Chattin' with Charlie: Supernats wrap up

 

It has been a very long week of racing for the 2012 ROAR Supernationals, and while many didn't stay to experience the second half of the event, there is one man who did...none other than Charlie Suangka. You might know Charlie from our live broadcasts as one of the voices behind all the action, or perhaps you know him from his role in the Shortcourse Showdown Tour, or maybe you know him for his customer service and wisdom at Novak, but most likely you know him as the guy who hangs out at the track wearing all orange playing with action figures...

 

However you may know Charlie Suangka, he spent the ENTIRE week at this year's ROAR Supernats representing Team Novak and offering second to none support for anyone using Novak products. While Charlie was too busy looking for his Gumby doll, we were able to sit down with his companion for the week, Godzilla, who gave us his Supernats Wrap Up Report.

 

 

ROAR!
 
Godzilla like's Roar Races! 
 
This year was a first for Roar and the North American National Championship, the SUPER NATIONALS!
 
That's right, they are in fact super!  8 full days of racing action!  First part of the week were the more classic classes, Buggy, Truck, and 4wheel.  2nd half of the event is the newer classes, Short Course and Electric 8th Buggy.  Turn out was a bit light for the 2nd half, so the event was wisely rescheduled to cover 3 rounds of qualifying instead of just 2, with the 2nd day having the 4th final round, and the A Mains.  Genius if you ask me.  The event will wrap a full day early and allow all of us a day at the beach!  A day to relax at a major RC event is not a common thing these days. 
 
The first week was almost boring, The TQ of each class, TQ'd nearly every round, and won their title with practical ease.  Cavaleri, on his home track was unstoppable, and local Hot Shoe's Kevin Motter, and Nolan Anderson TQ'd and won 2wd and truck stock respectively.  The TQ of the 4 wheel buggy class also won, but was not a local. Zack Genova, from Ocala FL flew out and stayed with Team Novak through the entire event.  He drove awesome and also finished 3rd in stock Buggy and Truck.  Nice work Zack!   Zack is back for more racing and attempting to claim National Title #2 in the Stock SCT Class. The Premium Ballistic 17.5 motors have had great power, and Zach has turned some of the fastest laptimes in the stock classes.  Novak Or Nothing!
 
Qualifying

2nd half of event is rolling now, as I type this the 3rd round is underway.  No surprise, all the same guys are fast, but Cavaleri is not the king of all hills right now.  Maifields AE SC10 4x4 gets around the track like a magic carpet ride.  Wisking effortelessly around the track, but somehow showing the signature Maifield driving style.  Tessman's Losi ride looks great, and Tessman is an Iceman on the track. 
 
Pro 2 should be interesting, everyone looks to have a good rig, but they need to run clean.  Something very tricky at this event.  The layout may look easy to some, but the off camber and curb like corner markers make it hard to push the lap without minor mistakes here and there.  Running on the edge is very tricky.
 
8th scale, is well, indoor electric 8th scale!  Loud, fast and almost scary to watch at times.  I feel like we should be watching from behind some hockey glass!  Tessman's HB ride is lightning fast, he and Tebo have been duking it out for the first 2 rounds, but it's anybody's game still. These guys can drive smooth and with a lot of restraint.  Holding back with so much raw horse power has got to be tricky.  I love E8th scale!  GRRRRRRRRRR BRRAAAAAAHP

 

 
How are the Novak powered guys doing? Good so far!  Zack is top 5 in stock SCT.  Cody is just inside the Top Ten in both E8th and Pro 2.  Billy Fischer has good pace, but clean runs are hard to come by.  He's in the top ten in Pro 4, and just inside the top 15 in Pro 2 and E8th.
 
There's a handful of "other racers" orange powered, but lets face it, we're at the Nationals, here, the big names are gonna be faster.  We've got everyone's motor's checked, freshened the spec guys rotors up and have really no problems to report!  A good week at the race track.
 
The guys all report the X-Drive updates continue to impress, and we've been working on our first test ESC's this weekend.  We have Havoc Pro SC based ESC's with updated firmware. It has our new "Super Tuner" like will be used in the Impact.  It's a bit early to tell, but something like this should be available as a racer update in the coming months.  Before you go asking the hobby shops, or race tracks, give us some time, we'll get the info out as soon as this is all ready for "Prime Time".  We've only been testing with the Mod guys, but everyone is happy, and the setting's are much easier to work with and is just like a "bigger" Impact for the heavy duty applications.

 

Main day was great. In Mod 2wd Maifield put the pressure on Cavo in A2, Cavo bobbled and Maifield snuck by and didn't look back.   A3, well Cavo was not to be beat twice and Maifield knew it. He pushed too hard and wrecked  early in the run. Cavo  won 4 National Titles out of 6 classes entered.... TQing each he won.

Stock SCT saw continued domination from Kevin Motter. 2 National titles in one event is no easy task. Kevin is new to the R/C scene but I'm sure we will be seeing much more from Motter. Motter took home his title in the first two mains. Some action in A2 would give his competitors a shot at leading, but motter worked his way back to the front and clear of the field.  Congrats Kevin!
 

Novak's Zack Genova ran stock sct and started 5th on the grid and would also finish 5th.  Zack took home the 4x4 buggy title, 3rd in buggy, 3rd in truck and 5th in sct.... that is great week of racing, well done Zack.

 

 
(Godzilla race reporting, while Charlie pretends to look busy...)

 

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