This past weekend I attended the 1/8 Fuel Offroad Nationals Warm Up Race at Gulf Coast Raceway in Porter, Texas. The crew at Gulf Coast built a fast and flowing track for 190 of the best racers in the country.
PRACTICE
When I got there Friday morning for practice, the track was still very moist and slick from the rebuild, but by noon the track was developing a groove that would really give us an idea of what the track would be like for the rest of the weekend. I settled on Pro-Line‘s M3 Blockades in both buggy and truggy.
Thanks to Matt Walsh for the pictures!
QUALIFYING
This race called for 3 rounds of 7 minute qualifiers, using your best round to see where you will start in the mains on Sunday. In the first round of truggy qualifying, I had a pretty rough, mistake filled run and finished 16th overall for the round. In the second round I just wanted to run a clean, mistake free run and see where I ended up. I ended up doing just that and finished 8th overall for the round. In the final round of qualifying, I really wanted to get a 14 lap run to assure my spot in the A. The run started off good, I was on a 14 lap pace through the first quarter of the race, then I tried to push too hard and made some mistakes, ruining my run. After qualifying, I ended up qualifying 11th, which was 1st in the B-Main.
In the first round of buggy qualifying, I had a nice smooth run, and finished 9th overall for the round. In the second round, I had a good run with a few bobbles and finished 11th for the round. In the final round of qualifying, it went the same as my last truggy run, I tried to push too hard, and had a bad run. After qualifying, I was set to start 4th in the B-Main.
MAINS
My first main of the day was the 20 minute truggy B-Main. I was starting up front and my plan was to just get a good start and pull away. I got a decent start and was 2nd just before the first pit stop, but I flamed out a couple laps before coming into the pits, and we couldn’t get it started up again. I was pretty bummed because I felt I had the speed to make the A.
Next up was the 20 minute buggy B-Main. I was starting 4th and I knew I could work my way up to a bump spot by the end of the main. I got tangled up on the start and was last after the first lap. Then I tried to push too hard and make up time, and that led to me making many mistakes and losing more time. By about the half way mark I started finding my groove, but it was too late to move up to one of the bump spots, so I ended up finishing 5th.
Overall, I felt a had a good weekend. My Xray cars and Pro-Line tires were awesome all weekend! I had some good qualifying runs, but just made mistakes when it counted. I had a lot of fun hanging out with all my friends again, and I learned a lot of things that will help me when it comes time for the Nationals in June!
I would like to thank Jeremy Cupps and the whole Gulf Coast crew for an awesome weekend of racing, and James Manderano for running a smooth program all weekend long!
Thanks Daniel Adams and Pro-Line for all the support and top notch products!
Till next time,
Cade “Young Gun” Whitenton
PRODUCTS USED
Truggy
M3 Blockades
Yellow Wheels
MBX6T Bulldog
Pro-Bond Glue
Buggy
M3 Blockades
Lightweight Yellow Wheels
Pro-Bond Glue
