XRAY - Model racing cars

Good Luck to ya Guy!!!

Many thanks to Guy Hood for the initial setup for this event. Although we both fine tuned in different directions after, we both did well.

I would also like to thank Andrew Ellis who, via phone, provided assistance to an annoying gear stripping / melting problem I had that were destroying my 2nd gear spurs. Although, I lost 2 laps on the field during the only qualifier my gears lasted 4 mins , I was still able to make the A Main in the Open Class. I would have easily made the Factory class had this not been the case.

Anyway, problem fixed and alot more knowledgable for next time.

Thanks to Xray for a great car.

Well...I had a blast!!!

Learned a lot as well.

Congrats to all the winners and to Mark Harrison (XRAY/RC America) for bumping up to the Factory A main as well!!! A shout-out to James Burrows (XRAY/RC America) for almost making the A as well (your car was stupid fast).

Here's my story...

A good friend of mine (serpent team driver ) and myself arrived two days early for some much needed practice on the Kissimmee Raceway layout. And of course, with grip being low I'm always pretty fast. BUT...as the top drivers kept arriving over the next two days and the track conditions improved, I again found myself struggling to improve the lap times throughout the qualifiers.

Things weren't so bad though as I was able to qualify #15 in the Factory class during the two separation rounds, making sure I drove my own pace and put in some clean runs. The lap times were slow, but very consistent (top 10 laps only .2s slower than my fast lap).

Friday and Saturday's qualifying rounds were particularly brutal physically, with the HOT Florida sun baking a nice sunburn on myself and a few of us from further north. And I would have to say, I was very tired and just not thinking straight when it came to setup changes as the qualifiers came and went. I was more or less taking shots in the dark (asking for too much help, and then not even listening at times) and missing just about everything. Through it all, I ended up placing 10th in the B-Odd semi-final main.

Fortunately Saturday's qualifying ended early enough for me to run laps and find a setup that worked well enough. After some much needed advice from my new teammate (Jamie Corrado, RB USA), I broke down, changed the tire compound, put the setup from the first day of practice back on and dialed in (camber, toe-in and front sway bar changes) a relatively slow, but very consistent setup back on the car. The setup was crazy, but it simply worked well enough for me to get around the track and use the power of my newly broken-in RB R3 for decent lap times.

BTW, I used the new XRAY hard clutch spring for the first time and ended up being impressed and very happy with its performance. It provided excellent punch with the standard manual clutch settings and didn't weaken throughout two full days of practice, 8 qualifying rounds and a 30 minute main. Back to the story...

Now ordinarily I would have just copied whatever setup Ralph Burch was running as I've found that his setups always seem to suit my driving style more than Paulie or even Barry B. But none of them were there and with only a few hours of practice left on Saturday, I simply didn't want to take the time to get internet access and print out Paulie or Barry's setup from last years Sedan Champs.

My race strategy was plain and simple. 'Slow and steady wins the race.' Fortunately for me, a lot of drivers in my semi-final were plagued with all types of issues. I let everyone pass me without a fight and simply ended up making consistent laps with zero BIG mistakes and only 7 laps worth of small mistakes costing me around 14 seconds. The majority of the mistakes happened within the last ten laps as my chassis was bottoming out with only 2.5mm rear ride height and 53.5mm rear tires. Results were astonishing to me...3rd place and the final bump up position to the Factory A main!!!

Unfortunately, the A mains were rained out and I came away with the 12th and final Factory A main trophy. I really wanted to race, but I couldn't be happier as my only goal was to just make it into the Factory class.

Definitely a first for me at such a large event with a wealth of talent in attendance. I have to thank:

* Track/Race: Kevin Hutchinson, Ted X and all the others involved
* Sponsors: Team XRAY, RC America, RB USA, Twister Tires & Maxy's Fuel
* Tips & advice: Jamie Corrado, DJ Apolaro, Paulo M., Melvin Aulston, Dennison J, and probably a few others that I'm just forgetting...
* Maxy, Shawn Davis and Dennison J. for excellent pitmanship all week
* Chris Whitney for giving us 301 Raceway, arguably one of the top 3 tracks in the USA, to practice at anytime we feel like it
* Richard and others for extra fuel, parts, water, etc.
* Big Jeff for the BBQ!!!

P.S. I know I've listed drivers from Serpent and Kyosho for giving me great advice, which they did. However, I'm an XRAY driver through and through!!!

May have to hit the Fort myself....was going to do the IIC but I have more fun with the NT1. Congrats on making the show!