Florida RC Championship Round 2 Triple Nickel Raceway - Bartow, FL

“Little did we know we wouldn’t be battling each other. We would be battling a track that changed by the lap.” - Me

1/8th Scale Nitro Buggy at Florida RC Championship Round 2 at Triple Nickel in Bartow, FL — Tekno RC NB48 2.1 Nitro Buggy.

Driving to FRCC Round 2 at Triple Nickel Raceway Bartow, FL — Florida RC Championship Round 2 Triple Nickel - Bartow, FL

I set off pumped for Round 2 of Florida RC Championship. It’s been a longgg time since I have been to Triple Nickel, and I was excited to say the least. Triple Nickel is just outside of Bartow, FL. Easy to get to with plenty of parking for an event like this.

Driving to Florida RC Championship Round 2 at Triple Nickel Raceway Bartow, FL — Florida RC Championship Round 2 Triple Nickel - Bartow, FL

Friday was a beautiful day. Warm with plenty of sunshine. Perfect day to dial in the setup of my Tekno E Buggy & E Truggy. After a 90 minute drive I arrived on site and setup my trailer so I could get to work!

Triple Nickel RC Raceway Bartow, FL Sunrise — Florida RC Championship Round 2 Triple Nickel - Bartow, FL

I walked the track to get an idea of a base setup. The track was hard packed with a decent abrasive feel. But you could tell it would get dusty quick. I dialed some Camber out of the front and rear of both chassis’s. Set the ride height a little lower for both. Tire choice was next. Moisture was low and the track surface was warm. I put on a fresh set of ProMotion RC Raptors in SLW (Soft Long Wear Compound) for both truggy & buggy.

Buy Raptor Here

I hit the track and got a feel for the surface, layout, and flow. Truggy felt great with the changes I made. I set off with the buggy and didn’t make it down the straight before my buggy died. It came back to life quickly but then died again. I was able to limp it off the track and inspect it. Everything was energized but had no throttle. My ESC wouldn’t chime when it arms. Oh boy, looked at the LED strip and had four flashing LEDS. This is the pattern for connection issue at the ESC or motor. I checked the usual like solder points, all were solid. This is the second ESC to fail out of nowhere. Both failed the same way. Last time I replaced just the ESC and left my 2050 KV motor in place. Considering that they both died the same way. This time I wasn’t taking a chance and I swapped the motor and ESC. I did not have a spare 2050 motor only a 1900 or 2250. Oh I also realized that I used my spare ESC the last time and didn’t replace it. Thankfully Speed Demon Hobbies was on site and had the ESC in stock. BIG thank you to them! Got to work and got that all sorted out and hit the track with my buggy. Throughout the day the track crew blew off the track and watered it lightly. I stuck with my tire choice even with the replacement of the esc and motor delay. Buggy had a little bit of oversteer but overall was good. I decided to soften the rear sway bar on the buggy. Hit the track again and it felt great.

Track maintenance at Round 2 of Florida RC Championship at Triple Nickel Bartow, FL — Florida RC Championship Round 2 Triple Nickel - Bartow, FL

Now to get some time in and get the speed up. Once you got a few key points of the track down it was easy to click off 21 second laps consistently. I ran the ProMotion Raptors in SLW all day and they felt great. I left Friday feeling good about both of my setups.

Racing started at 0800 on the dot. Lance runs a tight program. Which is much appreciated as some of these events can go late. Would be way worse if it wasn’t for his time management of the program. Thanks Lance we all thank you! I was toward the back of the qualifying pack so this gave me time to watch the track and see how it was developing throughout round 1 of qualifying. Since Saturday was considerably cooler than Friday I changed my tire choice and went with ProMotion Raptors in Soft compound. Both cars felt great but a little nervous and edgy. This was from the ruts and small holes forming everywhere on the track.

Turn 1 Florida RC Championship Round 2 at Triple Nickel in Bartow, FL — Florida RC Championship Round 2 Triple Nickel - Bartow, FL

This was a common scene for all of us at some point.

Tekno RC NB48 2.1 at Florida RC Championship Round 2 at Triple Nickel in Bartow, FL — Tekno RC NB48 2.1 Going Over The Triple at Triple Nickel.

I decided for round 2 of qualifying I was going to try something a little different. I decided to toss on a fresh set of ProMotion Spitfires SS (Super Soft) compound for both truggy and buggy.

Promotion RC Spitfire — ProMotion Spitfire Tires.

Buy Spitfire Here

Going with the larger pin tire would give me the forgiveness in the ruts and holes I needed. The connected large pins of the Spitfire give this tire TONS of forward drive. The super soft compound would give the side bite I needed, while not getting edgy or nervous due to the larger pin. It was a great choice!

Tekno RC EB48 2.1 With ProMotion RC Spitfire Tires — ProMotion Spitfire Tires on Tekno RC EB48 2.1

Techno RC EB48 2.1 ProMotion RC Spitfire Tires — Tekno RC EB48 2.1

Driver stand at Florida RC Championship Round 2 at Triple Nickel in Bartow, FL — Florida RC Championship Round 2 Triple Nickel - Bartow, FL

Some mistakes and simply not pushing hard enough. I found myself 2nd in the B Main of Open E Truggy and 8th in the A Main of Open E Buggy. As the day went on the track got harder and harder to drive for everyone one at every skill level. The truggy B Main I finished third after I ended up in the infield after a mistake on the triple. Which had me blind and couldn’t see my truck. The turn marshal just stared at it. Finally I could see my wing and got back on the track. Thanks turn marshal!! Ultimately it was my fault for sucking but still. I treat my marshal area as a 5 alarm fire. I full on sprint to flip cars. But that’s just me. Back to the racing. This allowed Gabriel Santiago to gain the ground I had on him and put him all over me. Second to last turn had a “jump the gap” and I ran a little wide and that allowed him to take advantage. He passed me clean and I simply couldn’t do anything in the last turn to get him cleanly. I took third and did not bump to the A Main. Just means I have work to do!

IYSYS! ( If You Suck You Suck ) - Trex Arms

Florida RC Championship Round 2 at Triple Nickel in Bartow, FL — 1/8 Scale Truggies Going Over The Triple at Triple Nickel.

Florida RC Championship Round 2 at Triple Nickel in Bartow, FL 1/8th Scale Nitro Buggy — Florida RC Championship Round 2 Triple Nickel - Bartow, FL

E buggy I started 8th in the A Main. The track was absolutely gnarly and very difficult to drive for me. Ultimately dropped two places and finished 10th. Second A Main I broke my driver lower A Arm in warmup over the triple. I had to sit that one out with a DNF. I packed everything up and waited for the next race so I could marshal.

Tekno RC EB48 2.1 Broken Front A Arm — Broken Driver Side Lower Control Arm.

I got in my truck and headed home feeling defeated that day. The track got me good! Others just had more speed and props to them.

“Little did we know we wouldn’t be battling each other. We would be battling a track that changed by the lap.” - Me

The next day I was up at 0800 after getting to bed at 0200. I was pumped to edit my photos and get hyped up for the next race. I will see everyone at Round 3!