Avid RC Takes 3 National Titles in the 2011 RC Pro Series

Nov 14 2011

Last week Mike's Hobbyshop in Houston Texas hosted the 2011 RC Pro Finals with great success.  The track and pavilion were extended a few months ago in order to host this event and it definitely paid off.

Avid had an awesome set of results with 3 National Titles, Jason Branham taking Pro Buggy and Truggy and David Joor taking Electric.  Even though Jesse Robbers was not in the hunt for the title he did come down to help promote the HB CR8 and as we all know he is also one of our top Avid team drivers.  He took an impressive win in pro buggy after suffering a corner marshal flywheel tap at the beginning of the race while in the lead which goes to show his composure and talent.

For images please visit RC Pro.

Jason Branham's Report:

This past weekend Agama/Pro-Line racer Jason Branham attended the RC Pro International Finals in Porter, TX,just outside of Houston, at Mike’s Hobbies and Gulf Coast Raceway and wrote this report. Gulf Coast Raceway is probably one of the finest race facilities you will find in the country and as host of the 2010 IFMAR Sedan World Championships, GCR was very excited to host their first major off-road race. The crew did a fantastic job with the layout which made for some very fast and close racing. I came into the Finals tied in points with Ryan Lutz in Pro Buggy and Mike Battaile in Pro Arena Truck so I knew right off the bat that if was going to take the titles then I was going to have to finish ahead of these guys as well as the rest of the field to do so.

The track at GCR is a hard packed clay surface and as the rubber was layed down by the many laps turned the traction just got better and better.  The weather changed throughout the week so this too had a major effect on the grip so keeping up with the right tire was crucial.  I ran M3 Hole-Shots on the first day of qualifying on both truck and buggy because they felt the most consistent with the different weather temps.  With a solid day of qualifying on Thursday I was set up well for the mains on Saturday so on Friday, with two more rounds of qualifying to go, I knew I needed to find out what tire set-up I was going to run for the hour long main on Saturday.  On Friday I ran M3 Recoils in the morning and ran my fastest time of the week so in knowing they were good I decided to run M2 Blockades in the middle/warmer part of the day and I only got faster running the 2nd fastest buggy time of the weekend.  Since I knew the main would be ran sometime in the afternoon on Saturday I decided to go with the M2 Blockades for the main.  In truck I went along the same lines as buggy and ran the new VTR 2.0 Revolvers in M2.

Both of my cars were hooked up for the main and in truck I drove a great main and with a little trouble from Jesse Robbers I was able to take the win and also the RC Pro Arena Truck National Championship.  In buggy, again I drove another great main but could not hold off Robbers at the end so I finished 2nd but with the finish I had enough points to claim the RC Pro Buggy National Championship for a second straight year.

David Joor's Report:

Last week Mike's Hobbyshop in Houston Texas hosted the 2011 RC Pro Finals with great success.  The track and pavilion were extended a few months ago in order to host this event and it definitely paid off.

Due to missing several events this year due to the growth and future developments of my company Avid RC, I put everything I had into this event and had very high expectations since last year I TQ'd nitro but flamed at the start and would be defending my electric title this year.  However, you know how once in a while you just have those races where nothing connects, you break in back to back qualifiers before the buzzer goes, the track feels so good that you just can't help driving like a maniac, and your leading by a large margin with a few laps to go and the car just stops?  Yup, that was me at this race.  So no matter how hard you try things can still go wrong to the best of us.

I put in a few good runs in electric to get myself into the 3rd qualifying position behind Lutz and Dellinger so I was feeling good about a shot there.  Lutz had amazing pace and I could match his average laptimes but he would have 3 or 4 laps that were around a half second faster than his average.  So for the mains the RC8.2e was amazing and I had chosen AKA SS Impacts that were almost worn completely down because I had adjusted my setup to remove as much traction as possible.  My goal was to get up to Ryan right out the gate and put in my best laps hoping if I could stay in his sights he may make a bobble before he could get into his time warp zone.  A1 I had a great start but came up an inch short on the triple right in front of a marshal but another car had wrecked on an earlier jump that had been forgotten so he was trying to yell at another marshal to get him while every car went by.  Now in 12th and 13 seconds down from the leader I made it back up to third by 5 minutes in and I was pleased with this because Dellinger was the only one I was in contention for the title with and I had enough lead in points to finish 2 positions overall below him to win.  As I get lapped by Lutz, yeah I know!  He begins to have some form of electrical issue with his car so I got my embarrassing lap back and start charging to find that Dellinger had lost a rear turnbuckle so with 2 laps to go I take the lead and boy did I need those points and I was glad to take them!  In A2 I had a good start and got into second on the first lap but my game plan failed again because Lutz immediately dipped into the 27 second laps but this time our fastest lap were just 3 tenths apart so I was feeling confident I could put pressure on in A3 and finishing 2nd in A2 I had already won the title so it was all or nothing.  A3 I get a great start, move into second on the first lap and hold onto Lutz for the first 3 laps before I wrecked again on the triple losing 10 seconds.  From that point I just wanted a 27 second lap and every time I got close I would have to pass someone so I settled with 28.0 again!

Winning the Electric National Title again, being a Saturday so no work, and getting a handle on the high bite, I was more than ready for the B in nitro as last qualifier.  I told you it was a rough weekend for me.  With a few minutes in I take second place and I am running right behind fellow AE driver Kyle Skidmore so I just wanted to make sure we both bump so no need to battle for the lead.  About 10 minutes in Skidmore has a bobble and I take the lead and start to stretch it out just ticking off laps taking no chances.  4 laps to go and 20 seconds on 2nd place my steering servo locked up.  I had taken a tumble on the triple which may have been the worlds longest kart wheel travelling at least 50 feet over lanes and barriers.  In fact is was so odd that I was laughing while it was happening because I swear it was gaining speed as it went kart wheeling away from all the marshals. 

It was a learning experience like no other and I learned how not to cry in front of people.  So ready to start 2012 and see you all at the races.

Thank you to all my sponsors:  Team Associated, Reedy, AKA, KO Propo, Tekin, Avid, Upgrade, FTW, BCE, EB Mods, Paint by Smiley