This past weekend I participated in Beach RC’s 2nd Annual Masters of the Dirt Race, which drew close to 250 entries. I finished on the podium in both 4WD SCT and 2WD SCT with a pair of 4th place finishes.
In 2WD SCT, I raced my Pro-Line PRO-2 SC Truck to 4th overall after qualifying in the same position. The 2WD SCT A-Main was the last race for me and it was a good way to end the Masters of the Dirt since the racing was clean. I used Pro-Line M4 Electrons on my PRO-2 truck, which I felt provided the best traction for the 2WD SCT. I had to make a last minute adjustment right before the start of the qualifiers as my gear diff had issues and I had switch it out for an MIP ball diff. It was my first time using a ball diff in my PRO-2 so there was a bit of a learning curve. I had to relearn the tendencies of the truck and what kind of throttle was required to consistently clear the jumps. My truck is powered by the Maclan MMR 8.5T motor and a Venom 4500mAh short pack the combination provided plenty of speed.
The MC Positrons were the tire of choice in all the Buggy classes.
I felt I raced extremely well in the qualifiers for 4WD SCT finishing 2nd in each of the 3 heats. In the final qualifier, my truck was hit extremely hard as another racer crushed my short course body in completely after misjudging a jump and flying into the other lane. I finished the race in 2nd with my mangled body but I let it get into my head. In the main, the first lap was extremely rough and I dropped from 3rd to 10th after getting punted from the track. I pushed too hard trying to get back to the front of the pack, which resulted in a handful of unforced errors. It was honestly my worst 4wd SCT race in 2 years but I believe I learned a lot from this experience and hopefully it will make me a better racer in the long run. I was able to chip away at the huge deficit and inch my way back up the leader board but the top 3 racers continued to run error free laps. I ended up in 4th, which was very disappointing. I was happy with my truck, which is outfitted with the Maclan MR4 4150kv motor and the Venom 7200mAh 100c battery. I continue to turn to the Pro-Line MC Electron Tires for the surface at Beach RC, I feel they offer the best traction and tire wear for that class.
I raced my HB D413 in the 4wd Mod Buggy division; with 45 entries it was the largest class at this year’s event. In the three qualifiers, I raced to 13th, 14th and 15th place finishes which placed me 17th overall and just outside the B-Main. I started on the pole for the C-Main and got off to a solid start but a miscue by the 2nd place driver tossed my buggy over the pipe and threw off my rhythm a little as I made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes over the next few laps. I ended up missing the bump up spot by 1 second; my goal was to reach the B-Main and I fell a little short due to my own mental mistakes. My C-Main time would have been good for 5th in the B-Main so the racing was very competitive and a great learning experience.
I will be back on the track this weekend for Speed RC’s Thanksgiving race as well as trying to prepare for the upcoming race at Speed RC in December.
I would like to say thanks to Boom RC Graphics & Designs for getting my race t-shirts ready for this event. Also, a big thanks to Pro-Line for providing on-site product support and allowing me to run the new Positrons on my HB D413. The MC Positrons were the tire of choice in all the buggy classes.
Finally, thank you to Bullit RC Hobby Shop in Raleigh, NC for supplying me with countless RC parts, oils, receivers, etc.
Sponsored products used –
Chassis
HB Racing D413
Motors
Maclan MR4 4150KV / Maclan MRR 8.5T / Maclan MRR 6.5T
Tires
Pro-Line Electrons (MC and M4) / Pro-Line Positrons (MC)
Bodies
Pro-Line Fusion SCT / Pro-Line Flo-Tek SCT / Pro-Line Type-R Buggy
Batteries
Venom 7200mAh and 4500mAh 100C
Servos
Xpert SI-4431 / Xpert SI-3401
Bearings
Boca Bearings Green Seals and GO Series
