They are taking place at Colorado Fast Track @ Aztec Motocross Speedway just east of town on Highway 94 this weekend.  I’m going to be there tomorrow and Sunday spectating what I’m sure will be some great racing action.  I’ll also have a load of stickers on me to give away.  Remember, stickers are like currency around this place.  If you can’t easily identify me from my old picture, just start yelling “HEY BIG SQUID RC GUY!  WHERE ARE YOU?” as loud as you can and I’ll find my way to you.  I’ll also have a Big Squid RC sticker on my shirt (since Brian keeps forgetting to send me a proper t-shirt).  I’ll try to be there at 9:00 am both days.

I was told by one of the organizers today that there is no entrance fees for spectators and while there are bleachers it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring your own chair.

For some more info check out the Colorado Fast Track web site.

Directions from the South (Pueblo)

Directions from the North (Denver)

It looks like it’s time again for the International Speed Challenge! The ISC is a great place to take that speed demon you have been working on, and show it off to the rest of the world. If you think you got something fast, and you want to prove it. This years event is in Topeka Kansas, on August 15th and 16th at the Heartland Park Raceway.

Visit the ISC Speedrun web site for info.

The Crux RC Bash Event, by Tim Mohr

BigSquidRC is all about bashing, so cover as many bash events as we can. Last weekend I got to attend an rc bash in Washington Missouri, a town about an hours drive from the St Louis Missouri metro area.

The venue was at a place called The Crux. The Crux is multi purpose venue, catering to skateboarders, bmxers, paintballers, small concerts and even rc events. Started
by Kentwood Community Church, The Crux was opened just for the local teens, giving them a safe place to hang out and enjoy their favorite sport or hobby. There should be one of these venues in every area, it was really cool. The area is very scenic, and just plain looks like an awesome place to hang out and have fun, which was the perfect setting for their rc bash event.

The event organizer was Brian Gansereit, who owns the local hobby shop in the area called Kreig Haus Hobby & Coin. Brian ran a flawless program, with all the event going smooth, and everyone having a blast. You didn’t see anyone running around all stressed out like you’d find at an rc race. The bash wasn’t about winning, it was all about having fun, exactly the way rc should be.

There were 3 events at the bash- the obstacle course, a high speed run, and a long jump competition.

The first event held was the obstacle course. The course was held on a dirt track, with various bumps, jumps and corners. The person who completed two laps in the shortest time won. The winner was Fred Harris, who got his MaxAmps powered Traxxas Slash 4×4 around the course in 1:17.

Next event up was the high speed run. The high speed run was held on a 120 foot long dirt straight, with the top speeds being measured by a radar gun. Justin Noble walked away with the win in this event, with a top speed of 41 mph with his Castle Monster powered Losi 8E.

The last event was the long jump. Drivers got about a 100 foot run at a small wood ramp to see how far they could jump. Justin Noble also won this event with a jump of 80 feet.

I’d like to thank everyone at the event for being so cordial, and can’t wait till they host another one. If you are within driving distance, make the next Crux RC Bash a must hit event, you’ll have lots of fun and be glad you went.

For More Pictures… Read the rest of this entry »

The RC Car Action/HPI Racing Race for a Cure event will is coming up next week.  Being held over Father’s Day weekend (June 17th – 20th) at the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, CT, this event is going to be raising money for the American Cancer Society so they can keep up the good work of trying to find a cure.  There’s going to be racing classes for 1/10 scale short course, 1/8 scale nitro buggies and truggies, and 1/5 scale buggies and trucks.  The entry fee is $30 for the first class and $25 for each other you wish to enter.  2.4 GHz radio gear and a personal transponder are required.

For more info be sure to check out this forum thread on the RCZone forums.  You can download a PDF version of the entry form by clicking this link [PDF].

In collaboration with www.HobbyMedia.it we will be bringing you some RC coverage from the Shizuoka Hobby Show 2010! Keep your fingers crossed for some exciting RC news. These shows cover everything from RC, to model figures, and this one is probably the biggest in Japan. Thanks to our friends at HobbyMedia for helping with the coverage.

So last weekend the Big Squid RC Bash Crew (as Cubby likes to call us) headed out to Champaign Il, to Slot and Wing Hobbies for their yearly bash event. It’s always fun when we can all get together and just have a good time bashing. We weren’t there worrying about testing products, or running the event, we were there just to have fun!

Myself, Bill, Tim and Jim all met up to partake in some cool events. I’ll be posting some video in the next few days, but didn’t want to just slap something together, since it was a good event, and we got some cool footage. So I have tossed up a few screen grabs here to keep you thirsty for more later.

Tim and Bill tied for first in the high-speed event. We brought our dragsters, but the parking lot was rough, those things wouldn’t of gotten 10 feet. Tim got 51mph in his electric buggy, while Bill also hit 51mph with his nitro Jato!

After the high speed run we participated in the tug of war, Tim and I both jumped in with our modded SC trucks. There wasn’t really much traction on the track, so it was more a matter of who’s gears would fail first.. lol.

After the tug of war, there was the High Jump and Long Jump events. I ended up pulling out the win in the high jump competition, I couldn’t believe the air time! That green ramp is at least 8 feet tall! The pictures don’t do it justice, wait for the video! Tim beat me in the long jump event with 83 feet off a 18 inch ramp. I took second with 79!

After the jump events came the mud bog drag race! We didn’t even know about this event on the way down, so we didn’t bring vehicles for it. Tim made a good effort using his buggy with Bill’s truggy tires, and he won a few of the races, but his receiver fried after it got mud logged. LOL.

After the mud drags, came the demolition derby! This was a great time with 20+ vehicles going at it! Last truck standing, so if you rolled you were out. The Big Squid Crew made up the final 3 trucks with Jim taking the win with his stock Traxxas Slash!

The day was wrapped up with the final event, the freestyle competition. The event was judged based on crowd response, and it was fun to try and get the crowd into it. Tim was using his HB V8 buggy going for huge air, at one point jumping completely out of the track/event zone.. I was using the Savage Flux where I wowed the crowed with consistent back to back to back – backflips, but Bill took home the crown by landing a double back flip for the crowd with his nitro 8ight-T. We took first, second and third in freestyle.

The guys running the event were great, and so were all the volunteer’s that helped set up the event and build the ramps! It’s always great to travel and meet new people. If you get a chance, make sure to check out the Slot and Wing Hobbies shop if you are in the area!

We ended up winning most of the events while making a bunch of the local kids happy. Every time we won a prize, we would pick a kid and give it to them. I’m really looking forward to the next event there. If you stop by their shop/track tell them Big Squid RC sent ya!

Geezuss I’m getting tired of lame “teaser” press releases. A fine example of this was the tease put out by our broken English speaking friends at Kyosho America a couple weeks ago. The promise was “Something BIG” was coming from them. What did it turn out to be? Well the “BIG” news was that Kyosho America was opening up a Mini-Z track inside their facility. Arrgghhhh….. To me “BIG” news from Kyosho is a totally revamped 8th scale buggy featuring liquid cooling and EFI for the engine, and some way super dope laid down shocks that use a linkage for rising rate, remote reservoirs and eternal damping clickers. Just say’n…

The official BigSquid bashing squad hit an event hosted by Slot and Wing Hobbies in Champaign Illinois this weekend (look for event coverage in the next couple days). I was unable to attend, but the BigSquid crew came back ranting and raving just how much fun they had long jumping and mud slinging. I think a lot of people forget just how much fun bashing is. Anyways, we got to talking about why there aren’t more bashing events put on and why there aren’t any dedicated bash only tracks. Perhaps hobby shops think there is no money to be made by putting on bashing events? The Slot and Wing event had good attendance, as has BigSquids own Bash-A-Paloozas, and the No Limit RC events are always huge. Maybe if you are a shop owner you could (and should) consider catering more to the bashing crowd instead of the hardcore (and very vocal) racing guys? There are way more bashers than racers floating around out there. Hint hint…

That’s it for this week, as always support your local hobby shops, tracks and bash spots!

YOUR Cub Reporter

Bill mailed me a link to this video from the Psycho Nitro Blast from 2009. This is only the first few minutes of the A-Main buggy class, but what’s cool is just insane air and layout of this track! I can see why so many people go to this event! The jumps are HUGE and so is the track.. with buggy’s they have about a 50 second lap time! Imagine that with a 10th scale SC truck! LOL. It looks like a ton a fun, I wish more tracks tried this once in while.. I know they would get more bashers! Although I could here the racer locals crying foul already!

Might have to hit up this event next year!

First off this week, huge congrats go out to Scotty Ernst for putting on one hell of a short course race at Trackside Hobbies in Wisconsin. Scotty is arguably one of the top race promoters in this hobby, and widely considered the best race announcer walking the planet. Scott’s race drew around 250 (yes, two hundred and fifty!!) entries this weekend, with everyone from kids to the legendary Jared Tebo racing. I’ve always said you can judge the health of a track by how many kids they have racing, if that is truly the case Scott’s track is doing Awesome! How many kids do you have racing at your local track????

So Jared Tebo pwned the field at the Trackside short course race. His Kyosho was totally dialed, and not even Associated’s Scott Brown could stay on the same lap. Brown is no joke in short course as he won several classes at the short course nationals at RC Madness in Connecticut last summer, but Tebo was not to be denied this weekend.

Props should also be given out to all the companies that supported the Trackside short course event. Traxxas showed up in full force, as did Associated, RC Car magazine, Novak, and lots of other companies. Short course is good for the hobby, it was fantastic to see lots of factory and racer support at the Trackside event.

While the BigSquid crew was running around the short course race this weekend we congratulated HPI on winning two Basher Approved awards (one for the Blitz and one for the Savage XL). To win a Basher Approved plaque from BigSquid means the trucks were jumped off roofs, plowed into parked cars, and used for full speed demo derby and they thrived on the abuse. HPI makes some of the most durable cars and trucks on the market, if you hate breaking parts give’em a look.

On a completely different tangent, ever notice that rc racing has no off season? NASCAR has one, F1 has one, AMA motocross has one, why not rc racing? I know a whole lot of burnt out racers and industry types that could use a couple months off the road. Just say’n….

Are you in the Chi-town metro? Do you enjoy X-mods and Mini-Z’s? Then you should really check out the Chicago Mini R/C Club. Show up with ten American dollars and they hook you up with a car to drive. If you break that car, they hand you another one! Check them out HERE!

Are you a hard core basher in the midwest? Well, here’s a cool event to hit this weekend- Slot and Wing Hobby in Champaign Illinois is having a bash fest this Saturday. Events include mud drag racing, high jump, long jump, high speed run, drifting, and the ever popular DEMO Derby! Be there or be square, click HERE! for more info.

Did you know that Charles Colton coined the phrase “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”????

That’s it for this week, as always support your local hobby shops, tracks and bash spots!

YOUR Cub Reporter

So we headed out to Trackside Hobbies to watch some racing during the Short Course Showdown this weekend. We snapped a bunch of pictures, talked to a ton of people, and had a great time.

First I’d like to thank Scotty Ernst (seen here on the left with yours truly) for organizing and promoting such a great event. Scotty does an amazing job of running the show. Besides being one of the best (if not THE best) announcers in RC, he really knows how to create and promote a friendly atmosphere. While Trackside isn’t the biggest rc venue in the industry, I have to say it’s one of the friendliest! We have written many times about the jerks we see at the RC tracks, but under the Trackside roof, we saw none of it. There were TONS and TONS of kids, not only spectating but racing and participating!

It’s rare that we see an environment like this, and I wish other tracks around the US would follow in their footsteps. Whenever Big Squid RC has an event, or a race night, we invite as many kids as possible! Remember it’s a hobby, pass it on! I couldn’t be more happy to see Trackside has the same attitude!

A great thing about these big events, is that we get to run into a lot of people we only get to chat with a few times a year in person…
Read the rest of this entry »

Bill and I are on our way to Trackside Hobbies to check out some racing during the Short Course Showdown this weekend. All the big companies are going to be there like Traxxas, HPI, AE, Losi, etc.. showing off their short course finest! If you happen to be in the Wisconsin area, you should think about stopping by, at least to just say hi to Bill and I! We will be handing out stickers and signing autographs most of Saturday.

Tamiya is giving away tickets for Friday’s festivities during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, being held in Long Beach, CA on April 16 – 18.  Tamiya is a sponsor and exhibitor at the Grand Prix along with some other big names in r/c.  Their name will be all over the track and they will be showing off all their cool stuff at the Lifestyle Expo being held in the Long Beach Convention Center which is in the middle of all the action.  This is some more great exposure for the r/c hobby.  Click through to Tamiya’s site for some more info and the form to get your free ticket.

While I’m afraid Big Squid RC won’t be at this event, I’m a big fan of the Cup Racer series, and someone asked me to mention this one, so I have no problems doing that. The upcoming Cup Racer event is in Kennett Square, PA on February 27th, so if you are in the area, you should check it out. What I like about the events (besides the cool looking realistic vehicles), a lot of it comes down to driver skill. The Box Stock class is exactly how it sounds, if it didn’t come IN THE BOX, you can’t run it on your vehicle, except for the battery which can be a LiPo!

Again, if you are thinking about getting into on-road RC, this is a great class to start off in.

The folks over at Slot and Wing Hobbies in Champaign, IL. are having a little bash thing at their track Saturday, Oct 17, 2009. The event starts at noon. A few of us are going to attend, and check out the action. It’s supposed to be cold and wet… but if you are in the area, try and stop by!

Update: Have a bit of a stomach bug this morning, which would make the 2+ hour drive not so fun. So going to stay local today and work on stuff for iHobby Expo coming up in 5 days!! If anyone hits the event, make sure to snap some pics.