Blais Racing Report

Coyote Hobbies Raceway
May, 2012

By Chris Blais

This month has been great racing at our local raceway up here in Victorville, CA. I have been undefeated in 4wd Short Course and Stock Buggy all this month. I also just purchased a Team Associated B44.1 and am excited to race the rest of the JBRL’s this year.

4×4 Short Course A Main at Coyote Hobbies Raceway May 12, 2012

Chris Blais, Coyote Hobbies Raceway, Stock Buggy

Pegasus Hobbies R/C raceway
May 19,2012

By Nick Blais

Round 4 of JBRL at Pegasus Raceway in Montclair CA, my local outdoor track, was held on Saturday May 19th. On Friday night after work, I jammed over to Pegasus for some practice on the new track design. Wow, what a change from the last track designs they had. The lanes got wider, the jumps got smoother lips, and not to mention all new tables in the pit area. Pegasus hobbies has been dialed in! Got to give a big thanks to Scott (track manager) for fixing that place up.

I got in some good practice on the new layout and changed a few simple things out as far as shock oil and springs. The 1/8 scale was a little tricky to get dialed mainly because I only have about twenty battery packs through it so far. After choosing my tire of choice, I was running the Pro-Line Tazer on the 1/8 Losi eight 2.0. After talking with Matt at Pro-Line, he got me all dialed in with some Square Fuzzies for my SC trucks. I would elect to try those in my qualifiers. Good thing I did…

Now to qualifying… The order had been changed around since the last time I had raced in the series so 1/8 scale would be first up. In Race #1, I had a good smooth run in this qualifier, a couple of small mistakes but nothing major. I ended up second behind Justin Lew. Race #2 had a couple of really fast guys in the heat and I was moved back to 5th to start in the A main. Race #18, Pro 2, I would get the dry track which was fine because my truck was hooked up with the Pro-Line Square Fuzzie tires. I had a good run with a few small mistakes and I believe I ended up 3rd place in the A main. Race #29, Pro 4, took off around noon and by this time the track was starting to blue groove. I got the freshly watered track but at this point it was just to keep the dust down. The Fuzzies I had transferred from my Pro 2 to my Pro 4 truck seemed to work equally as good. I had a good run until late in the qualifier and I tried to go big and do the double, double, double, as a double, quad. Well let’s just say I paid for that. I ended up 6th place in the A main which was pretty good still.

In the second qualifier, pretty much everything went the same for me as the track seemed like it was getting faster. In the 1/8 scale, I seemed to be right on pace with the top runners. I didn’t check the qualifying times but the top five guys had to be pretty close together being that others were fighting for the last positions in the A main. I was running pretty safe in the 5th spot and I was happy with that. In the Pro 2 class, I ended up winning this qualifier just staying safe doing the double, double, double section. That spot on the track was tricky and lots of time could be lost there if you were to mess it up. I ended up starting third in the A main. Pro 4 went well finishing second but there was a fight, time wise between me and Dunford going at it. He was experimenting with a daring choice of tires, and just catching him out of the corner of my eye, he would catch me and then make some small mistakes that would allow me to finish in front of him. The first place guy was gone. Not sure how far time wise he was out of the picture. Later I’d heard he was running some type of 1/8 scale truck turned into a 1/10 scale. Not sure how that passes tech but whatever.

Time for the mains 7:pm – 11:50pm, a long day of racing so far. 1/8 A main Race #24, lights are on. I had a great jump and the first turn went smooth for everyone. I got ahead of one or two guys and running fast, stuck right there with the leaders for probably four minutes before my first mistake, mainly because of the light glare and my depth perception to the far corners. I had a simple roll over in the first 180 degree turn which cost me big time. There was a kid turn marshaling in that corner for some reason for 1/8 scale! By the time he was able to get to my car safely, I was in 7th and the leaders were gone a half lap ahead. Well it was time for catch-up the rest of the race, and I ended up coming back to 4th place.

JBRL Electric Series Race at Pegasus Hobbies Raceway 1/8 Scale Buggy A Main

Pro 2, Race #29. I started good as always. Lap two coming around, I made a sweet slide pass to take second place for the next ten feet, then got cleaned out when I doubled and the guy I just passed went for the triple. By the time I got going, Cody Turner made his way up from the back of the field and we were in a full on battle for probably four laps and after battling back and forth, he started to drop back, not sure what happened, but he was battling some electronic issues he was having throughout the day. I made it back up to a 3rd place finish. Still not too bad for a season best.

Pro 2, 1st: Matt Gilbert, 2nd: Andrew Smolnik, 3rd: Nick Blais

Finally the best for last, the Pro 4, Race #34. It’s now close to midnight. I started third on the line. Rounding the first turn pretty wide, I wanted to set up a pass for second place and right after the triple jump, 1st and 2nd place got together a little, Dunford went into the lead and as Jake got turned straight, he came together with me. Sorry to see Dunford take a tumble in the tricky double, double, double section. That would put him out of the picture for the rest of the race. Now I’m in first and Justin was hot on my tail, and for some reason I went for the triple in the rhythm section and messed it up. Justin passed for one lap and made the very same mistake I did the lap before. After that, I was going to take it safe and try to make some time, which I did. Everyone else must have been making mistakes in the back. I had a good lead now and then BAM, clipped a pipe. The turn marshal had to take one step what seemed like it took forever, now I’m only one second in front. I tried to stay smooth after that and was able to pull out again. On the next to the last lap, the “cheater 1/8 scale truck” was catching and I made a mistake in the rhythm section again and he was to fly right by. Justin would get by me on my last lap as I had one last mistake to make. Anyway, a good race! Two 3rd place finishes and a 4th place in 1/8 scale. Not too bad for a guy with eight months experience. See ya next month at Controlled Chaos Raceway in Palmdale, CA.