2024 Florida RC Championship Round 3 Mills Pond - Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Round 3 of Florida RC Championship was held at Mills Pond is located in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. It is a 4.5 hour drive from Tampa straight down I-75 across Alligator Alley and bam, you’re there. The drive is painfully boring, but easy as you literally stay on one road the entire time. We started our journey on Thursday after a front passed in the early afternoon. Once we hit Naples we were hitting the tail end of the storm and it made for some interesting driving as it was super windy with all the rain. But we make it in one piece and drop the trailer at the track. The track looks super fast and fun to run so I am excited for Friday practice! Time to unwind and get some rest.

Friday I set off to the track and get there around 830. Practice starts at 10 so I gave myself some time to make changes or glue tires. I decided I wanted to start off with Promotion Talons in Soft compound and stiffen up both sway bars. Then a bulb goes off in my head and I think “Geeee I don’t remember the annoying sound my spare/tuning parts bin makes sliding on the trailer floor under the couch…” I check and its not there, I left it at home!!! Now the only tuning option I have are basic settings and diff/shock oil. This should make for a very fun weekend.. I get busy gluing & balancing all the Talons I had unmounted.

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I hit the track with the truck first as usual on Soft Talons and it felt actually pretty good. But when the groove comes up it will be too soft to be on pace. I run buggy next and it too felt good. I get a few packs of practice and everything feels good with some super minor adjustments. I continued to practice for the day and was ready for the Saturday mains! I planned a little golden hour shoot and It came out pretty good!

Saturday is qualifying and mains I decided to not warm up and catch a little extra sleep. Truck Q1 I would qualify 5th and would do the same in Q2. Truck was easy to drive but couldn’t be pushed hard with the soft sway bars and the holes that were starting to form. I went out on Soft Talons and they were money. I would use Talons in different compounds during the entire race.

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Buggy Q1 I would land in 3rd. In Q2 I noticed a problem on my first warm up lap and said problem would allow me to only complete 3 laps before having to come off the track. This landed me a last place qualifier for Q2. Again going out on Soft Talons and using Talons in Different compounds all day.

Mains roll around and the track is blowing out all over, like driving on the surface of the moon. I would start in 9th for both buggy and truck. Truck & Buggy I went out on Soft Talons for both A1 & A2, as usual they were awesome for this track surface. Truck A1 I jumped up and then in the second turn I got caught up with a pile up and fell to 11th. Put my head down and chipped away at the field slowly to make my way to finish in 5th. A2 I ran a good race but couldn’t make my way to the front. I did manage a 4th place finish but I guess someone had a lap that didn’t count made me fall back to 5th. I guess how the points shake out I didn’t get an overall podium finish even though I had back to back 5th place finish.

Buggy A1 I had a great start and went from 9th to 4th in the first lap. Had a few bobbles which would have me drop back a few spots. I was able to regain the lost ground and get myself back into 4th which is where I would finish. A2 I would have several mistakes on my part that would land me finishing 6th. Again no podium overall, that’s racing though!

It was a very interesting and stressful weekend. But the program was smooth and a killer time as always.