Mid Summer Shootout
June 8th, 2013
Coyote Hobbies Raceway
By Chris Blais:
This weekend would be the 3rd Annual Mid-Summer Shootout at Coyote Hobbies. When we arrived Friday morning for practice, the pits were full of racers getting ready for Saturday. It was nearly a full house. Owners Dave and Mona Batta always do a great job and I am so happy to have Coyote Hobbies as my local RC Raceway. My Dad Martin and I practiced until about 6:00pm.
1/8 scale would be our first race of the day on Saturday morning. The battle all day was between my brother Nick and I. We would be close and battle every qualifier. I would take the TQ a few seconds faster than Nick and our dad Martin would qualify 3rd. In the main event, Nick and I left the pack and had our own great battle going on. I finally made a mistake a few laps before the end and Nick was able to pass me. I caught back up and in the next to last turn went inside him, bumped and had the edge leaving the corner. Nick pinned it and got into the back of me causing me to crash about five feet before the finish. Nick would take the win and I would finish 2nd Place. It was an awesome battle! This is the reason I love RC racing so much. My 1/8 Scale Coyote Hobbies/Pro-Line/Venom/Tekin sponsored Tekno EB-48 was awesome all night. I was running Pro-Line IONs all around that kept me hooked up all day.
For Pro 4 SC I would be able to take the TQ in the 2nd qualifier just a couple seconds ahead of my brother Nick and Rudy Rico. Nick and Rudy were driving awesome and it took everything I had to keep them behind me. We had a great battle in the main event between the 3 of us and put on a great show for everyone watching. Nick would try a bold move on the last lap and almost passed me but hit the pipe and made a mistake. This would give me the win with Rudy in 2nd and Nick finishing 3rd. My truck was dialed with my Pro-Line MC Suburbs, Venom and Tekin power.
Pro 4 Podium: Chris Blais 1st, Rudy Rico 2nd, Nick Blais 3rd
In 4×4 Buggy it would be a close race for everyone throughout the day. Jeff Guest would set the pace and TQ in both qualifiers. Nobody could run with him all day. I would qualify 2nd after a pretty clean run with only minor mistakes. In the main, Jeff would take off and leave us battling for 2nd-5th. I did my best to not to make many mistakes and it paid off. Jeff would have 1 big mistake and almost gave it away but he was so far ahead it didn’t matter too much. I would finish up the night in 2nd place and overall had an awesome weekend. My Team Associated B44.2 was fast all night. Thanks to my Tekin/Venom power and Pro-Line tires.
Pro 4×4 Buggy: Jeff Guest 1st, Chris Blais 2nd, Damon Barron 3rd
Pro 4 at Coyote Hobbies at the 3rd Annual TLR Mid Summer Shootout in 2013
By Nick Blais:
Coyote Hobbies was the place to be this last Saturday! Wow what a track! This track had inside/ outside lanes to make passes, huge usable burms, elevation changes that were more like hill climbs. It was great to see something that unique. The owner Dave put a lot of hard work into this layout for sure. This is a top notch facility especially to find in the high desert. Speaking of Top Notch, We had Mr. Top Notch announcing all day to keep a tight program and did it well. We had record breaking entries this year with over 200 entries equaling three rounds of 29 races completely done by about 10:30pm.
With all that said I went into qualifying totally stoaked on the track layout and 1/8 scale was up and over before I knew it. I was to put together a 2nd place run and it was to get better in the second round but so did my brother. It was 3 Blais Racing Tekno vehicles that would round out the top spots for the main event. Chris, Nick, Martin. In Pro 2 I was to hit a pole on the warm up laps and my truck must of loosened up the battery strap, because the truck only made it a few laps before it ejected the battery. It was not that bad because I was to put my Pro-Line Pro-2 truck right up front come the second heat putting me second on the grid for the main. In Pro 4 I was to get the TQ the first run and then my brother beat me out for the main. I was to end up third for the grid.
8th scale Podium: Nick Blais 1st, Chris Blais 2nd, John Schultz 3rd
1/8 scale main event was the first A main to come and it was on! I was to chase my brother down and just follow him most of the race and with my brother as consistent as he is I was just waiting just for a little room and he didn’t even make any mistakes until we started lapping through the field. Finally he made a little mistake and I got by. Knowing it wasn’t over I had to put my head down and come the last turn he slipped right inside and snuck it away and then the next second I was right back by and that was it. It was an awesome race; Dave the owner was taping it so check out the video!
1/8th Buggy A Main at Coyote Hobbies at the 3rd Annual TLR Mid Summer Shootout in 2013
Pro 2 came about an hour later and with a convincing win behind me I wanted to put something together. All I had to do was pass one guy. Well it sounds easy unless you are chasing Matt Gilbert. After making a little mistake and taking my time at the start I was to lose a spot. After that someone ran into me getting wedged into the body creating a first to last scenario. After that I was able to put a charge together and was going for a podium spot and then I jumped a little sideways and messed me up for the next turn letting a few more by again. It was fun but I ended up mid pack I believe.
Pro 4 was just as exciting as the 1/8 scale race! The race started off well just following everyone around the track. After a mistake Rudy was able to get be my and then we were both on the charge to catch my brother a few seconds up. Late in the race we both started to catch and with only a few laps to go I was able to put a sweet pass on Rudy and then I was latched onto Chris with only 1 lap to go. It was all or nothing so I went for it and hit a pipe and flipped it. Rudy got back by but I still ended up with a third and a smile on my face so that was sweet.
Thanks to all our sponsors, Blais Racing Services, Coyote Hobbies, Pro-Line, Venom, Tekno RC, and Tekin. Couldn’t do it without all the great help. Check out their websites and start with the best! See you at the next big event.
Martin Blais would finish up the weekend with a 4th place in Sportsman 4×4 SC, 6th place in 1/8th scale, and 3rd in Sportsman Stock SC. Thank you Dad for all the great videos!
Sportsman Stock SC: Jonathan Schultz 1st, Denny Andrews 2nd, Martin Blais 3rd
Blais Racing Services is also now a proud dealer for Venom/ Atomik products along with Tekno RC Products. Check out our website http://www.blaisracingservices.com/rc-products.html
Thanks for all the awesome Videos/ Photos by Martin and Susan Blais at: www.BlaisWebCreations.com
Thanks to all our great sponsors for all their help:
