Advice for first time race.

[zoeybadm]

Originally posted by dgrobe2112
please elaborate on operation teabag!!! hehe

Well at my local track a couple of the old school pro stock buggy drivers have been getting mad that me and my friend have moved up from novice together and we beat the old school buggy guys.

So two weeks ago one of the old school guys was in last and his car had the most motor and he started banging away at the field. Just sticking his car where it did not belong, sending people into the wall on the straight away. In the first heat he took two people out and sent one more into the pole. I did not break but he banged away at me twice. He had my motor than I did but I was driving smoother and was carrying more speed so I get passing him when he was muscling his car all over the track.

So he did that in the first heat so I figured no big deal. Well he did the same thing in the second heat and the third heat and was breaking people's cars left and right. Two people refused to run in the heat with him because of his driving style. So my friend asked me if I had some old school go-kart racing tricks I could use on the old guy. I said yeah "We call it Operation Teabag." So I qualified second for the A-main so I was in front of this guy. I let everyone pass me and I got in front of the old bastard. I shut the door on him probably twenty times, brake checked him about 10. My driving line made it nearly impossible for him to pass. He was going nuts and he tried to bang his way up but I banged on him as he tried to pass and flipped him over. I flipped him over on his lid twice more. He started bitching from the drivers stand and I told him to stop whining like a little bitch and drive because if he can't pass me clean then he should pack up his sh&t and go home. He yelled that I sucked so when he tried to pass me the next time I slowed down and locked him up on the triple and bumped him into a metal pole. His car snapped in half and he was done for the day. Everyone on the drivers stand starting laughing. Normally a guy would want to fight after this but he is like 50 years old. Not too many 50 year olds want to take a 24 year old who is 6'2 and 235 lbs.

Originally posted by dgrobe2112
please elaborate on operation teabag!!! hehe

I teabagged his car in the metaphorical sense

 

[militarymaxx]

Nervous, real nervous right now. I decided to take Thu/Fri off to get as prepared as I possibly can. I have checklists coming out of my ***. So far, between the ROAR fee, the event fee, extra fuel, extra fuel bottle, a second crystal set, drinks/food, sunscreen, I'm close to $200. But this is just a startup investment. The next race I won't require the ROAR fee, and the extra crystal set I will have. Just like with anything new, the startup is always a little more.
Anyways, I visited another forum today. One that most of the drivers at this track visit and there was alot of talk about the last off-road race they had there as well as the VA Classic coming up.
I almost said screw the whole thing. I guess things got out of hand, folks were penalized for doing doughnuts on the track, some guys were even banned from the series altogether. I thought this was supposed to be all about fun. I suppose some guys take this a little too far. Like I had said earlier, all I want to do is finish and if I don't, I simply beat myself. What I don't need is some knucklehead trying to bang his way through everyone, causing wrecks on purpose. I would like to think that most of the guys will be respectful to the other drivers. I expect one or two a-holes. So, just want to Thank all the folks that have helped me this far. You'll be there with me in spirit, I know. Word is, there will be trophies for positions 1-10 in the A main and positions 1-3 in the B main. Maybe one could be mine.

 

[zoeybadm]

Yeah like with any sport there is always at least one a$$hole to screw it up. The guy I mentioned above is the only guy I have come in contact which merited Operation Teabag.

Anyway good luck and just remember in the heats you are racing the clock and not the guy in front of you. You just want to run crash free and run smooth. Most of the time slower is faster because when you go faster you crash more.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[dgrobe2112]

Militarymaxx.. also.. even though they have a start.. you are on your own personal clock.. that dont start until you pass the line.. what i seen at the last race.. was guys waiting.. cuz there were always the 3 or 4 guys who took off at the buzzer.. but then the rest sat there.. rode is circles.. that sorta deal.. then took off when they had a pretty clear track ahead of them..

In big races.. they want to get the races done.. so they dont have time to mess around with guys who are going extra laps.. and trying to run out all the fuel in the tank.. that sorta deal.. cuz there is so many heats.. that they would endup racing till morning.. so they usually give 1 minute of quiet time.. and 3 mins of warmup or something like that.. 1 minute of quiet time.. to make sure all cars are off.. and radios.. so some guy in the next race dont turn his radio on while the previous race guys have their car on.. and he has a runaway..

Good luck.. i know the feeling of nervous.. and all that.. you will love it.. the competition.. the atmoshphere.. everything about big races are a blast..

 

[Nitro_Freak]

hmmm...i think i might have to borrow "Operation Teabag". ther aren't any copyrights on it, are there? :lick:

 

[zoeybadm]

May the force be with your teabag!

 

[militarymaxx]

Well, it started like this. Got to the track early Friday to get in as many laps as I could before what was going to be a busy Saturday morning of practice. I get there and the track was wet, it was closed. Two hours later I finally get to hit the track when nothing wanted to work. The buggy ran rich, it ran lean, it was hot, it was everything but what it was last weekend when it ran just fine. Some of the local drivers had showed up and were helping me out alot. I felt like I had my own pit crew. We replaced plugs, checked different things and got it running much better. I went home with no intention of coming back the next day in fear of a repeat of what had just happened. I didn't want to embarass myself or anyone that had helped me. I bought some new plugs that were recommended by one of the local tuners and headed home. Got home, put the new plug in, set my LSN/HSN back to factory and went from there. 5 minutes later things were perfect. Early the next morning (5:30) I headed to the track all pumped up for the day. All I had done from the night before was clean the air filter and drain the tank.
So I get set up, have some coffee and attempt to start the buggy.
My frequency was clear as there were only a few guys there that early. Buggy starts up just fine and I hit the track taking my time with everything. 3 laps into it I take a temp check. Way too hot.
Here we go again. So I start tweaking on it and before you know it I'm back to where I was on Friday, all messed up, nothing would work. The only thing I can come up with is it was extremely humid that early in the morning as compared to late in the evening when I ran it last. Are these things that sensitive to humidity changes? Anyways, the weekend didn't go the way I wanted. I didn't get things set in time for qualifying and my hopes of racing were gone. But the weekend wasn't a total loss. I got some great advice/help from some of the top drivers and super tuners. My son had a ball marshalling and between that and all the fine folks I met, made up for an ill tuned engine. Not to worry, all the fine help I got in here won't go to waste. The next race is in a few weeks and I will attempt to make that one. Even though I didn't make it out there, I figure I owed you guys an update. Never give up, never surrender.

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

They shouldnt be THAT sensitive, but at the same time, I dont know how much of a turn you put on those needles at a time.

LIterally man, 1/16th of a turn can make a difference. Of course, when you are too hot, dont be timid either.

Sounds like you may have a leak somewhere thats causing some major inconsistencies. Once you get dialed in CLOSE, it should only be baby turns to get it perfect for that day. And I'm talking 1/8th a turn usually in either direction. Thats it.

Sorry to here about the bullshit. been there and done that and I'm certain it will happen again.

How close is your LHS? Would they be willing to sit with you and check for leaks?

 

[militarymaxx]

I don't think it's a leak. I have everything sealed up real good, but of course it's worth another look just to be sure. I don't know what effect high/low humidity has on a nitro engine but Friday evening it was warm and dry, and Saturday morning it was cooler and very, very humid. Another thing that kept it from running was whenever I removed the glow starter, it would die. After closer examination of my Dynamite glow starter I have determined that the fitting around the glow plug was loose to the point that it wouldn't cause any reaction in the element or when it did work, the element wouldn't glow that bright. It was an alkaline "C" cell glow starter and today I purchased a much nicer rechargeable
Nicd one that gives me a very bright element when connected.
Here's a question, if I have a weak glow starter, just enough to maybe light the plug a little and get the engine running, but because of the weak voltage to the plug could that cause it to die when I remove the glow starter? I thought that once the engine is running, the element would take over from there. It's hard to explain. Is the combustion reaction the same, regardless of how strong/weak the glow starter is, after the engine is running? Or does a weak glow starter produce a weak combustion cycle ?

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

Kind of a combination of it all.

Bottom line, if a mill dies after a glo ignitor is removed, chances are, you are running too rich (that is if the plug is in perfect condition)

If the plug is BAD, and stalls when removed, then the plug is bad (sounds weird but I'm sure you follow)

In the event that the copper ring was installed upside down, or was defective, you will have your source for an airleak righ there.

Make sure when you install a new plug (go with a medium heat at minimum) make sure the plug sits in the ring like cereal in a bowl. You want the curve on the bottom (rests agains the head button) and the plug to sit INSIDE the bowl.

If you install it backwards, even once, the copper ring can cause more problems than you can imagine. Especially if its leaking.

And once you have the vehicle running, the pure combustion alone is what keeps that plug hot and going.

Different plug temps change your timing.

 

[cbreaker]

I believe it's what you assumed; once the engine is running it shouldn't matter that your glow igniter was weak. The combustion itself takes over once the engine runs.

I dunno what the problem with your engine is, but the carb itself could be doing something funky (clogged or something? Maybe when it gets hot?) or the sleeve or something could be damaged.

My friend has a pretty new hyper 8-port engine and as soon as it gets hot it loses almost all it's compression and does other funky things. No amount tuning will make it work correctly, so we just assume there's a problem with the internals of the engine.

 

[militarymaxx]

Here's another question. Two engines, same manufacturer, same displacement but one is a 3 port and the other is a 8 port. Does the 8 port run cooler because it is drawing more fuel into itself ?

 

[cbreaker]

I am *not* an engine expert.

But I've been doing a lot of engine research for the last few months and I believe that being 3 or 5 or 7 or whatever ported doesn't dictate the amount of gas it takes in, just the timings and mixtures and such.

Some 5 port engines are very fuel effecient, and some 3 ports are very poor with effeciency.

Some higher end motors run cool, other types run hot.

So I think it all boils down to design.