My First Podium!

 Well, this past Saturday I made a little personal history when I finished on the podium for the first time at my local track, Coastal RC Indoor Speedway. It certainly wasn't the prettiest of finishes but at the end of the day, I still got my picture taken by the winner's wall...now to get them to post it so I can add it to this post among other things...here's my report

Round 1

I was running in the novice class because I didn't want to be a rolling chicane for the guys in the stadium trucks thing you'll want to know about novice class...it is a run what you brung class which means you get all sorts of different vehicles on the track. I was running my Associated T5M and this time around I was joined by a 2wd buggy and two Traxxas Slash short course trucks. I was up first and had a pretty rough go. crashing quite a few times and couldn't quite get the speed for the jumps, but finished with a solid 8 lap run, finishing in P2 behind the 2wd buggy.

Round 2

Round 2 was a more difficult run, as my front body clips kept slipping through my post holes, which caused my front to come up and parachute horribly off a jump, so I was forced to drive real slow, and eventually, I parked it just so I could see what was going on up close. I ended up in P4 after two rounds.

Round 3

This was the worst of my three qualifying runs as I was only able to finish a single lap before I pulled my truck off because I was having acceleration issues. I took the body off and my negative wire wasn't all the way inserted into my battery pack. I would end up starting fourth in the feature.

Main

I was P4 in the novice main as I mentioned. but with two short course trucks ahead of me, all I really had to do was get ahead of them to ensure a good run and finish. I got a great launch off the line and thanks to the crashing that tends to happen in a novice class, I was in the lead at the end of lap 1! Unfortunately, I got into a couple crashes myself and the 2wd buggy passed for the lead on lap 2 and never lost it again the rest of the five minutes. So it was pretty much about staying ahead of the short course trucks because they were much bigger than I was. One of them broke just about a minute into the race so it was me and the other truck battling for who would finish second. We went back and forth for a couple minutes before we tangled in one of the turns and I flipped the other truck over. Wanting to be a good sport I gave him the position and he went on his way. I overshot a jump turn and nosed into the wall about three minutes into the race and when the turn marshal got to my car, he did the kill sign and I knew something had happened, so my race was over. Thanks to the other short course breaking a couple minutes before I did, that meant I was guaranteed no worse than third in the class!

While I was bummed to not finish the race and have to figure out how to replace my broken part, I was pumped to have my first top 3 finish since I started racing. I will have some things to figure out once my tax refund comes in, but Im going to enjoy my result from this past weekend and hopefully finish the race next time.

New adventures on my third race day

Well today was my third race after a couple weeks off due to some personal issues, and boy did if get off to a rough start as I broke the front kickup on my truck. Initially I thought i broke the whole front of the chassis off but it was a separate piece and thanks to the owner of the track, I was able to procure a replacement and make my first start in the novice class. I ran at the back of both of my qualifiers, missec the third due to dead batteries in my transmitter and started 7th in the feature. Got as high as third off the start, but a couple early bobbles dropped me to 6th but some patient driving and i finished 4th. Thanks to Barry Schimmel and Bryan Grady for getting me up and running after the break this morning. 

My first (and second) race day

Well i finally hit the track for actual racing. I ran Stadium Truck with my T5M twice this week. 

Race 1

My local track, Coastal RC Indoor Speedway, reopened after being shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic (please remember to wash your hands, responsibly and respectfully practice social distancing and if you feel sick, stay home) and had its first offroad day since February. Thanks to a generous fellow, i won a credit on my account and was able to run my truck for tbe first time.

Unfortunately my first experience lasted all of three minutes before I snapped the steering rack and my day was over. I found out later that one of the other guys had the part and would have given it to me if i was still there, but I am reminded that RC is an awesome community of guys who want to help new racers of all ages.

Race 2

After replacing my steering rack thanks to the guidance of a couple guys at the track, I gave it another go during a weeknight club race. I lined up third (of three) in heat 1 and said to myself that my first goal was to finish the heat. I set off when my name was called and it was rough at times, but i finished. 

Round 2 I made my first major mistake and forgot to replace my battery strap and had my foam spacer jam up my rear end when it flew out. Lost about 4 minutes but thanks to a guy at the track who was my unofficial coach for the evening, i got it in and finished the heat.

I lined up 7th in the feature, and my goal once again was to finish. I got lapped quite a bit, ran into everyone else at least once, but i managed to finish fifth when all was said and done  (two guys broke out).

Well I am now officially a racer...just gotta hit the track for valuable practice, learn from my coach and the others and i can only get better from here. 

I have returned

Wow, hard to believe that it has been 12+ years since my last post...but RC took a major backseat to life. Anyway I have been dealing with some major concerns with my mental health among them and end of last year I decided to get back into it.

Unfortunately Debbie's RC World closed a few years ago but some awesome dudes decided to open a track in South Norfolk in Chesapeake. So after quite a bit of saving and hanging out with the guys at the new track, Coastal RC Indoor Speedway and Hobbies, I was able to procure a used Team Associated RC10T5M that the seller graciously set up ready to hit the track.

My work schedule will make getting track time challenging but it will be good to have a "happy place" again.