Team N301 - Nitro drag racing 2023 list race #1

[johnnydmd]

First list race of 2023 for team N301. Couple of drivers MIA (hurt car, work, out of town, health), but the way we work the rules this year is, if you don't show, you drop to the bottom. So basically, half the team was there, but with a couple of cars each, plenty to run the list a couple of times and have some fun.

Weather was ok - it was around 75, but quite windy. Seems we cannot catch a break this year with the weather here. One of our new drivers for this year even said every single time we race it's blowing 20 mph it seems.

Again, we are still battling dust and pollen on the surface. We blow it clean, an hour later it's covered in pollen again. If you're spinning, you ain't winning, but I at least was able to drive on this pass and not end up on the lid. The Mustang fared much better with some big-time wins. Invader II did manage to pull off a couple as well, but both of those were aborted runs due to the other driver crossing - never did get a good full pass with it. Getting the .28-8 power down has been difficult this season thus far. I will say the other 3 drivers that were there this day had really good days, and for one in particular it was really great to see him finally feel totally comfortable racing and getting used to the pace and staging. I was happy though that I had no wrecks, no breakage, for once. Only issue I really had was tuning Invader II, the temp was rising from a very chilly morning to near 80 rapidly, and dealing with the other cars, and tree, I couldn't really focus on it like I needed to. I did manage to finally get it dialed in, but those runs were the ones I had to get out of to avoid hitting the other car coming into my lane. Then again if I wasn't sleeping on the tree I woulda been out in front and not been worried about that, lol.

 

[BarnFabRC]

Looks like a lot of fun.

 

[Doom!]

Would make me nervous with the cars parked next to the drag strip.

 

[Chubaka]

Would make me nervous with the cars parked next to the drag strip.

Same here. In the truck I have now, back in 2010 or so a Revo cart wheeled into it after it left the track. Glad it was a rubber tire and plastic body.

 

[cbaker65]

Nice to see nitro drags ,it is becoming rare to see!..

 

[johnnydmd]

Nice to see nitro drags ,it is becoming rare to see!..

It was rare in 2019, but 2023? It's surging. There isn't a weekend this season there isn't a nitro drag racing event going on somewhere in the Mid Atlantic/South. IMDRA is back and putting on events at Rockingham, big group of guys down in Georgia running events almost every weekend, other events popping up in Alabama, and other places in NC. Other places that were previously "all electric" are now letting nitros in with the "four makes a class rule". The old Jatonationals, the lone big event for some years it seemed, has reinvented itself and is now the Nitronationals and has street eliminator classes. Tons of guys making the switch from electric to nitro, I get hit up daily from the would-be converts about getting a chassis.

I've personally got 3 major events penciled in to race this year outside of our team list races we do each month. Gonna be crazy busy racing season for me this year.

It's a far cry from 2019 when I first got into the sport. It felt like I was one of the only nitro street eliminator guys out there. Everything was all just sort of blooming in the no-prep RC racing scene at that time, and nitro had no place in it, and the previous nitro drag racing scene, which was all prep, foam tire stuff, was dying out. Seemed to stay like that until 2022, and that began to change quickly for a number of reasons. It's still evolving, but definitely heading in the right direction.

 

[cbaker65]

It was rare in 2019, but 2023? It's surging. There isn't a weekend this season there isn't a nitro drag racing event going on somewhere in the Mid Atlantic/South. IMDRA is back and putting on events at Rockingham, big group of guys down in Georgia running events almost every weekend, other events popping up in Alabama, and other places in NC. Other places that were previously "all electric" are now letting nitros in with the "four makes a class rule". The old Jatonationals, the lone big event for some years it seemed, has reinvented itself and is now the Nitronationals and has street eliminator classes. Tons of guys making the switch from electric to nitro, I get hit up daily from the would-be converts about getting a chassis.

I've personally got 3 major events penciled in to race this year outside of our team list races we do each month. Gonna be crazy busy racing season for me this year.

It's a far cry from 2019 when I first got into the sport. It felt like I was one of the only nitro street eliminator guys out there. Everything was all just sort of blooming in the no-prep RC racing scene at that time, and nitro had no place in it, and the previous nitro drag racing scene, which was all prep, foam tire stuff, was dying out. Seemed to stay like that until 2022, and that began to change quickly for a number of reasons. It's still evolving, but definitely heading in the right direction.

Cool stuff ,I didnt know if it existed ,me an a friend was talking about it the other day ,that we dont
see any nitro drags out on media ,it is always electric stuff ,just something about the electric side
of racing that seems kind of bland with out the sounds of a real engine ,almost like eating a hot
dog with out mustard & relish!..

 

[johnnydmd]

Cool stuff ,I didnt know if it existed ,me an a friend was talking about it the other day ,that we dont
see any nitro drags out on media ,it is always electric stuff ,just something about the electric side
of racing that seems kind of bland with out the sounds of a real engine ,almost like eating a hot
dog with out mustard & relish!..

If you're on FB, check out the Nitro No Prep Racing group, that's quickly become the new hub for the nitro side of things. There's also the Nitro Ain't Dead group, but the activity is mostly in the messenger chat. In fact it's so busy on there I had to turn off notifications, lol.