Cade Whitenton at the RC Pro US Series

This past weekend I was attending the second round of the RC Pro US Series South Division in Lafayette, LA at Finishline Raceway. The crew built a very fun track for the field of 120 racers, and I was very excited to get back on the track coming off a great finish at the Texas State Series Round 2 race a few weeks ago!

PRACTICE

My first impressions about the track were it was very fast, fun, and LOOSE! The track was very dusty and they were watering every now and then on Friday. My XT8 was fast as usual, and after some suspension changes to my XB9 to get some more grip, I was ready for qualifying the next day!

QUALIFYING

The qualifying format for this race was 4 rounds of 5 minute heats, and then your best 2 runs deciding your qualifying position for the mains! Qualifying in truggy went really good. In the first round, my M2 Revolver VTR 2.0’s were awesome and I had a fast run resulting in a 3rd overall behind Mike Battaile and Derek Guidry. I still made a few mistakes though. It was very hard to get a clean run just because the track was so fast and you had to be very consistent with the caliber of drivers in the Pro class. In the second round, I put M3 Revolver VTR 2.0’s on the truck, and they were a lot better. I got 4th overall behind Mike Battaile, Derek Guidry, and Denver Houghton, but still made some small bobbles. In the 3rd round I got another 4th overall. My plan for the 4th and final round of qualifying was to go out there and try to get a very fast run, and I didn’t. I pushed it way too hard, which resulted in many mistakes, and a 7th overall for the round. My qualifying efforts set me up to be 4th on the grid for the 45 minute main on Sunday! I knew that a lot could happen in a 45 minute main, so I was confident about getting a good result come Sunday!

In buggy qualifying, my goal was to get top 5 runs every time I went out. I knew that with the amount of fast guys here, it would be hard to do, but I knew I could do it! In the first round, I was on a really fast run, but I flamed out due to a low idle. The second round went very good. My M3 Blockade’s were hooked up and I drove a fast race resulting in a 2nd overall behind David Joor. I still made some mistakes though. In the 3rd round, I had another fast run with some mistakes, and got 3rd overall behind David Joor and Derek Guidry. In the final round of qualifying, my receiver went bad on me in warmup and I was forced to not race the round. But, with my 2 good rounds I was still 4th overall on the grid for the 45 minute main!

MAINS

My plans for the mains were to run fast, consistent races, knowing that a lot could happen in 45 minutes. In the truggy main, I got a good start and after my first pit stop, I started to settle in 3rd place. I was just trying to drive smooth, consistent laps, and try to not fall back too far from Battaile and Guidry who were in 1st and 2nd. Right when I was started to find my groove, one of my clutch shoes went bad. We quickly took it back to the pits and changed it out. I got back on the track with about 25 minutes left, but I was already too far back to get a top 5. I ended finishing 8th. My XT8, Werks B5 Pro, and Pro-Line tires were awesome all weekend, and I knew I could get a solid finish in the main, but I just had some bad luck, that’s racing!

Pro Truggy Results-

1. Derek Guidry

2. Mark Morrow

3. Denver Houghton

4. Tracy Abshire

5. Robbie Darby

8. Cade Whitenton

In the buggy main, I got a good start from 4th, and even took the lead for a couple of laps. But right before my first pit stop, I flamed out. Since I flamed out right in front of pitlane, my dad was able to get it started back up real quick, and I started clicking off some fast, consistent laps. I started moving up through the pack, and after some people flamed out, I was up to 5th! After battling with Reggie Tongue and Brady Walton for a while, I was up to 3rd! I tried to make a charge up to the front, but Denver Houghton and Jake Dellinger were already too far ahead, so I ended up finishing 3rd. I was very happy about this, knowing that I had to fight back to finish where I finished. My XB9, Werks B6 Pro, and Pro-Line M3 Blockade’s were dialed the whole main!

Pro Buggy Results-

1. Denver Houghton

2. Jake Dellinger

3. Cade Whitenton

4. Brian Chassaniol

5. Brady Walton

I was very happy on how my weekend went. My Xray cars were awesome, my Werks motors were screaming, and my Pro-Line tires were hooked up! I have a little bit of a break until my next big race, in Katy, TX for Round 4 of the Texas State RC Pro Series! But I’ll still be practicing as much as I can and testing new things until then!

Thanks for all the support and awesome products Pro-Line!

Till next time,

Cade”Young Gun” Whitenton