Modesto RC Raceway's Inaugural Race 4/24/10!

As many of you know I spend a lot of time blogging about the RC community that I race in on a weekly basis. I thought I would change gears a bit this weekend and inform my Northern California drivers who read this blog of a new track's inaugural race taking place this weekend.

In Just a few short hours Modesto RC Raceway will be hosting it Grand Opening Race. Since last winter I have been letting you know about this track and that I have planned to do a write up on it. Well I thought to myself it would be better to wait and speak about this track closer to the date it opened.

I personally have a vested interest in this track because it is being opened up in my hometown of Modesto, CA. Actually it is probably like 1.5 miles from the home I grew up in! Can you believe that... I have to drive a minimum of 1.5 hours to race electric off road regularly, but now there is a track a mile and a half from my childhood home... Huh go figure.

Since last December I have been corresponding with Justin Avrett part owner and creator of Modesto RC Raceway. I spent a few hours talking to him on the phone about how the track came about and when he planned on opening it. Well, it was planned to be opened last year, but they had to take care of getting all the necessary paperwork finished and it just wasn't able to get done. When I last spoke with Justin he had a severe leg injury due to working at the track which also led to the track not being opened on time.

Personally, I am glad they waited till this spring to have the Grand Opening Race. I lived in Modesto for nearly 24 years of my life and racing outdoors in 45 degree December weather isn't a day in the park. Now I am only saying this because I live in San Diego, which I have grown to be a weather snob as of late! LOL!

Justin mentioned to me that the track came about because he was playing with his RC car in the street one day and so was his was his neighbor down the street. The two started talking and formed a friendship which grew to a partnership, and one thing led to another and Modesto RC Raceway was born... I skipped a step in there... Justin's friend and business partner goes by the nickname "Pickle". Well Pickle and Justin got to talking and thought how great it would be to have an RC track to run their cars on.

Pickle mentioned to Justin, "Hey I have some one that might be interested in our idea." Pickle's friend owns a Funworks game center. Pickle brought the idea to his friend. Details were fianlized and the RC track is located inside Funworks as we speak. Growing up in Modesto, I always had to drive to Sacramento or Livermore to race electric off road. There were no tracks in the nearby area. I take that back there was D&D raceway in Turlock, CA which was a 15 foot carpet track... Every time I drove it I got dizzy!

I am very glad to see this track getting underway. I plan to be up there this summer and visiting with the track crew and bringing you some pictures and video of my time at the track. I went home this past Christmas with my family to visit my parents and I stopped by the track. I forgot my camera but the track was completed and the layout looked great! I can't wait to try out this track! If you get an opportunity or are passing through Motown stop on by and run a few laps...

Stay tuned for the next blog....

Links Below:

http://www.modestorcraceway.com/

Rocketshipracing.com closes on 2 buildings in SD!

Breaking News....

Keith Jones of Rocketshipracing.com and Jones Cancer Foundation called me yesterday and left a message. That message was to let me know that he is closing on two buildings here in San Diego next week. He also asked me, if I wanted to tour the properties with him, and proceeded to offer me a lifetime membership to his new indoor race facility that he will be building. I plan to take a tour with him next week and bring you pictures and possibly some video of the two locations...

Last month, I wrote an article about indoor off road racing coming to San Diego. Keith Jones was at the center of that story. Right now in my opinion Keith Jones is the hottest RC story to hit this county... Yesterday, we traded texts all afternoon and didn't get a chance to talk. This weekend I plan on touching base with him and finding out which of the two buildings will hold the indoor off road RC track....

In other news today my blog got a good endorsement from Matt Chamber's of Upgrade RC and Team Losi Racing today. He mentioned on rctech.net that he likes my blog! This is what I like to hear, becasue it makes me keep looking for interesting stories to bring all of you as often as I can!

Stay tuned for my next blog...

Here is a link to the website....

http://www.rocketshipracing.com/

News and Notes 4/20/10

Good Morning,

I first wanted to give a huge shout out to Downtown Dave, Ed Garcia and Ray Butcher. At first I was a huge skeptic of racing my SC10 at 1/8 Wonder of Barona Speedway. I thought maybe the track would be too rough and too big for 1/10 scale trucks. Well I was very wrong! I was finally able to make it out to my new home track two weeks ago and that place is hooked up.... I really enjoyed myself... I will be doing most of my practicing and testing at this facility. Currently they are getting a consistent 50 to 75 drivers every Sunday when weather is permitting. Not to mention 10 to 15 heats of racing for only being open less than 6 months with official racing....

Currently, I will be starting a YouTube channel for Ed Garcia and 1/8 Wonder of Barona Speedway. He and I have been talking about this for that past couple of weeks. If you live in the San Diego area this place will be the hot spot this summer for sure, if your looking for some local RC racing. Ed mentioned to me that he is noticing a lot of the old fast guys that used to drive at Family Hobbies in Santee are starting to make their way out to Barona now.

He says, "that is a great sign that you know your doing it right when the top locals from the past are getting back into racing...." I will be out there this weekend on Sunday for sure. I will shoot a featured race for the YouTube channel. Hopefully I will have this channel launched by the end of the week. I have been pretty busy at work lately not to mention this Thursday is my 5th wedding anniversary! I won't mess with (Thursday!)....

While I was at Barona it was brought to my attention that a couple of the main guys from the socal-rc.com group have parted ways and are quite possibly going to be doing some promoting and working with El Cajon Hobbies. I wish these men the best and hope whatever they do works out. They have been great to me over the past few months and getting to know them has been a pleasure. I wish them the best of luck wherever this hobby takes them.

This past Saturday OCRC hosted the second round of the JBRL Eletric Series. It was a smashing success. There were 260 entries for a one day event according to the OCRC website. Jimmy Babcock delivered a very competitive field of drivers. I really enjoyed the 4 minute qualifying heats. Jimmy really knows how to run a race program. He is the best in the biz.

Jimmy I thank you for saying you deem as a "Hot Rod local in my main" even though I am based in SD! I'll go on record and say Hot Rod Hobbies is my favorite track to race at on the JBRL circuit... Hopefully I'll be there in two weeks.

I would like to mention a big thanks to Zach Rogers, Cody Turner and Matt Gilbert for helping me with programming my LRP ESC this past weekend. It was nice to meet Matt for the first time. If those of you don't know who # 7 Matt Gilbert is, he is the one to watch in the Intermediate Short Course Class this season.... He drives a red SC10 with Losi shocks. His truck is dialed out there... Not to mention I wish I had his tire setup this past weekend. I think he was the only one in the class with AKA Wishbones! I don't know how he does it but it is amazing to watch him drive that rig.

I religiously read some of the different RC rags and I have noticed that the pros really have been living up to there name and reputation at the track... I talked with Chad Bradley, extensively about about his 4 wheel drive truck and different radio settings. He is such a delight to talk with... I would say he is one of the most approachable guys to speak with should you have any questions about the products he represents. Pretty much every one of the top level drivers that I spoke with; Frank Root, Chris Jarosz just to name a few were very helpful.

Finally, Josh Mitchell stopped me at the tire cleaning station to ask me about the Brat's and when will I be bringing them out this year... I told him they will be at Bizbee's No Tell Motel come the 5th Round of the JBRL at Pegasus Hobbies. Quite possibly they might return at Hot Rod Hobbies depending on the fact if I get that day off or not! But Josh don't worry I am itching for some summer grilling and I know Brent and company will be happy to fire up the grill!

Finally, I want to end this blog on a great note! This coming Saturday my hometown of Modesto will be hosting its grand opening race. Modesto RC Raceway is finally going to be online and open. I am so happy to see some racing coming to my hometown. Now when I go home for a visit I have a place to getaway when I need a break from the family! I will be doing a special blog for Justin Avrett who is part owners of Modesto RC Raceway in the next day or two.

Stay tuned for my next blog....

Below is a link:

www.modestorcraceway.com

Indoor Off-road Racing in San Diego?

Breaking News

Dateline San Diego! I got off the phone yesterday evening with the newest sponsor of the JBRL Electric Series Keith Jones. He is doing a "Double Gold Sponsor for Jimmy Babcock's Electric and Nitro Series." If you didn't notice the two new banners at the track they are Jones Cancer Foundation and Rocketshipracing.com. It is nice to see this man sponsor both series races especially in this economy. I had to hunt this guy down it wasn't easy but the RC Insider takes no prisoner's when it comes to getting the latest in RC News involving my adopted hometown!

It has been speculated or rumored since last summer that someone has purchased or in the process of purchasing a building and looking to put in an Indoor Off-road Track somewhere in San Diego County. I have been sitting on this story for a while because until someone mentions actual plans to me then I am better off staying quiet. Well last night I tracked Keith Jones down and spent some time getting a feel for what he is trying to do. He is in fact working on placing an indoor off-road racing facility here in San Diego County.

He has a Realtor and he is looking at several different options. He has mentioned to me that he is trying to acquire the land that goes with the building so he can be the sole owner and never have to worry about losing the building. Keith is looking at making this happen either in San Marcos and quiet possibly Encinitas, California. His vision is that he hopes to acquire some of the old Circuit City buildings in this county. He wants to make a track like West Coast RC Raceway. Indoor off-road, asphalt on-road, and outside possibly adding a dirt oval track. That is why he wants to acquire the land with the buildings. He also mentioned to me that he is at 50% finished on one of his contracts so we might be closer that we think to some indoor fun!

To help offset the costs Keith is looking to partner with local RC manufacturers. Hopefully there will be some interest with some of the local businesses. Keith mentioned yesterday he hopes that by this September 2010 he is dropping the clay dirt inside the future site location here in San Diego.

Some background on Keith Jones is he is living with Cancer. Jones recently started his own Cancer Foundation which is one of the Gold Sponsors of the JBRL Racing Series. One of the buildings he is in the process of getting will go to funding Cancer research as well. People might ask how he is able to do this... He has worked on over 71 motion picture films and invested his money wisely. I mentioned to him yesterday since he is new to the San Diego area, he needs to get in touch with a few local outfits and maybe get together and brainstorm some ideas. I recommended that he gets in touch with socal-rc.com and get his websites on their forum. I plan on putting him in touch with Dan Callander.... At this time this is all the info I have Keith and I will be speaking more at the next JBRL race in April at OCRC Raceway and I'll be staying on top of this developing story that is in the works here in San Diego...

I'll post a link to Keith's Business. It is known as http://www.rocketshipracing.com/. His number is not published yet so I promised at this time I would only put him in touch with the necessary people that my offer some help with getting the track up and running. San Diego here is a prime opportunity for you guys. I would hope everyone would support a facility like this coming to San Diego. It would be great for all of us....

Also I got a PM on RC Tech from Palm Desert RC Raceway yesterday. Guys I am so glad you finally opened up I know it has been a long process and I am very glad to hear 8 mile racer's RC dream is coming true man! If your in the Palm Desert area get out there and race it. The track races on the weekends so check the website for hours and times and head out for some fun in the desert. Palm Desert RC Raceway will also be hosting a RC Pro Series Race June 5th. I'll post a link to the track. Apparently legendary track builder Joey Christensen wants to build and hold a Short Course race there. I'm in! If you build it Joey I'll come. I missed the Silver State this year! I love this hobby and anything I can blog to help you guys out just let me know.....

Speaking of the Silver State race congrats to San Diego's Zac Burnside and Tekno RC for their nice solid Runs at the Nitro Challenge Zac finished 5th in 4wd and Tekno RC with a 7th place finish.

Ok I am out of breath and I am going to do my best to get another blog out later in the week.

Stay tuned....



Links

http://www.rocketshipracing.com/

http://www.palmdesertrcraceway.com/

http://www.jimmybabcock.com/

News and Notes 3/12/10

Sophia Rose Flint

1/29/10

8 pounds 5 ounces

20 inches

Scripps La Jolla

10:37am

Good evening everyone,


I wanted to take this time to let my followers and readers know that my blog isn't dead. I just have had it on hold due to the birth of my daughter at the end of January. I can honestly say these have been the coolest two months of my life. Just watching little Sophia grow has been a blessing. Now that I have shared this info with all of you I can switch gears and get back to race mode.

First off... WHAT HAS BEEN UP WITH THIS FREAKING WEATHER LATELY? Seriously I had some free time earlier in the week and my brother happened to be in town. Needless to say our golf game was rained out! Are you kidding me? This is San Diego!!! Not Seattle!!! LOL! Hopefully the worst is behind us. Last weekend was my first weekend back racing. No better place for me to start racing again was two miles from my house at an undisclosed location in Chula Vista known as Frank's backyard track. It was a SOCAL-RC.com's fundrasier race.

SOCAL-RC.com is hosting a booth at this years RCX. I have never been to RCX, but in the future I really hope I can get out to this Hobby Expo and check out the latest and greatest in RC. If you want more information on RCX you can find it on-line or you can contact San Diego's local connection to this Hobby Expo SOCAL-RC.com. They have ticket's available, so if you go please stop by and check out their booth.

I am personally glad to see these guys take the time out of their busy schedules to make some time for this cool hobby know as RC. I support and these guys in their quest to really try to give San Diego exposure at this Hobby Expo. Last week, they held a race as fundraiser to raise money for their booth at Pomona. I donated the winnings from last weeks race. I know times are tough and money is tight, but I urge all locals that race with these guys to donate what you can so they can have a safe trip and spread the word about RC in San Diego. So please stop by and see these guys at the Hobby Expo next weekend.

On to my next topic. I wasn't able to make it out to the Grand Opening at the end of January at Barona's new RC facility in San Diego. From what I heard they had like over 120 entries. That is awesome. I have been so busy lately, but I am hoping to get out there this weekend. At the end of this blog I'll put a link to this track. RC racing is really making a come back in San Diego I see more two day races coming to Barona in the near future and possibly JBRL Nitro races in years to come.

Ok my next item of business is track preview's. I have been blogging about Palm Desert RC Raceway, and Modesto RC Raceway I plan to have those track preview's shortly in the next week or two. I think you will find what I have to say is very interesting about these tracks.

Finally, I wanted to mention congratulations is in order to a one Zach Rogers. Zach races for Banzai Motors, Team Associated, JConcepts and a few other sponsors. I just wanted to say congrats to this young man he has been en fuego as of late... That means (on fire)! Zach has taken the podium at the Golden State Challenge earlier this year in Mod Truck and Mod Buggy. He also was on the podium at the Supercross Series at West Coast Raceway by winning superstock buggy and mod 4wd buggy. Finally, he was on the podium at the ROAR Regional at Roadrunner's RC in Ventura, CA last month. I don't have his results but I read he did well at this event.

I have taken the time to write about Zach because he is an up and coming RC driver in this sport and is the future of racing should he stick with it. He is without a doubt going to be a contender in this years JBRL and most 2 to 3 day events in and around California. Plus he is a huge fan of this blog and likes what I have to say which is nice to hear.

Ok drivers, that is all for now but in my next issue I will be discussing the JBRL Electric Series in more detail as to the new rules and regulations.

Links:

www.socal-rc.com

www.downtowndelrin.com

Stay tuned for my next Blog...

Socal-rc.com's SC Points Series Race #1

Limited Winners 1st Kevin H. 2nd Jeff and 3rd Eric (Sorry no last names)

Unlimited Winners 1st Jake 2nd Jeremy Flint 3rd Bobby (Sorry no last names)

Towards the end of last year Socal-rc.com announced that they would be hosting an off-road Short Course Points Series for 1/10 scale electric 2wd and 4wd RC trucks. While the group spent the last couple of months working diligently putting this series together, they were able to pick up several sponsors such as Team Associated, Traxxas, HPI Racing, Pro-line, JC Concepts, and Impakt RC just to name a few.

For those of you who have read my blog or are new and reading it for the first time Socal-rc.com is a local racing community based in San Diego, CA. It's organized by a group of dedicated RC enthusiast's. If you have any questions about RC these guys are here to help you. If you go to their website at any given time you can find help for just about anything related to RC. They cover a wide range of topics from batteries, diffs, wheels, etc. I strongly urge anyone thinking of buying a RC vehicle or just need help fixing your ride get in touch with these guys and ask questions. It will make your RC experience a lot more enjoyable.

On Janurary 9th 2010 Socal-rc.com kicked off their Short Course Points Series at Frank's Backyard track in Chula Vista CA. The classes offered were 2wd limited and unlimited. On Janurary 30th they will be starting the 4wd class Points Series. That class will only have 5 races in the series as opposed to 6 races with the 2wd trucks. There will be one throwout race for all drivers. For more information on the SC Points Series please go to socal-rc.com's they will be able to answer any and all questions you might have. I believe there are a few spots still available if there are any drivers looking to get into this series. Alright that being said let's get to the break down of my race day notes:

On the morning of Janurary 9th I had a family emergency and I was late to the race and missed watching the first round of qualifying action, so I could get my truck ready for it's first qualifying run. I had all sorts of problems in the first round from speed control issues to keeping the transponder plugged in properly. Long story short I wasn't prepared. In the second round of qualifying I was able to catch alot more of the action. I was most impressed with Mike Jr. in the limited class. That kid can surely drive a Traxxas.... He was the top qualifier of the limited class, and looked to be the standout driver for the day in his class. Watching his Traxxas cruise the track made me want to go out and order their new 4wd truck.

During the limited main I only saw a few minutes of the action because I still needed to fix a couple of things on my truck. What I saw was very impressive. Kevin H. known as (Central Coaster) went on to take the win and Jeff known as (JMINSD) finished in second with only 5 seconds apart. Finally Eric known as (edubRC) finished in 3rd. What I thought was really cool about this race Team Associated, HPI and Traxxas all had their trucks take the podium!

In breaking down the unlimited class the usual local Top Guns of socal-rc.com showed up to throw down some paint. Jake (JakeG1999), Frank H. (FrankH), and Josh (DurkaDurka)were the top gun slingers for the day. They were the fastest qualifiers of the day. Jake was the top qualifer of the day in the unlimited class. I was literally chasing these guys all day. Both Jake and Frank H. were running HPI Blitz's. While watching their qualifiying runs Jake was really smooth and didn't make any mistakes. Frank, I thought had the speed and the punch in the turns.

During the main a lot of us got tangled up in the first couple of laps but then Jake and Frank H. were off to the races. Around lap 11 Frank broke down and I moved into 2nd place. I was at the time pretty close to 3/4 of a lap down from those two at the time, otherwise I never would have caught Frank H. With Frank H. breaking down at that time, in my opinion 2nd and 3rd place were up for grabs. The battle ended up being for 3rd place between Bobby and Josh. When it was all said and done Jake know as (JakeG1999) took the win, Jeremy Flint known as (Jdogger1) finished 2nd and Bobby known as (Metalhead613) finished in 3rd place.

It was a really fun and exciting race to be a part of. I look forward to covering the rest of the Socal-rc.com Point Series Races. If your looking for some fun laid back racing where bragging rights is really the only thing on the line then come out to San Diego and have some fun running your short course truck. The next SC Points Series race will be a week from today in Kyle's backyard track. It is going to be an exciting year for RC racing here in San Diego!

Check out these links:

http://www.socal-rc.com/

http://www.rc10.com/

http://www.hpiracing.com/

http://www.traxxas.com/

Stay tuned for my next blog!

2010 JBRL Electric & Nitro Offroad Series Schedule

Breaking News

Earlier today Jimmy Babcock released the 2010 Electric and Nitro Schedules. I have posted them on my blog so you can make a note of the race dates... Hope to see all of you at his races this year....

Please go to Jimmy's website for all the Rules and Information!
www.jimmybabcock.com

2010 JBRL ELECTRIC OFFROAD SERIES SCHEDULE

Round 1 – March 27-28, 2010 (2 Day Series Kick Off)
West Coast R/C Raceway
15905 Canary Ave.
La Mirada, CA 90638
(714) 739-4298
www.westcoastrcraceway.com

Round 2 – April 17, 2010 (Saturday)
O.C.R.C. Raceway
15282 Jason Circle
Huntington Beach, CA 92649
(714) 892-6699
www.ocrcraceway.com

Round 3 – May 2, 2010 (Sunday)
Hot Rod Hobbies & Raceways
25845 Railroad Ave. #21
Saugus, CA 91350
(661) 255-2404
www.hotrodhobbies.com

Round 4 – June 20, 2010 (Sunday)
Racers Haven Hobbies
7401 White Lane
Bakersfield, CA 93309
(661) 835-0441
www.racers-haven.com

Round 5 – July 3, 2010 (Saturday)
Pegasus Hobbies
5515 Moreno Blvd.
Montclair, CA 91763
(909) 982-6507
www.pegasushobbies.com

Round 6 - September 5, 2010 (Sunday)
West Coast R/C Raceway
15905 Canary Ave.
La Mirada, CA 90638
(714) 739-4298
www.westcoastrcraceway.com

Round 7 – September 19, 2010 (Sunday)
Pegasus Hobbies
5515 Moreno Blvd.
Montclair, CA 91763
(909) 982-6507
www.pegasushobbies.com

Round 8 – October 9-10, 2010 (2 Day Final Event)
Hot Rod Hobbies & Raceways
25845 Railroad Ave. #21
Saugus, CA 91350
(661) 255-2404
www.hotrodhobbies.com

2010 JBRL NITRO OFFROAD SERIES SCHEDULE

Round 1 – April 10-11, 2010 (2 Day Event) (Sat. Buggy & Sun. Truggy)
Thunder Alley R/C Raceway
38900 Oak Valley Parkway
Beaumont, CA 92223
(909) 215-2841
www.thunderalleyrcraceway.com

Round 2 – May 8, 2010 (Saturday)
Revelation Raceway
Genesis Hobby Shop
4871 West State St.
Ontario, CA 91762
(909) 628-9909
www.revrace.com

Round 3 – May 23, 2010 (Sunday)
ARC Raceway
38000 79 South
Temecula, CA 92589
(951) 760-4573
www.arcraceway.com

Round 4 – July 10, 2010 (Saturday)
Green Flag Raceway
Live Oak Park
17427 Live Oak
Hesperia, CA 92345
(760) 954-3813
www.hesperiaparks.com

Round 5 – August 15, 2010 (Sunday)
Thunder Alley R/C Raceway
38900 Oak Valley Parkway
Beaumont, CA 92223
(909) 215-2841
www.thunderalleyrcraceway.com

Round 6 – September 12, 2010 (Sunday)
Full Throttle Hobbies & Raceway
33350 Lerdo Hwy.
Bakersfield, CA 93308
(661) 391-9635
www.fullthrottlehobby.com

Round 7 – October 2, 2010 (Saturday)
Revelation Raceway
Genesis Hobby Shop
4871 West State St.
Ontario, CA 91762
(909) 628-9909
www.revrace.com

Round 8 – October 23-24, 2010 (2 Day Final Event)
Hot Rod Hobbies & Raceways
25845 Railroad Ave. #21
Saugus, CA 91350
(661) 255-2404
www.hotrodhobbies.com

Finally for all you socal-rc.com guys I will be updating my blog as soon I receive a couple of picks from yesterday's series opener in Chula Vista, CA. For those of you who haven't read my blog yet and are reading it for the first time, yesterday was the first race of the socal-rc.com series for Short Course Trucks. This series offers 3 classes limited, unlimited, and 4wd. On Jan 30th 4wd SCT's will start their series.... Take a look at the site and when you check my blog in a day or two you will see the first race report of the RC Insider's 2010 Electric Racing Season!

Check out these links:

www.jimmybabcock.com

www.socal-rc.com

Stay tuned for my next blog!