[Pit Pass] Revo Undefeated at 2007 ROAR Nationals
Pit Pass » Archives	ID #558

 

Traxxas Revo Remains Undefeated
2007 ROAR Off-Road Fuel Truck Nationals
The Farm II, Charlotte, North Carolina
August 14 - 19, 2007
Words and pictures by Steve Slayden

 

 

Wow, what a week! This year's ROAR Truck Nats is what national-caliber nitro off-road racing is all about. The entry list was loaded with incredible talent, and the track was new to the majority of the attending Traxxas drivers. Nestled within the beautiful countryside of Charlotte, North Carolina, The Farm II was a gorgeous piece of property comprised of everything a world-class nitro R/C facility is expected to have. The track incorporated wide lanes, tons of turns, large jumps, and wicked off-camber sections to keep drivers on their toes. The driver stand is the largest that I've ever seen and pit lane had plenty of room for the crew to take care of business. Everything from the dual-computer scoring booth to the grassy infield proved that this was a top-notch facility.

There was plenty of competition, to say the least. Drivers like Mike Truhe, Jesse Robbers, Billy Fischer, Andy Smolnik, and current 1/8-scale buggy national champ, Adam Drake were all on hand to battle for the monster truck national title. After Bobby Tillman won last year's Nats with his Traxxas Revo 3.3, we knew the competition would have Traxxas in their cross hairs, and that we would have to try even harder to defend the title this year. Everyone is focused at an event like this, so there was no doubt that we would have to step it up and play it smart for another win. Traxxas team drivers Mike Battaile, Tim Roberts, Bobby Tillman, JJ Turk, and Derek Guidry were all on hand to defend the title for Traxxas. There were plenty of fast privateers as well. Long-time Revo racers like Trevor Johnson, Mark Kobisk, Ross Denny, Scott Beiswinger, Pete Mavromatis, and Mark Holloway were there and all did extremely well.

For me, this was the first travel race that I attended without racing. Don't worry, I am far from retiring. I chose to attend this particular event as a team captain only. I felt that it would be good for me to give 100% of my efforts into making sure every Revo driver was prepared for the challenge at hand. It was refreshing for me to be at the track to help out and to not have to constantly wrench on my own truck. Don't get me wrong. Once I got there and took one look at the track, I started rethinking my decision. However, I had a great time helping out, and had more time to chat with Revo racers and take plenty of pictures. It's nice to relax a little every now and then.

Recaps: Track | Set-Up | Mains | Conclusion | Links | Gallery | Back to top

 

 

 

The Farm II Track

 

The Farm II track can be summarized in one word - AWESOME! It challenged even the best of the drivers, and was huge. With lap times hovering around the 50-second range, it was more or less a battle of attrition. In addition to the multitude of obstacles and off-camber turns, the sheer size of the track created trouble for many drivers. The back section was well over 200ft. away from the drivers’ stand and swerved inward an entire lane width making it very deceiving and tricky to line up properly for the big triple set. The surface was unique; it was high-bite in the groove, but in the broken areas outside of the groove the jagged edges would randomly catch tire sidewalls and cause trucks to do some crazy things. Let's take a look a lap around The Farm II.

The track was run in a counter-clockwise rotation (left to right on the front straight). According to my sources, this was the first time it had ever been run in this direction. The front straight was long and smooth spanning the entire width of the track. The straight funneled into a fast left-hand sweeper and then transitioned into a hard left over a large step-down jump, immediately followed by a hairpin to the right. Backsiding the step-down was key for a smooth transition into the right-hand turn, because it was followed by another hard left turn over a long double set. The double set was generally singled, because it would take too much time to swing out far enough to clear the entire jump. After the double, a 90-degree left turn set lead into the sand box. This was about a 20ft. section of deep powdery sand. It was best to blast through the sand box as fast as you could to keep your momentum up. After the sand box, a step-up to another 90-degree left transitioned into a gnarly whoop set that eventually got so blown out, the line would change nearly every lap. A hairpin turn to the right followed the whoops in route to a large table top. A 90-degree right-hand turn immediately followed the table on the way to an uphill blast into the first triple set. The majority took this as a double-single so they could make a smooth tight line around the sweeping right hander up into the far right corner of the track. There was a very large left-hand berm entering the back straight, which wasn't very straight at all. This was the section where a lot of drivers had trouble. The lane veered left and then right into the next triple set, which was even larger than the last triple. Most racers took this as a double-single. Even though tripling the jump set was possible; but it took a perfect line, the right gear combination, and no traffic to have a chance at it. Besides, casing this jump could take you out of the race early, which was experienced by a few in the mains.

After the back triple, a left-hand hairpin exited downhill to a hairpin right-hander with an off-camber hump in the middle. This section was fast if performed correctly. If not, the hump would push trucks wide into the fluff. After that section there was another hairpin turn to the left into a right-hander that included a drop-down jump. This section was very tricky as it was followed by a right-hand hairpin made of smooth concrete. That's right, concrete. The only area that had traction on the concrete was the narrow driveline close to the apex. When dust developed on this section it created a horrible push. After the concrete section was a whoop section that ran up a steep hill called the "staircase". This section was very cool. After the staircase was a hairpin to the left, back toward the drivers’ stand followed by a large double set that dropped onto the front straight. Man, that was a mouthful.

Recaps: Track | Set-Up | Mains | Conclusion | Links | Gallery | Back to top

 

 

 

Set-Up Talk

 

 

Of course, set ups were varied to suit each drivers' style and needs, but there are some basic principles to apply when getting your Revo ready for a track like this. During qualifying, the track was much smoother and very high-speed. Putting the power to the ground and getting the most from your engine, clutch and tires was extremely important. However, high-speed doesn't necessarily mean to gear it to the moon and just punch it. There were a lot of obstacles and turns to negotiate on this track, so it was important to keep the engine in its power band. Most drivers stuck with low gearing to achieve this. A 15-tooth clutch bell and 38-tooth to 40-tooth spurs were common. Some ran the standard ratio two-speed while others stuck with the popular close-ratio for seamless shifts around the sweepers. The Traxxas team drivers were all running TRX 3.3 Racing Engines in conjunction with either the stock Revo 3.3 pipe or the new Maxx series Resonator (#5487). This pipe allows the engine to breathe a little easier and opens it up a little wider throughout the power band. Most of the guys started out with solid FWD-only transmission shafts to the get the power down on the big track, but once we saw how the track was coming apart after practice and during qualifying, many decided to switch back to the center differential (#5414).

The track developed a high-bite groove, but broken chunks of the racing surface and deteriorating jumps created inconsistent traction throughout the course of a lap. Due to the track being fast with big jumps, certain things needed to be taken into consideration when choosing springs and oil. Since the track offered a lot of traction in the groove, spring rates would still need to be firm enough to help keep roll to a minimum and jump landings stable. Many drivers were using spring rates between Green and Gold. Sway bars were also used on most of the Revos to deal with the many corners on the track. Traxxas debuted new pre-production sway bars on some of the trucks. They basically look and work like the prototypes that we've been running lately, but have that factory finish and are also designed to work in conjunction with the stock rear exhaust system. The heat played a part in set up too, as temperatures over 100-degrees were a daily occurrence. Depending on down travel settings, shock oils ranged between 40wt to 60 wt. More down travel generally favors lighter weight shock fluids due to the increased range of the suspension arms. The track was definitely breaking apart and became very rough as the week went on, especially during the mains. This allowed drivers to soften back up a little bit as the groove became inconsistent and scattered with loose dirt. Now, let's get on with the mains.

Recaps: Track | Set-Up | Mains | Conclusion | Links | Gallery | Back to top

 

 

 

Mains - Results

MONSTER TRUCK C-MAIN Fin/Pos Driver Car # Laps Race Time Fast Lap 1 Paige, Michael 9 17 15:00.1 48.985 2 Smolnik, Andrew 2 17 15:09.0 50.347 3 Johnston, Ricky 8 17 15:46.2 50.434 4 Allison, Dennis 6 16 15:18.1 54.646 5 Prinzo, Vinny 4 16 15:41.6 54.301 6 Avera, Tom 1 15 16:07.2 52.997 7 Johnson, Alex (Thur) 5 1 01:10.5 8 Kingston, Dave 7 0 0 9 Tramontano, Michael 10 0 0 10 Voss, Bill 3 0 0

 

MONSTER TRUCK B-MAIN Fin/Pos Driver Car # Laps Race Time Fast Lap 1 Beiswinger, Scott 4 24 24:39.8 48.699 2 Smolnik, Andrew 12 24 20:43.5 49.197 3 Horne, Allen 8 23 20:38.0 47.157 4 Moore, Bobby 2 22 20:15.4 49.361 5 Hickerson, Gene 1 22 20:32.2 49.808 6 Holloway, Mark 3 21 18:12.0 49.297 7 Mavromatis, Pete 10 21 19:13.7 49.769 8 Henry, Keith 7 21 20:22.8 50.052 9 Kersten, Sean 9 20 18:17.1 47:495 10 Mullenix, Ross 5 20 18:41.9 51.373 11 Bennett, Jonathan 6 20 20:02.2 49.605 12 Paige, Michael 11 2 03:32.3

 

 

 

 

Grand Finale - Monster Truck A-Main

 

This was going to be an awesome race. Nine Revos out of fourteen total trucks stacked the highly competitive A-Main. That's five more than last year. The Losi trucks did quite well in qualifying, taking the top four positions on the starting grid. It wasn't going to be easy to make our way around the big trucks. There were some top caliber drivers controlling those trucks as well. There was one thing we knew was in our favor though. It was the track. It became very rough as the lower mains pounded on it relentlessly throughout the day. This slowed the bigger trucks down a little and provided more of a challenge for them to make the bigger jumps as easily as they were making them in qualifying.

Everyone was looking pretty good in warm up, and the drivers were introduced one-by-one before the start. Scott Beiswinger bumped his Revo 3.3 into the A-Final to add another Traxxas truck into the hunt for the 2007 title, and would be starting in the 12th spot. Trevor Johnson (Dallas local) was the fastest privateer in qualifying and held down the 9th starting position. Tim Roberts (Current 2006 R/C Pro National Champion) was the fastest Revo in qualifying and was sitting 5th. Traxxas team drivers Bobby Tillman (defending ROAR Monster Truck National Champion), Mike Battaile, and JJ Turk were all right behind him on the grid.

This race was set to run for 45 minutes. The heat was blistering, and the track looked like a battlefield in several areas. I was ready to perform pit duties for Mike Battaile and provide general help for all of the Revo trucks in the main. This was very exciting, yet a little awkward, as I'm usually on the driver’s stand instead of in pit lane. But it was very cool to see the race from a different perspective and it was a lot of fun. After a short second warm-up, the trucks were brought around to the front straight and filled up for the start of the 45-minute final. After the sound of the buzzer, they were off. Things started pretty well for most of the drivers, with only a few positions being swapped around in the lower half of the pack. It was a pretty clean start. Bad luck struck Trevor early as he snagged one of the pipe stakes snapping one of his suspension arms. Trevor wasn't the only one who found early trouble with the stakes. Derek Guidry also fell victim to the sharp stakes sticking up from the track pipe. The Farm II track stakes had a hex head with razor sharp sides, and when straddling the pipe at 30+mph the stake head would shear through anything. Many racers, pros included, fell victim to the stakes at this race, which showed how important it was to keep your truck between the pipes.

Once things settled a bit, it was Mike Truhe out front with Jesse Robbers, Billy Fischer and Bobby Tillman close behind. Mike Battaile wasn't far behind either. Both he and Tim Roberts had rough starts, and were driving extra hard to get back within striking distance. Mike began to pull away a bit and reel in the leaders. Adam Drake experienced early difficulties with his machine as his pitman was trying to restart it in pit lane. This set him back quite a bit. After 15 minutes in, I called Mike in for his second pit stop. Everything went fine, but afterwards I was notified that his engine was making a sound as if it was starving for fuel. In fear that we were pushing the fuel economy limits too far, I decided to start bringing in Mike another minute earlier to avoid a flameout. Fuel strategy is tricky on a large track like this. If you send the driver for an extra lap around track, it may not make it back. Fifty seconds is a long time when you're running at the bottom of the tank. The last thing I wanted to happen is for Mike to run out of fuel. However, this was going to add another pit plus a splash at the end of the race.

Mike Truhe experienced some trouble of his own and by the midway point Jesse Robbers was in the lead. Billy Fischer and Mike Battaile battled it out for the second position and Bobby Tillman fell victim to the treacherous track. Meanwhile Tim Roberts and JJ Turk were working their way through the pack steadily. JJ got a little sketchy, and found himself straddled over the pipe, thus snapping one of his rear arms too. He decided to keep on trucking, but his pace would slow considerably. This freed up Tim to set his sights on the lead pack. I believe it was at this point where he decided that it was now or never. Tim began driving even harder while concentrating on not making any mistakes.

In an attempt to try and break away from the second place battle, Jesse Robbers started attempting the big triple in the back. He may have tried it one too many times, since he came up short and cased it on the third jump leaving his truck broken. A track marshal had to run out and pull it from the track. This left Billy and Mike to battle for the lead. Billy was driving so hard that he spun a wheel off of his truck giving Mike the lead, and a bit of a cushion between him and second place, Tim Roberts. I started to feel a bit of relief as we now had Revos in the top two spots, but the race wasn't over. Due to Mike's shorter pit stops and careful driving (he was trying to save his truck), Tim began reeling him in to just a few seconds between them. This was getting intense as they began swapping the lead between each of their pits. It was exciting to watch both Tim and Mike wheel around the track just seconds apart. With just a handful of minutes left, Tim came in for his last pit. Mike (knowing that he would still need a splash to finish), whipped it into pit lane at the last second right behind Tim. That was excellent thinking on his part. This meant that he could follow Tim out of pit lane, and both would be good to go for the rest of the race. I'm just glad that I was watching his truck, because he caught me off guard. Now, it was down to just a few minutes left and there were only a few seconds separating the two. Everybody was watching. This was getting crazy. Then all of a sudden, Mike landed from the left side double to enter the straight and his truck just starts coasting to a slow roll. He had spun a gear. Once I got his truck to the pits, I lifted up the body to check it out and found that it was the spur gear. However, there was still enough material left on the gear to jam the clutch bell into the spur gear, so Mike could get his truck around the track for the remaining laps. By this point, Tim was gone. Tim eased back by singling all of the jumps to increase his chance of finishing with the win. Smart move by Tim, as he went on to become the new 2007 ROAR Monster Truck National Champion. Andy Smolnik took advantage of Mike's gear trouble taking the second spot, but fortunately for Mike the jammed gear mesh worked well enough to finish out the race and to salvage a spot on the podium. Big congrats to Tim for the win!! He came back from a rough start and kept his wheels on the dirt giving him the lead at the end. What an awesome race.

 

 

MONSTER TRUCK A-MAIN Fin/Pos Driver Car # Laps Race Time Fast Lap 1 Roberts, Tim 5 54 45:40.2 46.942 2 Smolnik, Andrew 14 52 45:31.6 49.835 3 Battaile, Mike 7 50 45:15.7 47.295 4 Beiswinger, Scott 13 49 45:29.0 50.142 5 Fischer, Billy 4 46 43:34.3 46.799 6 Denny, Ross 12 43 45:08.2 50.082 7 Turk, JJ 8 41 45:01.2 48.041 8 Drake, Adam 2 38 35:22.1 45.949 9 Kobisk, Mark 11 37 45:36.7 50.745 10 Truhe, Mike 1 34 32:41.2 45.58 11 Johnson, Trevor 9 34 45:22.4 49.407 12 Tillman, Bobby 6 26 28:01.5 48.014 13 Robbers, Jesse 3 19 15:35.8 46.35 14 Guidry, Derek 10 16 14:22.5 48.856

Recaps: Track | Set-Up | Mains | Conclusion | Links | Gallery | Back to top

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

Needless to say, we had a great time at the 2007 ROAR Truck Nationals. The weather was a little hot and sticky, but that just made it even more worthwhile in the end. I want to say thanks to everyone involved for putting on the show. I would like to give an extra special thanks to Lance Norick for putting together one of the best tracks in the country. We really enjoyed being there, and the next time I go to The Farm II, I hope to be racing. I want to give big props to all of the Revo racers who made it into the A-Main, especially the privateers. You guys should be very proud of your accomplishment regardless of your finish. It's not easy making the A-main at a ROAR Nationals, no matter what class you're in. Congrats again to Tim Roberts, you're new ROAR National Champ. Check out the links below for set up info and complete results from the event. See you next time.

Recaps: Track | Set-Up | Mains | Conclusion | Links | Gallery | Back to top

 

 

 

Links

 

Official results from roarracing.com

 

Recaps: Track | Set-Up | Mains | Conclusion | Links | Gallery | Back to top

 

 

 

 

 

 

	ID #558