Matthew Garcia Reports on Grass Roots with his PRO-2 Buggy

Hello Everyone! I attended the final round of the Grass Roots Racing Series and it turned out to be a very exciting race! I ended up pulling off a 4th place finish in Expert 2wd Short Course and 5th in Short Course Buggy. The Short Course Buggy class was full and a lot of fun. In 2wd Short Course, I was able to make a pass on the last lap of the 8-minute A-Main and I secured my 4th place finish. This was the funnest race I have been too in a while and I cannot wait until next year!

My Venom Powered, Pro-Line PRO-2 SC Truck and Buggy were certainly up to the task of the long main events and extreme track obstacles. I ended up using Pro-Line F11 wheels and Tazers in the rear and Hole Shots in the front. Hole Shots #1180-02, Tazer #1185-02, F-11 Wheels #2740-03

There was a large curved high speed straight away that lead into a very large double. The straight away really tested both the handling and the speed of all the vehicles racing. Not gearing the vehicle correctly didn’t allow one to go fast enough down the straight, but too much gearing would make handling the curve very difficult. The turn at the end of the straight away was sharp and many people would slide into the corner, losing the needed momentum to clear the double.

A closer shot of the double at the end of the straight. The gap was about 6~8 feet and landed right into another turn. The extra power provided by my Venom batteries allowed me to clear this jump without too much effort, but during the race I found myself unable to consistently clear the double with other trucks next to me. I ended up partially rolling this obstacle.

Immediately after the huge double, there was a corkscrew level change down into a Banzai step up. The obstacle was extremely challenging because of how easily a vehicle could flip while trying to make the turn. You may not see it in the picture, but that turn has large divots, making the turn even more challenging. Many people fell victim to this tough portion of the track. The step up jump after the turn was easy, but if you were a little too soft on the throttle and cased the jump, your vehicle was upside down and the closest marshal was several yards away.

After the tricky step up, there was a large triple that proved to be quite challenging. Mostly the 4wd vehicles tripled this jump. I chose the safer double single out.
These are two different shots of the jump.

After the triple, there was an off camber double that was also massive.

This obstacle proved to be a challenge for a lot of people. many people got this jump wrong and ended up on the pipe, or upside down. Here is two different shots of this jump.

After clearing the off camber jump, there was a massive step up that would send vehicles high into the air.

After the step up, one had to face the washboard section. Getting the right rhythm on this part of the track was crucial. I saw many people lose positions by getting this obstacle wrong. The washboard led into a simple S turn. This part of the track was not too challenging.

The S turn did lead into another step up jump that took some finesse and power to clear. The step up jump led into a hairpin turn and then down onto the straightaway.

Here is a shot of the Short Course Buggy class A-Main. As you can see, this race was stacked.

Overall, I was very happy with the performance of my vehicles and I would like to thank Venom Batteries and Pro-Line for the support and for producing such amazing products. Now it is time to start getting ready for the Surf City classic!