TALK IT UP TUESDAY TWO-FER, Part Two: Frank Root

Frank Root: Thanks for having me, and thanks for the congratulations. It was a fun, great weekend for me! The funny thing is, I don't really run Pro 4 unless I am at a medium-to-large size race. The SCTE and now the 2.0 work so well all the time, it never breaks, and the maintenance is super low so it makes the perfect 2nd or 3rd class - just mount up some tires and have a blast! It is a lot of power, but I enjoy the challenge.

 

FR: I am not 100% sure, but I have one theory: we had a huge influx of SC and electric racing in general about 3 years ago, and it is possible that many people who entered RC racing at that time in the Pro 4 and Pro 2 classes have now improved and moved onto a more serious racing class as their skills have progressed - something like 2WD buggy.

 

 

 

FR: My dad actually raced when I was younger, like 4-8, a bit around Southern California and really enjoyed the hobby. When I was 10, I got an RC10 Worlds Kit for Christmas along with the radio, ESC, motor, etc. Funny thing is, we still have the home movie of me flipping out when I unwrapped the car. I loved it right away!

 

FR: Probably around 10 years.  I started to get pretty heavy into off-road at SRS in Scottsdale, AZ. Then I moved to Huntington Beach the next year with my girlfriend (now wife) and started racing at SoCal 2-3 times a week, racing JBRL's, and then the Shootouts, Cactus Classics, etc.

 

 

 

FR: Oh no, that was actually the last type of RC racing I got into (laughs). I had really only raced paved oval in Arizona as a club level thing until about 2002 when I got into touring car and started turning right.  I went to a touring car and off-road race at Competition Hobbies in Tucson later that year, where I saw Kinwald, Thielke, Cavalieri, and Truhe all battling it out on the off-road side. I was hooked and soon added jumping to turning left and right.

 

FR: Team Orion, I ran the Stock Nats in 2005 at SRS and Joe Pillars traded me his motor tuning services for control of my boom box (we didn't always have Bluetooth Bose and JBL players...). It worked out for me, as I had a good weekend and made all the mains, then Joe asked if I want to join the team and I didn't hesitate to say yes.

 

 

 

FR: I really felt that I had grown as much as I could at Team Associated, and my friend Theo Captanis (and boss at the time) just asked, "Have you ever thought about running for Losi?" I hadn't really, but with his help, and Mike Truhe's, I reached out to Kevin [Gahan] and Adam [Drake] and ultimately I thought it could be a better home for me.

 

FR: I started working at Horizon Hobby for Losi and TLR in April of 2010, about 3 months after the switch and it wasn't actually part of the move. I was working as a Manager at Pacific Coast Hobbies at the time and was very happy there. Eventually, I got to talking with Bill Jeric and I mentioned I'd like to work in the industry someday. Next thing I knew, I had an impromptu interview, a second interview with Jukka Steenari, and I was working there within a month.

 

 

FR: I am really happy with the 22 2.0.  It was my first full vehicle project and I am really happy with the result of all the work we put into it. But the one that I always go back to is the shorty LiPo. I was working on electronics for Xcelorin at the time, and when Todd [Hodge] and Dan [Dyno Hissam] were developing the 22. I thought, “wouldn't it be cool to A) Use the same back in both rear and mid-motor configurations, and B) help get the weight back down a bit since we had beefed up the car so much? It turned out to change the landscape of LiPo batteries in off-road racing.

 

FR: It is always a fun, but serious, challenge to work on a race platform.  The project starts something like this: take this race car, then make it faster, easier to drive, easier to work on, more durable, and hopefully all at a lower street price. Sounds pretty easy, right? (laughs) It is why I enjoy the job so much though. We have a great team of guys in the office, along with our race team, to get a lot of ideas and thoughts together.  We then test them, weed out the bad, and hone in on the good and the end result is the 22SCT 2.0. When we got a thumbs up from Mr. SC, Ryan Maifield, we feel pretty confident we have a good vehicle on our hands.

 

FR: Not at this point, but I am 100% okay with it. I have a great job, a wonderful wife [Dana], and an amazing two-year-old son [Evan].  I really enjoy all of those things, and they definitely take the bulk of my time as they are higher priorities in my life at this point. I still really enjoy racing, and try to get out two times a month when I can.

 

 

 

FR: Great question - I have great reasons for running, and am happy to share those. First, I don't get to race very much any more - only 7 days since Reedy Race.  Second, I had to work and wasn't able to get to the track until late Friday evening, missing out on most all of practice.  Third, I need to be able to support our top drivers as best as I can which is really hard to do when if we run all the same classes.  Fourth, and by far the most important - we consistently get feedback from TLR consumers that they are looking for stock setups, confirmation that we are running stock during development, stock-specific tuning parts, and general stock support. For the most part, we haven't been able to provide those things directly from the engineering/R&D group as well as we would like to, and that is something we need to improve on. I’m sure you noticed that there were 110 entries in the stock buggy class, which was far and away the largest class when compared to only 60 in the next biggest class (mod buggy).  What better way to improve our cars for stock racing, support our consumers at the event (and those at home) with setup help, and gather insight into what is really needed to help our consumers win their club races in the stock classes than with knowledge and insight from actively participating in the class? It takes experience racing in those classes, and given that I haven't run a stock motor since they had brushes, and the deep field at this race, it was the perfect opportunity to help us learn quickly and support the TLR consumers.

 

FR: Stock racing isn't so easy (laughs) but ultimately, James was on point all weekend and deserved the win. He and Dayton Brown have been running great with the TLR cars all year at Cactus, Shootout, JBRL, and many other events, and I was happy that this weekend James had the skill, nerve, and equipment to win. As for the criticism, I hope that an understanding of the points above (particularly #4) will help most understand why, supported by the office, I chose to run stock and that other racers can appreciate the decision and positive intent. 

 

 

 

FR: That sure is a slippery slope. Who is to say who is too good to run stock? The guy who wins is better than everyone else in the class right? So if you kick him out, is the next guy now too good also? There are plenty of sponsored racers who cannot compete in National-level events in the stock classes, but how do you draw the line, and where?  I appreciate the difficulty of that decision and am glad I am not the one who has to make it.

 

FR: Races like Surf City, the Short COurse Showdown, JConcepts Indoor Nationals, etc. are the perfect venues to test and develop. The competition is strong, the track and racing programs are always good and consistent, and although they do mean a lot, they are not the pinnacle titles like a Nationals, Cactus Class, Shootout, Reedy Race, or Worlds. I like to see up-and-coming drivers taking those major race titles, but I think that gaining experience and confidence at the mid-level races is probably the most important takeaway from those - so yes, I do think they are a bit different.

 

 

 

FR: Wow - did I have to learn a lot in 48 hours! First off, stock is too fast in my opinion; it isn't a learnable speed for a beginner. Second, the stock class is now way more expensive to run compared to modified which is counter-intuitive to me. The bad thing is, I really don't see any way to amend the rules to move away from these this without a handout car complete with electronics which isn't a reasonable solution either.  At the end of the day - it is the biggest class for a reason so it can't be too broken, right? (laughs)

 

FR: This is one thing I really don't care for.  It isn't good for anyone, and it confuses customers, racers, and tech officials.  I can just see someone without much experience getting disqualified at a race for a store-bought, unaltered motor that was to their knowledge completely legal - no one wins here.

 

 

 

FR: Probably at some point, but I don't have any events on my schedule.  I will participate in the expert or super stock classes whenever they are offered. Ultimately, I really believe it is very important for myself and the TLR development team to understand what it takes to be successful in stock/spec racing.  After my eye-opening experience this past weekend, I now understand we cannot gain that knowledge only by watching stock races, but must participate in it.

 

FR: Thanks again for the opportunity! I’d like to give a shout-out to my sponsors: Team Losi Racing, Horizon Hobby, Team Orion, JConcepts, Spektrum, Bradley Fine Line Designs, Imagine It Graphics, Sticky Kicks, OCRC Raceway.com and LiveRC.com