but there was still no shortage of talent there. Fellow Canadian local Chet Kelsey continued to lay it down with his B4 taking T.Q. (Chet sneaked in the extra lap I had some bad luck in the 3rd round stripping a ball stud out of the rear hub and that let a fine drive by Zach edge me out of 2nd by under 1 second. I was trying a new set up from team mate Rob Betts and while it looked a little weird on the set up sheet, it drove pretty good. I only made a couple of minor changes to suit this track but this set up is MILES away from my regular one. In the Main we all got off pretty clean for the first half and then a huge pile up from 2nd to 5th let Chet stretch it out and B Main bump up Rick Siller weave through into 2nd. I was down to dead last and drove my ass off to get back up to 3rd. Chet was gone by that point and took an easy win, Rick drove a clean race to fend my advances off for 2nd leaving me in 3rd. Was a fun race though and while I am extremely competitive, I was happy with the result after being out for a while and with a new set up. I'll be gunning for Chet the next time, that is for sure buddy!




4wd Open

this class has gotten crazy at Glenwood. Everyone just pinning it out there. I tried a new set up in the Lazer SP and well.....it sucked. LOL! Had mediocre 1st and 2nd qualifiers and then blew the front diff out in the warm up laps of the 3rd. Not good. I ended up in the B Main, but decided I didn't have enough time to rebuild the diff before the main so I shelved the car (it is still in the trunk of my car..haha). Brian Bellinger drove his B44 like a maniac to take the win in the A Main. The race was crazy. There was a train for most of the race and you could throw a blanket over the top 4 for a lot of it. I'll let the video do the talking.



Truck: Didn't get to see too much of it but here are the results:




Random Thoughts:

- Good to see Chet back and healthy. The time off hasn't slowed him down.
- Damn the US Burger Kings and NOT having gravy for the fries!
- I thought it was funny Ryan has never been to the USA before and Buffalo was a great way to see the States for the first time...haha.
- I miss Mike's GPS. Jill (the GPS voice) was great. I wanted to throw my crappy one out the window as it was sending me in all crazy directions while trying to pick Jay up in the morning.
- Felt good to be back on dirt. Glenwood really is a great place to race. Good racing, good people.
- Customs on both sides were quick and easy. No searching this time.
- Good to see Anthony driving a 4wd car even if it is a Losi
- Everyone is stepping up their game! The racing is tight!

Pics and Vids:

The RB5 with the new Tekin RS ESC. Worked really well.

The Lazer..didn't work as well.



Fred checking Chets trunk for some Appleton!

Steve is ALWAYS working on his cars!

The Lazer..retired for the night.

The only chick for miles...lol

The "Love Machine"

Freds B44 and Anthiny's cute little Losi wind up car.



Chets A Main winning B4

Ryan's B4. New to slicks.



2wd A Main

New RB5 Body: The Sword!

Well I am still alive! I have been working like a dog for the last few weeks and have not had any time to race. I will be heading down to Glenwood R/C though in a couple of weeks for some indoor dirt action! Can't wait. In the meantime, Kyosho has a new body out for the RB5 called the Sword.

From Kyosho.co.jp:

UMB02
New type body that improves stability performance on high grip surfaces compared to the standard body.
*Body for ULTIMA RB5



Cool. A little hard to see without some paint on it though.

Back to "Almost Live Race Coverage" in a couple of weeks!