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RACE BLOG: 2013 Novak Offroad Race [updated]

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Mike Garrison

0 Jan. 3, 2013, 8:47 a.m.

Main Photo: RACE BLOG: 2013 Novak Offroad Race [updated]

1/3/2013

By Mike Garrison

LiveRC.com

One of the fastest growing indoor offroad races in the midwest is undoubtedly the one and only Novak Offroad Race. The event returns to the Hobbytown USA HobbyPLEX facility this weekend with a SOLD OUT entry list. 350 entries and a line of drivers waiting, hoping, and praying that they too will get to join in on the fun.

On behalf of LiveRC, I am privledged to be given the opportunity to attend this years event to keep YOU, the LiveRC viewers, up to date with daily race reports, photos, and blog! Not to mention I will get behind the wheel of the LiveRC Project XXX in the Mod 4wd buggy class to see just how much damage we can really do.

The HobbytownUSA HobbyPLEX facility is also working with LiveRC to provide live scoring, audio, and track webcam throughout the entire weekend.

The LiveRC Race Blog will be updated daily with all of the adventure from this year's Novak Offroad Race!

Event Schedule:

Friday - January 4, 2013 - Practice

Saturday - January 5, 2013 - Qualifying (an estimated 15+ hours)

Sunday - January 6, 2013 - Mains

Check back daily for updates, race reports, photos, and more!

UPDATE - Friday Practice

1/4/2013 - 3:25PM

After packing the truck full and heading out early with 5 R/C cars, 4 pit bags, 3 suitcases, 2 laptops, and my one and only "Homer"...we have finally arrived at the Hobbytown USA HobbyPLEX facility. Upon arrival we were greeted with a parking lot PACKED full of racers, a supreme track layout, and some of the midwest's best racers.

The Track

The HobbyPLEX track crew have put together an excellent track design for this year's event. The track is fast, flowing, and features some big air opportunities. With a vast variety of vehicles ranging from stock shortcourse truck all the way to mod 4wd buggy, the track is well designed and fun for all drivers.

The Crowd

The pits are jam packed with racers, spectators, and a few special guests for the weekend. Amongst the racers some of the midwest's top drivers are in attendance including various TLR, AE, Kyosho, Durango, and A Main Hobbies team drivers.

Special guests for the weekend include Novak's very own Bob Novak and Brent Newman. Newman looks to be doing a little racing of his own, and while Bob is sitting with his gift from Cliff Darnell (HobbyPLEX volunteer), we are unsure yet as to whether he will be hitting the track himself.

(Left - The HobbyPLEX pits are packed full and despite winter weather, is warm and cozy. Right - The LiveRC sticker giveaways are no longer on the table, but instead the windows of cars everywhere!)

Also in attendance is our good friend "Chilly" from R/C Car Action Magazine doing a little racing and race coverage as well.

With a sold out crowd of 350+ entries, the practice lines are that of the Cactus Classic...in other words, EXTREMELY long. The PLEX crew is keeping the show moving quite well and making sure everyone gets on the track.

(Everyone is anxious to get out on the track...all 350+ entries)

Project XXX

If you have been following the LiveRC "Project XXX" articles, you probably know that this weekend is set to be the maiden voyage for the Losi XXX4 "restoration" buggy. As we began setting up the pits we received a lot of attention over the buggy. Could it be the freshly painted flo green RONZ body catching everyones eye? Then again maybe it is the bumperless front end that is covered in electrical tape.

Regardless we were anxious to get out on the track, and we did just that. Skeptics claim this buggy is "vintage" and "not up to snuff" for racing anymore. After making only a few laps we quickly decided that the skeptics are WRONG! Sure the XXX4 isn't as fancy or bling covered as some of the newer buggies, BUT it drives just like I remember and feels phenomenal! By no means am I claiming to be going very fast with the buggy, BUT in the right hands the XXX4 is still a race winning machine (in my opinion). With no front bumper we collected large amounts of mud from the track, however, we have agreed to replace our divets and return the mud back to the track for further use.

(Test run #1 = SUCCESS)

The buggy is very calm and easy to drive, not to mention VERY fast using the Novak GTB2 and Ballistic 6.5 setup. Our thicker shock towers and beefed up option parts have proven to hold strong as the buggy has made multiple runs and a number of big crashes with no troubles or breaks. The Venom 5600mAh stick pack is fitting nicely (with a little chassis modifying to eliminate the NiMH humps) and keeping us running for 10+ minutes with ease.

Qualifying Prep

Qualifying is set to kick off early tomorrow morning, and we are busy getting prepped for it all. Preparation for many of the top drivers looks to be gluing tires, rebuilding diffs, setting slipper clutches, etc. While I should probably be prepping my own stuff, I am too busy watching "Homer" (my dad) fight with the Dremel tool while cutting out a fresh body...the Dremel is winning.

End of the Day

It looks to be a great event already, and we are looking forward to getting the racing underway tomorrow morning. It's almost time to head back to the hotel and grab some dinner at the popular Cherry Hills Bar & Grill...that is if they don't recognize my hotel roommate, Matt Gosch, from last time the R/C crowd was in town...

Stay tuned as live scoring, audio, and track webcam will be starting up tomorrow at 9:30am for qualifying, as well as more LiveRC updates throughout the day!

UPDATE - Saturday Qualifying

1/5/2013 - 9:59AM

It is a bright and sunny, but very cold morning here in Omaha, Nebraska. With the heat sheets posted and the first few races under way it is estimated to be a 14+ hour day with a total of 32 heats. Plenty of time between races for drivers to prep cars, shop the hobby store, and if your Novak's Brent Newman...it's time for a nap.

The track building is a little chilly this morning, but the track is once again packed with traction.

Project XXX

Sad news is coming from the LiveRC pits, as early this morning while doing a little maintenance on the Project XXX buggy we discovered two fatal problems. After a head on collision yesterday evening our motor moved just a little. Upon re-adjusting it this morning we found that the motor mount screws running into the chassis had stripped out, making it impossible to properly tighten the motor into place. While the Project XXX was put on life-support for the motor issue, and we frantically searched for a solution...we unfortunately found another issue...

One part on the Project XXX buggy that seemed to be actually "race ready" upon purchasing it, was the slipper assembly. With this being said, I did nothing more than replace the spur gear when building the buggy. As luck would have it, the slipper hub turned out to be mauled and cross threaded. I THOUGHT ("thought" being the key word), I had it working properly. Unfortunately it gave out and has caused the slipper to loosen a little more each lap.

Unfortunately, this means that the Project XXX buggy will not be in action this weekend, however, we hope to get it fixed up and running again before the next major event.

[UPDATE] 11:25AM

After hearing the news that the Project XXX buggy was out of running order for the day, Homer took over and has been working madly in his pit with the buggy. After some very unique tweaks, gluing, and pointing out the fact that I should never apply to work as a mechanic...the Project XXX4 is back!!!

Apparently it is necessary to include all of the parts in the slipper assembly in order for it to work...interesting fact that I did not know. As for the motor mount screws, extra long airplane screws with the help of a little CA glue, and all seems to be tight and held strong!

In the Pits

My old man, Homer, is always shopping for the latest and greatest goodies in R/C. Last week he heard that the XRAY XB4 was now available, and naturally felt he should try it! He purchased the new buggy, made the mistake back home of letting me drive it a lap. I wall tested it first lap out. A hard hit and tumble resulted in a broken rear shock tower. As parts are a little hard to come by at this point, the guys at TeamSR saved the day by Next Day Air shipping us their all-new XB4 shock tower kit. The new towers are thicker than the stock towers, finished off with a super trick "wet look" pre-glued edges, and fit like a glove. The new towers look and work so good, we replaced both stock towers with the TeamSR towers for this weekend.

Also in the pits is the all-new Caster Racing 4wd buggy. Team driver, Dave Alberico, is behind the wheel of this new buggy and making it look good. The buggy features aluminum chassis, top deck, and accessories. The new S10B buggy is available to the public, and looks to be a nice addition to the Caster lineup!

X Factory has officially released their new X-60 CF stadium truck, which is also a hot item here. Multiple team drivers are in attendance running the new truck, and showing it off with good runs already this morning. The T4.1 X-60-CF conversion kit transforms the Team Associated T4.1 truck into a carbon fiber, mid-motor stadium truck.

Also spotted in the pits are multiple Team Associated drivers rockin' the new short course buggy front end parts on the T4.1 stadium truck. A-arms, shock towers, and misc. other parts are being used to offer even better handling in these high traction conditions.

Round 1 is roughly at the half way point, and is moving along quite well! Tune in for the live scoring, audio, and track cam for the remainder of qualifying!

UPDATE

1/6/2013 - 12:22AM

It is 12:22am in the morning and we are FINALLY done with qualifying...at least for today. The PLEX crew did a fantastic job of running the races today, however, with 34 heats and 3 rounds of qualifying it takes time, a LOT of time.

Racing throughout all of the classes was intense today. Back and forth racing in almost every heat, with surprise finishes and crowd applauding wins. With still another round of qualifying to go tomorrow morning, drivers are gearing up to either defend their current qualifying positions or battle to the death for a better one. A full TQ list can be found in the Live Broadcast screen, however, after three rounds here is your top 3 in each class by qual points:

Plexspec Beginners

1) Zach Valgora

2) Kristopher Yakes

3) Travis Hizer Jr.

17.5 Stock Buggy

1) Sam Anderson

2) Keaton Larsen

3) Chris Puller

17.5 Stock Truck

1) Jeremy Heerde

2) Alex Eklund

3) Mason Fuller

2wd Modified Buggy

1) Zach Phillips

2) Taylor Larsen

3) Cody Hollis

4wd Modified Buggy

1) Matt Gosch

2) Zach Phillips

3) Will Brinton

Modified Truck

1) Taylor Larsen

2) Cody Hollis

3) Cole Tollard

17.5 Stock SCT

1) Alex Eklund

2) Neil Pestka

3) Mason Fuller

2wd Modified SCT

1) Jason Hills

2) Cole Tollard

3) Taylor Larsen

4wd Modified SCT

1) Danny Bartholomew

2) Brent Newman

3) Eric Larsen

Novak Club Racer 17.5 SCB

1) Dillan Voelker

2) Kevin Lesac

3) Brett Nelson

Top 8 drivers will be advancing directly to the A-Mains, with 2 bumping up from lower mains. The single main format will allow drivers to bump into the 8 minute mains from the 6 and 5 minute lower mains.

A final round of qualifying will take place tomorrow morning at 8:30am followed by the main events.

While wandering through the pits today we found a list of cool things in various pit spaces. Everything from "Cool" Puller's brushed motor magnetized tool holder, the Valles family carpet covered car stands, vintage race cars showing up the modern kits, and we even found a new friend who essentially manufactured his own cars with bits and pieces of various vehicles and his own fabrication!

The new Team Associated SCB is a hot item here in Omaha, and has been spotted more than once bashing in the snow outside and running fast laps on the track inside. Bob Novak is running a special Novak SCB that was given to him by one of the nicest guys in the pits, Cliff Darnell, who is also an avid HobbyPLEX volunteer. Bob proved today that he is not afraid to bang wheels with the best of them as he muscled his way into the SCB A-Main. With over 100+ trophies to assemble, we began to wonder who was blessed with the job of doing so...turns out a local racer stepped in and got the job done.

While today was an action packed day of fun and racing, our brain is now entering hibernation mode and ready for a little sleep. Check out today's pics below!

UPDATE - Sunday Mains

1/7/2013

It was a long day of racing on Sunday, but worth every second of it! The morning started off with a final round of qualifying for drivers to take one last shot and making the top 8. Shortly after the HobbyPLEX crew put on a racer raffle with prizes from race sponsors including a Spektrum radio, AE Pro-Lite RTR, JConcepts apparel, Novak goodies, and more! As the raffle came to a close it was time to get the lower mains under way. It quickly became clear that it didn't matter whether you were watching the E Main or the A Main, all of the classes were stacked with great racers and great racing.

In Mod 2wd Buggy it was the Zach Phillips Show as the Team Kyosho driver got out front early on battling with TLR's Taylor Larsen. Larsen made a few mistakes dropping him back in the field allowing TLR teammate, Cody Hollis, and A Main Hobbies driver, Matt Gosch to move up. Phillips laid down the most consistent laps for the full 8 minutes taking home the win with Hollis and Gosch taking the final two podium spots.

While he may not be so good at after race dart games, Matt Gosch proved to be the fastest man on the track in Mod 4wd Buggy. Gosch dominated qualifying and led the main from start to finish. Team Associated's Cole Tollard drove the new B44.2 into second, while Mod 2wd winner, Zach Phillips, rounded out the top three.

In Mod Truck it was the Kansas native, Taylor Larsen, who swept qualifying AND the Mod Truck A-Main with his TLR 22T. Another strong showing for the Kyosho of Phillips as he would finish up second, and Kendall "The Welchinator" Welch would finish out the podium putting his TLR22T on the box as well.

Pro2 Modified SCT was all about the young guns this weekend. Bad luck for TQ, Taylor Larsen, dropped him out early. It was Team Associated's, Cole Tollard and Jason Hills on fire finishing up in the 1-2 spots. Devin McGee started in the fourth place spot, but would charge hard and stay smooth to finish out the race in third.

Pro4 Modified SCT was one of the most fun races I personally have ever been in. XRAY's, Danny Bartholomew, was strong in qualifying with Novak's Brent Newman starting second and the Losi/LiveRC SCTE of my own starting third. Once the tone sounded it was back and forth racing with all three trucks leading the race multiple times throughout the main. Bartholomew was smooth and consistent and stretched out a little bit of a lead as Newman and I battled for second and third. Newman rolled it over the last lap and opened the door for me to take second. A celebrated Novak 1-2-3 sweep of the Pro4 class!

In the Plexspec Beginners class it was Zach Valgora driving his Rockstar Losi SCT who would TQ and win the show, with Lucas Leinen (not pictured) finishing second. Frank Hudson charged hard and crossed the finish line only .3 seconds behind second place finishing up third!

The Novak Club Racer 17.5 Spec SCB class was packed with racers! After all the points were tallied up it was Dillan Voelker finishing up first, Don Drozd in second, and Derek Graplar finishing up third. Bob Novak himself laid down the laps in the final A-Main finishing up 5th.

Stock buggy was a wheel banging battle between the top three. Sam Anderson had company for the first of the race, but began pulling away to a comfortable lead. Keaton Larsen and youngster Mason Fuller went wheel to wheel for the final two podium spots. Larsen would finish up in second and little Mason Fuller finished third proving he may be small, but he has big skills on the track.

Stock Truck was a downright brawl between the top three drivers, and ended with them all finishing one seconds apart. Number two qualifier, Derek Richtsmeier, too his T4.1 to victory with Jeremy Heerde (TQ) finishing second, and Kyosho's Chris Cattlett finishing third.

Stock SCT was all Alex Eklund as he was able to capture the TQ spot in qualifying and the overall win! Once again the up and coming, Mason Fuller, finished up second with an impressive run followed by Derek Richtsmeier (Stock Truck winner) in third!

After all of the racing was in the books we look back at the weekend and check it off as yet another great race in Omaha. Not everyone was able to win on the track, but almost everyone walked away with prizes, t-shirts, and a smile on their face.

A big thank you to Novak, HobbyPLEX crew, supporting race sponsors for an awesome 2013 Novak Offroad Race!

Podium pictures and action photos (coming soon) are courtesy of Jim Pauly Photography and his young racer assistant, Nick Skorstad. A HUGE thank you to those two for all of the great pics taken this weekend which can be viewed at www.jpprints.printroom.com!

For more pics and the race report from our friend "Chilly" at RC Car Action Magazine, CLICK HERE.

This is a race that you don't want to miss for 2014, and for all of YOU who followed along here on LiveRC, THANK YOU!