2022 Nationals Warmup

Friday would be open practice from 9am – 7pm, which gave everyone lots of opportunity to get on the track. The track started out wet and then began to dry, and with them watering every couple hours it gave us lots of chances to run on the track in different conditions. We did a lot of tire testing and made some setup changes to adjust to the track. My car was fast and I felt confident for qualifying.

Saturday was 3 rounds of qualifying, the first round was very close between Maifield and I, we swapped back and forth a few times, I was able to take the lead towards the end of the race and hold onto it for the round 1 TQ.

Round 2 I would make a mistake on the second lap, I rolled it over and needed a marshall which dropped me to the back of the pack, I would slowly be able to make it back up to fourth which is where I would finish.

In round 3, I would battle between 2nd and 3rd until the last lap when I got into traffic and would drop to 4th which is where I would finish. Which would give me 2nd overall starting position for the main. Saturday night after qualifying the track was open for practice so we stayed and tested a few more things for main day.

It rained overnight but the track soaked it up well, and it was perfectly watered for the morning to start off the mains. The plan for the track was to water before every main, because it was sunny and warm, we knew that the track for the main would start out damp but would dry out over the 45 minutes. We made our tire choice based on this information, I knew that I would need a tire that would be good on the dry track and I would just try and hang on until the track dried out. For the first few laps I was able to keep pace with Maifield and the 2 of us would pull away from the pack, I would then make a mistake hitting a bump and turning into the pipe too soon, my car rolled over but righted itself on its own but I would lose valuable seconds. A few laps later I made that same mistake, again I didn’t need a marshall but 3rd place would pass me, this gave Maifield a fairly good gap, but as the track dried out my tires really started to come in and I would get faster. I would overtake 2nd and start closing the gap to Maifield, my car and tires felt really good and I was confident that I could catch him. Unfortunately at this point Maifield picked up a rock that ended up in his flywheel which killed his engine, putting him out of the race. This would put me into first place and I would continue to put down some fast laps and pull further away from 2nd to go on and take the win.

Since the mains ended really early, they left the track open and we were able to do some more testing and try some different things on setup and we are confident going into the nationals.

I want to thank my sponsors for giving me the best products to compete at the highest level Xray, RC America, Hobbywing, FX Engines, Hot Race Tires, MKS, A Main Hobbies, HUDY, VP fuels, Protek Rc, EZ Customs, Stickit1, Lunsford, Avid rc, and 110% Racing.

Thanks to my family for all their support, help and the sacrifices they have made throughout my career, having my Dad at the races, knowing I can count on him to be there for me, is a huge blessing, and thanks to my wife. Most importantly I would like to thank my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, without him I would not be where I am today.