Northwest Championship Tour Round 1
Playground RC, Yakima, WA
This weekend I made the trip to Playground RC in Yakima, WA for the Northwest Championship Tour's Can-Am Spring Shootout hosted by RC Car Club of Wenatchee. Playground RC was a new venue this year, and RCCCW and the Playground RC crew did a fantastic job of upgrading the facility with an extended driver's stand and lighting to meet the needs of hosting a premier event. Justin Wilde ran the show, somehow managing a 350 entry event well enough to have us done around 10PM on Saturday and 7PM Sunday. I can't say enough of about a Justin Wilde program - if you haven't experienced an event of his, you're missing out!
Friday morning we arrived at the track and set camp up for the weekend. After a leisurely breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, banana and coffee I got my cars on track using leftover tires from the Big Barn Shootout in Chilliwack, BC that I attended the previous week - I figured that if the cars were good on old tires, they'd really be good on new tires. First packs on both cars were awesome as I was on pace with the fastest drivers in 2wd buggy and on pace with my Kyosho teammates in 4wd. This layout had a center gap jump that only a few of us in 1/10 2wd buggy could land consistently and it really separated the top 5 from the rest of the field. I only put in 3 packs per car before I called it a day and retired to camp for barbecue and hanging out with friends.
Saturday brought the news of 350 entries, breaking the previous record for any NCT event. With the computer showing a finish time of way too late and the track having a 10PM curfew, Justin Wilde had to work some magic. Somehow we all came together and were getting each run off before the timer, and partially through Q1 the remaining qualifiers were reduced to 5 minutes for all classes, making up a couple of hours over the projected time. The track was run damp during all rounds of qualifying, and with temperatures in the 55F range I selected AKA Pinstripe/Impact in super soft for 4wd and AKA Three Rib/Impact in super soft for 2wd. After Q1 I was sitting P4 in 2wd and P10 in 4wd. Not a bad start to the day! Q2 went better as I put up a 2 in 2wd and a 7 in 4wd, then Q3 went down in the dark and I really struggled to see, settling with another 2 in 2wd and outside the top 10 in 4wd. This left me a little bit nervous as I wasn't sure that my 17 points in 4wd would be low enough to make the show, but it was! I also qualified P3 overall in 2wd, giving me a nice starting spot for Sunday.
Sunday was a real roller coaster! I spent all morning cooking breakfast and cleaning up my trailer while supporting my Maclan teammates in any lower mains. We battled high winds all day long as well as a decision to run the track dry in the interest of time - which really changed the tire game, but fortunately my AKA rubber was still good! When my turn came up to run 2wd A1 I was unable to make the start - a broken wire on my capacitor left me to settle for P12 - DNS. 4wd A1 went swimmingly as I was able to take advantage of a couple of drivers tough luck as well as earn some spots myself and I came home with a 6. A2 came and I felt a little bit of pressure in 2wd, but wasn't too badly rattled on the stand and brought home a 3 after a wire to wire battle with Greg Williams. Not what I was hoping for, but it left me in the hunt for a podium. A2 in 4wd was even better than A1 as I was able to make up 5 positions on track and come home P5! In 2wd buggy A3 I was able to battle with David Gullickson and come home with the win, getting me 4 points total and winning the tie breaker with David to take P2 overall. A3 in 4wd was forgettable, but I was able to take my 11 points from A1 and A2 to finish P8 overall.
This was by far my best NCT race ever, and I have a feeling there's more in the tank, especially 4wd. Driving over my head cost me a few times this weekend, but both my Kyosho RB6.6 and ZX6.6 were so good on track that the only work I did was differentials in the ZX6.6 - after 3 consecutive race weekends without a refresh. Thanks again to all of my sponsors and teammates who support my racing program! Without you I wouldn't be able to compete at the level I am.
AKA Products Inc. Kyosho America Maclan Racing Xpert RC USA SOR Graphics DieHard RC Northwest Championship Tour
#Kyosho #KyoshoAmerica #Maclan #MMAX #MRR #DieHardRC #SOR #RaceAKA #XpertRC #NCTRacing |
