03/25/2016-03/26/2016 Hamburg, PA- To kick off the 2016 outdoor season I attended the first annual SKY Spring classic at hosted at the Mountain Springs Arena by Ultimate RC Pitstop. The old school loose dirt tracks were purpose built for this one event. They ran an oval and an off-road program on the same day within the arena.
I had registered in 2WD Mod Stadium Truck with my Team Associated T5M equipped with Pro-Line BullDog Body. The body was custom airbrushed by myself and stickered up by Mattox Designs. For tires I ran the Pro-Line Hole Shots in the rear and Pro-Line Edge up front both mounted on DE Racing Speedline wheels. Steering was provided by the powerful Xpert 4431 servo and for power I was running a Trackstar GenII speed control and a SpeedPassion 7.5t motor.
I also registered in 2wd Mod Short Course Truck with my Team Associated SC5M equipped with the Pro-Line Flo-Tek Fusion Body which was also custom airbrushed by me and stickers by Mattox Designs. For Tires I ran the Pro-Line Blockades in front and rear both mounted on DE Racing Speedline wheels. Steering was provided by the powerful Xpert 4431 servo and for power I went with a Viper VTX10 esc and a Reedy 8.0t motor.
Special Thanks to Race Ready Products for the amazing TQClean and TQShine which helped keep my Bodies clean and looking great.
We arrived for open practice on Friday and the races were slated to start the following morning. Already knowing it’s going to be a loose bumpy track is choose to come in with a softer suspension setup. After running a battery pack through each truck and making a few minor tweaks I felt both trucks were dialed.
The next morning we go out to practice and I managed to break not one, but two, hard arms on the 2WD Short Course while hitting the face of a jump. I’m guessing the cold air temps made them brittle and more prone to breaking. I also managed to have the aluminum steering bellcrank break in the 2wd Stadium Truck. After some repairs both trucks were ready for battle.
The Pro-Line Hole Shots seemed to be very good right after they swept which worked in my favor since the 2wd Mod Stadium Trucks were the first heat on the off-road track. By the time the 2WD Mod Short Course Trucks were up there was a good bit of dirt and dust on the track. So I decided to use the Pro-Line Blockades in order to bite down into the track and give me better traction.
The two rounds of qualifying went pretty well with a few minor bobbles. This would seat me in TQ for 2wd Mod Stadium Truck A-Main and 3rd in the 2wd Mod Short Course Truck A-main. Once again the Pro-Line Hole Shots were money for the 2WD Stadium Truck and I was able to walk away and take the win.
In 2wd Mod Short Course I would finish where I started after a few battles for 2nd but ending up with a 3rd place finish.
Congratulations to the Pitstop Hobbies regulars for bringing home some serious hardware!
- James Henry: TQ 4wd Mod Short Course Truck Oval, 1st place 4wd Mod Short Course Truck Oval, TQ 4wd Mod Short Course Truck Off-road, 1st place4wd Mod Short Course Truck Off-road
- Shaun Duffy: TQ 2wd Mod Stadium Truck, 1st place 2wd Mod Stadium Truck, 3rd place 2wd Mod Short Course Truck
- Jeremy VanScoyk: 1st place 2wd Mod Short Course Truck
- Michael VanScoyk: TQ 2wd Mod Short Course Truck, 2nd place 2wd Mod Short Course Truck
- Christopher McKean: TQ 2wd stock buggy, 1st place 2wd stock buggy
- “Crazy” Nick Simon: 2nd place 2wd stock buggy
- Brent Morgan: 2nd place 2wd mod stadium truck, 3rd place in stock buggy
- Robert Fake: TQ 2wd stock Short Course Truck, 1st place 2wd Short Course Truck, 2nd place in 2wd Mod Stadium Truck, 3rd place 4wd Mod Short Course Truck Off-road
- Carl Maurus – 1st place stock Short Course Truck, 2nd place 4wd Mod Short Course Truck Off-road
- Ian Heller – 2nd place stock Short Course Truck
I would like to thank Howard Young and his crew at Ultimate RC Pitstop for putting on such an entertaining event and making us all feel welcome.
I would also like to thank my sponsors for always supporting me: Pro-Line Racing, MacLan Racing, Xpert RC, Boca Bearings, Gens Ace/Tattu, Race Ready Products, and Mattox Designs.
