2007 R/C Pro International Finals
Traxxas Revo® 3.3 Wins Again!
This year’s R/C Pro International Finals was definitely an event to remember. For one, this was the first year for the “International” title. During 2007, R/C Pro established two new divisions located in the Caribbean and South Africa. Both divisions displayed impressive interest and participation respectively, and there were quite a few drivers from both divisions at the R/C Pro International Finals representing their respective countries.
Secondly, R/C Pro brought the final championship race down to Texas for some national-caliber off-road racing, “Texas-Style”. Growing up in Texas, racing at a horse arena wasn’t a first for me, but the atmosphere at this event was unlike any other national event that I had ever attended. The event was held just south of Fort Worth in Alvarado, TX at the Diamond W equestrian arena. The arena was more than big enough for a large national event, and there was plenty of room in pit lane for mechanics to start and tune engines. A very large drivers’ stand was built, and worked quite well. The announcers worked out of a large scoring booth with an extra-wide window to view the track, and they did an excellent job of keeping everyone informed of what was going on in every race. The track was huge. It was very high speed at the beginning of the week, and became very rough toward the end.
Traxxas was a very proud sponsor of the 2007 R/C Pro International Finals, and brought along some goodies to look at in their booth, along with customer support representatives to field spectator and racer questions about Traxxas R/C vehicles. Traxxas drivers in attendance at this year’s finals included: defending R/C Pro MT champion, Tim Roberts; 2005 R/C Pro MT champion, Mike Battaile; Mark Cordeiro from Delaware; Derek Guidry from Louisiana; and me, Steve Slayden. Bobby Tillman planned on making the finals but unfortunately his dad, Bob Tillman, had to be admitted to the hospital. Our hopes and prayers are with Mr. Tillman to get better.
Other remarkable Revo drivers in attendance were Trevor Johnson, James Green, Phillip Scheel and Jerald Hawthorne, just to name a few. There were close to 40 entries in the monster truck class, which was dominated by Traxxas Revos that were powered by the TRX® 3.3 Racing Engine. The large size of the International Finals track allowed the TRX 3.3 engine to operate in its favorite end of the power band - the top end.
Recaps: Practice | Qualifying | C-Main | B-Main | A-Main | Links | Back to top
Practice
Practice started on Tuesday and ran through Wednesday. I showed up to the track both days to assist racers with their set ups and to answer any questions that they had. The track was prepped Wednesday night for the 1/10-scale 2wd Gas Truck and 1/8-scale 4wd Arena Truck qualifying on Thursday. Monster Truck and 1/8-scale 4wd Buggy ran their qualifiers on Friday with all lower mains (D and below) running after qualifying on each night respectively. Saturday was set for all of the upper mains, and the awards banquet was held on Sunday. We had a great time at this year’s R/C Pro Finals, and are looking forward to next season. Read on for all of the Monster Truck action from the finals.
Tuesday
We started it all off with three rounds of scheduled practice on Tuesday, which opened up to more practice afterwards. The track started off very smooth and slightly tacky, but began to dry after the first round. Toward the end of the day, the sand began to pull up and form a powder around the driving line. The track was pretty loose, but traction could be found with the right set up. I like to call this a ‘full-throttle’ set up. The engine’s rpm stays in the upper range for longer periods of time. Throttle-controlled drifts worked quite well. Laps weren’t posted on Tuesday, and only the faster ones were announced, but low 37’s and possible high 36’s were attained in the MT class that night. The track saw the fastest lap times it would see for the entire week on this day, as it would be watered heavily and beaten on each day by the near 400 vehicles that entered the event.
Wednesday
The track was watered pretty heavily Tuesday night after practice and the bumpy sections were groomed, so the track on Wednesday was very tacky. This was good if you were having trouble finding traction on Tuesday, but it was a challenge to dial out a lot of traction on the tacky surface if you weren’t prepared for it. This surface favored lower gearing and smoother throttle control to keep good balance on the high-speed high-bite surface. The dirt was mixed with sand, which kept the surface from forming any kind of smooth hard packed groove, and the cover that the arena provided kept the dirt from drying out. It was mega-tacky all day. This was a good thing to know for the rest of the week. The track was pretty rough by the end of the day, and fast laps were only in the 38-second range.
Recaps: Practice | Qualifying | C-Main | B-Main | A-Main | Links | Back to top
Friday (MT qualifying)
As expected, the track was watered quite a bit after the races on Thursday night, but to my surprise, the condition of the surface was pretty well hammered. The late night on Thursday did not allow for much time to prep the surface for another day of qualifying, so the track was beat, and it only got worse. Rough tracks are a part of off-road, so no big deal, right? What made this surface unique were the gobs of traction that it still provided. The ruts and holes would pitch your truck left to right with incredible force if you had too much side grip. This made it extremely difficult to drive fast. The faster drivers on this day changed their strategy to just keeping it on all fours, and it paid off.
Tim Roberts started off the fastest with the best run in round one. Trevor Johnson stepped it up in round two with an excellent run taking TQ honors for the round. By round three, the track was getting so bad that breaking out of the 40-second lap barrier became very difficult. I came ill-prepared for the rough track conditions by only bringing my smooth track tire and insert set ups. I struggled to get a good set up to drive as fast as I wanted to. Fast laps were generally followed by crash-ridden laps immediately afterward. I could only manage to qualify fifth in the last three rounds. However, Trevor Johnson, Tim Roberts, Derek Guidry, Jerald Hawthorne and Mark Cordeiro all managed to stay on their wheels and put down some consistent laps finishing off in the top five for the day.
Tim Roberts was a machine in the rough, and went on to TQ the last two rounds taking the pole-position for the A-Main. Trevor Johnson secured the second spot, and Derek Guidry rounded out the top three.
R/C Pro International Finals Monster Truck A-Main Qualifiers
- Tim Roberts – TQ
- Trevor Johnson
- Derek Guidry
- Jerald Hawthorne
- Mark Cordeiro
- Mike Battaile
- Steve Slayden
- James Green
- Jake Koetting
- John Taylor
- Kyle Van Nuys
- Denny Rhoads
- Brian Harjo – bump up
- Phillip Scheel – bump up
- Damron Atkins – bump up
Recaps: Practice | Qualifying | C-Main | B-Main | A-Main | Links | Back to top
Monster Truck Mains
Monster Truck C-Main
This race was slated for 15 minutes with the top three finishers bumping up into the B-Main. It was Lance Leaply who started off in the lead, with Jeff Felty and Juan Medina following close behind. Carmine Caparello charged hard to the head of the pack only to find himself sidelined for a short while, and then more bad luck would strike - forcing him out of the race early. Jesse Wolkenheim made his way up to the front all the way back from the fifth position, and then encountered some trouble of his own dropping back a few laps. Lance then took over the lead again and never looked back. Matthew Fulton managed to keep his truck together and took the second bump position. Jeff Felty stayed up in the front pack for most of the race and finished strong taking the third and final bump spot.
Monster Truck C-Main Results
- Lance Leaply – bump to B-Main
- Matthew Fulton – bump to B-Main
- Jeff Felty – bump to B-Main
- Juan Medina - 1st place C-Main
- Jesse Wolkenheim – 2nd place C-Main
- Keeley Walton – 3rd place C-Main
- Doug Gibbons
- Mark Jones
- Carmine Caparello
- Steve Beitler
Recaps: Practice | Qualifying | C-Main | B-Main | A-Main | Links | Back to top
Monster Truck B-Main
The 20-minute B-Main was the last chance to get into the A-Main. The top three drivers bumped up to the A-Main. The track was getting pretty rough again, and the pressure on the B-Main racers was building. After the start of the race, it was Jonathan Bennett and Brian Harjo battling it out for the lead with Damron Atkins jumping into the mix as well. Brian eventually took over the lead for several laps until a long pit stop dropped him back to eighth. Jonathan was driving hard and took over the lead, but experienced some trouble dropping all the way back to the 10th spot. Damron Atkins and Jose Martinez took over the top positions for a short while until Phillip Scheel blasted his way up to the front of the field. Phillip fought off a hard-charging Brian Harjo until the end with Brian just edging him out. Phillip took the second bump position, while Damron hung on to the third bump spot. Great job guys!
Monster Truck B-Main Results
- Brian Harjo – bump to A-Main
- Phillip Scheel – bump to A-Main
- Damron Atkins – bump to A-Main
- Jose Martinez – 1st place B-Main
- Jonathan Bennett – 2nd place B-Main
- Lance Leaply – 3rd place B-Main
- Christian Blake
- Jeff Felty
- Joseph Smith
- Ron Wall
- Christopher DeWinter
- Matthew Fulton
- Ross Denny
- Colby Alleman
- Chris Mitchum
Recaps: Practice | Qualifying | C-Main | B-Main | A-Main | Links | Back to top
Monster Truck A-Main
This was the main everyone was waiting for. We were allowed a short practice on the track before the B-Mains were run to do some final test and tuning. After struggling through qualifying, I new what tire and inserts combos that I needed to run to get the handling I wanted, so I mounted up a set of Pro-Line® 40-series Crimefighter tires with 40-series molded inserts on stock Pro-Line 40-series Velocity wheels. The flat profile coupled with the slim sidewall and wide contact patch, made the truck very forgiving on the high-bite tacky surface and dealt with the grippy ruts and potholes more effectively. This allowed me to drive more aggressively without flipping over as easily. Most of the field chose to run big tires and wheels to help manage the rough track surface. The main was scheduled for 45 minutes, and it was definitely going to be a good battle.
After warm-up and driver introductions, we took one more lap around to get the engines warmed up and staged onto the front straight for the start of the race. After the tone sounded, we were off. The start was pretty clean, with just a few tangles here and there. Tim Roberts got off to the early lead with Jake Koetting and Derek Guidry close behind. Derek challenged Tim for the lead and took it over in lap three, but after a couple of bobbles in the vicious whoop section, Tim gained a little bit of a cushion. Derek was driving hard, but early trouble struck Derek’s truck, and sent him to the back of the pack. Jerald Hawthorne stepped into the second spot just seconds behind Tim, with Mike Battaile and James Green close behind. I managed to improve my seventh spot on the starting grid to make it up to the fifth position only to crash twice on my third lap dropping me back to 12th position. The field was that close.
After things settled a bit, it was Tim still leading the field, Jerald holding onto second place, and Mike settling into third. James Green was cruising in the fourth spot, while Mark Cordeiro and I battled for the fifth position. Unfortunately for Derek, his run would soon come to an end after running into more difficulties. Derek was running fast, too. At the halfway mark, Tim was still churning out consistent laps and staying ahead of the field. Mike Battaile made his way up into the second spot, and Jerald dropped a spot to the third position. I managed to fight my way up to the fourth position back from that rough start, and then battled it out with Jerald to take over the third spot. I managed to get within 10 seconds or so of Mike in second, and then as I entered the whoops a little too fast, my truck flipped over. During the time it took the marshal to flip my truck over and get back going, the truck stalled out. I’m not sure if it was fuel related or if the flywheel and been inadvertently stopped during the marshalling of the truck. Nevertheless, my pit crew worked hard to get my truck restarted and I lost a few positions. Mark Cordeiro took over the third spot and Trevor Johnson took over the fourth position.
Not long after my flameout, Mike experienced some mechanical trouble with his truck, knocking him out of the second place spot, and ultimately forcing him out of the race completely. Tim was still driving strong in the first position. The win was looking all the more real as he was knocking down lap after lap. Mark Cordeiro stayed consistent, and slipped into the second spot after Mike dropped out, and Trevor was hanging onto the third spot. As the race was nearing its end, I managed to make up a couple positions and was fighting hard to reach the fourth spot held by James Green. James was nursing a hurt rear suspension, but was driving hard to keep position. As the 45-minute finale came to an end, Tim Roberts nailed down the win for his second R/C Pro National Championship, back-to-back. Mark Cordeiro held onto second place, and Trevor Johnson wrapped up the top three with the third place finish. James Green held onto fourth while I managed to cross the line just 10 seconds behind him in the fifth spot. “Great job!” goes out to Tim Roberts on another impressive win in the Monster Truck class. Tim has quickly become the man to beat in the MT class, and has been driving his Traxxas Revo 3.3 solidly. I would also like to give props to Mark Cordeiro and Trevor Johnson for being fast and consistent with their Revos all season long. What a race.
Monster Truck A-Main Results
- Tim Roberts
- Mark Cordeiro
- Trevor Johnson
- James Green
- Steve Slayden
- Phillip Scheel
- Jerald Hawthorne
- Denny Rhoads
- Jake Koetting
- Damron Atkins
- John Taylor
- Mike Battaile
- Kyle Van Nuys
- Brian Harjo
- Derek Guidry
Recaps: Practice | Qualifying | C-Main | B-Main | A-Main | Links | Back to top
Links
For complete results and more information about R/C Pro and racing
your Traxxas Revo in the monster Truck class, visit www.rcprosites.com
Recaps: Practice | Qualifying | C-Main | B-Main | A-Main | Links | Back to top
