2021 Surf City Classic

This weekend was the 14th Annual Surf City Classic held at the world famous OCRC Raceway in Huntington Beach, CA. As always Robert and Nick Black and their crew did an amazing job with the track and their facility, and always show the racers big hospitality.

We got to the track on Thursday and the layout looked like it would be a lot of fun and would be challenging, there were different options and challenging sections which would make racing very exciting and give opportunities for passing which is rare for a 1/10 track these days. Obviously there was a lot of thought put into this layout, once I started driving the layout it definitely did not disappoint.

As usual with clay tracks that are freshly built, the grip starts out fairly low and we usually start out with tread or ghost pin.

We spent the day Thursday running in tires and getting used to the layout and the option, adjusting the cars as needed.

Friday was another practice day, the grip started to come up and a lot of the drivers had already gone to slicks so I prepared tires and broke them in for qualifying on Saturday and mains on Sunday. I adjusted the setup throughout the day as the track demanded it, my cars felt really, really good and I was ready for qualifying on Saturday.

Saturday we ran 3 rounds of qualifying, 2wd buggy was up first and I felt like my car went around the track well but I just made some mistakes on my own and I would finish 4th for the round. In 4wd I would finish 2nd behind Cavelieri, I made a couple small mistakes but it was enough to put me back.

The second round of 2wd, early in the race I think I hit a rut at the end of the straight flipped and broke a ball end, it was strange as I can only assume it was damaged earlier and I didn’t notice, as it wasn’t that hard of a crash at the end of the straight away. In 4wd I had a good run, it wasn’t a completely clean run but I was able to tq the round.

They did a resort for round 3 and 4 so the top ten would all be in the same heat for those rounds. In 2wd because the grip seemed to be going up I ran a fresher set of tires and just didn’t have the grip to go fast enough and would settle for 5th for the round. In 4wd I made some adjustments to the car and had a close battle on the track and on the clock but I made too many mistakes and would finish 3rd for the round.

They ran round 4 on Sunday morning, in 2wd I was able to get a fairly clean run but needed a little more speed and would end up getting 3rd for the round which would have me starting 4th on the grid for the single A main. In 4wd it started off really good and I was in the lead but made a bobble on the quad and lost the tq by 6/10 and would finish 2nd which would give me a 2nd overall for the main.

The 4wd A main was up next, I felt confident in my car, the main started very good, Cavelieri and I broke away and I was able to take the lead on the first lap. We had a good back and forth battle, a little bit past the halfway point my car lost power while I was in the lead and that would put me out of the race. We checked the battery and it looks like the cells got separated possibly due to the big quad jump on the track. It was disappointing as I knew my car was good and I had the speed to take the win.

I want to thank the Black family and their whole crew for the very well run race, great facility and awesome hospitality.

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

Thanks to my Mom, Dad and sister for all their support, help and the sacrifices they have made throughout my career, thanks to my wife and most importantly I would like to thank my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, without him I would not be where I am.