“I figure you get out of life just about what you put into it.” – Lee Petty
The Sound of the Tone
- Decent turnout but was expecting more
- Speed crew did a great job prepping the track it looked great!
- Christian PaHud running stock always sets the bar and keeps you on your toes
Qualifying R1
2wd Mod Stadium Truck (22T 3.0) – My truck fired off great. The setup was untouched from round 6 and it seemed liked the tires were at there sweet spot, it handled the best it ever has. I was able to put in a really clean run making only 1 small mistake and TQed the round.
Tire – Pro-Line MC Positrons (Fronts: Low Pin / Rears: Low Pin)
Prep – FDJ Pineapple
Post Run Changes – None
2wd Stock Buggy (22 4.0 SR) – Having the extra qualifier for the trophy race I really wanted to try some setup changes in preparation for Masters of Dirt. The night before I made a list of changes and the areas I though they would help:
For more steering
- Front axle spacer from outside to inside (narrowing front treadwidth)
- Bottom of shocks to inside hole
- Trail position forward
- Stiffer front spring
For more rotation on power
- Laydown position on tower (Hole #2, shorter link)
- Decrease rear toe to 2.5 deg.
So for the first round I decided to keep it simple and just do the spacer. I didn’t really notice any difference. In fact I felt like it took away steering. Either that or the car was just off for the track conditions. I felt like the lack of steering was really hurting my corner speed.
Tire – Pro-Line MC Positrons (Fronts: Low Pin / Rears: Low Pin)
Prep – FDJ Pineapple
Post Run Changes – Move bottom of front shocks to inside hole
Qualifying R2
2wd Mod Stadium Truck (22T 3.0) – Second round in truck got even better. I was going to try running slicks but figured I better not through away the second round. Also Ryan Millington entered the class and he is always pretty fast. I figured I better stick to what I ran the first round. The track was getting more grip and it made my truck do everything better. I noticed this in the previous races and decided to only prep the inside of my tires. Put in another great run and improved my TQ and locked up qual points taking 2 of 3 rounds.
Tire – Pro-Line MC Positrons (Fronts: Low Pin / Rears: Low Pin)
Prep – FDJ Pineapple
Post Run Changes – NONE
2wd Stock Buggy (22 4.0 SR) – For the second round I put the axle spacers back to kit settings and moved the bottom of the shock to the inner most position. Although this slightly improved steering it wasn’t quite enough. Even worse I made two bad mistakes that cost me the round.
Tire – Pro-Line MC Positron (Fronts: Low Pin / Rears: Low Pin)
Prep – FDJ Pineapple
Post Run Changes – Stiffer front springs (AE Blue, 2mm Trail, 2.5 Toe, Raise inner rear camber link)
Qualifying R3
2wd Mod Stadium Truck (22T 3.0) – I decided to try a slick for round 3 as I had nothing to lose, but it wasn’t the way to go. I lacked rear traction and had too much front. It made the truck hard to drive.
2wd Stock Buggy (22 4.0 SR) – For the final round of qualifying I through everything add it and it was great! I changed the following:
- Stiffer Front Spring – AE Blue
- Trail to forward most position – 2mm
- Rear toe out to 2.5 deg
- Raised inner rear camber link 1mm
Although backwards to some people I feel like when the track is gripping up and very high traction a stiffer spring helps to make the car turn, and this is just what I found. That combined with moving the trail forward gave me all the steering I needed to get a lot more corner speed.
I also feel like taking rear toe out and raising the inner rear camber link helped get the rear out of the track. With grip being high it helped free the car up through the corners without the loss of traction.
These changes allowed me to turn the fastest times of the day and finish with my best qualifying time. I was ready for the Main!
Tire – Pro-Line MC Positron (Fronts: Low pin / Rears: Low pin)
Prep – FDJ Pineapple
Post Run Changes – None
Mains
2wd Mod Stadium Truck (22T 3.0) – I kinda got off to a bad start and let Millington get too close. we bumped and rubbed and waited on each other until we finally got going. He eventually got by me and led until about halfway when he would make a mistake. From that point on I had a comfortable lead and was able to cruise on to victory with consistent laps.
The track had considerable grip compared to the previous rounds and it really had me thinking about my buggy. The grip level was to the point that I had to adjust my driving and approach the corners much easier than in previous rounds.
Tire – Pro-line Positrons (Fronts: Low Pin / Rears: Low Pin – Slicked Center)
Prep – FDJ Pineapple
Setup – PDF IMAGE
2wd Stock Buggy (22 4.0 SR) – Before the race I was talking about the traction level with Christian and he talked me into lowering my ride height from 22 to 21 mm. This is really nothing but it kinda messed with my head. From the tone the car just felt like it lost all the steering it had the previous round. I ended up making a mistake early which allowed Carmendy to get by.
I finally found my rhythm and the car felt really good and had plenty of speed. Christian was long gone but I was going to be disappointed if I didn’t get around Carmendy. I was patient and he finally made a mistake after the step down. That combined with a bad marshall allowed me to stretch away from him pretty quickly.
I cant say enough how much better stock racing makes you. At the club level I feel it is the best racing. The field is so tight and you just can not make a single mistake. Overall it was a great day where I learned more about my car and good adjustments to tune it to my liking.
Tire – Pro-Line MC Positron (Fronts: Slicked Out / Rears: Slicked Out)
Prep – FDJ Pineapple
Setup – PDF IMAGE
