I went racing this past weekend, as a practice for the JC Spring indoor 1/8th nats and two weeks after that the AMS! As this was one of our un-official pros/joes days, I spent most of the day helping pit or corner marshal for the newer guys in the hopes racing would catch on for them and they would continue to come to our track to race.
I raced only one class again, the ever popular electric buggy. I had just received most of my nitro gear before racing started but I decided not to scramble to get it all together. Hopefully the nitro & electric buggy setups will work well on each other.
Through out qualifying I began trying a few different things in the hopes of getting my rc8.2e even closer to being dialed in. Admittedly I've struggled to really be comfortable with the Associated cars in general but I think its starting to come in now. I tried switching between Blockades in M3 and X3, as well as the Holeshot 2.0s in M3. Blockades ended up being the best choice as is usual on our bumpy, dusty, somewhat abrasive track. I also decided to lower the punch a lttle bit on my Hobbywing Xerun 150amp, which made a pretty big difference to the driveability of the car.
Throughout qualifying I had some issues with staying away from traffic and just couldnt get a clean run in, even though I had about 3 seconds up on a tq pace both the second and third rounds. I qualified fourth.
In the main I again decided to lower the rear shock fluid in order to gain some stability from the car. this turned out to be a great idea and it really allowed me to push the car a little harder to get on the pace i should easily be able to run. After getting into second easily on the first lap, a overzealous third place shot into the back of me which dropped me way back. Even with that, I managed to work my way back up to second but by then first had already gotten a huge lead. It was reassuring to finally feel some confidence in my car after struggling for the past few months.
I used again my trusty RC8.2e with Pro-line Bulldog body and Blockades in M3 wrapped around PL lightweight velocity rims, powered by the solid Xerun 150amp esc and 2250kv motor.
Still some time to get back on the winning pace, I will get there eventually!
-Carter Flotron, SPD
