Looks like I'm going racing again!

[majin]

thats the first nascar anything I've ever watched, it was cool af

 

[xjtorc]

4 days until race day!

SCT: Ready to rock.
Nascar: Ready to rock

21.5 Spec: The car finally arrived! Out of the box, I noticed some loose bolts here and there and some major driveline binding. My buddy admits he built it as a shelf queen to show off the Dale Sr. body that is on it lol.

I pulled out the electronics and found the binding to be caused by poor gear mesh...easy fix. Also had to tighten some loose screws here and there. I also replaced the super wide wheel hexes which pushed the wheels out to the fenders of the Nascar body. With the extensions, there was just barely enough threads for the wheel nuts to grab on to the axles. So now, the narrow track width looks a little goofy under the wide body but I'm just going to send it Sunday and see how it does. During the test drive on the street, it drives great. It feels like it's going to be really easy to go fast with it!

Doin it for Dale.

TT-02: Yesterday, I sneezed and the car built itself. Box stock build with bearings and the Tamiya CVA Super Mini Oil Filled Shocks. Which is a fancy way of saying I installed the "cheap plastic oil filled shocks that should come with the kit in the first place." Now I have to paint the body. Definitely not going box art. It will likely be solid blue to save weight and time. I'm going to let my son race the car and he's never driven a TC before, so I expect the body to be destroyed in the very near future. Once it's cooked, I'll put either a Bitty Design or ProtoForm super lightweight TC body on it since there are no body restrictions in the rule book.

Plan for today is to finish the TT-02 body and test drive the chassis. Tomorrow and/or Friday I'm going to take the kids to the commuter lot for some practice laps.

 

[space truckin]

Curious to read your comments on how the tt02 handles.

 

[xjtorc]

Curious to read your comments on how the tt02 handles.

expectations are low lol.

Finishing slapping paint on the body last night. Hoping to get a test drive in at some point today.

 

[xjtorc]

TT-02: Between last night and today's lunch break: Paint is done. Slapped some stickers on it. Mounted the transponder. Mounted the body to the chassis. Sent it.


First test was a fail. Steering was all whacked out. It was wondering everywhere. Had to re-center my servo horn and adjust my servo mounts because there was some rubbing on the center driveshaft. I also loosened up some of the screws in the rack. I don't know if I actually made it any looser or any smoother, but the 2nd test drive was WAY better. It tracks straight now.

Handling was way better than I expected. The car can turn in and out better than what the un-broken in stock tires can handle. They're starting to scrub in and by the end of the battery, they had noticeably gained traction. I honestly love how slow the car is. I can't wait to race it because of that fact alone lol.

My suspension setup: When I built the oil shocks, I did 2-hole pistons and 55 wt oil in the rears with 7mm clips. 3-hole pistons and 35 wt oil in the fronts with 5mm clips. Stock medium rate springs all around. I also left out the steering limiter under the front prop when building the kit.

This one is done and ready to race Sunday.

The only chore I have left is to setup another transponder for the RS4 and we will be fully ready to race! Fingers crossed the 30% chance of rain for Sunday turns into a 0% chance!

 

[CertifiedMike]

TT-02: Between last night and today's lunch break: Paint is done. Slapped some stickers on it. Mounted the transponder. Mounted the body to the chassis. Sent it.


First test was a fail. Steering was all whacked out. It was wondering everywhere. Had to re-center my servo horn and adjust my servo mounts because there was some rubbing on the center driveshaft. I also loosened up some of the screws in the rack. I don't know if I actually made it any looser or any smoother, but the 2nd test drive was WAY better. It tracks straight now.

Handling was way better than I expected. The car can turn in and out better than what the un-broken in stock tires can handle. They're starting to scrub in and by the end of the battery, they had noticeably gained traction. I honestly love how slow the car is. I can't wait to race it because of that fact alone lol.

My suspension setup: When I built the oil shocks, I did 2-hole pistons and 55 wt oil in the rears with 7mm clips. 3-hole pistons and 35 wt oil in the fronts with 5mm clips. Stock medium rate springs all around. I also left out the steering limiter under the front prop when building the kit.

This one is done and ready to race Sunday.

The only chore I have left is to setup another transponder for the RS4 and we will be fully ready to race! Fingers crossed the 30% chance of rain for Sunday turns into a 0% chance!

View attachment 275602

It looks great even if it drives sh!t. Lol!

 

[xjtorc]

So I just couldn’t leave well enough alone and put 50,000 cst fluid in the front diff of the TT02. Thick enough to not leak out, thin enough to allow slow diff action without fully locking it. It made a HUGE difference in handling. It is drastically better and I am so glad I did it ahead of the race tomorrow. It pulls itself around corners so well now without spinning out when you punch it to straighten out.

My rear differential is still free spinning. Initial thought was that I would have to come back and pack it with thicker grease to balance out the nearly locked front end but it seems like it may be fine to leave it be.

Race day tomorrow!!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Race day tomorrow!!

Good Luck!

 

[Doom!]

Good luck tomorrow, hope the new setup helps out when it counts!

 

[CertifiedMike]

Good luck!!!

 

[xjtorc]

Another race day is in the books and another roller coaster of emotions it was! Bringing two kids and managing 4 classes in 90+ degree heat is not for the faint of heart. We were sucking down H20 and spraying sunscreen all day long.

SCT: My daughter started the day in the only way she knows how, sliding into a track barrier and snapping a brand-new steering knuckle during practice. We got her fixed up and she ran her two qualifiers really well! Only one problem. Her transponder wasn't transponding. It would check her in just fine and then it wouldn't catch anything else. We discovered after her 2nd qualifier the transponder was melting. I had it connected directly to the output port on her XL-5 HV ESC. After it worked an entire race day, I assumed the direct voltage from the battery was fine and it could handle it....nahh, we were slowly roasting it. I thought it was funny. She did not. Luckily, I had a spare transponder on hand from my Nascar. Fixed her up again and she ran really well in the SCT B-Main. Honestly, all the SCTs were FAST yesterday. She held her own, got in a few scuffles (and a few turtles) but finished the race! and she finished 8th out of 10. I was proud because it was the best run of her racing career. She was pretty hard on herself, upset that she didn't do better. We had a talk. She chilled out. She's gonna get em next time.

Novice Brushed: I did not pay any attention to this class at our first race. I just assumed it would be a couple kids and some folks who are new to racing. It is sold as a "Beginners only" class. I thought it would be perfect for my son who is 9 and has never raced on road before. I was wrong. Some of these dudes were pretty dang fast! I was worried for my little man lol. He ran our stock TT-02 at 70% throttle. He ran a few practice laps and jumped into his first qualifier very nervous. His nerves got the best of him and he got tangled up with the barriers a few times and ended up losing a front dog bone. He couldn't fight the newly acquired 3WD mode and we pulled it early. When he was coming down from his nerves, he got a little down on himself. We had a talk which ended with "that's racing, bro!", I found his dog bone and got him fixed up. 2nd qualifier, he goes out and gets 4th place out of 8. You could see the moment the light switch flipped and he smoothed out his throttle finger around the turns. Literaly watched him "figure it out" mid race. I was so proud of this kid. He heard his name in 4th place at the end of the heat and he was SO excited. Instant mood flip. He was fired up for his main. He qualified 13th out of 16 overall, which landed him in the B-Main starting in the 5th position. My man's driving was ON FIRE this race. He put down a near perfect 5-minute run and finished in 3rd place! Scoring a B-Main podium! I don't know if I've ever seen him smile so big!

Spec 21.5: My RS4 Sport was freakin dialed. It is so much fun to drive on the track. It was point and shoot and went where I put it. In practice, I noticed my car was way slower in the long straightaway than some of the other spec cars. I was getting cooked. I knew I wasn't geared out to the cap of 5.5 final drive ratio permitted by the rules, so I went up a couple teeth on my pinion to put it at 5.48. I'm all out of gearing now and it's still slower than "the fast guys" in the straight. The rule is 21.5 spec motor with ESC in blinky mode, so there is no ESC/motor tuning I can do. I have to figure that out. I'm going to strip it down, see if I can smooth out the drivetrain a bit. My big, floppy Dale Earnhardt Nascar body definitely isn't helping anything either.
BUT...I still did awesome. 1st qualifier: 4th out of 9 cars. 2nd qualifier, I was reshuffled into a faster group of cars and finished 7 out of 10. Overall, I qualified 7th out of 20 cars. Started 9th in the A-Main and finished 6th. The lap data shows me climb to 6th in 2 laps and get stuck there the entire race because I just couldn't catch those other 5 cars which were way faster than mine. I was pretty disappointed and annoyed but had to tell myself the same thing I told my son earlier: "that's racing, bro!"

TT-02 Box Stock Exhibition Class: My car was ripping! I was proud of the fact the car had no issues all day being a fresh build and it drove great. It was so slow, just like the rest of the box stock TT-02s lol. Box stock truly is the most fun you can have racing! My first qualifier, I finished in 2nd. I was 3/10s of a second off of first place. My second qualifier, I finished 3rd. This time, 3/10s of a second separated 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Doesn't get any closer than that!

I was going into the A-Main having qualified 3rd overall out of 12 cars. I was well on my way to a podium finish. Somehow, at some point between my son's main and me prepping the car for my main, the front dog bone went missing again. We have literally no clue how, or where it went. We couldn't find it. I wasn't about to fight a 3WD TT-02 for 5 minutes...so I took the DNS. I was gutted. The kids knew I wasn't happy and tried to cheer me up. My son said "Dad. It's fine! That's racing, bro!"

What a freakin day!!

 

[CertifiedMike]

Another race day is in the books and another roller coaster of emotions it was! Bringing two kids and managing 4 classes in 90+ degree heat is not for the faint of heart. We were sucking down H20 and spraying sunscreen all day long.
View attachment 275882

SCT: My daughter started the day in the only way she knows how, sliding into a track barrier and snapping a brand-new steering knuckle during practice. We got her fixed up and she ran her two qualifiers really well! Only one problem. Her transponder wasn't transponding. It would check her in just fine and then it wouldn't catch anything else. We discovered after her 2nd qualifier the transponder was melting. I had it connected directly to the output port on her XL-5 HV ESC. After it worked an entire race day, I assumed the direct voltage from the battery was fine and it could handle it....nahh, we were slowly roasting it. I thought it was funny. She did not. Luckily, I had a spare transponder on hand from my Nascar. Fixed her up again and she ran really well in the SCT B-Main. Honestly, all the SCTs were FAST yesterday. She held her own, got in a few scuffles (and a few turtles) but finished the race! and she finished 8th out of 10. I was proud because it was the best run of her racing career. She was pretty hard on herself, upset that she didn't do better. We had a talk. She chilled out. She's gonna get em next time.

Novice Brushed: I did not pay any attention to this class at our first race. I just assumed it would be a couple kids and some folks who are new to racing. It is sold as a "Beginners only" class. I thought it would be perfect for my son who is 9 and has never raced on road before. I was wrong. Some of these dudes were pretty dang fast! I was worried for my little man lol. He ran our stock TT-02 at 70% throttle. He ran a few practice laps and jumped into his first qualifier very nervous. His nerves got the best of him and he got tangled up with the barriers a few times and ended up losing a front dog bone. He couldn't fight the newly acquired 3WD mode and we pulled it early. When he was coming down from his nerves, he got a little down on himself. We had a talk which ended with "that's racing, bro!", I found his dog bone and got him fixed up. 2nd qualifier, he goes out and gets 4th place out of 8. You could see the moment the light switch flipped and he smoothed out his throttle finger around the turns. Literaly watched him "figure it out" mid race. I was so proud of this kid. He heard his name in 4th place at the end of the heat and he was SO excited. Instant mood flip. He was fired up for his main. He qualified 13th out of 16 overall, which landed him in the B-Main starting in the 5th position. My man's driving was ON FIRE this race. He put down a near perfect 5-minute run and finished in 3rd place! Scoring a B-Main podium! I don't know if I've ever seen him smile so big!
View attachment 275883

Spec 21.5: My RS4 Sport was freakin dialed. It is so much fun to drive on the track. It was point and shoot and went where I put it. In practice, I noticed my car was way slower in the long straightaway than some of the other spec cars. I was getting cooked. I knew I wasn't geared out to the cap of 5.5 final drive ratio permitted by the rules, so I went up a couple teeth on my pinion to put it at 5.48. I'm all out of gearing now and it's still slower than "the fast guys" in the straight. The rule is 21.5 spec motor with ESC in blinky mode, so there is no ESC/motor tuning I can do. I have to figure that out. I'm going to strip it down, see if I can smooth out the drivetrain a bit. My big, floppy Dale Earnhardt Nascar body definitely isn't helping anything either.
BUT...I still did awesome. 1st qualifier: 4th out of 9 cars. 2nd qualifier, I was reshuffled into a faster group of cars and finished 7 out of 10. Overall, I qualified 7th out of 20 cars. Started 9th in the A-Main and finished 6th. The lap data shows me climb to 6th in 2 laps and get stuck there the entire race because I just couldn't catch those other 5 cars which were way faster than mine. I was pretty disappointed and annoyed but had to tell myself the same thing I told my son earlier: "that's racing, bro!"

View attachment 275880

TT-02 Box Stock Exhibition Class: My car was ripping! I was proud of the fact the car had no issues all day being a fresh build and it drove great. It was so slow, just like the rest of the box stock TT-02s lol. Box stock truly is the most fun you can have racing! My first qualifier, I finished in 2nd. I was 3/10s of a second off of first place. My second qualifier, I finished 3rd. This time, 3/10s of a second separated 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Doesn't get any closer than that!
View attachment 275881

I was going into the A-Main having qualified 3rd overall out of 12 cars. I was well on my way to a podium finish. Somehow, at some point between my son's main and me prepping the car for my main, the front dog bone went missing again. We have literally no clue how, or where it went. We couldn't find it. I wasn't about to fight a 3WD TT-02 for 5 minutes...so I took the DNS. I was gutted. The kids knew I wasn't happy and tried to cheer me up. My son said "Dad. It's fine! That's racing, bro!"

What a freakin day!!

Thats AWESOME!!! Your man's face says it all!!!

THAT'S racing bro!!!

 

[xjtorc]

The only good video footage we were able to capture of this past Sunday's race was my little man's run in the B-Main. You'll see he needs a few more races to get his nerves dialed down and his throttle EPA dialed up but he will be a force out there by the end of summer! You can see at 3:28, he's finally thinking ahead and planning his inputs before he gets to the turn. Except it gets away from him and he bangs a u-turn between the track boundaries, missing the turn altogether. I had a good laugh to myself when this happened and laugh every time I watch it. It didn't phase him; he just keeps on keeping on.

We have a little bit of footage my son recorded of my daughter's run in the SCT main, but I can't, with a good conscious, make anybody watch it. I couldn't record it myself because I was on turn marshal duty. My son's recording techniques are just as chaotic as my daughter's driving. Lots of shaking, zooming in and out, following other trucks he likes better, quick pans from one side of the track to the other, zoom in and out on a seagull, put the phone in his pocket for 2 seconds forgetting he's recording, etc... If the Blair Witch film crew recorded a demolition derby, that's what we have. Next time!

 

[CertifiedMike]

The only good video footage we were able to capture of this past Sunday's race was my little man's run in the B-Main. You'll see he needs a few more races to get his nerves dialed down and his throttle EPA dialed up but he will be a force out there by the end of summer! You can see at 3:28, he's finally thinking ahead and planning his inputs before he gets to the turn. Except it gets away from him and he bangs a u-turn between the track boundaries, missing the turn altogether. I had a good laugh to myself when this happened and laugh every time I watch it. It didn't phase him; he just keeps on keeping on.

We have a little bit of footage my son recorded of my daughter's run in the SCT main, but I can't, with a good conscious, make anybody watch it. I couldn't record it myself because I was on turn marshal duty. My son's recording techniques are just as chaotic as my daughter's driving. Lots of shaking, zooming in and out, following other trucks he likes better, quick pans from one side of the track to the other, zoom in and out on a seagull, put the phone in his pocket for 2 seconds forgetting he's recording, etc... If the Blair Witch film crew recorded a demolition derby, that's what we have. Next time!

He's doing great (at driving)!!!