This past weekend I was attending Round 1 of the 2012 RC Pro Texas State Series in Porter, TX at Gulf Coast Raceway. I am always excited about coming to this track because the crew always do a great job with the layout, the track is covered, and it is just an awesome facility! This year the layout was fast and challenging and due to heavy rain on Friday, the track was very slick but with 206 entries I knew that was going to change!
PRACTICE
I got to the track early on Friday morning to dial my cars in and get a feel for the track. In buggy my car was awesome from the start. I have been running the same setup for a long time and it is really good at every race at. So most of my practice time I focus on tire choice and getting to learn the track! I put M3 Blockades on the car and they felt awesome! They were grippy and I could break the m loose when I wanted to! In truggy, my truck was awesome as always with M3 Revolver 2.0s, and I was ready to go for qualifying the next day!
QUALIFYING
The qualifying format for this race was best 2 out of 3 rounds of 5 minute heats. My plan was just to stay smooth and consistent and try to set myself up for a a good finish in the mains! In Rd. 1 of truggy I had a pretty good run that was smooth but I felt like I was lacking a little bit of steering which slowed down my run, and I finished 6th overall for the round. I decided to switch to a little bit softer spring in the rear for Rd. 2 and that was a bad decision. I didn’t get the lift off of the big jumps that I need to comfortably clear them and that affected my run, so I finished 10th overall for the round. And 8th overall after 2 rounds. In Rd. 3 I put back the stiffer spring in the rear and my car was great, but I still made a couple of simple mistakes and I finished 12th overall for the round, and was starting 8th on the grid for the main that evening! In buggy, I knew I was going to be on my game because the best talent in the state was all here and the B-Main here could be an A-Main anywhere! In the first round of qualifying, I had a pretty good run with a couple of little mistakes. I made the mistake of putting some pretty wornout M3 Blockades on my car, and it was pretty slick, but my buggy felt great none the less. I finished 12th overall and I knew I could do better. In the 2nd round of qualifying, I put some brand new M3 Blockades on the car and it felt awesome! I was on a great run that would put me solid in the A-Main, but I made a couple of mistakes towards the end of the race, and it ruined my whole qualifier, so I finished 16th for the round. And 15th after 2 rounds. In the final round, I knew I was going to have to have a near perfect run to get in the A, and I didn’t, I was trying to drive too fast, and that cost me. So after qualifying, I was sitting 7th in the B-Main, but I knew I had the speed to bump!
MAINS
In my 20 minute B-Main, my plan was to just stay calm and get off to a good start so I could set myself up good to bump. I put some brand new M4 Recoils on my car and they were awesome! In the first turn, I got through the usual pile up, and I was in 4th, when I got clipped in the air by another car, and it took atleast 10 seconds for the marshall to flip over all of the other cars that wrecked, and then flip over mine. So I was dead last after 1 lap. I slowly started moving up, and I was sitting in 6th, when the first pit stops came up. I moved up to 4th, but then I just started to drive too fast, and made alot of mistakes, so I finished 7th in the B, and 17th overall, which I wasn’t really happy with. In my 30 minute truggy A-Main, my plan was pretty much the same. Get through the first few laps smooth and then just settle in and stay consistent. I had M3 Revolver 2.0s on my car, and they were awesome! I got caught up in the first turn pile up, and was sitting in 8th after the first lap. I then started moving up and right when I was starting to get in a groove, I cased the big quad and that popped off my right rear dogbone, and I was forced to retire from the race. So I finished 10th.
So, overall, I think I had a pretty good weekend, I had fun, and that’s what you have to do, I had a little bit of bad luck, but that’s racing!
Till next time,
Cade “Young Gun” Whitenton
PRODUCTS USED
Buggy-
Qualifying-
V2 Yellow rims
Main-
Truggy-
Qualifying and main-
