Event: 1/8 Spring Nationals
Date: May 27 – 29, 2011
Track: HobbyTown USA HobbyPlex – Omaha, NE
Jon and I arrived Friday morning to Hobby Plex where Alex Sturgeon greeted us with our familiar pit spot from last year. We were setup and on the track with the e-buggy and while it was dry I was running Double Dees and Hybrids in green compound. The RC8B-E was dialed and working good.
Time to check out the 1/8th n-buggy and time to get my yearly truggy fix. A little engine tuning and I was off and running and both vehicles felt great. I was hero jumping a couple sections so my consistency was struggling but I figured it would be easy to go conservative in qualifying. Jon brought along some used tires from home and I ran Hybrids and 3Ds on my buggy and the new Subcultures on my truggy. 🙂
Saturday started with rain, oh no I thought. After all Jon’s work prepping these cars I was going to have to go mud bogging. Alex and crew jumped on the track maintenance and threw down some saw dust / wood chips and it started to look better. I was up in race 3 in truggy and took the conservative approach and just tried to get a run in. I was a lot slower than I wanted to be so I guess you always have to punch it in truggy! The Subcultures were dialed so I was happy with the tire selection but cleaning the Subs would not be easy. 15 minutes of scrubbing got the mud out of the 3-tier design.
1/8th buggy was up next and I was pleasantly surprised. I ran some used 3Ds and the buggy was very good. I ran 2nd for the round behind last year’s winner Kendall Welch. In-between rounds Richard Saxton was checking in on how my buggy was working because I was sporting the new upgrade kit and was eager to get my opinion. So far so good and Richard encouraged some changes which made Jon go back to work. Sorry Jon! Ha
My e-buggy run was a little ugly. I had apparently converted to a nitro driver all of a sudden and had trouble getting the timing of the e-buggy down. I ran some used Hybrids and they felt pretty good but the track was still very tacky. Suddenly I’m a nitro driver?
Moving on to round 2 I ran second for the round in truggy and I tried the Sevens on it. The Sevens were a great feeling tire and it felt balanced. I was still struggling with what felt like a slow servo or steering and just didn’t feel totally connected steering wise. The n-buggy ran next and it was amazing. The best run I’ve had in nitro for a long time was confidence inspiring. I experimented with the new Inverse (2-piece) wheel with no screws and I was pretty hooked on the result. The buggy was getting much better all the way down the line and I felt good about all the settings.
No good news to report about my next 2 qualifiers in e-buggy. Normally my best 1/8th vehicle was feeling evil this weekend.
Jon and I packed it up and had some dinner at TGI Fridays where our server had just chased down a group of kids attempting a dine and dash. We were all immediate friends.
Sunday morning was here and I could hear rain again. The track was again covered in water but Alex and crew were right back on the task and cleaned, prepped and wood chipped the surface and the mains were on. I was up in race 7, e-buggy A-main #1.
Let’s just say the track was a little sticky and I found myself in the lead but was conservative to say the least. Taking things easy I led for about 7 minutes until fellow JC driver Mack Vanderbeek caught me and made a pass. I found a small rhythm and hung in there in 2nd. Mack made a mistake in the graveyard section and I thought the race was mine. I hit Mack while he was upside down and now Alex Sturgeon was right on us. A 3-way battle up the step-up ended when Mack and I tangled again and I got the worst of it. At the finish line Alex made a brilliant move and took the win. I settled for 3rd.
A-2 in e-buggy was next and it was a race to forget for me. A bad start and numerous mistakes. I will end it with that. Alex would take the overall win in the class with smooth and consistent driving. I moved into 2nd overall with a win in A-3 so I felt a little better finishing off the day with a win and podium placement. In all 3 A-mains I ran the Punisher body / wing combination and 3Ds tires in green compound.
The next race would be the 45 minute truggy A-main. I would sit 4th on the grid and the truck felt good in warm-up. The main started relatively clean and I moved into 2nd right away. Kendall Welch was leading and starting to check-out. I found myself in a battle with Chad Parks for 2nd and it lasted for 20-25 minutes until I had a horrible 2 laps which dropped me out of 2nd contention. In the end Kendall took a well deserved win followed by Chad Parks in 2nd and I took 3rd. My RC8T-CE was outfitted with JConcepts tires, wheels and Punisher body / wing combination.
The Sportsman 1/8th buggy main started and ended with Jason Bonds. Running his Losi 8ight 2.0 Jason took a great start and increased the lead lap after lap. Running a complete 30 minute main, Jason was able to relax the last several laps with the race in hand. Jason’s buggy was gripping the dirt with JConcepts Hybrids in green compound for the A-main event. Congratulations to Jason Bonds on a well deserved run.
The last nitro main of the day was up and I sat 3rd on the grid for the 45 minute Pro buggy A-main. I got a great start after mistakes by Taylor James and Kendall Welch gave me the lead. I pushed the buggy and felt I had a great chance for the overall. Kendall made a charge and was pressing me for the lead but it was a long race and he didn’t force the issue. I maintained the lead and while Kendall pitted at 7:30 I stretched it out till 9:00 and I felt pretty good. Entering my pit in-lap I had several bobbles and then got hung on the pit wall for a few seconds. My lead was gone and Kendall was all over me once again and he took the lead. During the next round of pit stops I found myself now racing for 2nd and 3rd as Taylor James caught up and we were now battling and slowing each other down. Kendall was gone.
At around the 35-40 minute area it was clear Kendall was going to win providing he had no issues but the battle was on between myself and Taylor. Before my last pit stop Jon yelled up to me and told me I was going to have to push it because Taylor was on a 10 minute strategy. I found my pace and clicked off some great laps and took enough of a cushion to take the 2nd place overall. Taking the win was Kendall Welch with myself taking 2nd and Taylor James 3rd. I had a really good buggy in the main and the setup changes were spot-on. I also thought I chose the right tire, wheel and insert combo for the track. My buggy was equipped with JConcepts Punisher body, Punisher wing (92mm side-dams), Prototype Inverse buggy wheel and gripping the dirt with 3Ds tires in green compound. It was a dialed combination all weekend.
I have to take my hat off to Alex Sturgeon and the entire Hobby Plex crew. I would also like to thank the amazing group of racers that attended at the endless amount of appreciation from the drivers about the event. See you next year!
