Well it was that time again – Extreme Hobby Zone Slash racing. In case some of you haven’t been out to this track in Winter Haven you really need to check it out. Its size and racing surface reminds me a lot of GOAR and the Old Ocala track from the ’90s.
It reminds be of a simpler time before the Empire and the Rebellion.
So we were off, armed with our Pilot Brandy and her many abilities (just recap, she’s a semi-pro Meteorologist, MD, Lawyer, Child Psychologist, and a Short Order Cook in her Spare time), also along was Tim, the walking Expert in anything that has ever happened in the world since 1895, and Zach Mote who just recently picked up a sponsorship from Wonder Bread.
Our first stop on the wagon trail: the Jconcepts factory to pick up Jason. Now Jason brings a leveling mixture to the group; for instance if I like something, and Tim hates it, Jason can go either way. This really brings a balance to the force. I think a lot of times going to these races it is the car ride that is the most fun.
I would also like to point out all the ribbing Jason has been giving me about my skill. I mean he was full taunting me to the point that we actually had to pull the van over twice just to engage in a mixture of ultimate fighting and pants wetting. I predicted 2 things on this day Victory for myself and the Lakers. Armed with a set of Jconcepts GooseBumps (which in order to get my hands on, I had texted, emailed called, mailed and faxed my request to Jason 8 times a day for 2 weeks), I was sure this was the hot ticket on that track.
Racing: Well, arriving to the EHZ super speedway we saw the Normal suspects were there; we had the Noels, The Chad, Matt R and Dennis. Not to be intimidated, we brought some fire power of our own from Ocala. Zach Mote(the winner from round one), Mr Tim Davis, myself, Jason for insight and advice(not racing), and Brandy MD, JD, PA, DDS to help out with all the technical stuff – (roll center, caster, camber, static dampening, weight bias, etc.). This was going to be the showdown of showdowns.
In Qualifying it was Dennis and Mote both turning 11 laps and locking down the front of the grid. It was Matt R though with a solid win in the B main to bump into the feature to make things real interesting. Tim was unable to put his truck into the A main, I overheard some ranting about X-jumps and spur gears, Rachel Nichols and Hanna Storm with have more on that later in a separate report.
For the main, the one thing I was confident in through out the day was the ability of my car to turn in on the first corner and hold it tight around the pipe – so from my fourth starting spot I had pretty much decided that I was going to try and cut inside of the first three tucks, as I noticed all day how they took more of a sweeping line through the first corner. I was also hoping for some contact between them to pull this maneuver off. SO, after the 18 minute tone countdown, (you know its one of those beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, TONE starts), we were off – and just as I had foreseen, Dennis and Mote bumped and pushed wide allowing myself and The Chad to come over the crossover one – two. As we headed back around to go under the crossover, Chad had got tangled with a truck from overhead, thus allowing me to take the lead on the first lap!
What were you saying J?
Well I knew I couldn’t get comfortable as Mr Mote was back there, and he would be gunning for me. Sure enough, he caught and passed me……. but for an old wiley veteran such as myself, I was OK with it. Around the half way point Mote, Myself and Chad where running 1,2,3 when I heard a noise… *Grrrrrrrrr*. At first I thought it was the sound someone trying to pry Jason away from eating his fancy Milano cookies, but no, it was Mr Motes Spur gear … what could this be a victory?
Nope, I couldn’t mail it in yet as The Chad was now lurking in 2nd. With about a minute to go, I heard he had pulled it…… So with a sizable lead I quickly put it on cruise and sailed to Victory. As for that Matt R fellow I was talking about earlier he would finish 2nd with Dennis following closely in 3rd. Yep it was a good day to be a Matt in the Slash EHZ Racing circuit.
I would like to give a big shout out to the EHZ crew they do a great job running their races and we will definitely be back! Its like a throwback track. Maybe I’ll wear a throwback Doug Flutie Jersey next time….
A few things we learned on this trip:
Brandy can add expert R/C’r to her Resume
Our Conversation in the Car ride ranged from Wagon Trails, to Flag Saluting, to Suffocation
Goosebumps on the slash = Dialed
Not everyone knows what the word dialed means
Tim was wrong about one thing on the trip, the Toll amount! – I’m actually wrong pretty often – (Ed.)
The Jconcepts Factory was up and running on a Sunday Morning – employee count – One. 100% committed.
Brandy in a Jconcepts Hoodie – just the Hoodie…. Nice.
Loamy Small R/C tracks .. Super Dialed
Ocala has a history of fast R/C toy car drivers .. Looks like its Motes turn. Be careful with the power it brings.
