Category Archives: 10th Scale Stuff

Jan 21 2017
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10th Scale Stuff, driving, People, Race Reports

Reedy Race Observations – Day 1

You know the results, you can check them here. Here’s some things that caught my eye from day 1:

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Dakotah Phend’s car looks the best at the moment, and obviously he is driving really well too. His car is the most stable and consistent, lands really well, and has great steering and rotation. It looks like it is easy to drive and he can place it wherever he wants. This was really obvious in the last main when he was racing Evans.

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The AE B64D looks good in the hands of Cavalieri, Rivkin, Evans etc, but it’s lacking a bit of pace. To me it looks like it doesn’t have the steering or rotation that is needed, and they are having to muscle it in the corners trying to get it round. It does everything else well, but in the tighter turns it is a bit slow. This is why I expect Cavalieri and Rivkin to jump forward once 2wd gets going.

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Watching Ryan Maifield is like taking an advanced course in how to drive an RC car fast. He is just so damn good. I forget which race it was, but it was quite obvious that his car wasn’t doing what he wanted it to do, and it wasn’t handling great. He just adjusted his driving, corrected the car when it started getting out of shape, and probably finished 2nd or something like that. He basically drove around the issues. To me it looks like it isn’t squaring up and going straight how he want’s it too, and will randomly drift left or right when he is trying to go over the jumps straight.

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Ty Tessmann is on a mission to prove me wrong. I basically wrote that he might be “the best of the rest”, not putting him in my top 5 in my predictions. He jokingly said he almost didn’t sign for Xray, just so my prediction of that would be wrong. Well it’s nice to hear I am motivating him. I will admit he is doing better than I expected, but tomorrow we will see which way his race will head. I still stand by what I said.

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Joona Haatanen is the standout performer at this point. Great drives have given him 3-3-2-4 and has him tied with Maifield and Rivkin, sitting behind them in 7th! And to think that normally he is better in 2wd. I hope he can keep this up, what an amazing day for him! Cool calm and collected.

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Tanner Denney is another standout performer, but due to two really good races, and two bad ones, he isn’t that high up in the rankings right now. He needs to eliminate the big mistakes, and be more consistent, and he can be right up there!

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Jared Tebo is maybe my most accurate prediction at this point. Close but no cigar, he is sitting in 8th right now. Tebo left points on the table in every race I watched him in, and it wasn’t because he drove bad or made mistakes, in my opinion it was because his car made them for him. I know it’s an excuse to blame equipment, but this isn’t me talking about myself, it’s me looking at him and his car. I think his car is just on the verge of spazzing out or flipping off the track and at some point it does just that, regardless of how well he is driving. And if he is under pressure from someone, then it just becomes impossible to stay on track.

Thank you RedRC, I stole your pictures!

Jan 20 2017
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#rcgypsy, 10th Scale Stuff, JQ USA Tour, People, Race Reports

Reedy Race PRACTICE, We Talkin’ ’bout PRACTICE! PRACTICE!

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Let me tell you a story. This year, well technically last year, in November, I met this young man by the name of Jacob Mayonnaise, known to most as Jake Mayo. I had never spoken to this guy before, although I do believe he has beat me at OCRC before, because I remember thinking who the hell that asshole is that is so fast. Anyway, this time we spoke, and turns out this fool is a funny guy, and very fast.

This is his first Reedy Invitational class event, and Jake had carefully built a brand new AE B6 4wd, and meticulously prepared a special lightweight body for it, with nice paint job, it sort of looks like mayo gone bad. He spent hours cutting it out, sanding the edges, applying the stickers perfectly, everything was ready for the Reedy Race.

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First practice, possibly the first timed lap, I was obviously already on a heater. I mean this is practice, I take it pretty seriously, it’s the only thing I can win at this point. And I did, TQed the 1st round of practice, so I was moving. Jake however, took a more calculated, and cautious approach, which lead to him single doubling the tricky step down jump. I obviously doubled the shit out of that thing. I waffle stomped onto his car almost as impressively as the infamous Wally “Wafflestomp” Walnutz back in the day. I smashed straight through Mayo’s body and cracked and dented it. So sorry Mayo, welcome to the invitational class. This is nothing, wait until you are mid pack in a race, leave those lightweight bodies at home dude!

In other news, I may or may not have underestimated Dustin Evan’s pace. Tessmann also looks fast, but I’m sticking to what I wrote yesterday. Being fast and racing well through the pack are two different things.

2wd

 

 

Jan 19 2017
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10th Scale Stuff, JQ USA Tour, Race Reports, Top 10 Thoughts

Reedy Race Predictions

I thought I would do some predictions, and do them before we hit the track tomorrow! Because, well, why not? I will try to predict the top 5, as well as group drivers where I think they will end up. Let’s see.

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1. Barry Baker

Just kidding. Let’s be serious here. This isn’t touring car, or 1999.

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1. Ryan Cavalieri

I think “Pudge” is looking good for the win this year, and most of the time he has “Pudge Luck” on his side too. This is his home track, both his cars are working great, and he seems confident. He is a very consistent and good racer in mains, and this race, well it’s all mains!

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2. Spencer Rivkin

Spencer is hot on Chavalieri’s heels. He could win, but I just picked cool calm and collected over the World Champ. There’s no room for mistakes, and I think Spencer will make the critical ones.

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3. Dakotah Phend

Phend just won everything at some other electric race, so he is obviously fast, but I don’t put him quite on the same pace as Cavalieri and Rivkin. Last year he did win, but I think this year 3rd is where he will finish!

Basic CMYK

4. Ryan Maifield

Maifield is obviously one hell of a driver. When he switched to TLR, he immediately won the Reedy Race. He was on a mission. I feel like this time it won’t be so easy. Two reasons:

  1. He just got married. Married and done. (-Greg Degani)
  2. I think the Yokomo is quite different to what Maifield is used to, not saying it’s bad, saying it’s different. I don’t think Maifield will be comfortable enough to pull it off against this crowd, at this race. A normal race, yes maybe, but 10 times out of 12, coming through the pack? I don’t see it happening this time. He needs more time with the cars to get them how he wants them.
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Caption contest! Write a caption, and win nothing!

5. Jared Evans

This was a hard one, Tebo or Evans? I think it will be between them. I think Dustin Evans will get it, because he has what I believe to be better cars, and he is motivated now that he just switched. Unlike Maifield, going to AE from TLR, I don’t think that requires much getting used to! Tebo, he is fast, and he will win races, but I think his bad races will be worse.

So that would leave Tebo 6th, and then we have an interesting bunch of drivers. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these following drivers were to finish 3rd to 6th: Lee Martin, Kyle McBride, Ty Tessmann. I think Lee is too nice and too smooth to win Reedy. To do well here you need to be aggressive and a bit mad, and Lee is quite level headed on the track. Kyle is more of a nitro driver in my opinion, this is just 5 minutes, he is just getting warmed up. As for Ty, I think he has all the right ingredients, but I think the way he sets his cars up might cause some issues in this format of racing. At this race there’s a lot of rubbing and close racing, and reacting to other cars, and I think that won’t play into the strength of Ty’s setup, where the best results are obtained when he can get in a groove and flow around the track.

As for everyone else, who the hell knows? I think standouts could be last years winners Joona Haatanen and Alex K, as well as Jake Mayo, Cole Tollard, and Carson Wernimont. As for the rest, let’s just say they will be 15th-30th!

Personally my goal is to have 10 good races that count, and if I have everything go my way, I think I could possible finish 10th-15th. That’s if all stars align. If I can finish 15th or better I will be happy, as long as somewhere in there I win one race. That would be quite an achievement at this race.

As for who will be last, if the racing is good, it will be Brian Kinwald, because he will pull off and watch!

 

Jan 16 2017
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10th Scale Stuff, driving, Race Reports, Video

Just Another Phend JQ battle – Said no one ever.

The last club race before the Reedy Race went quite well. I finished 2nd in both classes behind Dakotah Phend. In 2wd I had no chance, I was far behind, 7 seconds back I think after the 7 minute main. In 4wd it was much different, as you can see in the video here! If I can drive well at the Reedy, and I get a front row start in 4wd, I think I could pull off a win in a main! That would be something special! It has always been a dream of mine.

Jan 13 2017
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10th Scale Stuff, driving, JQ USA Tour, PR Racing Advice

That’s Much Better – And Nitro Wiring

I'm slipping back to nitro wiring. I need to figure this out for the Reedy race! That servo lead though...:-D

I’m slipping back to nitro wiring. I need to figure this out for the Reedy race! That servo lead though…:-D

Well if yesterday was a disaster, today was a lot better. Got my act together, slept well, worked on both cars, and improved my driving. 4wd pace is acceptable, still slightly off the top, I would say I need to find 0.3seconds per lap on average in order to be really competitive. In 2wd I’m further off, more like 0.6 seconds that I need to find. On AKA’s I am quite good in 2wd and more competitive, but I just can’t do the same on the JConcepts, they are too loose for me. I will be trying my stand up gearbox car tomorrow just to see if that is easier to drive, and faster for me.

So for 2wd I’m still searching, but for 4wd I just need to drive better. That car is already good enough. Yest it can be improved, but mainly I just need to improve my driving, I need to maintain my corner speed better, and hit my lines better, that’s what I learned driving behind Maifield. When I did everything right we were going the same speed, any small mistake and he would pull a way a bit, then back to hitting my lines and I was fine again. And by mistake I mean braking too late, messing up a corner, going too wide etc. So need to focus on driving better tomorrow.

I think it’s really funny how some of these top drivers are such delicate flowers when it comes to their confidence and egos. Pull in behind them and they pull off. Can’t risk having me go faster than them in practice I guess. Or practice with no transponder until you are fast. Too funny. At least Cavalieri, Rivkin, Evans and Hara club raced yesterday. Hopefully more will tomorrow. Maifield didn’t give a shit also when I was trying to hang with him in 4wd, he didn’t pull off.

Did a podcast with Bobby Moore today. What the hell was it called, it slipped my mind now, but it will be out tomorrow. Hopefully it won’t make people hate me more!

Jan 12 2017
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10th Scale Stuff, Thoughts on Work

Get Your Head On Straight

Mostly I just horsed around

Mostly I just horsed around

Today was a perfect example of how bad things can go wrong when you aren’t prepared. I had to pick up this one idiot from the airport today, and was late to the track. I had to change the diff and the gearbox on the 2wd, and I had to finish the new 4wd, and I barely made the club race. The whole day was a mess trying to get everything done, and that lead to some messy racing!

Preparation is key, not only does it ensure your equipment works right, it also helps make sure you go into the heat mentally prepared, and confident!

Jan 11 2017
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10th Scale Stuff, PR Racing Advice

Front Links and Camber at OCRC

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Today I was testing at OCRC Raceway, this time with JConcepts tyres, that we are going to use for the race. Going from the AKAs I have been running, it was a shock to find that the JCs are so loose in comparison. I was doing donuts out there at first. In the end, I got my car good, and was able to match my best laptimes.

One thing I did, was mount these new pieces PR Racing had made, that enable you to shorten the front link, as well as adjusting it vertically. The stock link just attaches to the tower. Shortening the link made the car a lot easier to drive for me. It has less high speed steering, and more low speed steering. The car is more precise and responsive low speed. It also squares up and goes more straight out of corners, which I like.

Another thing that helped a lot, was adjusting camber. I have written about adjusting camber before. Getting it right makes the car a lot easier to drive, specially in 2wd. I went out and drove for about 5-6 laps, then stopped and adjusted camber, then went back out, and did this until I zoned in on the best setting front and rear. I ended up with 0 front and 0.5 rear. Hitting the right camber setting, which was not far from what I had, I had about 0.5 front, 1.5 rear, made the car a lot easier to drive for me, and I was consistently about 0.3s faster. Every little bit counts!

Jan 09 2017
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10th Scale Stuff, driving, Thoughts on Work

How Not to Blow Out When Sucking More Than Normal – And Tyres

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Today I raced at OCRC again, and a couple of things crossed my mind. You see this coming week is the last week of practice before Reedy, so I want to get some good laps under my belt before the race, with both cars. I mounted up new tyres for both cars so I have a few sets for the coming week. The thing is, new tyres suck! They take a while to break in, which makes racing them tough. So here is what I was thinking about.

The importance of tyres in any racing is huge, but I feel like in 10th offroad it’s more noticeable than in 8th scale. If your tyres are a bit off, your lap time could be 0.2s off. Over a run, that will be about 3-4 seconds. At the pace and consistency we are racing now, that’s really hard to make up. So if your tyres aren’t right, and you can’t compensate for it with car setup, to gain that traction back, you will be a bit off your best pace. This week I will actually be testing to see how to compensate for the lack of traction, while maintaining the same balanced handling. Anyway, this leads to another problem.

When you are racing and you feel good but you are losing time to drivers you feel like you should be beating, it’s the perfect scenario for a mental meltdown to happen. This means you start pushing too hard, and making mistakes. You get frustrated because you aren’t as fast as you think you should be, and you start making mistakes. What you need to do is actually slow down a bit. Calm down, focus even more, and only on your car. Don’t care about anything or anyone else, ok maybe you are out of the race for your win. Deal with what you have, focus on your car, and turning perfect clean laps, and salvage what you can. Normally if you can do this, you will still get a decent result. Maybe you don’t win, but you could still be 2nd or 3rd, instead of blowing out and finishing at the back.

This is something that I need to keep in mind at Reedy, because I just had the GREAT news that I made it into the invitational class, along with Barry Baker. I guess its ON now, I can’t let that guy beat me, I will never hear the end of it. I need to maximise my own performance regardless of what happens in the race. If I get a front row start and get taken out (likelihood of this approximately 100%), I need to be able to remain calm, not blow a gasket, and salvage whatever I can, instead of thinking about what could have been, and crashing 17 times because I’m not focusing on my driving.

Barry Baker was so happy after his epic win at Sunday Night Showdown at OCRC that he organised his tool box. Then we had the great news that we both made it into the Reedy Invitational class. What a day, I think Barry will be smiling all day at work tomorrow.

Barry Baker was so happy after his epic win at Sunday Night Showdown at OCRC that he organised his tool box. Then we had the great news that we both made it into the Reedy Invitational class. What a day, I think Barry will be smiling all day at work tomorrow.

Jan 07 2017
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10th Scale Stuff, JQ USA Tour, PR Racing Advice, Race Reports

PR Racing MM and FM Setups for Dirt.

So, today me and Matt Schreffler were on it again, at OCRC! Matt TQed and I was 2nd this time, with both of us getting our runs in, in the 2nd round, under pressure. And this time we made it round clean for the first lap! That was great, then maybe on the 3rd lap Matt hit the pipe and collected me :-D. So there was a 4-way battle with Nick Miller and “The Admiral”. Eventually Matt got to the front, and I got 2nd. I managed to get 2seconds from Matt, and then with about 2 laps to go I sent it on the quad and jumped off the track. I still managed to hold on to 2nd. Miller time tried to pass me at one point, so I punched it and swerved right into him, unintentionally, it was like James Stewart when looses it in the woops, sort of deal. On that subject, he just posted he isn’t retiring. Thank you motocross god. Anygays, sorry Nick, I didn’t meant to take you out.

So here are my PR Racing 2WD setups, pretty dialed if you ask me. I haven’t run the MM now in a while, but I almost think I would run the stock front bulkhead, and not dremel the front arm, just run the hub forward like on the FM for less steering, or back for more. There was a mistake on the MM setup before, so I am posting it again.

*Uptravel limited with 2mm shims + 1 o-ring on all shocks.

PR Racing S1V3-MM QUAGRAINE Setup OCRC USA December 2016

PR Racing S1V3-FM QUAGRAINE Setup OCRC USA January 2016

FM Version

MM Version

Dec 31 2016
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10th Scale Stuff, driving, PR Racing Advice, Race Reports, Thoughts on Work

Great Last Race – Learning From The WC.

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Today was the 2nd night I raced the PR Racing FM, the laydown gearbox 2wd. This time I figured it out, and got it really good. In the morning I played around in CAD and did one of my magic setups, in theory at least. The car wasn’t feeling balanced, so I balanced it out on the computer. I was super excited to try it on the track, and once again, theory beats hours of trial and error at the track. Once I got the full setup on I had come up with, moving the front and rear camber links to new locations, as well as reducing downtravel, and adjusting camber, it was super good! I actually managed to run the best 2wd race I have ever done, even leading at one point as Rivkin crashed.

Then something happened that frustrates the shit out of me. I made a stupid mistake while leading, because I was impatient. I mean with the World Champion behind you, you kind of just have to go for it, but still. I was coming up to lap a driver, and instead of playing it safe at the end of the straight, I took an inside line, and clipped the pipe at the end of the straight. What I should have done is slow down more on the normal line, then pass the driver safely, as it would have been really unlikely that Spencer could have passes me there. Hindsight is 20-20, but after watching so many races for the win, I should have known better. It’s not like I would have beat Spencer, but I could have held him behind me for a few more laps maybe. When you are leading the race, you control the pace, so don’t take unnecessary risks, where you can lose the lead. It’s so stupid to let the other guy by because you crash. Go just as fast as you can, while being safe, and block every passing line. But at the end of the race, to be only just over 7 seconds behind Rivkin after 7 minutes, I’ll take it! That’s 1 second a minute. 1 second a minute? That’s not something that feels impossible to figure out. It used to be 1 second A LAP!

Best action after 4:25.

In 4wd Spencer raced the main, and we had a good battle. It was good to race close to a better driver than me, so I could see where I am losing time, and where I am doing well. What I could tell, was that in the tight corners, my perfect corner was Spencer’s average corner. I need to step up the corner speed in the slow sections. And on this layout, landing the quad and going into the next section I am also slow. The best way to learn to be faster once you are consistently fast, is to race close to someone faster. Just a few laps will already teach you a lot if you are paying attention. Also, it’s so much fun to do!

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