Race Report: JBRL RD1 with Blaise Racing Team

JBRL Round 1
IERC Raceway
3-8-2014
By Nick Blais:

JBRL seemed like it took forever to come this year. I showed up on Friday for some much needed practice and to get my cars set up to do battle. The whole Coyote Hobbies team showed up and helped all the Blais Racing Team out saving us spots and everything. My Vehicles were all dialed in by the end of the day. I rebuilt my Pro-Line PRO-2 SC truck at the end of the night because I usually run it the longest without having to do any work to it. I ended up running Venom 60c batteries with Pro-Line clay ION tires wrapped on everything SC. The M4 ION seemed to be working the best on the 1/8 scale buggy.

Saturday morning I was to make a presence at 6:30 and get a couple batteries in before starting racing at 8:30. Good thing Jimmy started early because there was over 400 entries! Last year’s layout to the races with one minute between them seemed to benefit us as I was in the last race of the evening or should I say the next morning with the time change making it even later.

Qualifying went pretty smooth with only having to race one B main. In PRO-2 I was able to get a sweet 2nd heat in and was to run 10 seconds faster than my first run, which was good enough to start 2nd on the grid. I ended up winning the B main 1/8 scale buggy and was to line up next to last in the A main event. Pro 4 I was to lay down two good runs with only a few driver errors and was to line up 6th in the A main event. In all my races the top 10 racers in the A mains were separated by seconds, which would make for some good main events.

Race 41 A main Pro 2 was a little bit of a slow start. I was trying to keep it clean the first lap and was a little hesitant to do anything crazy but then Carlos wanted to head to the front of the pack. I went a little wide and he was to slip by and then it was on. We went back and forth for the next few laps and then Carlos made a mistake and I was to put the Pro-Line PRO-2 SC truck into a solid 2nd place.

Pro-2 Podium: Cody Turner 1st, Nick Blais 2nd, Brendon Larrowe 3rd

Race 43 A main Pro 4 I was to start in the middle of the pack in this race. I took off good and before you know it there was a pile up in the first turn. I got through it pretty good and came out in about the same spot I started. I kept consistent and ended up catching up to 3rd and 4th as they were battling. I was able to swing right by them when they got together for about the third time. I was to pull away and start to chase the leaders down. I was catching Baker toward the end of the race and might have had a shot but then I almost got taken out by a lapper and then I figured 3rd would be good enough for the start of the season.

Pro 4 Podium: Rudy Rico 1st, Barry Baker 2nd, Nick Blais 3rd

Race 45 A main 1/8 scales was to come and off we went, headed for the first sweeper full speed and picked up a position before the first 180 turn. After getting tangled with other cars I was to slip back to the rear of the field. I made a few quick passes and tried to put some good laps together. I even teamed up with Rudy to see if he could push me. We didn’t go much faster but we did end up catching the main pack. Went smooth and patient for the next few laps and after a good battle with some guys I found myself running toward the back of the pack again. Toward the end I was able to get into a better position than I started. In the last few laps people must have broken down because I was able to pull a 6th place after all the mistakes. My Venom batteries and Tekin electronics kept me moving throughout the 10 min main event! This year has started out pretty good so I can’t complain about my finishes. We are headed for Coyote Hobbies for the next JBRL so it will be a good one. I just wanted to thank all our sponsors Blais Racing Services, Pro-Line, Venom, Coyote Hobbies Raceway, Airtronics and Tekin.

Nick Blais Airing it out!

By Chris Blais:

IERC Raceway in San Bernardino would be the location for the first race of the 2014 JBRL Series. Thanks to Jimmy Babcock for the fun and competitive series. We got there on Friday for some practice and the place was packed within an hour. There would be over 400 entries at Round 1 with some heavy hitters present.

My first heat would be 4×4 Buggy. With the recent release of the new Losi 4×4 buggy this class would be huge with 44 entries. I was able to put together some good qualifying runs and qualify 12th overall. I was in the B main but had a chance to bump up. I had a perfect run with my Team Associated B44.2 and was able to take the B main Win! I have to say I was pretty happy to just make the A main with the quality of drivers that were present. I had a few mistakes in the A main and would end of placing 11th out of 12 drivers with my Coyote Hobbies, Venom, Pro-Line, Tekin, Airtronics sponsored Associated B44.2.

My next heat up would be 1/8 Scale E-Buggy. This class would be a little rough for me as I would only be able to qualify at the top of the B main. My buggy was working good but I was just a few seconds off the pace to make the A main. In the B main event I would make a few mistakes and get caught up in the back of the pack. My Pro-Line/ Coyote Hobbies sponsored car was hooked up and I was able to pull back up to get a 5th place finish.

Pro 4 would be the only class for me that I would qualify at the back of the A-Main this weekend. My truck was absolutely dialed with my Pro-Line ION MC Tires, Tekin, Venom and Airtronics Electronics. I was just not aggressive enough for this super fast layout and a little off the pace of the lead group and would finish 8th out of 12. I have to say I had a great time and am looking forward to the next round at my local track Coyote Hobbies. Thanks to all our sponsors for their support: Coyote Hobbies, Venom, Pro-Line, Venom, Airtronics and Tekin.

By Blais Racing’s Kyle Carpenter:

As the 2014 race season starts,the first stop of the JBRL electric series would be at IERC Raceway. This would be my first JBRL event since I have started racing. As Friday morning approached us, I would leave to go down with Chris Blais and family. When we arrived, I tried to get as many battery’s packs thru my Kyosho Rb6 and Pro-line PRO-2 SC Truck. Both cars were awesome and I did not have to make many set up changes from my standard Coyote Hobbies set up.

Soon as Saturday came my first heat race would be Pro Modified 2wd buggy. There was some very stiff competition in this class. The first couple of laps into the qualifier were very good and I was running a good pace until I got into it with some lap traffic. Those costly mistakes would put me into the B main qualifying 8th. As Pro 2 came my Pro-Line PRO-2 SC truck was dialed with Pro-line IONs and my Venom batteries. That run would put me 5th in the A main. My second qualifier’s were not very good in either car, I tried to push the car’s to hard, and made very costly mistakes in both classes.

As the A main’s started, 2wd Modified buggy would be my first race up. As I started the B main I got off to a great start putting me up to about third, I was running third for a good couple of minutes of the race. I was pushing my Rb6 to it’s limits trying to catch third until I over cleared a triple on the track putting me all the way back to 6th place and with also a 6th place finish overall. Pro 2 was up next, I had a great start and was running third for the first 4 minutes of the race until the same triple that got me in buggy. I crashed out and was pushed all the way back to a 8th place finish overall.

All in all for my first JBRL event I had a great learning experience. Thanks to my sponsor’s Coyote Hobbies, Blais Racing Services, DA design’s and Venom.

Martin Blais would finish up the weekend with a 5th place finish in Sportsman 4wd Short Course A Main, 6th in Super Stock Short Course A Main, and 10th in 1/8 Scale B-Main.

Pro 4 A Main at IERC Raceway Round 1 2014 JBRL Electric Series