I figured we could stand to have a new 2008 thread...post away! :thumbsup:

Kevin Ridley utilized one of our new brushless mod motors that were just released to win the EDM Mod class at Bumps and Jumps February Freeze.


There were 3 Putnam-powered Putnam Pro-Cars in the EDM Mod A-Main, and they swept the podium, finishishing 1-2-3, 2 laps ahead of the competition!!!

Kevin utilized our 4.5 HCM "Toddzilla" motor,(#45125-HCM) fueled by TQ Cells 4600's to power his Putnam Pro-Car to victory, defeating Li-Po powered cars in the process.

Congrats to Kevin Ridley, Jason Blum and Jeff Hotaling for the outstanding results! :woohoo:

Todd,

Congratulations!!!

I would just call, but I'm sure others have the same questions, so...are there any other BL winds in the works (17.5, 13.5, 10.5 - I'll take one of each!!)? What does the future look like for BL in regards to the market being opened up to people like yourself. Have you submitted any of these other motors for approval. Who would you even submit them to anyway? ROAR, Sonny Brown, etc... I have so many questions...lol...in your opinion does anyone really know where this is all heading?

Jason

Yes, I have been testing the 17.5, 13.5 and 10.5's, but still have a bunch of variables to play with. With China just having their New Year, it is like the entire country shuts down for a few weeks. More samples en route, on the slow boat from China-literally. Stay tuned...

As for legality/sanctioning bodies, ROAR has to open it up to all manufacturers, if they want to continue to exist, in my opinion. If they do not, companies such as LRP, Tekin, Orion, Speed Passion, Hacker, Castle, Trinity, GM, myself, etc; will be forced to start another sanctioning body, or ignore just ROAR rules all together- The largest US races are no longer ROAR sanctioned, so it really isn't an issue for us.

WOW, sounds great Todd, look forward to seeing your stuff out there!! If your behind it, I am down with it!! OH, I say, down with roar, and we all start another sanctioning body!

Jim

Right on Beach! The mod stuff is silly fast- faster and more efficient than the current Novak or LRP units. It is nice not to have to wind, epoxy, bake and balance every motor...although I have had my hands on the mod windings... heh heh... :thumbsup:

ROAR used to stand for Rules Often Are Rewritten- lets hope the new ROAR changes that...

Todd- I am not sure you have a answer yet for this but.....

Would your 17.5,13.5,10.5 motor line require a full winding rewrap? What inductance standards would you be building these to? One last thing, wouldn't having an exact wire length like stock motors do help for teching issues and motor builders like yourself?

Keep us updated........I'll take any motor with a name like "Toddzilla".............lol


Deel

Deel,

If ROAR were to draft black and white rules for brushless rules like the current brushed rules, (wire length, gauge, max timing, pricing, etc.) it would make it easier for all manufacturers to submit and compete. The problem is that the brushless technology is so new to the sanctioning bodies and has so many variables, it isn't fully understood by them.

It is difficult for any sanctioning body to write rules when you don't fully understand all the technology and variables, and have to rely on the manufacturers to help educate you. Then the obvious conflict of interest is introduced, and it screws up the whole process.

When every manufacturer puts the hobby and hobbyists best interests at the forefront, the rules package will become much more simple. When you have one or more manufacturer trying to keep the competitions motors banned or write rules to only makes their design legal, you have what we are experiencing now.

In a nutshell, we can have motors manufactured to any inductance, wire length, or any other spec for that matter...but we need to first have, solid, universal specs, (like the brushed motor specs) that won't change week to week to build from.

...Our Brushless "Toddzilla" Mod line has been released and is shipping- in our first attempt, our 4.5 motors on NiMh outran the LRP and Novak 3.5's..some of which were NiMh powered, others of which were on LiPo's.

To produce more speed and more runtime than the LRP and Novak based motors was a win-win... :thumbsup:

February Freeze "Putnam's Perspective"

I write a weekly blog after each of our club races, "Putnam's Perspective," similar to Bruce Ellis' column "Nobody Asked Me But..." that he used to write for Open Wheel magazine.

Some asked me why I don't write one up after the big races, and they brought up a good point...so here goes-


-We missed not having Fred, Pete and Sam with us at the Freeze.

-If Sam was there, we would have had 3 times the tire dust at the truer.

-It was great to win the EDM Mod A-main with our new brushless motor-

-David Dick had a problem surface that I had never seen...I guess you never stop learning.

-The General and Frank Tucker beat 95% of the racers to the track each morning, and neither one were racing. Thanks guys!

-Frank Polimeda has lost nothing at the transmitter, even though this was his first race in years.

-Jolene bakes one helluva mean chocolate chip cookie, and is more of a racer than most men I know.

-Thanks to Kevin Stine and John Wohnus for keeping me fat-The treats were killer!

-Thanks to Dan and Rene Gill at Atomic Signworks- Not only do we have the fastest cars, but now the best looking as well-

-I went back and re-read our playbook, and I still can't find where it says, "Everyone crash once in the beginning of the stock A-Main..."

-I can't believe Solly pitted over my right shoulder-I barely heard him or got to talk with him all week-and no traces of beer cans?

-Our Nitro Program is coming along faster than I ever expected, and all the pieces aren't in place yet...

-We were able to TQ the USOW with our Pro-Nitro EDM, but the Freeze was our first major win with our new Nitor program...Thanks Terrrrr.

-Terry Schmitt is still the best closer in the bullpen.

-Kevin Ridley can do more with a helmet ride than most others do with their entirely own program.

-Speaking of Kevin, I was impressed that even though others deliberately tried to cost him his TQ runs, he never had anyone by the throat or distributed black eyes...

-Jeff Hotaling speaks softly but carries a BIG stick. I like that his actions speak louder than words.

-It is a crime that at the last two races, Scott Hotaling hasn't grilled any food. He deserves the time off ofter the USOW though..

-I would have liked to see the number we put up if Kevin and Shannon ran the Stock A-Main clean.

-It feels as if Jason Blum has been part of our team for years.

-Joe Polimeda's announcing in practice certainly was 'colorful'.

-Phinney had a better car than the results showed. Just needed a little luck...

-Our two resident custom bike builders, Ken Miller and Rich Roy pitted across from one another-I wonder what they talked about all week?

-Rich Roy raced his way into the A-main after a 10? year hiatus...

-There is a big difference between "manufactured" and "remanufactured."

-Mike Valentine never turned a lap before heat 1, and raced his way into the A-Main by winning the B-nice job.

-Valentine drove home with only one sock-the other is still in Bumps parking lot.

-Shilo gets the award for tearing up the most stuff of the week, and learned a lesson-Nitro cars are no fun when the receiver pack stops working while you are on the track.

-John Schulz fought off illness to stuff it in the B-Main. Like I always say, champions play hurt...

-The NYSE showed a huge spike in caster block Stocks on Monday morning.

- I can now add a page to my setup notebook on "traction rolling" on dirt.

-The same car that traction rolled ran a tenth quicker than any car in the A-Main-all in the same run. Time to play with C of G..

-PA clay is the best-hence the great 1:1 sprint tracks.

-Little Ed Strada is unbelievably impressive, on and off the track-

-Dave Loughead is now known as the Roger Penske of R/C.

-It was great to see Jake Flurer, and more so, Janet.

-Johnny Wohnus is still helping me, 16 years later.

-I miss being at a dirt oval race in PA and not having Brian Breckenridge pit next to me.

-Sydney weaseled more ice cream out of Frank Tucker in a weekend than she weasels out of me in a month.

-If Sydney and Carter ever walk down the aisle, Dan is designing the invitations and announcements. Our families sure would make for an interesting Thanksgiving day gathering...

-I don't think Chris and Jackie combined weigh 200 lbs... Do these two ever sleep?

-It was good to see all my PA brothers...but I missed Coop.

-Where was Arnie?

-It was great to see Ryan Korek-

-It was great to see Mom Cutman, where you are still greeted with a hug.

-Rob Cutman is still one of the greatest dirt wheels of all time.

-The coffee and food genie kept visiting my pit when I wasn't looking- thanks guys!

-Sydney jogged around the track after the mains and never hit a thing...maybe she should wheel my Nitro rides.

-Reggie works harder than it ever shows. I gained a lot of respect for anyone who keeps the same hours I do.

-Saturday night, we had the entire place to ourselves. It was Kevin Stine, Steve Salvas, Reggie, Shilo, John, the General and myself- working into Sunday morning.

-Our wind tunnel paid dividends already.

-Naming Nitro Engines is cool.

-I have about 4 legal pages of new things I want to test.

-How did we beat Nick Rank and George packing up Sunday?

-I wish I could have stayed to test Sunday night.

-I feel sorry for any team who doesn't have The General or Frank Tucker in their camp.

The 2008 Bumps and Jumps "February Freeze" is in the books, and it was another incredible weekend for Team Putnam. Here's a rundown:

ELECTRIC:

STOCK EDM: 5 of the 8 A-Main cars were 2008 6/2 Putnam Pro Cars, with 7 out of 8 utilizing Putnam Propulsion Stock Motors.
Congrats to Kevin Ridley for TQ'ing all 3 rounds of qualifying, putting up a faster time with each round. It looked as if his dominating performance from qualifying would continue in the main, as he was leading until getting collected by a lap car that was involved in a wreck.

3rd- Dan Gill: Putnam X-Stock / TQ Cells
4th- Jason Blum: Putnam Pro-Car / Putnam X-Stock
5th- Shannon Pitcher: Putnam Pro Car / Putnam X-Stock / TQ Cells
6th/TQ- Kevin Ridley: Putnam Pro Car / Putnam X-Stock / TQ Cells
7th- Rich Roy: Putnam Pro Car / Putnam X-Stock / TQ Cells
8th- Mike Valentine: Putnam Pro Car / Putnam X-Stock / TQ Cells

MOD EDM: This was the first race we were able to utilize our newest Putnam Propulsion "TODDZILLA" Brushless Mod Motors, and the results were amazing! It took some tuning and R&D to figure out all the variables we were faced with our new brushless motors, but we got if sorted out in time for the mains. The top 3 cars were all Putnam Pro-Cars powered by Putnam Motors!

1st: Kevin Ridley: Putnam Pro-Car / Putnam Brushless / TQ Cells
2nd: Jason Blum: Putnam Pro-Car / Putnam Mod / TQ Cells
3rd: Jeff Hotaling: Putnam Pro-Car / Putnam Brushless / TQ Cells


NITRO:

Nitro EDM Our Putnam Pro-Nitro program has gained a ton of momentum since it's release at the US Open Wheel Champs in December. Pete D'Agnolo TQ'd the US Open Wheel in our first ever Nitro Race.
At the Freeze, a Putnam Pro-Nitro car was TQ by 2 laps after the 2nd round, with a 4.3 second fast lap - 3 tenths faster than the next quickest car, which was also a Putnam Pro-Nitro!
I was really looking forward to the 3rd round as the track kept getting faster - and it was the "rocket round" for qualifying. Unfortunately, a marshall walked out on the track during our 2 minute warmup session prior to the start of the Nitro EDM A-heat, claiming 3 cars in the process...two of which were mine and Frank Polimeda's.

Here are the EDM Nitro results for the Freeze:

1st: Terry Schmitt: Putnam Pro-Nitro / General HP / Tornado Fuel 25%
3rd: Frank Polimeda: Putnam Pro-Nitro / General HP / Tornado Fuel 16%
6th: Jeff Hotaling: Putnam Pro-Nitro / General HP / Tornado Fuel 25%
8th: Todd Putnam: Putnam Pro-Nitro / General HP / Tornado Fuel 25%


Limited Late Model: I decided to run this class in an effort to work on a setup for the Late Model classes. We have sold many cars to customers that are running them in the Late Model classes, so we needed to develop a solid baseline setup for the Late Models. Since we just started running the Late Model classes, and the setup is so different from the EDM's, it was a great opportunity to do some R & D to develop a setup.
I was able to qualify 3rd in this class, and really learned a bunch through trial and error. Late Saturday night in practice I put a setup on the car that I was extremely happy with- it was fast and comfortable. I went out in a practice run with Steve Salvas who was qualified 3rd in Open Late Model, and was able to stay on the same straightaway with him for 20-25 laps.
I was confident for the A Main, rolled off 3rd on the start, and was all over the top 2 for the first couple of laps...until my car traction rolled. I have never had this happen on dirt, so I was a bit dumb founded. I ran a few more laps, the car felt really good, and then it traction rolled again, so I pulled it off. I was able to turn the fastest lap of the A-Main with a 4.7, which was a tenth quicker than any other car in the main, so the main wasn't a total loss. At least I had found the speed, now we just need to work lowering the car next time to keep it dirty side down... http://dirtoval.com/forums/images/smilies/thup.gif

8th/(DNF): Todd Putnam: Pro-Nitro / General HP / Tornado Fuel 25%

You had to bring up the sock. I had a blast , just wish I could have showed up before the first heat.

Todd Putnum....The King Of Race Recap!!!

Jim

You had to bring up the sock. I had a blast , just wish I could have showed up before the first heat.

Valentine your a mess when you don't go to races with Terry or me!

Returning home with one less sock and no "W" I'm surprised Terry let you come home!

Let's see here, you managed to get Frank and Joe Polemida, Rich Roy, Ryan Korek, Cutman and Jake Fluer in the same place at the same time... Impressive, nice to hear some of the old school names back or still at it.

-E

Let's see here, you managed to get Frank and Joe Polemida, Rich Roy, Ryan Korek, Cutman and Jake Fluer in the same place at the same time... Impressive, nice to hear some of the old school names back or still at it.

-E

Got them all under the same roof- and the roof is still standing! That's impressive!

To hear Joe Polimeda rock the mic for practice was worth the price of admission...

I'm still laughing about Joe & his "announcing" during practice. I personally loved the $$$ cash bounty palced on the marshall's ankles. It was all in good fun though. Hey here's an idea. Maybe Smoke can hire Joe to call the Open Wheel next year :jest:. A great color man is always handy. That would be worth the price of admission for sure.

John :thumbsup:

Money offered by Italians to take out somebody at the ankles...hmmm, where have I heard that before? Oh wait, those were knees...my bad. :dude:

Money offered by Italians to take out somebody at the ankles...hmmm, where have I heard that before? Oh wait, those were knees...my bad. :dude:
Ankles usually get the concrete deal.:p

You know that, and I know that, but some of these rat bastads gotta learn the hahd way-
Uncle Nunzio makes Italian shoes-Concrete shoes- one sizes fits all-:dude:

March 17, 1969 A day which will live in infamy...http://dirtoval.com/forums/images/smilies/blackflag.gif http://dirtoval.com/forums/images/smilies/checkeredflag.gif

Just kidding Happy Birthday TP. See ya at Lynne's kitchen for dinner later.

John

...1969?? Wow - Happy Birthday Dr. Crankenstein :hat:

Thanks guys- :thumbsup:

We are proud to announce that we are the Exclusive US Distributor of Tornado Fuel and Products. We will be working closely with Tornado to make sure that Tornado Products and Fuel are readily available nationwide.

For additional information, contact me at the shop M-F, 9-5 EST @ (518) 452-0422.

Let's see here, you managed to get Frank and Joe Polemida, Rich Roy, Ryan Korek, Cutman and Jake Fluer in the same place at the same time... Impressive, nice to hear some of the old school names back or still at it.

-E

ryan korek was back at the rc track?? i havent seen him since i saw him and steve at e town on a wed night test and tune with our drag car.
frank works in the same town i live in...maybe i can catch him one day in the neighborhood...

todd..if u talk to either one of these guys..tell them Ryan Weeks says hello...:wave:

We would like to congratulate "The Thunder From Down Under" Andrew Giddings for TQ'ing and Winning at the Australian Off Road Nationals!!!

Andrew qualified 3rd in 4WD Stock, went on to claim the National Championship, by winning the first main and running 2nd in the second main.

Andrew was also tied for TQ in 2WD Stock, and finished on the podium with a 3rd place finish.

Andrew utilized Putnam Propulsion CO27's in both classes.

Congratulations Andrew...Excellent job!!! :thumbsup:

We are proud to announce that we are the Exclusive US Distributor of Tornado Fuel and Products. We will be working closely with Tornado to make sure that Tornado Products and Fuel are readily available nationwide.

For additional information, contact me at the shop M-F, 9-5 EST @ (518) 452-0422.

Well that doesn't Valentine and I any Good.....
Where do "We" run it...Bearings? Tires?...or What???:freak:

Hey TP... Gimmie a call sometime... :)

Well that doesn't Valentine and I any Good.....
Where do "We" run it...Bearings? Tires?...or What???:freak:

Hey Bill I think his trying to weed you out.:devil:

Neot will be running all gas classes next year, bring large fans to each race.

Hey Bill I think his trying to weed you out.:devil:


That's Fine....

Bill: Think of them as comm drops...in bulk. :thumbsup:

Team Putnam made the trek to North Carolina's C+S Raceway to attend the first East Coast Dirt Oval Series Race last weekend.
When the dust settled, it was 2 TQ's, 2 Track Records and 2 Wins for the Putnam Camp-

Lee Jones TQ'd the Limited Nitro Late Model Class, posting a time 2 laps quicker than the field. He took the A-Main win by 2 laps as well, hanging a lap on the old track record. He was the only Putnam Pro-Nitro car in the A-main.

In the EDM Nitro Open class, it was yours truly claiming the TQ spot by 2 laps as well, and winning the A-Main by the same margin- bumping up the track record as well. Tornado Fueled / Putnam Pro-Nitro Cars made up 4 of the 6 A-Main cars:

TQ/1-Todd Putnam
3-Rodney Bauknecht
4-Solly
5-Billy Kimpton

Nice work to the entire Putnam Team... :thumbsup:

Putnam Propulsion Stormed the East Coast this past weekend, TQ'ing both Open Late Model and EDM Nitro classes at the East Coast Dirt Oval Series Race #2 in Wilson, NC, and TQ'ing both Big Block EDM and 13.5 EDM at the WDRA Putnam Propulsion Super Dirt Series Race #2!

-It was Lee Jones TQ'ing both the Open Nitro Late Model and Nitro EDM classes at the ECDOS Race #2 held at Thunder Alley Raceway in Wilson, NC. Lee used Putnam Pro-Nitro rides to grab both TQ honors, and went on to Win the Late Model class.

-At the WDRA Putnam Propulsion Super Dirt Series ace #2, Jeff Hotaling continued his dominating performance by TQ'ing both the Big Block EDM class as well as the 13.5 EDM class. Jeff went on to win the Big Block class, and came from 2 laps back to finish 3rd on the lead lap of the 13.5 class. Shilo Boice qualified 2nd in the EDM Big Block class, making it an all Putnam front row. Jeff and Shilo both used Putnam 2008 6/2 cars with Putnam Propulsion 19turn motors.

Great job guys! :thumbsup:

Never mind

Lee Jones bumps the track record at the Easely, SC dirt oval "Bullring" by 3 laps, and TQ's the East Coast Dirt Oval Series Race #3 by 2 laps with his 2008 Putnam Pro-Nitro Late Model!

This is 3 consecutive East Coast Dirt Oval Series Race TQ's and Track Records for Lee since switching to a Putnam Pro-Nitro Car, and all TQ's were by 2 laps over the 2nd qualifier-:thumbsup:

Congrats to Lee Jones on his incredible performances and results!

Nice job TP and Lee. Well done, Jim

Lee Jones TQ'd the 3rd East Coast Dirt Oval Series Race at Easley, SC in the Late Model class, again, by 2 laps over the 2nd qualifier.

This makes the 3rd ECDOS race in a row that Lee Jones has piloted his 2008 Putnam Pro-Nitro Car to TQ by a 2 lap margin.

In addition to his TQ streak, Lee also won the main, but by 3 laps over 2nd.

Congratulations and a big Thanks goes out to "Dr. Jones" for his incredible performances!

Congrats to Putnam Propuslion's newewst customer Chad Bush for winning his first time out with his new 2008 Putnam Pro-Nitro EDM. Even though it was only a 2 car field, he got to beat his brother Dean, and we all know what beating your brother is worth!

Follow this link to the new results page just for this race:

http://www.carolinarc.com/ECDOS-3/Index-ECDOS.html (http://www.carolinarc.com/ECDOS-3/Index-ECDOS.html)

Thumbs up to the "Toddzilla" line of brushless motors! They work awesome in off-road, too! Very smooth powerband, with a ton of smoke on the top end.

Smooth powerband with the 7.5 in a buggy netted very consistent laps (even with this dummy behind the wheel who was looking for the carpet, or pulling the front wheels off the ground mid-straight!)

An 8.5 bolted into a racer's truck just before the mod "A" provided the same results- very consistent (and fast) lap times.

Another must-have item from the Putnam camp! :thumbsup:

Thanks Todd! :thumbsup:

TP, as you know I'm brand new to nitro, fill me in as to the different % nitro. I would think more nitro equals more power, and I believe nitro runs cooler so why would a person choose less nitro???

See ya soon :thumbsup:

TP, as you know I'm brand new to nitro, fill me in as to the different % nitro. I would think more nitro equals more power, and I believe nitro runs cooler so why would a person choose less nitro???

See ya soon :thumbsup:

http://www.geistware.com/rcmodeling/glowpower/fuelfact3.htm

Jet, this will get ya started.

Another factoid - the Methanol content actually aids in cooling.

More Nitro = more power, more temp., more wear and generally more carb. adjustments throughout the day.

* Run 60%...Dr. Crankenstein will make more! (engines) :dude:

More Nitro content generally equates to more performance, but less fuel mileage. You also have to reshim the head when to increase the combustion chamber size with the higher nitro contents.
The lubrication content of the fuel is another factor, as well as the brand of fuel, etc; so in short, I will talk to you more in detail about it the next time you are at the shop- :thumbsup:

Sorry about the late call last night, I was racing and forgot about the time change :freak: .
No Putnam cars in this area (Illinois) so next year I guess I'll have to bring my stuff and show em' how it's done :thumbsup: .

See you next week...Is Fulton in the cards on the 6th???

Later, Bret

Bret , I thought we were friends, you're coming back next year and woop up on us? By then I should have this thing figured out and we can have some fun racing. Talked to Todd yesterday for the first time, super nice guy and very helpfull no matter what brand you're running.It's guys like him that keep me in this hobby. Talk to ya later Bud. Ken DeGood #66

Yea he's........OK? :cool:
You should see him at a track, busy as can be, yet ALWAYS takes time for anyone who needs it :thumbsup:.

I've had nothing but great customer service from Todd Putnam. My 08 Putnam Pro Car has to be the best dirt oval car that I've ever had. I just need to get my set-up under me for racing at Silvis and the other tracks in Illinois, my late model is loose off the turn . I just want to be able to put the power down like I know that I should be able to do with this chasis. Bret, I will have to look you up sometime at Silvis when we are both there.

Robert Keeney

Hi TP,

any news about my 08 dirt oval chassis and rer tower??

thanks

Pace

wow pace...talking Dirt Oval...!!!...was at Chico's last sunday!...wanna go to BigMikes next saturday(WDRA east series)

email me!

Eric

Pace/Eric- You guys coming down to the WDRA series race this Saturday? LMK-:thumbsup: