Hartson TQ’s opening 2WD qualifier

Steven Hartson has TQ’d the opening round of 2WD Buggy at the JConcepts Winter Indoor Nationals, the Team Associated driver taking his new B5 to the fastest time in the first of the three qualifiers at SmacTrac ahead of TLR’s Cody Hollis.  Having set the pace in yesterday’s timed practice, Tanner Denney looked on target to continue where he left off setting the TQ pace until he came across traffic that would hamper his run leaving him drop back to finished a slightly frustrated 3rd.

Hartson was happy to kick off qualifying at the St. Louis event with a TQ run but like all the top drivers found conditions a little more tricky today compared with practice.  Describing the track as loose and dusty, the Californian driver said after a slightly slow start having being balked twice by his out of shape team-manager Brent Thielke, the rest of the 5-minute run was clean.  Running the same set of JConcepts Rips fronts and Barcode rears on his Reedy powered buggy, the 4WD World Champion said the pin of the rear tyre was too low for today’s noticeably different conditions and for Q2 he will sand a new set of Barcodes.  In terms of chassis set-up he said he will leave his B5 as is confident the taller pins will give him the extra rear grip he looking for.

Describing the track as ‘slick’, Hollis put his run down the fact he ‘didn’t wreck’.  Running in the B heat, the Oklahoma driver fitted a swing rack steering to his mid motored TLR22 for Q1 which ‘smoothened out the steering’ as well as giving him more turn in.  Asked if he planned to adjust the car for Q2 due to the loose track conditions he said overall he’s happy with how the car is working and the plan is to ‘try get another good one’ in the books.

Denney said after his traffic issues he ‘blew’ it.  Describing his Reedy powered B5 as ‘awesome’, the Arizona driver said the first half of the race was great. Claiming one bobble as his own doing, the 18-year-old said he tried to be patient in traffic but ‘kept getting screwed’.  Adding to his troubles with traffic he said the track changed with the groove being just the width of the car meaning if you had to get out of it you were in trouble in the dust.  For Q2 Denney said the only thing he plans to do is just charge his car adding he hopes he has better luck with the traffic second time round.

Driving an Associated B4 Centro, JConcepts backed Daimon Borkowicz set the fourth fastest time.  Running in the C heat having struggled with set-up in practice, the 13-year-old said heeding set-up advice from Denney had given him a much better car today.  Targeting a Top 5 finish, he said he was pretty happy with his time adding that the change to a stiffer shock set-up really helped.

A ‘Good start’ was how JR Mitch summed up his 5th fastest time for the opening round.  The Team Losi Racing driver said he kept his run consistent although he said by the end of the run the dusty track conditions made his mid motored TLR22 start to get loose by the end of the 5-minutes.  Set to leave everything as is for Q2, he said he just plans to drive a little harder.

Completing the Top 6 was local driver Chris Baumgartner. Also sixth fastest in timed practice he said his prediction that today’s slightly warmer conditions would bring increased traction was ‘completely wrong’.  Driving a B4 Centro, he said he had a lack of rear traction but keeping the run clean he was able to get a decent result.  After chatting with Denney, he said for Q2 he will try a few set-up changes the factory Associated driver suggested.

Setting the 9th fastest time behind Luke Richards and Michael Twilling, Thielke said his B5 was well balanced and smooth to drive but crashes on the first two laps cost him any chance of a good run.  Loosing a further 4-seconds when he tangled with a slower car later in the run, he said as this is the first race weekend for Associated’s new 2WD buggy platform he will make a few adjustments for Q2 adding its important to see how changes affect the car even though in Q1 he was really happy with the car’s performance.

TLR young gun Taylor Larsen, who was 3rd fastest in timed practice, did not have a good start to qualifying, his rear motored TLR22 completing the Top 10.

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‘From Race Control’ – Day 2, Qualifying

Day 2 of the opening round of the 2014 JConcepts Indoor Nationals Series, the Winter Indoor Nationals, will see 3 rounds of qualifying at the SmacTrac in St.Louis.  With each driver counting their best 2 qualifiers, the large entry has resulted in 37 heats meaning it will be a late finish to proceedings.

Denney tops timed practice at Indoor Nats

Team Associated’s Tanner Denney will be the top seed for qualifying at the JConcepts Winter Indoor Nationals in St. Louis after he used his new B5 to post the fastest 5 laps after the single round of timed practice.  The 18-year-old set an average lap of 14.364 to just pip team-mate Steven Hartson by 3/1000th of a second with Team Losi Racing’s Taylor Larsen third fastest around the SmacTrac track.

Having felt he was lacking a little on power steering on his B5 in the final free practice, Denney added a washer to change his ackermann and said the change gave the buggy ‘all round smoother steering’. Starting the day with a brand new straight out of the bag set of JConcepts Dirt Webs, the majority of drivers here subjecting their tyres to a sanding before use, he said they feel really good and other than freshening up his shocks he will go into Q1 with the car as is.  Asked what he has found to be the biggest different between the B4 and the B5, this being the cars debut race weekend, he said ‘it jumps better’ and that the ‘B4 chassis slap’ is gone.  He added that the B5 also drives more like the mid motored Centro conversion B4.

Having JConcepts Barcodes all round on his B5 in free practice for the timed run Hartson switched to green compound Rips on the front.  Gaining more steering from the change, the 4WD World Champion said he also slowed down his driving a little for the 3-minute run which seemed to work and led to him avoiding the track piping he was having problems with earlier in the day.  For tomorrow he plans to run everything as is saying he ‘think(s) all is good for qualifying’.

Just 6/100th off the pace of the two Associated drivers, 15-year-old Larsen was very happy with his day.  Running a rear motored TLR22, he said its been ‘really good’ and he hasn’t had to change anything in terms of set-up and the plan for the first qualifier is to just continue as is. Running JConcepts Dirt Webs, which he scrubbed in back home in preparation for this event, he said for the level of traction the tyre wear is very low and he will continue with the same set of tyres for tomorrow.

Setting the fourth fastest time Michael Twilling was the fastest mid motor car.  Running an Associated B4 Centro he said it was ‘very good’ adding he is ‘really happy’ with how its been running.  Making an early change to the anti squat to try and ‘lock down’ the rear end out of the corners he said the rest of the day was about breaking in tyres.  Scrubbing in a set of JConcepts Dirt Webs at his home track before the race, the Oklahoma driver said he was delighted he did.  Planning to leave the car as is for tomorrow he said he is ‘pretty pumped about it’.

‘Pretty descent’ was how Brent Thielke summed up his day in 2WD, the Associated team manager taking his B5 to the 5th fastest time. ‘Learning about the new car every time’ he gets it out on the track, he adjusted the link height together with moving the battery position to the rear which he said made it feel ‘more comfortable’ on the track.  Working closely with Denney both looking for a similar feeling from the car, for Q1 he will be following the change the No.1 seed made to his steering ackermann.

Completing the Top 6 was local racer Chris Baumgartner.  Another driving a Centro B4 he said he is ‘very happy’ with how it is working.  Having had to think about whether he made any changes to the set-up over the day, none being made, he said for tomorrow he might adjust his ride height.  Benefiting from local track knowledge he said tomorrow is due to be around 30 degrees warmer than today which temperature change ‘effect(ing) the traction a lot’.

In 4WD Buggy it was Hartson who set the pace ahead of Xray’s Josh Wheeler with Denney completing the Top 3. Hartson also topped Mod Truck.

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Hartson heads entry at Winter Indoor Nats

With no official timing and drivers getting only a limited number of runs per class, practice at the opening round of the JConcepts Indoor National Series in St. Louis, has been a rather relaxed affair.  Running 6-minutes each time they hit the track, we will only get a true picture of who is fast at the SmacTrac, and who needs to do some work, when the day concludes with a round of controlled practice that will determine the seeding of the heats for tomorrow’s qualifying action.  The smallest track the series visits, a good seeding, which will be based on the average of a driver’s five fastest laps from the 3-minute run, is going to be very beneficial for qualifying.

Due to a busy nitro testing schedule, in preparation for the Dirt Nitro Challenge in 2-weeks time, last year’s Winter Indoor Nationals biggest winner Ryan Maifield has had to skip the event.  4WD World Champion Steven Hartson heads this year’s entry on what is a significant weekend for his team as Team Associated gives its all new B5 its race debut. Associated Team Manager Brent Thielke, offroad legend Brian Kinwald and young gun Tanner Denney are among 15 or so drivers debuting the extremely well received new 2WD Buggy at the event.

Having completed just 5-battery packs with his B5 at OCRC Raceway before making the trip out from California for the event, Hartson said he put the car on the track as he ran it back home and straight off it is working ‘really good’ here.  Completing only two runs, not changing the set-up between run, he said the biggest initial difference between the B4 and the B5 is how much more consistent the new buggy is to drive.  Running sanded green compound JConcepts Barcodes on all his cars, he is also running 4WD Buggy & Mod Truck, he is happy with how they are working describing the track’s dirt & traction levels as ‘good’.

Thielke described the difference between the new & old car as ‘just more solid’.  Sixth in 2WD here last year,  he said he has changed his set-up each run using the information & feedback from his team drivers who are all running the car at different tracks to build up as much set-up data as possible.

Running JConcepts Dirt Webs tyres straight from the bag, Denney said his 2WD was ‘really good’.  Making a front end caster change after the first run the 18-year-old felt his lap times are competitive and he is looking forward to qualifying getting underway.   Commenting on his 4WD buggy, he said ‘it went around the track’ but he hopes a front swaybar & shock piston change will should help improve it for the seeding practice round.  Kinwald managed just one run with the B5 instead spending most of his day preparing tyres.  Happy with his 6-minutes of track time, he is also running 2WD Short Course this weekend as well as RC10 classic.

With Kyosho’s Jared Tebo having to unfortunately withdraw from the event having made the drive to St.Louis, the biggest challenge to the Associated team will come from Team Losi Racing.  Making his first visit to SmacTrac, JR Mitch said he was using the practice round to ‘just get some track time’.  Also running Dirt Webs on his cars, he said he is sanding them having been ‘hurt’ at the 2013 Series Final in Omaha back in December when he opted to let his tyres come in through natural wear.  Commenting on the track he said he races on a similar sized track back home in Florida and so he has been able to quickly adapt to the size and drivers stand.

Returning to the St.Louis, having attended the race for the first time last year, TLR’s Cody Hollis used his practice runs to break in tyres.  Describing a lap of the track as ‘pretty fast’, the Oklahoma driver said its ‘fun’ to drive.  Running his TLR22 in mid motor configuration in addition to 4WD Buggy he is also running 2WD Short Course this weekend.

One of the stars of the Series Finals at HobbyTown USA Hobby Plex,  Taylor Larsen said he couldn’t have asked for better from his rear motored TLR22 in the practice runs.  Running the car pretty much the same as he did at Omaha, where he was Top Qualifier, the 15-year-old said he is sticking with the rear motor configuration because he simply hasn’t done enough testing with it as a mid motored car.

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