A couple weekends back I attended RC Pro Series Round 1 in Alvin, Texas, at Ultimate RC. I always look forward to racing at this track, as it is always a fun, motocross style track!
PRACTICE
Practice on Friday was cancelled due to icy conditions and a wet track, so they moved practice to Saturday morning.
QUALIFYING
Due to the delayed practice, the plan was to run 2 rounds of 7 minute qualifiers, and if we finished those two rounds before 7 P.M., we would run 1 more round that night.
In the first round of truggy qualifying, I was going in blindly because I didn’t have a chance to get any practice time with my truck. I wasn’t that worried, because my XT9 is always good. I went out there with M3 HoleShots and my truck was awesome! I drove pretty cautious and made a few mistakes for a 2nd overall for the round. In the second round, I went out with the same set of M3 HoleShots, and wanted to try to get a fast run in. My truck was very fast but I made a few mistakes and got 3rd overall for the round.
In the first round of buggy qualifying, I just wanted to have a clean run and maybe try and go for a fast run in round two. I went out there with X3 BowTie 2.0s and had a pretty good run for 5th overall. They had problems with the loop during the second round and decided to finish up the races that weren’t run, the next morning. The next morning I had a faster run for 4th overall.
After qualifying, I was set to start 3rd in truck and 4th in buggy…
MAINS
They had to shorten the truck main to 20 minutes due to the lack of time. I was starting 3rd and made a couple of changes to my truck to soak up the bumps and ruts. I got off to a bad start after my motor flamed while waiting for the tone to sound, so I was last after the first lap. My truck felt amazing with M3 Hole-Shots, and within about 5 minutes, I was in fourth and challenging for 3rd. Unfortunately, I landed off a jump weird and my steering ackerman got caught in my side guard, and my dad had to bring my truck back to the pits to unlock the steering and get me back on the track. I lost about 2 laps and knew I was out, due to the shorter main. It was a bummer because my truck was awesome and knew I had the speed to win, but that’s racing!
They also shortened the buggy main to 30 minutes. I decided to go with Blockades after talking with my dad and teammate Jake Dellinger. I felt like I needed the M3 compound because of the colder weather and I felt more comfortable with Blockades, which is an important thing in mains. I started fourth, and was able to move up to 2nd after a few laps, behind Brian Henn. My car felt great and my Pro-Line tires were hooked up! I was gaining on him, but had a bad lap that allowed him to pull away and Jason Branham passed me. I made more mistakes the next lap and was more than 10 seconds out of the lead. I caught up to Brian and we battled it out for second for about 10 minutes. I pushed hard and tried to catch up to Jason, but I just didn’t have enough time. I was bummed because I felt like if it wasn’t for those 2 bad laps, I could of battled for the win. Congrats to my Pro-Line teammates Jake Dellinger and Ryan Lopez on solid finishes after rough starts for both of them.
Overall, I had a pretty good weekend, considering how it started. My cars were great, but I just had some bad luck and made some costly mistakes. I had fun with my friends, and can’t wait for the next race!
I want to thank Courtney Vaughan for organizing the race, and Glen and the crew at Ultimate RC for giving us an awesome track to race on!
I can’t thank Pro-Line enough for the support and best tires on the market!
Till next time,
Products used:
Truggy-
Qualifying and Main-
M3 Hole-Shots #9033-02
Velocity VTR Zero Offset Yellow Wheels #2800-02
Pro Bond Glue #6031-00
MBX-6T Bulldog Body #3318-60
Buggy-
Qualifying-
X3 Bow-Tie 2.0s #9045-003
Lightweight Velocity Yellow Wheels #2738-02
Pro Bond Glue #6031-00
Main-
M3 Blockades #9039-02
Lightweight Velocity Yellow Wheels #2738-02
Pro Bond Glue #6031-00
