Practice Update
With no official timing, today’s open practice for the JConcepts Fall Indoor Nationals at RC Excitment was a very relaxed affair with drivers getting plenty of time on a track which they all reported as been super consistent throughout the day meaning little set-up changes, the focus instead being on tyre compounds. Steven Harston, who is chasing a fourth straight ‘Indoor National Series’ win this weekend in 4WD Buggy, said he was pleased with all three of his factory Associated cars. Describing the track conditions as a little loose he said they have been consistent all day and having switched to blue compound Bar Codes for his evening runs he feels he is in good shape for tomorrow’s qualifying.
Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans said he focused most of his attentions on his 2WD buggy running his 2WD Stadium truck and Short Course truck just once each with both feeling really easy to drive. Having had to change very little on the set-up of his Orion powered TLR22, last year’s 2WD Buggy victor said everything felt good for tomorrow and he used much of his track time scrubbing in tyres for qualifying. Running JConcepts blue V1 Bar codes on the rear and blue Bar codes on the front, he said for now the tyres gave him a good feeling with the buggy but with the temperatures in the Fitchburg area set to drop considerably on Sunday he said he is not sure how that will effect the track and his tyre choice for the mains.
Local track expert Mike Wilder, who joined Evans on the podium at the Massachusetts event last year, focused most of his attentions today on his Viper powered Associated B4.1. Having only this week received Associated’s new big bore shocks, the 25-year-old said he was really happy with how they work and after fitting a new rear diff near the end of the day he said he is confident he has the pace to again make the podium. Commenting on 4WD Buggy he said it was pushing a little but with his front diff a little rough he plans to fit a new one for the morning which he is confident will give him the little steering he is currently lacking.
Top Qualifier in 4WD Buggy last year, Mike Gay said he focused on his tyre combo and has decided on JConcepts Bar Codes blue fronts and green rears. The Associated driver said this gives him good forward bite and helps pull the buggy through the corners. Describing his 4WD as ‘very good’ he said his 2WD is ‘nice and consistent’. Gay said his biggest concern was how the track was going to react to Sunday’s forecasted weather change but he hoped it wouldn’t change things too drastically as he was looking forward to some good close racing.
Chasing his first podium finish in his own series this season, JConcepts boss Jason Ruona said things were going ‘so far so good’. Changing from green to blue compound Bar Codes on both his 2WD and 4WD Associated chassis, he said it improved the overall feeling more so on his B4.1 allowing him to post his best run of the day. Describing the track as ‘super tight’ the highly regarding r/c product designer said his plan for qualifying was to ‘stay smooth’ as the track punishes mistakes heavily.
Managing a best lap of 15.2 with his MIP 4WD Short Course truck, Matt Olson said it was a productive day. Focusing on tyre choice he said he tried both Bar Codes and Pressure Points finding the latter to be slightly better. Also playing around with compound choice he used the cooler conditions of the evening runs to see if he could get an idea of what to except for Sunday but he said the temperature change was not significant enough and the track was stayed ‘very consistent’ all day.
View our event photo gallery here.