The 2009 RC Pro Florida State Series Finals was hosted by Hurricane R/C Club at Lake Park in Lutz last Saturday. All of the drivers still in the points chase were there as well as other fast drivers looking for some more practice for the up coming J-Concepts Clash next Month. The track was once again blue grooved and had a technical but very fast and flowing layout.

 

I was leading the points in 1/8 Pro Buggy coming into the finals while VP-Pro USA driver, Joey "Batman" Perez, was leading 1/8 Pro Arena Truck, so VP-Pro looked good for a possible Championship. Since I was not racing Truggy in the series, I decided to try out electric buggy for the first time ever for some more track time. I borrowed a Losi 8E from my buddy and threw some VP-Pro Turbo Trax and a VP-Pro M Wing on and was ready to qualify. It took some time to learn the power curve of the brushless motor since I have not raced an electric R/C Car since 2001, but I still managed to TQ the first 2 rounds and take overall TQ for VP-Pro USA. In 1/8 Pro Arena Truck, Batman had problems in round 1 and 3, but TQ'd round 2 to make the A-main. In 1/8 Pro Buggy, my Matrix was dialed on Medium Flexx Turbo Trax but I had tuning problems in round 1 but still qualified 3rd in the 10 minute qualifier. I had 2 good runs and finished 2nd in round 2 & round 3 which gave me the overall TQ for the 45 minute A-main since a different driver TQ'd all 3 rounds.

 

In the main events, VP-Pro USA Racing Tires dominated. In E-Buggy, I took first place and Bill Cassidy took 3rd with VP-Pro Tires. In Sportsman Arena Truck, Billy England took 1st and Brian Shook took 3rd place with VP-Pro tires. In Sportsman Buggy, Dewey Harding took 2nd and Brian Geist took 3rd place with VP-Pro tires. In Pro Arena Truck, Batman lead the whole race but broke at the end and finished 3rd with Walter Cruz taking 4th using VP-Pro tires. And in the Pro Buggy A-main, I took an easy win by 3 laps using Ultra Flexx Turbo Trax in the 45 minute main event. That  was my 5th win of the last 6 state series races at the Lake Park track and the win gave me and VP-Pro USA the overall Championship in 1/8 Pro Buggy.

 

     -- 1/8 E-Buggy - A  Main --
Pos Car Laps    time     name
  1   1  26    12:24.76 Gene Hickerson     VP-Pro Turbo Trax                                   
  2   4  24    12:21.17 Dave  Warr                                   
  3   3  23    12:28.95 Bill Cassidy           VP-Pro Cutoff                              

                         
                                             

  -- 1/8  Truck Sportsman - A  Main --
Pos Car Laps    time     name
  1   1  57    30:11.87 Billy England       VP-Pro Turbo Trax                         
  2   8  57    30:15.90 brian bennett                                
  3   5  56    30:20.34 Brian Shook         VP-Pro Turbo Trax                         
 

 -- 1/8 Buggy Sportsman - A  Main --
Pos Car Laps    time     name
  1   3  59    30:16.69 Dave  Warr                                   
  2   7  59    30:34.15 Dewey Harding       VP-Pro Turbo Trax                        
  3   8  56    30:31.91 Brian Geist            VP-Pro Turbo Trax                         
                   

 -- 1/8 Pro Arena Truck - A  Main --
Pos Car Laps    time     name
  1   1  86    45:26.25 Chad Olcott                                  
  2   9  77    45:06.81 Martin Gramatica                             
  3   5  76    45:35.57 Batman                 VP-Pro Turbo Trax                         
  4   3  73    45:05.45 Walter Cruz           VP-Pro Turbo Trax                         
 
    -- 1/8 PRO Buggy - A  Main --
Pos Car Laps    time     name
  1   1  92    45:26.81 Gene Hickerson       VP-Pro Turbo Trax
  2   6  89    45:22.20 Gary Mazur                                   
  3   5  87    45:11.45 Matt Mehring                                 
  4   4  83    45:19.41 Josh Talmadge                                
  5   3  82    40:40.80 Ryan Johnson                                 
  6   8  48    26:35.81 Batman                 VP-Pro Turbo Trax                        
  7   7  43    22:22.96 Ryan Eckert                                  
  8   9  14     8:24.02 Keith Dolente         VP-Pro Turbo Trax