I've been to every Side Street Speed Meet and really enjoyed everyone of them. I've been officially hooked on R/C Speed Runs since that first one, a year or two back. I've posted some respectable speeds, even held an ISC world record for a short time. One thing that had eluded me so far was an ISC "100MPH Club" Hat. I've dreamed of earning one since I first saw them ....
September 25th, 2011 and it's time for another ISC Side Street Speed Meet. In typical "Busy Hobby Guy" fashion, I started working on my speed run car a few days before this event. Originally planning on building a whole new car, I settled for revamping my TC5. I mounted a new body, this time opting for a dirt oval wedge from McCallister. I cut side damns, inner braces, in hopes of slicking out the areo-package and eliminating the blow-overs that haunted me with sedan style bodies.
I also swapped out the motor, installing a 2.5 wind from Powers. A Tekin esc was used and careful thought was given to the programming options. I also installed a Drift-Box (steering gyro). The rest of the car got a good cleaning and inspection. Bearings were replaced (5 out of 8 wheel bearings were blown out!) and a solid diff was put in the rear. The night before the event, everything was ready to go fast but the weather reports ....
The morning dawned gloomy. Skies were overcast and the smell of rain was in the air. I headed out to the Side Street, meeting up with Event Director Gary O'Connor. Other drivers and spectators began showing up, only the hardcore made the trip. As it turned out, the rain was off and on all morning and we did not get to start running until 11 o'clock. And, we were lucky to run at all.
To get things warmed up Gary O' ran is box stock Slash, posting runs in the 21mph zone .... Ok, it was just to test the speed traps. But, I do think he's got the official record for longest/fastest wheelie through the traps at 19mph.
Juan Robles brought out a Traxxas E-Revo and a 4x4 slash. He made repeated runs just to see how fast they were. The E-Revo was just shy of 40mph and the 4x4 brought up the mid 30's. Everything on these was box stock, no changes for the event. Finding out how fast your r/c car will go is part of the fun!
Charlie Suangka came all the way up from So-Cal to represent Novak and get in some runs. He ran the most runs of the day, starting in the mid 80's and ending up in the mid 90's.
Red Jensen made his debut in Speed Runs. After keeping us entertained flying his Fun Cub while the street was too wet, he got in some shake down runs on his brand new speed run car. Red posted speeds in the mid 80's, but faced the "New Guy" learning curve with driving a car at speed. He and his ride are capable and will get in some better runs in the near future.
For myself, All the changes listed above made for an interesting day. The first shake down run was in the 80's and the car had a high speed wiggle. Some minor changes were made to the side damns, thinking they were deflecting as the speeds came up. A run in the 90's was posted, but the car still had the wiggle.
After some head scratching in the pits, Gary O' mentioned the Drift Box being new and a possibility of the problem. I dialed down the sensitivity, geared up a couple teeth and made a solid run, posting 97mph. But, I was very heavy on the throttle, un soldering the wires and frying the speed controller in the process.
I was ready to call it a day, out of time and a little frustrated. But, Red offered me his ESC. Charlie egged me on. Others encouraged me. So, I went for it. Everything was swapped and double checked. I sent the car down the course, double checking the trim. I used the most run-up yet and went full throttle for the longest amount of time (maybe 3 seconds?) yet. I was getting used to the speeds, I knew it was fast but I could not judge how fast as it went through the traps. Everyone else seemed to know it was fast, but Gary did not say a word at the scoring tower ... As I drove the car back to where I was standing, I was thinking that Gary might say the clocks did not work and I would have to try again ... But, instead someone whispered "He's just getting a box out of his car" and at that point I knew Gary was going for the hats!
As it turned out, I hit 101mph on that run. Just enough to get into the 100 Club and earn a hat. I was all smiles and very relieved. Hand shakes and thank you's went all around as I packed up to leave. I've been rc'ing a long time and I really feel this is a big accomplishment.
A big thank you goes out to Gary O'Connor for hosting these awesome events in Santa Rosa. If you have not been out to see rc cars at full speed, then you should make every effort to get out and spectate. If you think your car is fast and you've got what it takes as a driver, then you REALLY owe it to yourself to give it a try. Supporting this type of event is important, grass roots rc fun is awesome.
Thanks goes out to Charlie and Red for all the help through out the day and to everyone else who offered some encouragement and support during the day. This is so much fun, because everyone truly enjoys it and is happy when anyone goes fast. Next up, I'm looking to take back that record .... It's 106 right now, I think 110mph is my next mark!
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6650 Commerce Blvd. #21 Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-586-3375 [email protected]
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~ Copyright ~ JPHRacing.com / Jake's Performance Hobbies
6650 Commerce Blvd. #21 Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-586-3375 [email protected]
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