JBRL Round 1
OCRC Raceway
3-3-2012
by Chris Blais
The kickoff for the JBRL racing series for 2012 would be held at OCRC raceway in Huntington Beach, CA. With a record 385 entries at Round 1, it was going to be a long day of racing. This would be the Blais Family’s first JBRL Event.
In the first heats, I had a terrible run in the Pro-4 race qualifying and was back in the pack. The first heat of Expert Stock buggy went well for me as I had a great run with only two small mistakes. The second round of heats went better for me in the Pro-4 race, as I was able to make it up to 5th place qualifier in the A main. I struggled more in the Expert 2wd buggy 2nd qualifier and finished up qualifying 3rd place in the B main. I was about a half to one second a lap off the TQ’s pace. I still have some work to do in the buggy class.
In the main events, I was able to have a pretty clean race and made it all the way up to finish 3rd place in the Pro-4 A main, one spot ahead of my brother Nick, and 3rd place in the Expert Stock Buggy B main. My Coyote Hobbies / Pro-Line Losi SCTE was on it tonight and I am really happy with my performance!
My first “Big Race”
by Nick Blais
After being out of the hobby for over ten years and getting back into it in September of 2011, this would be my first big series race. On Saturday March 3, 2012 at OCRC in Huntington Beach CA, a turnout of 385 racers turned up! I knew it was going to be a long day and night. I normally just race 4wd SC and 2wd SC. On Friday, my order showed up from A Main Hobbies to turn my 1/8th scale gas car to electric, and I figured I would run that to break up the day a little. On race day, I found out that I was in races 29, 35, 37… almost right on top of each other. I went out and raced the first qualifier with the SC’s and turned out some okay runs. The 1/8th class was just trial and error being that I only had 2 batteries of practice ever. Come the second qualifier, I TQ’ed the 4×4 class by just over a second!
So for the main race, I raced 1/8th first in the B main and had the car working good mechanically, but just had too many mistakes to take first place, so I ended up with second place, but I did happen to take the fastest lap even compared to the a main guys. The 2wd race started out good because two of the guys didn’t even make the start with truck issues. Anyway, the race went pretty smooth until I got hit at the end of the straight and it sent me into the wall. I drove to a 6th place finish. The 4×4 had me a little nervous just because off all the big names starting behind. I was told before the race by Ryan, “Sorry that you have to start in front of me”, wondering why he said that, and I soon found out after getting taken out by him in the forth turn. Well that’s what they say I guess, “Rubbin’ is racing”! Until next time…
Our dad, Martin Blais, would take 7th place in the Sportsman 4wd SC A main and 5th place in the Expert Stock SC A main.
This was a great event for the Blais Family and we had a blast. The level of competition is great at these events and everyone is a great driver. Thanks JBRL for putting together this great series for everyone!
Our next racing event will be Easter weekend out in Palm Desert, California at the outdoor track, Palm Desert Raceway on Saturday April 7th, 2012.
JBRL 2012 Round 1 Pro-4 A Main
PRO-4 Podium at JBRL Round 1
Thanks to my sponsors
