A Houston, TX based Nitro RC on-Road Racing Team
News
This past weekend was the 33rd running of the Texas BIGGIE held at the RCRCNT track just south of Ft. Worth, TX. The members of Third Coast Racing took part in this long running Texas classic. The first day of qualifying was Friday and we arrived that morning to a wet track from overnight rains. The RCRCNT crew did a great job of drying and prepping the track. Even though we started later than expected we did manage to get the planned two qualifiers in before dark. Guess what, Saturday was more of the same and the days four qualifiers were shortened to three. With the rains behind us, Sunday was a picture perfect day for the Mains.
Team member Roger Bourland was entered in the 1/8th Masters class and finished the 45 minute A Main in 3rd place in spite of being in and out of the pits for the entire race. My racing partner, Matt Akkola, was pitting and milked the last ounce of power from the motor thru continued efforts.
Earlier in the day, Matt was competing in the B Main due to ramping up the learning curve on his new 1/10th scale. After getting the setup right, Matt went on to win the 20 minute B Main and bump up to the 45 minute A Main. Starting 11th out of thirteen cars, Matt marched up the grid to 8th before stripping both 1st and 2nd gear spurs.
Our thanks to our sponsors Maxy's Pro Racing Fuels, John’s BSR Racing Tires, and Edam (for wich Matt races the Spirit 10th scale sedan) for all of their support. Our next race is May 22nd-23rd at Gulf Coast Raceway for the XRAY Challenge Race.
April 15, 2010
We are very happy to welcome John's BSR Racing Tires as our newest sponsor. Plans are to debut their tires on the our cars at the up coming Texas BIGGIE pm April 23, 24, 25th. See you there.
April 10 & 11, 2010
What a treat! Both Matt and I had the rare opportunity to practice along side of Takaaki Shimo from Kyosho and O.S. Engines. A few weeks back I received an email from O.S. Engines about their interest in sending their factory driver and his mechanic to Gulf Coast Raceway in order to get some practice in for the upcoming World Championship that we will host in July. I was their contact as I am the Chief Event Organizer for th WC. I made a point of scheduling a practice session for our team in conjunction with their visit. Let me say that we both learned a lot watching and running alongside (or should I say behind) Shimo. We really enjoyed there willingness to share their thoughts as well as their curiosity about the other cars at the track that weekend. Let me add that a great driver cannot be good without the assistance of a talented mechanic. Yoshiharu Tsukamoto attended to the tuning of Shimo's O.S. engine. I should add that Yoshi happens to be the employed in the Engine Development Dept. at O.S. We are truly looking forward to their return in July for the WC.
March 27-28, 2010
We just finished the first Southwest Championship Series (SWCS) race of the season. It was nice to open on our home track, Gulf Coast Raceway. Those many weekends of practice in the off season seemed to have paid off. Oh yeah, that is one of the nice things about living in Texas, we can race outdoors year round.
Matt brought out his new ride, the EDAM Spirit, a new entry into the 10th scale market. Since Matt recently inked a sponsorship deal with Team Marketing America, this was his first opportunity to test the car in a racing environment. Saturday proved to be a an ongoing learning experience with the car's setup getting better every time out. After the qualifying rounds were over more time was spent dialing the Spirit in with the help of our friend Chris Metheny adding his knowledge. Even with the fact that Matt was trying new setups all day, he had a very respectable result. Matt finished the day as the top qualifier in the B Main, less than 4 seconds from making it into the A Main. The Mains were run on Sunday morning. Getting off to a tough first lap is not a good way to start a 20 minute race. From 1st to 9th in one lap probably cost Matt one of the two Bump spots, but he did battle back and finished 4th. 200mm B Main Race Results Congratulations to Matt on this inaugural race with EDAM SPIRIT!
My (Roger) weekend was equally as rewarding. The Mugen MRX4-X was hooked up from the get go and there was no need to change the setup from all of the practice days. The qualifying rounds proved to be some of the best driving that I have done since starting in this hobby in 2005. My top 5 and 10 lap average lap times steadily improved as the day went on. My only disappointment was that I seemed to make at least one mistake on each run. I know that with more practice that I can still improve on these times. After it was all over, I was able to land in the A Main group. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous on the track with these faster guys during Sunday's main. However, what I learned from the experience was while I may not yet be as fast as the fastest guys I can drive with them. I expect that next time up on the stand with these guys I will be more at ease. Oh by the way, I did control my nerves well enough to finish in third! I was thrilled with that result and with knowing that there is plenty of room for improvement. My thanks to Maxy's Racing Fuel for their sponsorship. This top notched fuel helped my Nova Rossi RX21 finished the race at a very reasonable temperature and added to the reponsiveness of the motor.
1/8th Open A Main Results
March 2010 - We hosted the Pre-Worlds Warm Up Race held at Gulf Coast Raceway.
March 2010 - Third Coast Racing team member inked a deal with Team Marketing America to campaign an EDAM SPIRIT 981 for this year's racing season. Congratulations Matt!
March 2010 - Launch of the new web site.
