Photo credit: Rob Oompa
Over the weekend of June 13th, 14th, and 15th. I attended the 4th annual Race for a Cure held during the Goshen Stampede in Goshen, CT. The Goshen Stampede is an annual fair that takes place fathers day weekend and the Race for a Cure is a benefit race where all of the money raised is donated to cancer research. I have attended the event the last 3 years and it is one of the best events of the year and is for a great cause. This event was put on by Pinshop Hobbies and Wolcott Hobby this year. The track was built the week before the event. The crew did a great job creating a fun and challenging layout that was friendly for all classes and all skill levels. Part of what makes this race challenging is the size of the track combined with the different racing surfaces. The track is very short with an average of 20-second lap times and you race on grass with clay jumps.
The format for the event was scheduled to have practice all day on Friday followed by 3 rounds of qualifying on Saturday and a last chance qualifier on Sunday then the mains. Unfortunately heavy rain made it impossible to practice on Friday, but that did not stop racers from showing up. The event brought in close to 100 entries this year. I competed in 1:8 Nitro Buggy and 1:8 Electric Buggy.
Qualifying:
Qualifying kicked off late in the afternoon on Saturday after track prep and practice. Up first for me was Electric Buggy. My first qualifier would be the first time I had hit the track with my E-Buggy. The car felt great and I quickly got out front and set TQ for round 1.
In Nitro Buggy I had a few tanks of practice. For round one I made a few changes to get the car through the tight infield sections faster and they paid off by allowing me to take TQ in round 1 and also the fastest run of the weekend with a time of 15/5:32.515. That would be the only 15 lap run of the weekend. For the remaining 3 qualifiers in each class I went on to take the wins in each round but mistakes did not allow me to reset my TQ times. After wrapping up both TQ’s I quickly prepped both cars for the mains.
Mains:
First up was the electric buggy A-Main. The A-Main was scheduled for 10-minutes. I got a great jump off the line and charged hard for the first few minutes and quickly opened up a gap on the field. I continued to stretch my lead throughout the race and when the tone went off I took the win by 2 laps. The final order was:
- Kyle Rhodes– Kyosho MP9 eTKI/Pro-Line M3 Blockades
- Carl Doran- Kyosho MP9eTKI
- Justin Walts-Team Associated
- Peter Bartlett- TLR
- John Brushitis- Durango
- Tom Schenck- Tekno
- Seth Frost- TLR
- John Cravotta- Kyosho MP9eTKI
- Rob Oompa- Team Associated
- Paulo Correia- Tekno
Next up was the 20-minute nitro buggy A-Main. I got another great start and took it easy the first few laps. I made a few small mistakes which allowed Team Associated driver Alex Kosciuszek to take the lead. We both broke away from the rest of the field and began to swap the lead. I pitted around the 7 minute mark with Alex pitting a lap later. I retook the lead and stretched out to a half a lap lead. After my second and final pit the race was on. I made a huge mistake and the corner marshal did not see my car and I lost my lead and Alex was able to get by. I quickly got right behind him and looked for an opening to make a pass. He crashed as we came through the left side sweeper allowing me to retake the lead. For the last few minutes I made sure not to make any mistakes and drove easy. Alex was pushing as hard as he could and was quickly making up time on me. We both made it by for one more lap. Unfortunately Alex made a few small mistakes which allowed me to maintain the small gap I had over him and I crossed the line and took the win with Alex finishing a close 4-seconds behind me and Hot Bodies driver Mark Smyka took third 2 laps down from Alex and myself. The final order was:
- Kyle Rhodes- Kyosho MP9 TKI3/Pro-Line M3 Blockades
- Alex Koscuiszek- Team Associated
- Mark Smyka– Hot Bodies
- Lester Bastenbeck- Kyosho MP9 TKI3
- Seth Frost- TLR
- Paulo Correia- Kyosho MP9 TKI3
- Mike Denys- Kyosho MP9 TKI3
- Rob Birchall- Mugen
- John Cravotta- Kyosho MP9 TKI3
- Tyler Falcone– Kyosho MP9 TKI3
Overall it was a fantastic event and both of my Kyosho cars were dialed all weekend on Pro-Line M3 Blockades. My tires held up all weekend long and provided me with great traction and steering.
