Side Street Speed Meet, Sept 23rd, 2012:
It's been a long summer waiting for this Speed Meet. Gary O' treated us special this time, he blew off the entire street and then sprayed down a light coat of Mountain Dew. I think this helped the day and hope it will be the norm from now on. The cars came off clean and the runs were quiet (no pebbles and sand hitting the inside of the bodies!)
Highlights for the day included two 100mph+ runs being laid down. Greg Cassel worked hard to get his 1/10 2wd, 2cell, entry up to 103! Making him the fastest guy on this street to date! Paul Harding took his 1/8 4wd, 6cell, entry up to 102! Both guys had a great time and I'm sure they will be back for more!
I ended my day in the low 90's. My ol' speed run car is getting a little tired and just not pulling like it should. I'm thinking it's time for a new project!
Thanks again to Gary O' for hosting these fine events for us all to enjoy! Below is Gary's official recap of the day ....
Gary's Recap:
What a day of speed!!!! I got out to the Santa Rosa Salt Flats ( officially called Regional Parkway) at about 7:15 but had been beaten there by Ryan Schellerup. The street was blown off and then lightly sprinkled by Jake Rosen, Peter Kalogiannis and Ryan with eight bottles of Mountain Dew. In the past the dust and dirt on the street hindered speeds so we tried to prep the surface as best we could. The weather was perfect for fast, fast cars.
At every meet, most every racer wants to go home with that magic 100 mph hat. The present track record is just over 100 mph held by Jake Rosen and there have been several knocking at the door, but none able to take the crown....until today.
It was quickly evident that the track prep was working. Most racers started conservatively but quickly figured out that the track could hold more speed. The early runs for a couple guys started in the 80 mph range....pretty impressive beginnings! Unfortunately, they weren't able to improve too much on their initial speeds.
In the 4wd 2 cell class, Peter and Jake put some big marks up right away with first runs of 83.00 and 81.17 mph respectively. Peter made lots of runs with an eventual top speed of 93.72 mph. Jake improved on each run but was only able to improve to a top speed of 91.09 mph ... probably pretty frustrating for someone used to going much faster. The first run for the third racer in this field, Ryan Schellerup, was 58.63mph and he got steadily faster to a top speed of 78.51. He had some desoldering issues keeping him from going much faster.
As difficult as it is to put the power to the ground with a 4wd car, 2wd presents a huge challenge. Greg Cassel and Ray Fulmer were the two brave souls competing in this 2 cell class. Ray had the lowest car on the track ( it couldn't have been and inch and a half high) but struggled to maintain control with a best of 72.11 mph. Greg has been trying to get a 100 mph hat from the first time he ran a speed car. Although his first run was 47.73, he quickly got into the 80's and then 90's. He had multiple runs where the car was flyin'....and then it really would. It took flight at least four times just as it seemed it was going to set a record. Jeff Huffman shared some of his aero knowledge and Greg was finally able to get everything in line for a run of 103.94!!!!! A final run, or rather flight, broke his last axle so he packed up and rested on his accomplishments of the day......
The truck/buggy classes are always entertaining and today was no exception. Alex Beaubois ran a 3 cell 4wd stadium truck to a best of 49.02, no small feat on expanding rubber tires. Moises (I'm sorry I'm butchering your name) watched for a while but couldn't resist going home and returning with a 2wd truck with big cells and a big motor. His first run was 63.99 mph and he clicked off several runs before topping out at 85.33 mph. His truck was steady and straight, no doubt helped by the pound and a half of wheel weights on the front end!!! I see faster runs in his future.....
Paul Harding came to the meet with an 1/8 scale 4wd buggy, starting out on 4 cells and running in the mid 60's. He bumped it up to 6s and went to 92, then bumped up the gearing for a run of 99.68!!!!! Sooooooo close!!!!! We all gathered for his next run, hoping we'd see the second 100 mph hat presentation. He started out well but put too much power down, lost control and returned to the start to try again. This time it was even closer at 99.90mph!!!!!! One tenth of a mile per hour short!!!!! Not to be beaten, Paul went back to his pit and put a fresh charge on his batteries. When he came back for his last run we told him to have someone carry his car to the start, put the power on smoothly and keep it straight...... he was rewarded with a run of 102.68!!!!!!!
It was a great day! We had lots of spectators and a couple were putting ideas together for their own cars. Next time we'll put more soda down for some more bite and maybe we'll give out more hats.....congrats to Greg and Paul on reaching that speed. If the weather holds we may try to have another meet later in the year. Thanks to everyone who came out to run and to all who helped make this a successful meet
At every meet, most every racer wants to go home with that magic 100 mph hat. The present track record is just over 100 mph held by Jake Rosen and there have been several knocking at the door, but none able to take the crown....until today.
It was quickly evident that the track prep was working. Most racers started conservatively but quickly figured out that the track could hold more speed. The early runs for a couple guys started in the 80 mph range....pretty impressive beginnings! Unfortunately, they weren't able to improve too much on their initial speeds.
In the 4wd 2 cell class, Peter and Jake put some big marks up right away with first runs of 83.00 and 81.17 mph respectively. Peter made lots of runs with an eventual top speed of 93.72 mph. Jake improved on each run but was only able to improve to a top speed of 91.09 mph ... probably pretty frustrating for someone used to going much faster. The first run for the third racer in this field, Ryan Schellerup, was 58.63mph and he got steadily faster to a top speed of 78.51. He had some desoldering issues keeping him from going much faster.
As difficult as it is to put the power to the ground with a 4wd car, 2wd presents a huge challenge. Greg Cassel and Ray Fulmer were the two brave souls competing in this 2 cell class. Ray had the lowest car on the track ( it couldn't have been and inch and a half high) but struggled to maintain control with a best of 72.11 mph. Greg has been trying to get a 100 mph hat from the first time he ran a speed car. Although his first run was 47.73, he quickly got into the 80's and then 90's. He had multiple runs where the car was flyin'....and then it really would. It took flight at least four times just as it seemed it was going to set a record. Jeff Huffman shared some of his aero knowledge and Greg was finally able to get everything in line for a run of 103.94!!!!! A final run, or rather flight, broke his last axle so he packed up and rested on his accomplishments of the day......
The truck/buggy classes are always entertaining and today was no exception. Alex Beaubois ran a 3 cell 4wd stadium truck to a best of 49.02, no small feat on expanding rubber tires. Moises (I'm sorry I'm butchering your name) watched for a while but couldn't resist going home and returning with a 2wd truck with big cells and a big motor. His first run was 63.99 mph and he clicked off several runs before topping out at 85.33 mph. His truck was steady and straight, no doubt helped by the pound and a half of wheel weights on the front end!!! I see faster runs in his future.....
Paul Harding came to the meet with an 1/8 scale 4wd buggy, starting out on 4 cells and running in the mid 60's. He bumped it up to 6s and went to 92, then bumped up the gearing for a run of 99.68!!!!! Sooooooo close!!!!! We all gathered for his next run, hoping we'd see the second 100 mph hat presentation. He started out well but put too much power down, lost control and returned to the start to try again. This time it was even closer at 99.90mph!!!!!! One tenth of a mile per hour short!!!!! Not to be beaten, Paul went back to his pit and put a fresh charge on his batteries. When he came back for his last run we told him to have someone carry his car to the start, put the power on smoothly and keep it straight...... he was rewarded with a run of 102.68!!!!!!!
It was a great day! We had lots of spectators and a couple were putting ideas together for their own cars. Next time we'll put more soda down for some more bite and maybe we'll give out more hats.....congrats to Greg and Paul on reaching that speed. If the weather holds we may try to have another meet later in the year. Thanks to everyone who came out to run and to all who helped make this a successful meet
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