Hadley Junior High School in Glen Ellyn Illinois has a longstanding and unique program to offer its students – the school has a RC Program! I have been involved with the program in the past and attended another Hadley event on Sunday, March 4th to work with the kids.

About the program: The program involves about 30 kids and uses RC as a learning tool. Organizers Jim Bourke and Mike Dorich have taken advantage of the many ways RC can be used to teach concepts such as math, physics, hand eye coordination, mechanics, sportsmanship, and responsibility. To me, the program’s greatest attribute is that it currently involves kids from grade four all the way up to seniors in high school. This socializes and brings common ground to older and younger kids in a healthy environment. The program is launched towards middle school students at Hadley Junior High, but younger siblings of Hadley students and graduated students to high school are also welcome to take part in the racing. With donations from various companies and the school itself, each applicant receives a car, radio, charger and a battery at the beginning of the school year. Each student is then responsible to build and maintain their car, attend weekly meetings and events, and participate fully throughout the year, including track builds and teardowns. The school even has transponders, PA system and proper racing carpet which it rolls out in the gymnasium twice a month for racing.

Personally, I was very impressed with the attitudes of each participant and the skills that they have acquired. I had several kids that encountered mechanical failures come to me to help diagnose their problems and all of them had the ability to fix their own cars after talking about it. All in all it was a good time had and it was nice to see excitement for RC alive and well.

Thanks to all the companies and individuals which have donated to Hadley school, some of them are: Tamiya, Protoform, Associated, Pro-Line, Traxxas, Kevco Racing, trackside hobbies, HPI, Horizon Hobby, Tower Hobbies, Michael Waltrip Racing, Hobbytown usa St Charles IL, ALS Hobbies, Russ Paint, Parma, Tekin, Lunsford, Toads RC and more. And of course thanks to my major sponsors who made it possible for me to attend: RC America, Xray, Thunderpower, Protoform, and Futaba.

Here are some pics from the March 4th event:

1. Markus Mobers
2. Andrew Knapp – PROTOform AMR-12
3. Mike Blackstock - PROTOform AMR-12

1/12th GTP 17.5

1. Peter Robinson & TQ - PROTOform AMR-12
2. Mike Haynes - PROTOform AMR-12
3. Dave Johnson - PROTOform AMR-12

1/12th GTP MODIFIED

1. Paul Lemieux & TQ - PROTOform AMR-12
2. Keven Hebert - PROTOform AMR-12
3. Mike Blackstock - PROTOform AMR-12

TOURING AMATEUR

1. Myron Kinnard & TQ - PROTOform AMR-12
2. Shane Williams – PROTOform
3. Nicholas Petrovic - PROTOform

TOURING STOCK

1. Mike Haynes & TQ – PROTOform MazdaSpeed6
2. Brad Johnson - PROTOform MazdaSpeed6
3. Dave Johnson - PROTOform MazdaSpeed6

TOURING EXPERT

1. Keven Hebert & TQ - PROTOform MazdaSpeed6
2. Mike Haynes - PROTOform MazdaSpeed6
3. Andrew Hardman - PROTOform MazdaSpeed6

TOURING MODIFIED

TQ – Naoto Matsukura – PROTOform MazdaSpeed6
1. Alexander Hagberg - PROTOform MazdaSpeed6
2. Keven Hebert - PROTOform MazdaSpeed6
3. Paul Lemieux - PROTOform MazdaSpeed6

WORLD GT

TQ – Peter Robinson - PROTOform Sophia GT
1. Max Kuenning – PROTOform Sophia GT
2. Larry Fairtrace - PROTOform Sophia GT
3. Jari Taskila - PROTOform Sophia GT

1. Chris Clayton & TQ – PROTOform Gen2 TCC
2. Larry Ruby - PROTOform Gen2 TCC
3. Mike Miller - PROTOform Gen2 TCC

Super Stock 13.5

1. David Mayhew & TQ – PROTOform D-HD
2. Eric Anderson
3. Nick Bell

Outlaw NasTruck 13.5

TQ Jimmy Flack - PROTOform ORT
1. Steve Pemberton – PROTOform ORT
2. Art Hernandez - PROTOform ORT
3. John Grubb - PROTOform ORT

Stock Car 17.5

1. Brian Deel & TQ
2. Jerry Parrott
3. Brian Rippons

Sportsman Truck 17.5

1. Ean Reilley - PROTOform ORT
2. James Stroud & TQ - PROTOform ORT
3. Scott Rance - PROTOform ORT

Modified 10.5

TQ Andy McClellan
1. Pete D’Agnolo - PROTOform D-HD
2. David Mayhew - PROTOform D-HD
3. Monti Panzica - PROTOform D-HD

Pro Modified

1. Pete D’Agnolo - PROTOform D-HD
2. David Mayhew & TQ - PROTOform D-HD
3. Andy McClellan

Brothers Peter and Steven Jovanic demonstrate their dominance in Australia at their home track in Victoria – MRCCR / Lilydale. An excellent start by Peter saw him draw a huge gap to the rest of the field with his brother Steven in 2nd position. Even with one of the fastest tyre changes by Steven’s pitmen, Peter held his position and the brothers re-enforced their national status as the two best drivers in the country.

All bodies seen in the video are PROTOform Race Bodies!

Source: CapricornRC

Some of the best names from the Midwest were in attendance in both TC and 1/12. The largest class was Stock 17.5 TC and after a few practice rounds I already felt comfortable with my Reedy-powered TC6.1. Only a few small changes from my US Indoor Champs setup were needed to lock her down.

Modified 1/12 was a little bit more challenging. I lost traction early in the run for the first few runs but this situation continued to improve and by the second round of qualifying the problem was resolved. At the end of qualifying on Saturday I held the TQ position in both Mod 1/12 and Stock 17.5 TC.

On Sunday, I was able to improve my TQ times in both classes to secure the advantageous pole position. In the TC 17.5 main event, I was able to take advantage of the number one start and lead wire-to-wire ahead of Dave Johnson in second and Brad Johnson in third.

Things were a bit more difficult in 1/12 Modified. Andrew Knapp challenged me for the first half of the race, but thanks to a small mistake on his part, I was able open up a comfortable lead and take my second win of the weekend.

Thanks to Rapid Competition Raceway for a great event and first-class facility!

Source: http://www.myrcbox.com

Keven used a PROTOform Mazdaspeed6 body on his AE TC5 and a PROTOform AMR12 on his 12R…great job Keven!

Mike explained that he was an RC drag racer and he really needed a better funny car body to race with. Upon hearing this I immediately started fashioning a new pattern in hopes of meeting his needs. A month later I red labeled him a couple PROTOform Dodge Stealth funny car bodies and within 3 days he had used one of them to set a new world record as well as score a victory at the IEDA WORLDS in Colton CA. Needless to say this was very encouraging. NASCAR type racing was a large part of the RC on-road scene back then so I knew I needed to try my hand in that venue, a place where aerodynamics played a huge factor. A few months later (a very young) Mike Boylan used our first ever PROTOform oval body to lap the Domingues Hills velodrome at over 77 MPH (average) to become the fastest NASCAR bodied RC oval racer ever.

At this point in time I made the decision that I was “all in” on a new career change. As a lifelong car racing enthusiast, I’d already spent years hot rodding and customizing full size cars for myself and friends, so it seemed like a natural “fit” for me. I’d just need to learn how to do things in a smaller scale. So I frantically prepared eight more body styles in preparation for PROTOform’s official company debut. Yes, it seems like yesterday, but twenty years ago, in Nov of 1991, my wife and I nervously set up a homemade trade show display at the (then) huge RCCTA show in Chicago in hopes that there was some niche I could fill in this new and exciting world of RC car racing.

Well, the next couple years could be summed up in one word: tumultuous. Long and tedious “coffee fueled” days and slim profits made me wonder at times if PROTOform would survive long term. Our NASCAR style bodies were really making a mark in the USA based oval racing scene, but then in 1994 an interesting and crucial thing happened. RC racing legend and mega champion Masami Hirosaka used an off-the-hobbyshop-wall PROTOform racebody to win the IFMAR On-Road WORLDS in Germany. American Jon Orr put a second one on the podium to boot! That day, PROTOform’s horizon’s expanded immensely.

The next year saw an exciting new chapter in PROTOform’s development as we merged with the fine folks at Proline Racing in southern California. Working with Todd Mattson, Tim Clark and the entire Proline team has been an exciting and rewarding time to say the least. The RC racing world has seen the benefits of this move as well. PROTOform race bodies have now been used by the winners at 15 different IFMAR On-Road WORLDS Championships, as well as being used at every conceivable national and regional title winner around the globe including those of EFRA, ROAR, FAMAR, FEMCA, and the BRCA. It’s been gratifying to personally witness the PROTOform brand become the body of choice by competitors at the Reedy Race of Champions, the International Indoor Championships in Las Vegas, the Snowbirds Nationals in Orlando, and the US Indoor Champs in Cleveland. In the amazing European Touring Car Series, PROTOform race bodies have been on every podium.

Without a doubt, the best part of this 20 year journey has been the privilege of meeting so many great people! To the many team racers I’ve met and worked with, and have consistently made me look better than I actually am (with their amazing skills on the track and in the pits) – THANKS! To the dealers, distributors and race organizers – you’ve also added something to my life that is priceless. It’s so nice to be able to call so many of you friend.

At this time I’d like to say a huge THANK YOU to all the racers and enthusiasts out there that have used our racebodies over the last two decades.

I recognise that without your support, none of this would be possible. I’d also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my wife Katie, to Pro-Line Racing, to our team drivers, and all our dealers, for the contributions you made toward PROTOform’s success over these last 20 years.

I’d also like to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a blessed NEW YEAR!

- Dale Epp, PROTOform Race Bodies Founder

The 5th Annual Fall Classic gave the opportunity for racers to see what is in store for the upcoming 2012 Roar Carpet Nationals to be held at Mikes in March. At the race it was a friendly atmosphere with locals and some out of towners. Drew Ellis and Paul Lemieux came in from the mid west to support XRAY and the race. The classes raced at the fall classic were VTA, F1, 12th scale 17.5 non boost, 12th scale 13.5 boost, TC 17.5 non boost, TC mod. Practice was Thursday and Friday which gave everyone plenty of time to get their cars working. Qualifying started on Saturday and went three rounds, on Sunday morning there was a 4th qualifier to set up the triple Amains.

In the fun VTA class it was Andrew Doherty who wrapped up the TQ.The VTA Finals were very interesting do in part to the field being inverted at the start along with 8min race lengths and a 12 car final. In A1 it was the second qualifier Justin Lyons who took the win. In A2 the third qualifier Doug Bryson took the win. In A3 it was Justin Lyons again grabbing the A3 win and the overall win, Doug Bryson ended up second overall with Andrew Doherty finishing third overall.

In The F1 class it was Alex Giovinazzo who sat on the pole, Alex would win A1 and also A2 to wrap up the overall win. Alex was not unchallenged though; In A2 Robert Bremmer was only defeated by .1sec. Top three was Alex Giovinazzo taking the win with Jordan Born sneaking in to the second spot with Robert Bremmer finishing third overall.

In 12th 17.5 non timing it was Matt Ward who was TQ. Matt also won A1 by a large margin. In A2 it was the 5th qualifier Otha Belcher who made it interesting and surged through the field to claim the win. A3 it was Matt Ward who stayed the course and took home the overall win. Otha would finish second overall with Robert Bremmer rounding out the top three.

The 12th 13.5 timing class saw Andrew Doherty take the TQ. In A1 it was Andrew who went on to take the in by a comfortable margin. A2 was a repeat of A1 with Andrew taking the win again over Chris Metheny. A3 Andrew sat out and it was Metheny who went on to take A3. This made it Andrew Doherty with the win, Chris Metheny second and third qualifier Terry Vaughn finishing third.

In TC 17.5 non timing it was Chris Adams driving a XRAY T3 2011 who sat on Tq. Qualifying was close in the final rounds with young Aaron Breuer putting up a fight. In A1 and A2 it was Chris Adams who drove almost flawless and secured his win in both A1 and A2. Sam Hand would race into the second spot overall with Aaron Breuer finishing third.

In Mod Tc it was Paul Lemieux and his new T3 2012 that took the TQ along with the wins in A1 and A2. After some great racing it was Christian Tabush who snuck it in to the second spot with Drew Ellis rounding out the top three.

Overall it was a great fun race. XRAY would like to thank all who showed up to race and of course Mike and the whole crew who made sure that the race went off perfect. See you at the nationals!

Final results:

Mod TC 1. Paul Lemieux  2. Christian Tabush 3. Drew Ellis 4. Steve Breuer 5. Andrew Doherty 6. Terry Vaughn VTA 1. Justin Lyons 2. Doug Bryson 3. Andrew Doherty 4. Alex Giovinazzo 5. Double D 6. Randy Novak 7. Paul Forgey 8. David Walker 9. Ron Cunningham 10. Bill Belsher 11. Jason Smith 12. Eryk Sharer 13. Stuart White 12th 17.5 non timing  1. Matt Ward 2. Otha Belcher Jr 3. Robert Bremer 4. Christian Jones 5. Doug Bryson 6. Russell Hamilton 7. Carlos Garcia 8. Robert Bell 9. Jim Hartnett 10. Juan Baylock 12th scale 13.5 non timing  1. Andrew Doherty 2. Chris metheny 3. Terry Vaughn 4. Larry Bradshaw 5. Robert Bremer TC 17.5 non timing 1. Chris Adams 2. Sam Hand 3. Aaron Breuer 4. Matt Ward 5. Justin Lyons 6. James Lundberg 7. Morgan Davenport 8. Gilbert Santos 9. John Hodges 10. Christian Jones

Source: www.teamxray.com

I enjoy all facets of RC, but my true passion is onroad.  This past weekend was the Byron Onroad Challenge at what used to be my home track, Leisure Hours Raceway in Joliet, Illinois.  I now live just north of Milwaukee, so Scott Ernst’s Trackside is my new home

There were 90 entries racing in either GT, 1:10 touring, or 1:8 onroad.  Saturday started with four rounds of qualifier, and they would use the best two to determine starting order for the mains.  Each qualifier was 10 minutes, with the A main being a solid 45 minute race.

I went to the track on Friday to put in some practice and shake out the car.  I made several chassis adjustment which dialed in the car nicely, but my strategy for qualifying was to try and make the 10 minute heat without pitting.  By experimenting with different carb restrictors, various pipes, and several clutch settings, I was able to make 10 minutes.  My lap times were not the fastest, but I felt my direction was worth a shot.  I won my first qualifier, but struggled with the 2nd and 3rd.  For the final qualifier on Sunday AM, I opted to change my setup toward a race setting with a fresh OS VG .21 engine, OS 2040 pipe and Fioroni Twin Turbo clutch setup.  This was FAST, and with this setup, I won the final qualifier.  This would slot me in for an overall 3rd starting position for the A Main.

Got off to a super solid start, moving forward into the 2nd spot within the first few laps.  Top Qualifier (Mike Lyday) began to roll off the front.  Mike is a solid competitor, winning this event several times.  He would be the man to beat in this event.  With 12 cars on the track, there was lots of traffic to navigate, but I was able to stay clean.  The car was fast and dialed in perfectly for the conditions.  I maintained a solid 2nd place until about the 20 minute mark when the leader came into the pits to repair damage.  He had about two laps up on me, but with his car idle, I made up these laps to take the lead as well as put a few laps up on him before he made it back out.

My plan was coming together, as my Kyosho Inferno GT was running 100% reliable, and clicking off clean laps.  Traffic was busy, but I managed to run pretty clean, consistent laps.  Lyday in the number 2 position was running quicker, but I had longer pit windows, so he was not threatening to catch me…yet.  Fast forward to about 20 minutes remaining in the race, and Mike was clearly beginning to reel me in.  With the clock winding down, Mike was able to get back on the same lap as mine and a real race was begging to shape up.  The announcer was really having a good time talking this one up, as most races this long don’t get closer as time goes on.  My pit stops were on point and the car was good, but he was clearly faster.  I was doing the math in my head, Mike was on track to reach my back bumper on the last lap…  With about 3 minutes remaining, and the 2nd place car only a straightaway behind me, the handling on my car began to fail.  Headed down the back straight, my left front tire suffered a catastrophic failure, with a section of the rubber tire and foam insert launching from the rim.  I limped into the pits where my crew scrambled to get me back out.  They succeeded in changing out the wheel quick enough, but I also popped the glow plug at the same time.  Time would expire before I was able to get back out.  I did, though, finish in a respectable 3rd place.  Crazy exciting race, with the ending bittersweet.  I can’t wait to do it again!

In addition to racing this event, I was also there as a Contributing Editor.  This is my first project with RC Car Action Magazine, with hopefully more to come.  Check their site for race updates as well as print coverage to come.  Here’s a link to my first entry on Saturday night.  http://www.rccaraction.com/?p=223223

Hugh props to the brands that continue to support my RC racing!  Here’s the gear I successfully ran this weekend.  Big Shout Out to Byron Fuel for ‘fueling’ yet another fun and successful event!!!

Kyosho Inferno GT1, 40 shore V Slick tires and rims
Airtronics MX3x transmitter, 94361 Servos
PROTOform PF8 GT body, molded tire inserts, air cleaner
Byron Gen II 20% fuel
Merlin Glow Plugs
Ballistic Batteries rx battery/lipo tx battery
OS .21 VG and .21 VSpec engines, 2040 & 2050 pipes
Fioroni Twin Turbo Sliding Clutch

Also…
Al’s Hobby Shop
RC Car Action Magazine

Last weekend saw 5th from 6 legs for the Austrian championship Nitro Onroad! With overall 53 drivers and perfect weather a lot of hot race action was offered at Aigen/Schlaegl track which will be a candidate for 2013 1:8 EFRA B-Euro!

In 1:8 it was already in practice a battle between Mugen/Novrossi driver Mikie Klausner and Motonica/Picco driver Herfried Pucher – both running around 2/10 sec per lap faster than the rest. In first qualifier Pucher had a clean run and overnight TQ. In second qualifier on Sunday morning Klausner strikes back with a 2 seconds faster run than Puchers TQ time. In third and last qualifying round Klausner had after some smaller setup changes a more stable car on the rear and was doing new Track and Qualifyer record – so we had following TOP 3:

1. Mikie Klausner Mugen/Novarossi 26 7:04.520 (15.803 fastest lap)
2. Herfried Pucher Motonica/Mugen 26 7:09.463 (15.950 fastest lap)
3. Manuel Gremlica Serpent/Mega 26 7:12.603 (16.114 fastest lap)

For the finals the biggest problem was the tire wear of the bad quality controlled tires from ATS – in qualifying we had up to 5-6 mm tire wear on the outside in 7 Minutes with some prerun time. Semi-final B won Pucher with a tire change only on the outside at 10 minutes of the 20 minutes final. Klausner won Semi-final A and had to go slower the last 4 minutes of his final, because he was running out of tires and so he was only 0.5 sec faster than Pucher! So it was clear that everybody in the 30 minutes final who was going fast have to make a tire change! Before the start of the final Pucher had to take a “Time Out” – his Picco engine had a failure and had to be replaced! At the start Klausner moved away from the field and catching Pucher after 2 laps who had a crash in this starting lap going from 11th start place. Both where doing identical lap times but at 5 minutes mark Pucher had a flame out and got again problems with his engine – a damaged exhaust pipe was the reason!

Klausner was doing a perfect final without any mistake – oh sorry his pit crew was doing a slow tire change with more than 17 seconds – so it was a nearly perfect final! On second place Manuel Gremlica – he was running without a tire change – which surprise – maybe ATS team drivers have better quality of controlled tires – Manuel mentioned that he was driving very smooth but Alain Levy was calling him during and after the final as “World Champion in A..h..e”? Christian Bartacek also Mugen/Novarossi become 3rd with a clean run and perfect pit crew work and 11 sec tire change shortly before half time – only 0,8 seconds ahead of Nec Mihelic.

1. Mikie Klausner Mugen/Novarossi 107 30:02.502
2. Manuel Gremlica Serpent/Mega 106 30:06.118
3. Christian Bartcek Mugen/Novrossi 105 30:12.893
4. Nejc Mihelic Motonica/Picco 105 30:13.611

So Mikie Klausner is already Austrian National champion 2011 (3rd time in a row) 2 weeks before final 6th round at LAMAC track!

In 1:10 we got very solid runs by Manuel Singer and Overall TQ! Surprising was Michael Meisinger who became second with his special non commercial available Italian tires? 3rd Richard Furtner – Gerhard Kandelhart – all weekend fast managed no clean run and became only 6th after qualifying. TOP 10 cars are all XRAY – best not XRAY driver after qualifying young talented driver Markus Berer with his old style Mugen MTX-4.

In the Semi finals – Kandelhart made a clean run and put his car to Pole position for the final, Singer 0.4 sec slower on position 2! After the start 3rd placed driver Richard Furtner had bad luck and his body was pushed from behind and had come to the pits in the first lap! On the front Kandelhart and Singer have been moving away – but Singer had the better fuel millage and it was clear that Kandelhart had to push a little bit harder – and the last laps have been an absolute amazing – Kandelhart in the lead – but his tires not anymore so good than tires from Singer – so Singer made the move 5 laps to go – Kandelhart was pushing harder and managed to attack Singer in the last lap but at same height with Singer but on the insight in the turn before the chicane – Kandelhart run out of fuel – so the battle for the last 4 corners was easy for Singer and no additionally action for the cheering crowd.

1. Manuel Singer Xray/RB 100 30:16.134
2. Gerhard Kandelhart Xray/Orcan 99 29:57.536
3. Kurt Hubeny Xray/Orcan 97 30:06.219
4. Richard Furtner Xray/RB 96 30:00.526

Manuel Singer is now leading the champion ship before the final leg!

For more details see also:
http://www.mav-aigen-schlaegl.at/

Date: September 5 – 11, 2010
Location: Riviera Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas

TC – Modified – A Main Hara, Atsushi – PF Mazdaspeed6 Rheinard, Marc – PF Volker, Ronald – PF TQ Volker, Ronald TC – Super Stock 17.5 – A Main Hara, Atsushi – PF Mazdaspeed6 Haynes, Mike – PF Tessman, Ty – PF TQ Hara, Atsushi TC – Amateur 17.5 – A Main Perez, Jerry – PF Mazdaspeed6 Willener, Jason – PF Morehead, Patrick – PF TQ Breuer, Steve TC – Stock 17.5 – A Main Layne, Dustin – PF Mazdaspeed6 Stampfel, Nick – PF Stanton, Brian – PF TQ Sydor, Bill

World GT – Expert – 10.5 – A Main Wynn, Brian – PF Sophia GT D’Agnolo, Peter – PF Honigl, Hupo – PF TQ Wynn, Brian World GT – 13.5 – A Main - Bodine, Brian – PF Sophia GT Ficco, Mario – PF Borgheiinck, Ryan – PF TQ Bodine, Brian 1:12 – Modified – A Main Cyrul, Josh – PF AMR 12 Honigl, Hupo – PF Matsukura, Naoto – PF TQ Cyrul, Josh 1:12 – 13.5 – A Main Lia, Donny – PF AMR 12 Kuenning, Max Honigl, Hupo TQ Kuenning, Max

Complete results care of IIC 2010: PDF