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Electric indoor Carpet Nationals 2009. (25/03/2009)

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Serpent S120 1/12th scale


Electric indoor Carpet Nationals 2009.

Hello fellow racers,
 
This past weekend I attended the Electric indoor Carpet Nationals for 2009. I ran 1/12 scale Super Stock and 1/12 scale Modified. This was my first big race and is very different for me, since I am a Nitro racer. I ran the new Serpent S120 with Twister/ATS tires as my main package. I really have no experience in this carpet electric element so last month I attended an electric race in Maryland to get prepared. I received a lot of help from Paul Ciccarello at Maryland and also here at the Nationals.
 
I arrived Wednesday night to start practice on Thursday morning. When I got to the hotel I saw a long line to tech motors and batteries. I was shocked considering it had to be 11:00 pm and it looked like 2:00 pm at a nitro race. I teched my Super stock Motors and was told they were illegal. Not a good start to my weekend, since I just bought these motor strictly for this event and they were supposed to be Roar legal motors. I got help and was lent a motor for the event and on Thursday started practicing. In nitro I am used to getting a lot of practice at different times of the day. At this race each racer would only get 3 time of controlled practice based on the heat set-ups. This was not good for me since I am still new to 1/12 scale electric racing. I tested gearing in each round of practice along with tires and set-up changes. By the time practice came My Modified car was OK and my Super stock car was less than average.


Friday we started qualifying with 2 round each day for a total of 4 rounds. We ran rocket round and I felt like I was just trying more to stay out of the way instead of racing my hardest. I was very frustrated the entire weekend and even more so in the qualifiers. Each time I ran the car I got more used to the format and the car. Friday was a washout for me, but I felt better by the end of the day. On Saturday I was going to try a little harder to drive and focus less on being safe. I had my Modified car just about right and my Super Stock car was still not what I wanted. On the last day of Qualifying my best run in both classes made me feel good. In Super stock I qualified 14th and that put me 4th in the "B". In Modified I qualified 10th which put me last in the "A". I was very happy with the result. For not having any experience I did better than I though I would do. I must say electric for me was very frustrating, but in the end I was happy with the final results. In the mains I had some problems focusing so much and did not stay consistent, however I was still happy. My Serpent S120 was very good and people seemed to like the look and performance of the car. Paul C. and Brian Rice did really well with their Serpent cars. Brian TQ'd Super Stock and Paul C. took 3rd in both Super Stock and Modified in the finals.


I would like the thank the entire Roar team and "The Gate" for putting on the event. This was a great event to attend with very high competition and having the race inside a Hotel was awesome. I never saw the light for 4 days. Thanks to Brian, Melvin and Paul for the pit laughs and help throughout the event. Special thanks to my sponsors; Serpent, Serpent America, Xceed, Twister Tires USA and ATS.
 


Till next time,
 
DJ Apolaro