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/
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