Silver State Race at RC Tracks of Las Vegas
Classes Raced: Open Nitro Buggy and Open Electric Buggy
Finally I am home from the 2016 Silver State race! I would arrive in Vegas late Wednesday afternoon to setup camp and prepare for Thursdays open practice. After a good nights rest I was ready for Practice day! It came to my surprise that the track crew had put on a glue like substance on the track to hold the dirt together as well as increase traction. After watching a few guys ahead of me run, I instantly realized that the track had a insane amount of traction! We ended up completely changing my setup on both of my cars before I even went on the track to accommodate the traction. As practice day went on I become pretty comfortable with the layout, I still had to get used to the traction but I felt confident going into qualifying on Friday.
Mason Ran Pro-Line X1 Fugitives to the Podium in Buggy
Qualifying
In the first round of qualifying I would have a decent run in Nitro Buggy putting me 4th for the round which I was ecstatic with! In E-Buggy the open class would consist of all pro, open, and sportsman drivers. I wouldn’t have the best of runs making a few mistakes putting me 25th overall for the round. During the last two rounds of qualifying in each class, I would have very similar runs to my round 1. I ended up sitting 6th in open Nitro Buggy heading into the main and 5th in the C-Main in E-Buggy.
Mains
It was now Sunday which meant main day! I felt really confident and comfortable with both of my cars heading into the mains. My C-Main in E-Buggy would be my first main up for me, Unfortunately with me starting mid pack I would get caught up in a pile up in the second corner. I would fight my way back up to the 4th spot and had a amazing battle with Cole Ogden for the last bump position! On the second to last lap I would make a bad mistake sending me down the leader board ending up in the 8th position, It was a great race and even though I didn’t get the bump I felt really happy with my speed and the way I drove! Now it was time for my race of the weekend, the open Nitro Buggy A-Main! I would start 6th on the grid for the 30-minute final. On the opening lap I would get stuck in a pile up sending me all the way back to the 11th position, Instantly I knew I had chosen the wrong tires for the main. I went into the race with Pro-Line X1 (Hard) Fugitives, which is what we had been running during the day with great success! But with the temperature dropping big time for our main they were like ice skates, Just too hard for the track, X2’s (Medium) would of been the best choice. After the pile up I would fight my way up and down the leader board, it was hard to keep pace with everyone else with how hard my car was too drive. Towards the last 5 minutes of the race the tires began to heat up and finally felt really good, I started to put down blazing lap after lap and found my way to the 4th spot. On the last lap, 3rd place would crash on the middle double and I would make the pass, on the next corner he would run out of fuel! I was really happy with my result considering what I had to deal with in the main, plus this was my best finish so far at a huge race like this one!
Overall I had a blast at this event, I learned a lot and also had great results. All weekend my Tekno cars were amazing with the help from Pro-Line tires which were dialed all weekend! Also my Triton L5 engine was perfect providing me with amazing power and mileage! I want to say a huge thanks to my sponsors for the help and continued support, Tekno RC, Pro-Line, Tekin, Byron Fuels, Triton RC, Airtronics, DE Racing, Lead Finger, Schelle, 92zero Designs, RAD RC Painting, and All Around RC!
