Opportunity Cost

I gave up a chance to run the Big O' this year because the racing at BFG has become so competitive, I figured I would still have a good time running the points race without the time into a two day event and an overnight stay.  I was partially right.

The racing was pretty good across the board for most people, just not great on the Late Model side for me.  The  new body, inconsistent track conditions (not the tracks fault, it's mine for not adapting) and a number of issues with the Rocket kept me from being really competitive with the front of the pack.

The first thing I tried was to go up a tooth on my pinion.  Seems to have been a mistake.  I was pushing so bad on entry that it only made the problem worse.  Switched a few things around, replaced a sloppy front arm, a bad bearing in the steering assembly and tweaked the springs, but nothing seemed to work for me.  Even switched back to my old body and that didn't help.

The end result was placement in the B.  I won the B and moved up to third before an incident on the last lap moved me back one in the results.  Not a great day, but like I say, if you run the B, you get a shot at an extra race for the same money.

I would blame the track, but Butch Beebe set a track record in qualifying, so that can't be it.  I may have to follow the old Jedi's advice and go down to a 17.5 so that I can use all of the motor instead of trying to feather my way through every corner.  If there was any doubt about Butch's ability, he managed to TQ in every class and set a track record in Late Model.  Probably would have done the same in Sprints if he could have gotten a clean run in.

The new body remains a work in progress.  I feel like it's probably generating a lot more down/side force than my busted up old body and possibly, I'm not sure how, shifted some of the weight to the back wheels.  I'm not giving up on it, just trying to figure out my setup.  May even go to weighing the car to see if I'm right about weight distribution.

The sprint car was working pretty good, just slower than I would like.  It's time with that one to move up to the big boy speedo and drop some timing into it.   I feel like it can handle the speed and I also feel like I"m going to need it.  Putting a 17.5 in so that it will be ready to run when we head out west in a couple weeks to the Outlaw Nationals.

Speaking of Outlaw Nationals, this will be my first travelling race of the season (sadly).  It's a 3 day, all out trip to Rochester MN to see how my stuff stacks up against some of the Midwest's best.  http://www.teashobbyshop.com/  

http://www.dirtoval.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68174    

Arnie Fie from Custom Works will be there along with Hays Reeling (Lefthander RC), Mark Corns, Dustin Malicot and others that I just don't know about yet.  160 entries, so I'm hoping not to finish last :)  I will be blogging the whole time so keep checking here for updates. 

Honestly, I think the way Butch Beebe is running right now, he stands a pretty good chance of making the A in one of the 17.5 open foam tire classes.  You never know though.  Foam tires are a whole different animal and the setup can change dramatically depending on the track.   

I may be out next week to start shaking down the Intimidator and testing my foam tires.  I don't expect to be competitive with the HB's, but I've got to get some track time in before this race.

Side Note:  I talked to an Unknown Engineer who says that he is working on the prototype for a new 4WD dirt car.  Sounds like it may be very competitive with the Dominator and TC4's out there.   If I can get sneak some development photos, I'll get them posted here.

New Ride

Moment of Zen

There are a couple of things that separate me from the consistently fast people in this hobby.  One of them is talent.  Not much I can do about that one.  Another is consistency.  Racing is not about your fastest lap.  Many times, as I have talked about previously, it's about your slowest lap.  A slow lap can kill an entire run substantially more than a fast lap can save you.

It seems odd to think about a four minute race as being a long time to concentrate.  I have no idea how those NASCAR guys can hold their focus for 3-4 hours when it takes all I can do to pay attention to the details for the limited time we're on the stand for RC racing.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they are actually in the cars and stand to lose more than a few plastic parts if they goof up.

So, with my time off from racing over the holiday, I've been thinking about how to improve my focus while I'm on the stand.  

We turn about 50 laps in a four minute period, so if you think about it, we've got to enter a turn and exit a turn about 100 times each in a four minute race.  There's a lot happening in a race, so it's understandable that you might lose your focus during one or more of these activities. A slip up might mean something as minor as a bobble, costing you a few tenths of a second to an opportunity to test the speed of your corner marshall, the fastest of which will leave you four or five seconds down to your competition.

Hitting consistent lines, letting off the throttle at the right spot, getting back on the throttle smoothly are tough to do that many times in a row.  Throw in the half dozen other cars on the track that have their own agenda doesn't make it any easier.

So, I figure it's all about focus.  Every time I think too much about the other stuff going on out there, I lose track of my car and bad things happen.  About the best I can do is to focus on my car and a few feet in front of it.  I envy those people that seem to have a grasp of everything that's happening on the track, but I just can't do it.

I also need to stop paying too much attention to cars coming up behind me.  Every time I worry about a car gaining on me, I blow by my corner and lose out.  I'm guessing that I'm not alone in this.

To make a long story longer, the more I can remain focussed on my vehicle and the area immediately in front of it, the better off I am. 

My New Body is Done!!!

I was over to BFG on Tuesday night to do some testing and came up with a few things for my car that I hope translate into faster speeds when I get back to the track for racing in a week or so.  I moved the right front wheel spacer to the outside of the wheel and adjusted the ride height on my sprint car to try to get it to turn in better.  I came to the conclusion that I'm not sure that I really understand how the weight transfers on my Sprint car.  I've got it ok for now.  Not great, just ok.

Couldn't really get a gauge of how it will perform because we couldn't seem to keep moisture in the track for any length of time.  It would be ok for a 2-3 minute window, then was drying up on us.

Going to be hitting the RC circuit hard in the next few weeks.  BFG, Monee, Teas, then back to BFG before heading to Daytona for speedweek.  Looking forward to it....