Bob, Charlie and the NOVAK Crew, along with Joel Johnson (Kyosho) Joe Pillars (Team Orion) and your crew...

THANK YOU for an awesome year of the MOST competitive racing we've had on the West Coast according to our racers...EVER.

These are NOT Newbie racers, more than 75% of our racers have 20 years vested in R/C Oval racing...and over a DOZEN of the racers at todays VELODROME event took part in the FIRST EVER RCThunderdrome at this same track 20 years ago.

As a guest, RCThunderdrome creator "Banana Dan" Dan Monihan was on hand to watch and enjoy the racing HE created on this 20th year anniversary.

The NOVAK Brushless motors have revolutionized R/C racing beyond ANYTHING we could have ever hoped for, and the KOKAM/ORION Batteries have proven to be just the right power for the price, and consistant enough to produce some absolutely fantastic competition.

THANKS AGAIN to both of these companies, and thank you for your continued support of the OVAL RACING on the West Coast, and I personally look forward to a future partnership with both companies...

Joe Myers
South-West Tour R/C Oval Series


QUALIFYING RESULTS from Saturdays SWT "Winterfest @ the drome"



Results based on rounds 1 - 3
----- 21.5 Stock -----

qual name id lap/time... average mph
1 Gary Hamilton 15 | 28/5:05.84 | 27/5:05.71 | >28/5:04.81 52.6
2 Joe Blackburn 18 | >28/5:05.98 | 1/0:26.72 | 27/5:01.16 52.4
3 Brian Bond 32 | 28/5:06.42 | >28/5:06.04 | 28/5:06.49 52.4
4 Arnold Brittain 11 | 28/5:08.54 | >28/5:06.51 | 23/5:08.38 52.3
5 Jason Hastings 19 | 28/5:09.65 | >28/5:07.10 | 28/5:07.21 52.2
6 Larry Ruby 33 | 28/5:08.66 | >28/5:08.31 | 27/5:02.29 52.0
7 Sean Woodside 16 | 27/5:03.45 | >28/5:10.09 | 27/5:01.12 51.7
8 Jerry Purser 12 | 27/5:04.68 | >27/5:00.11 | 27/5:03.59 51.5
9 Dave Barber 20 | >27/5:01.73 | 26/5:01.29 | 27/5:02.44 51.2
10 Scot Petitclerc 14 | 27/5:09.78 | >27/5:03.10 | 27/5:05.24 51.0
11 John Miles 30 | 27/5:07.18 | >27/5:07.03 | 26/5:00.23 50.4
12 Joe Myers 5 | >27/5:09.38 | 12/2:42.27 | 22/4:14.25 50.0
13 Donn Natale 10 | 27/5:10.60 | 26/5:08.74 | >27/5:10.30 49.8
14 Mike Plant 28 | 25/5:08.63 | >27/5:11.46 | 26/5:07.09 49.6
15 Dave Werner 6 | >26/5:03.97 | --- DNS --- | 26/5:06.89 49.0
16 Steve Jacquez 2 | >26/5:04.71 | 26/5:08.29 | 25/5:02.31 48.9
17 Mits 1 | 21/5:03.60 | 22/5:00.60 | >26/5:06.32 48.6
18 Lou Maldonado 27 | >26/5:06.82 | 25/5:05.86 | 26/5:07.56 48.5
19 Keith Brown 13 | 24/5:08.07 | >26/5:08.81 | 1/0:13.68 48.2
20 Odie 21 | >25/5:10.12 | 20/5:04.63 | --- DNS --- 46.2
21 Dennis Hashin 24 | --- DNS --- | 19/5:00.34 | >23/5:01.42 43.7
22 Uncle Buck 23 | 1/0:23.38 | >7/1:46.09 | --- DNS --- 37.8
'>' indicates the best round. Average mph is computed for the best round.

Results based on rounds 1 - 3
----- 17.5 Limited -----

qual name id lap/time... average mph
1 Nic Case 29 | 27/5:06.87 | 23/4:52.74 | >31/5:09.57 57.4
2 Richard Tompkins 25 | 29/5:03.35 | >30/5:10.15 | 29/5:03.73 55.4
3 Bryan Myers 3 | 14/2:36.50 | >26/4:47.86 | --- DNS --- 51.7
'>' indicates the best round. Average mph is computed for the best round.

Results based on rounds 1 - 3
----- NASTRUCK -----

qual name id lap/time... average mph
1 John Miles 31 | >26/5:02.28 | 26/5:08.67 | 25/5:01.53 49.3
2 Sean Woodside 17 | 18/3:39.55 | 25/5:10.16 | >26/5:07.18 48.5
3 Odie 22 | 24/5:04.53 | >26/5:11.98 | 23/5:02.83 47.7
4 Tom Kendall 7 | 25/5:03.93 | 25/5:07.71 | >26/5:12.27 47.7
5 TJ Kendall 8 | >25/5:02.89 | 24/5:02.76 | 24/5:04.32 47.3
6 Donn Natale 9 | 23/5:09.68 | 25/5:08.75 | >25/5:03.29 47.2
7 Kevin Kilber 26 | >24/5:00.73 | 23/5:07.70 | 23/5:01.89 45.7
8 Bryan Myers 4 | >19/5:04.32 | 3/1:35.37 | 3/0:55.27 35.8
'>' indicates the best round. Average mph is computed for the best round.

Details on class rules, going thru a big change here at John's BSR Home track. We are searching at the moment.

I'm jumping to 21.5 Lipo BRL once John gets new stock in (damn UPS!) and from the looks of things, everyone is having a blast!!!! A big jump and it has a steep learning curve!

Bone,

I don't know how big John's track is, but 21.5/LIPO is a blast regardless of who's Motor and Battery is being used... but IMHO the R A C I N G is the best if the class is done SPEC with a SINGLE Battery and Motor MFG, taking the B.S. of chasing brands to find the better product, instead of learning to drive and/or make your chassis and driving do the performing.

Our classes locked in Novak "only" motors 2 years ago, and when we began testing the new crop of motors (21.5 & 17.5) for Novak, we chose the midgrade Orion 3200 LIPO due to the longevity and durability this battery was proven to have by many of the BASHERS and RACERS using it (mostly in off-road).

At the time we selected the ORION 3200 for our use, it had been on the market over a year, and we were promised another year of life before it was replaced by a new product.

The 3400 is the replacement for the 3200, and while this might make some mad...it worked out great for us, because all tests indicate there is no real difference in the two...and they perform virtually identical on the track and on the GFX. This makes it so the NEW vs the OLD both are still 100% compatible ON TRACK.

Some clubs are choosing to spec only the SIZE of the battery and not the brand, which isn't too bad but still leaves the door opened for a product upgrade war. Some people have no issue with that, if they can get 4-6 months out of ONE pack. With the direction we chose, we've got some packs that are over a YEAR old still competitive.

Regardless of which direction a track goes, LIPO has so much better performance life than the NiMh's had. But again IMHO, choosing a $75.00 battery means a SINGLE PACK costs about as much as TWO 4 cell NiMh's did, allowing a $120 LIPO is closer to the price of (3) NiMh's...and in the long run either option is a much better DEAL.