The Halfway Point: Six Rounds & Six things I've learned.

    People say time flies when you’re having fun. Time also flies when you’re getting waxed every two weeks by virtue of a steep learning curve I forgot existed in my time away. But being waxed can be a great opportunity for learning. The professors are my competitors, and I’m just trying to absorb what I can in the midst of an indoor season that’s already halfway over. Time really does fly.

    It feels like just yesterday I was prepping my car and my mind for my first full indoor season of any kind in over 3 years. While it had been a figurative lifetime since I seriously raced on carpet (3 years in this hobby is like a lifetime), I felt I was well-prepared from a just-completed outdoor campaign that saw me start with a budget-built TC4, to re-joining Schumacher Racing, and finishing strong with my Mi6evo. Admittedly, there were far more changes to my program in a single season than I'd like. I'm typically not a fan of switching cars and equipment mid-season, but with an On-Road program that was essentially non-existent at the start of spring, it was a necessity to say the least.

    Fast forward to the last week of September. My Mi6evo is cleaned, rebuilt with an alloy chassis & a carpet-specific setup, a brand new Maclan 17.5 V1 stock motor, Hobbywing XR10-Pro speedo, Sticky Kicks cleaners, and a fresh body & livery with BOOMrc graphics. After years racing USGT/VTA-type classes, I was ready to move up to the faster Stock Touring class. I had my program set, support lined up, and fresh confidence stemming from a great outdoor season.

    What I thought I knew, I hadn't a clue. RC, like any activity or sport, has a way of humbling you with a kick in the groin and a slap to the face from time to time. Just when you think you have it all worked out, there's something new to throw a monkey wrench into the best-laid plans. A lot has changed in 3 long years, so with six rounds down in the 2017/2018 indoor season, here's six things I've learned from my return to racing.

1) Turn an Honest Wrench:

    Through 6 rounds of racing, I swear I've had more bullshit breakdowns and lost screws than at any point in my RC career combined. Two shredded spur gears, a destroyed front bumper assembly, lost screws, loose steering assemblies, etc., the list goes on and on. The problem here isn't with the car or equipment, it's the jackass prepping said-car & equipment. The faster corner speeds and higher downforce of modern touring car racing had forced me to re-think how I prep my cars. So much for resting on my once-stellar laurels..... Check your screws kids, give the car a once over. Even the most unthought of items need attention with the stresses we put these little cars through these days. 

(Too many of these expensive little mistakes this season.)

2) The Current Speed of "Stock" is Unreal:

    Just as the heading says, the speeds of the current-generation stock touring cars is on another level. It's admittedly taken me more time than anticipated to come to grips with the current pace of modern touring cars, and admittedly I should’ve made the jump years ago. It's been a rewarding challenge, but difficult nonetheless. With ROAR changing the wind limit of Stock Touring to 21.5 turns, things should ease a bit, but not as much as many had thought. The newest crop of 21.5 motors are still head and shoulders above any brushed 27t motor I ever raced with, and would embarrass some current 17.5 mills. With the tight confines of the Hangar 30 track, a normal stock TC race borders on the pace of modified from a few years ago.  I think I'm becoming a speed junkie, because this shit is fun.

(The current crop of brushless motors are no joke.) 

3) The Level of Talent on Wednesday Night is Wild:

    We have a unique setup for Wednesday night club racing, in that our mid-week track is a full carpet roll smaller than the main Saturday setup. This creates a couple interesting situations. The lap times for a typical Wednesday fiesta border along the 8-second range for Stock 12th scale, and low to mid-9's for Stock Touring. Laps are a blurry kickass experience. What makes it all so amazing is the lack of modified classes. With the smaller layout and bumpy surface, Mod just isn't feasible, so consequently, you get a mix of current stock and mod drivers scrapping in the same class. The depth of talent it creates on a club night no-doubt rivals any program in the country. On any given night, you'll have at least 3 former Regional/National champs battling with us mere mortals for series points. I've been waxed more than my fair share so far this season, but the lessons I've learned are more than worth the price of admission.

4) Technology Has Taken Over:

    This one is more of a blanket statement across the entire hobby, but the level of technology we have reached regarding the cars and equipment is unreal. The adjustability and capabilities of the latest crop of cars is truly amazing. Everything is lighter, more nimble, and much faster. Battery tech has taken off in the past few years, and now we're running packs with twice the capacity of the older-generation LiPo's and at a fraction of the weight. Motors are getting more efficient and faster than ever before. They are also becoming more user-friendly than anything previously produced. With this rise in technology, also comes the consequence of price. Equipment is costing more than ever before. What was already an expensive hobby has only risen. The flipside of all this is that all of these current components are lasting longer than ever before. Motors can now last the better part of two seasons instead of two months, and batteries can last an entire season with proper care. That extra money spent is stretched further and further, which is never a bad thing.

(These toy cars are small marvels of engineering.)

5) New Blood is Still a Rarity:

    This has been a problem for years, but with the entire industry facing lower turnouts, this is an issue that can't be ignored. I'm not a wizard that has all the answers, but talking with others about the situation, having a spec class with proportional speeds would certainly help. Like I mentioned earlier, speeds are up substantially in all classes, including spec and novice. Having a spec class that drivers can hone their skills in and an affordable car that they can grow and advance with certainly wouldn't hurt to me. We'll see what the future holds, but if we have the technology to make these cars faster and handle better, why can't use that same technology to make them more accessible? Food for thought.

(New blood is a constant battle world-wide, but 5 novices on a Wednesday night is rad.)

6) RC Racing is Still Badass:

    Issues and concerns aside, racing in general is still badass. Gathering with buddies and flogging toy cars around a temporary track on a Wednesday night never seems to get old. The work done by Kyle Bradshaw, Todd Mason, Brian Bodine, Korey Harbke and so many others has created an amazing atmosphere and the potential for growth and success within the Seattle RC Racers club. Mid-week racing is alive and well in the Northwest, and I believe the same can be said for many other parts of the country and world. With a little promotion and catering to the sportsman and novice, we can thrive like years past. In the meantime, I'm having a bitchin’ time  hanging with friends new & old, and racing RC cars in between. It's all dialed.

(Thanks to those that work so hard to give us fools a place to race.)

    With that, bring on act two! Time to end the proverbial pussy-footing and just send it. 6 more rounds of hot-shit dialed racing on the rug, before we all thaw out and head out to the great outdoors. 2018 is gonna be wild, fam. Buckle up. 

Peace & fast laps.

-JRoy