Driver: Ryan Lutz
Car: Durango DEX410V3
Body-Wing: Durango
Wheels: Durango
Motor: Tekin Redline 5.5
Battery: ProtekRC
ESC: Tekin RSX
Software: In development Ratio: 20/87
Servo: Futaba
Radio: Futaba
Charger: ProtekRC
Sponsors: Durango, Futaba, Tekin, ProteckRC, AKA, LiveRC, LutzRC, 92 Zero Design, Paint by Ron

The shims were at the top making the caster block fully high! Better for smoother steering on high traction.

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The biggest biannual electric race is in full swing this week here in Chico, California. For me this is my first 1/10 electric World Championship and I’m having a great time with the deep level of competition. The event so far is half way completed. 2wd mod buggy was finished last night and let me just say that a lot went on over the past 4 days. One of the most important was the feat pulled off by the track crew. Brining this track back from the brink of disaster after heavy rains on Saturday and Tuesday nights. What they accomplished was amazing and if not for them this event wouldn’t be half of what it is. Now on to some racing action.

Due to the rain we had a bit of a late start and they limited the practice from 10 runs down to 7. Yes it’s still a lot of runs but with having numerous new parts for my 2wd buggy I was looking forward to as much track time as possible. So throughout my practice heats as I was making multiple changes hoping to come across that magical setup. By the time quals were set to start I felt pretty comfortable but I knew it could still be better.

Tuesday was qualifying day with 4 runs on tap. In Q1 I was on a decent run but crashed over the center table and upon being marshaled got hit by an oncoming car and knocked upside down again. This lost me 8 seconds on one lap. Needless to say this hurt my qualifying position in Q1 and I got 35th. In Q2 things were going good. I was on a fast run having switched to AKA medium Vectors on the front which made the car less twitchy. I was on such a good run though that I got nervous and started letting off to soon on the back straight. I run a lot of drag brake and on two laps I ended up flipping like crazy upon cornering but luckily landing on wheels yet still loosing a few seconds. I also crashed on my own on the pipe right before the finish line still came away with a 17th for the round. But pace was in top 5 range. That would be my story in Q3 and Q4 as well. Fast pace runs with 2 mistakes in each on my own. Both times on top 5 runs but at the Worlds every mistake is magnified. I ended up 11th and 10th for those rounds. So overall I was improving my position every run and looking forward to Q5 but with the rains that came, Q5 was cancelled. Thus they took 2 from 4 rounds and I ended up 7th in the B main.

Come main time with the work the crew had done to get it ready, the traction was way up. My car was much more edgy than quals and I made plenty of mistakes in the B. I did however practice the line at the end of the straight clearing the table and downsiding into the triple that follows. I think this is going to be a fast line in 4wd if they decide not to redo the track. Either way I tried to have some fun with it and ended up 8th. S I thus finished 18th overall in my first 2wd worlds event.

4wd is up next with practice in Friday. Of course it is my better class so I’m looking forward making the Amain. I feel I can do well and my goal is to compete for the podium.

4WD Mod practice,

What a crazy day. 10 runs of practice and not even time to eat a meal until it was over. I started today with my stock DEX410v3 buggy and ran it for the first two rounds. Then for P3 decided to try the new car that team designer Gerd designed for us last minute before heading off on his honeymoon. The new car landed like a wet rag and felt really good. I spent the next 5 runs getting it dialed in and easy to drive. Unfortunately in P8 on my first lap I missed the jump section hard on the right and bent my chassis and rear brace. So I had to go back to my standard car for the final two runs. In the final controlled P10 I laid down 2 back to back 27.4 laps to seed myself 2nd overall for qualifying behind teammate Jorn. Looking forward to qualifications tomorrow!

4wd Mod qualifying,

Solid day for me of qualifying at the Worlds. Started out strong with a goal of driving 90% and run clean runs. For the first three quals I ran overall clean with a few bobbles keeping me from the top results I was hoping for. But I did manage a 5th, 9th, and 4th respectively to put me at ease that I would be into the A main. In the final two rounds I wanted to push a little harder and try to improve my results. In Q4 I led out of the gate and had a good run going but would traction roll and crash again immediately after being marshaled from that. Overall intended up being my worst round with a 15th. In Q5 I led early again. I had a couple traction rolls again but luckily landed back on my wheels. Ended up 7th for the round. So overall I will start 7th in the A main at the Worlds. Pretty stoked about that. Hoping to relive some Nats magic where I finished 3rd from the 7th position. Lets see what Sunday brings!

Night time racing action

The Triple A’s

Big day today in my first ever electric Worlds A-main. In A1 at the tone it all started off great. A group of leaders wadded it up in the hairpin after the table-triple and I weaved my way past a group of them. Later in the lap a few more tangled up and I found myself in 2nd. I would hold the position for a couple minutes and fell back to 3rd before making a catastrophic mistake clipping a pipe on my own and sending my car tumbling and breaking a front tierod. So finished 9th.

In A2 it was very much a similar start to A1. I darted and weaver through crashed cars as people were colliding everywhere. A couple laps in I found myself again in 2nd. This time I wouldn’t screw up and I held on to take 2nd for the round.

In A3 I was one of 5 drivers still with a shot at the win. Pretty exciting times and I set out to do what I was doing the previous two runs. The start wasn’t quite as kind as I got a bit caught trying to get around the early pileups. So I remained near the back. As laps clicked off I was putting in some consistent laps and moving up through the field. About halfway in though as I caught another driver they mad a mistake over the front table and got out of shape. I was running in my line but they mistakenly gassed it and the impact sent me flying and resulted In a broken arm and crushed hopes.

Overall I would take 6th position which is pretty good. Of course it could have been better but almost everyone can say the same thing. I’m pleased with my result and thankful to all of my sponsors for making this race a success for me. Next up I am heading to Southern Nationals this week for some rough slicker track 1/8th track racing.