This is my first race report and I would like to take the time to thank Pro-Line Racing for their support in a smooth setup process into joining their team. The level of professionalism and clear communication is of the highest standard in the industry. As a race director for the LCRC race facility in Oakland Mills, PA and serving as the ROAR Region 2 director, I usually have a rotation of Nitro Buggy, Nitro Truggy and 4wd Short Course participation at the events I attend due to my other responsibilities at those events.  I normally attend with my two sons Cody and Ethan who are also running Pro-Line products to keep the family in support of the entire Pro-Line team.

April 26th was the first cash race event at LCRC. I entered into the 4wd short course class with my Tekno SCT410 equipped with Pro-Line Blockade tires in the M3 compound.  I have also converted the body post system over to Pro-Line Secure Lock Cap Kit. This kit secures the SCT bodies better than standard body clips and also reduces the noise level coming from the body while racing. Qualifying went well for the day and I would sit in the A-main starting in the number three position just in front of Pro-Line teammate Devin Chesney. The race could have been any of the top five drivers to take the win. Thirty five mile an hour wind gusts played a crucial role in the race which did not allow the trucks to push their limits on the larger triple jump in the center of track. While running in a solid 3rd place position most of the race behind Chesney would finish 2nd, I lost all steering to my truck due to a servo extender coming apart. This would drop my vehicle out of the race but still finish out in 5th for the day. The servo extender is now corrected with a lock which will eliminate future problems.

The highlight of the day though would be the 1:8th electric buggy class for my sons. Cody (18 year old) running an Associated RC 8.2 would put his car into the A-main in the 5th place starting position. Ethan (11 year old) running and MBX 6 Eco would have to bump into the A-main for the 12th place start position out of a 35 car field. Ethan would have some bad luck in qualifying and he drove a conservative B-Main to ensure his spot in the A-main. With the wind and slightly cooler weather, Cody chose to run Blockades in the M4 compound while his younger brother ran Blockades in the M3 compound. Within 2 laps of the start of the A-main feature, Ethan would come from the number 12 starting spot to the lead and he never looked back. He went on to take the win by a lap over the rest of the field from the number 12 spot. Cody maintained his solid 5th place position through out the entire race. Yes, I was the proudest father at the track! This is the 2nd event at LCRC this year and Ethan finished number 2 out of a 45 car field in the opening day event.

Sunday April 27th I stayed local to take the 4wd SCT M3 compound Blockades back out to ensure the steering problems were worked out of the vehicle at G’s RC Raceway in Shippensburg, PA. This turned out to be the weekend for electric gremlins to come out early in the season. The first heat would set my qualifying spot for number 2 in the A-main feature. Steering problems verified corrected and solid now. 2nd heat of qualifying my electronic speed control would begin cutting out. I had recently changed some gearing and thought maybe it was pushing the temperature limit. Looking at the ESC data logs showed no sign of overtemp, so I geared back down to see if this would correct the problem. Heat number 3 resulted in the same thing. I did notice my fan was not plugged in from using my hotwire and figured maybe that was the issue. Sure enough, 4 minutes in the main, the same problem would come back. Definitely something wrong with the ESC and will be sent back in for warranty repair. My spare Gen II RX8 will be ready for next weekend of racing.