WOW! Another 7-day racing trip is in the books. Last Monday when I left the house for the airport, I knew I was heading to a really good track with obviously lots of good competition. However, “good” is a gross understatement of how awesome this event was.

Rob, Levi, and the rest of the Thunder Alley crew deserve a HUGE amount of credit and respect for the work they put into the Nats. Those guys have built a facility that, I promise you, rivals any other R/C racing facility in the world. I have traveled all over this country for different events and I can only remember 3 that have come close. Also huge props to Rob for working his tail off all week keeping the track watered. The dude is probably a couple shades tanner now that he was on Monday.

As for the track, Levi Jackson was the designer and it was really a great layout. For the most part the track was pretty easy. It didn’t have any misplaced jumps or rollers in awkward spots or use some sort of turd pile looking mounds just to create obstacles. It had a great flow and really made you drive every lap as fast as possible to be a top contender. Guys all the way down through the top 70 were turning laps in the 30 second range to give you an idea of how flowing and good the track really was. So needless to say there was a ton of close racing going on and it would only take a small bobble to bump a guy back from a prospective top 20 run to then being only good enough for a top 50.  For me it took a ton of getting used to and I looked like a total squid my first time on the track. Back in Florida our tracks are a little smaller but probably require a little more precision because of all the 90° and 180° turns we have. So it was a little weird driving on the throttle as much as you had to for this particular layout. Eventually I came around and put in some good runs but nothing near what I was capable of.

Unlike the 2008 Nationals at Thunder Alley where they ran the track completely dry, they decided that this year they wanted to keep some moisture in the track. This turned out to be a huge deal for the drivers because the water didn’t create the “loam” they were hoping for but instead just cooled the track down. As a result, you as a driver could expect to go much slower for your watered round as opposed to the round where you got a dry track. It was easily almost a second slower if you were in a watered race.  Also, what I found is this track is amazingly sensitive to how hot the track surface is as well. Just like if you were in a watered race you went slow but if you were in an early morning race or a late afternoon race you went slow too. So this information played complete havoc on tire strategy with everyone all week. I’m pretty sure that between all the brands that every available compound was tried by someone in one heat or another.  It got to the point that we were planning different compounds for water/ no water and then taking into account the time of day you were running……..definitely had some head games going on this past week.

Interesting highlights from the track itself was the double/triple combo in front of the driver stand. It was awesome but gave a lot of people fits because it required perfect timing and a good motor to get over properly.  There also was a step heading to the back of the track that was really cool. You could “Bubba Scrub” the face of it to set you up for the landing and it just was awesome to watch guys like Cavalieri, Tebo, and others do that.  If you watched the race or seen pictures you undoubtedly saw the big NASCAR style berm in the middle of the track. It was really neat to throw your car in that thing full wood and come shooting out back towards you.

From the racing side of things I won’t bore you with how I should have finished higher than I did, but rather tell you how amazing it is to see some of the top guys do battle on the layout we had. We have all seen someone lay down a fast run, but watching Cavalieri, Maifield, and Tebo do battle in both truggy and buggy nose to tail just leaves you in awe. It didn’t matter if it was hot/cold, day/night, wet/dry, or etc. These guys do it all the time and they make it look easy. I have to say though that the guys developing their cars are doing a hell of a job as well. Clearly the Associated and Kyosho cars are the class of the field in terms of manufactures right now and I say this because those guys’ cars, as well as others running them in the main, just looked 10 times better than any other vehicles I saw all weekend. They responded better, jumped better, landed better, and carried way more corner speed. Hot Bodies isn’t far behind and nor is Losi but it is definitely them and then the rest, but good luck getting some of the parts they have on their cars .

Also, all the big manufacturers were out in support of their teams the biggest of which was Pro-Line.  With the factory only 10 minutes down the road from the track they brought two new tires to the table for this race, 1 for truggy and 1 for buggy. The truggy tire is a new iteration of a previous tire. It is the Revolver 2.0 1/8th truggy tire and it provided awesome forward traction with increased side bite. Paired with new Closed Cell truggy foam they were an awesome combination and I used it personally all week with great success.

The buggy tire that you have probably already scene plastered all over the internet is the new Blockade 1/8th buggy tire. It is a pattern that visibly is similar to a Revolver 2.0 but is a bigger and broader lug for increased traction and longer wear.  This also was the only tire I ran all week on my buggy and it was incredible. They make the car very neutral feeling with a great balance of steering and traction. Overall they make the car much easier and forgiving to drive. Ryan Cavalieri used this tire in the M2 compound to grab the championship this year. It’s not a bad day when you can win a National Championship with a tire that was hot off the press only 5 days prior.

This tire is perfect for grooved and non-grooved track conditions alike and will provide a wear characteristic unlike anything else available today.

On the more personal side of things, I need to give a huge THANK YOU to the entire Pro-Line crew that was in attendance at the race. Both Daniel and Gerardo had to deal with drivers asking for tires every second of the day and they always did it with a smile. Also, Tim Clark, tire designer extraordinaire, was on hand giving recommendations on what tires to run and collecting feedback from all the drivers. He is a super nice guy and is always trying to come up with new ways to improve Pro-Line products. Last but certainly not least is Pro-Line owner Todd Mattson. Sir, without the support of your products and ALL of the great people you have found for your company many drivers like myself would not have experienced a lot of the success we have. There were a lot of other folks that came out to the track from PL that also are awesome people and make it such a great company. Thank you again and I look forward to winning more races for you guys here in the future.

Random Fun Race Facts:

-          Mark from PL makes good hamburgers and guac….but Daniels are pretty awesome too!

-          Billy Easton changes the setup on his car every time it hits the track

-          The Hampton Inn in Beaumont doesn’t appreciate tire gluing circles left on room furniture….(they will charge you $300 for the tables in the room fyi)

-          For some reason Tyler Vik has to eat a jar of Apple Sauce on main day, but he has only been spotted with the “Motts” brand for some reason.

-          Daniel Adams can blow up servos before he even puts his brand new car on the track with his mind.

-          People in California like black shin socks, black low-top Chuck Taylors/Vans, and Dickies shorts

-          Florida boys showed they can race with anyone. JR Mitch and Billy Easton made the mains…way to go boys!

-          TLR looks like a real race team….they have team meetings at the end of the day.

-          Clint Wachter looked hurting in the beginning of the week but drove his butt off and put  it in the main…..congrats bud. Somebody didn’t put the right cover on the TPS report when sending out the right setup sheets

-          Taylor Peterson looks better in “Rhonda Pink”

-          Rob Jackson is super organized…..he makes his lists with fluorescent yellow poster board so you can see it from anywhere on the track.

All in all it was an amazing week of racing with a bunch of great people at a great event and folks you simply can’t ask for anymore.

‘Till Next Time

Leon McIntosh

p.s. sorry for no awesome pictures…..busy TRYING to make my car better for 6 days straight

On a bright sunny weekend, January 23, 2011, the Supercup kicked off its spring session at Extreme Hobby Zone in Winter Haven, Florida. It is one of the smaller tracks in the state but every time there is a race there it’s an absolute blast. The layout is always fast, flowing, and makes for tight wheel-to-wheel racing.  As many series’ do, The banquet for previous sessions was on Saturday night. This is important because it was probably the best R/C banquet I have ever attended in my 14 years of racing.

2wd mod is usually the most difficult class at the electric races here in Florida and this weekend was no different with drivers like Ryan Eckert, Paul Wynn, Jason Ruona, and myself.  In the main I lined up at TQ with Eckert and Wynn in tow. For the first few laps Ryan and I went back and forth till he clipped a pipe that allowed me to get away. For the remaining time I never looked back and kept my X-Factory X-6 squared rubber side down. I used Pro-Line  Hole Shot 2.0 and 4-Rib fronts and they were awesome. I was the only car pulling wheelies in the main.

It was much the same in Mod truck with a TQ and a win by almost 2 laps in the main with X-60 running M3 Hole Shots all the way around.

Pro 2 Short Bus was a great race as well. I took the win with my SCX-60 but it was definitely hard fought. Ryan Eckert was TQ and lead most of the race but him and Felix Law tangled a few times and let me by. They were faster for sure but I just stayed consistent and lead when it counted. On my SC truck I used Pro-Line’s new Renegade SC wheels, M3 Snipers on the rear, and M3 Bow-Ties on the front with a Chevy body.

It was a great event and a great way to start off the new year. The next race is at another great track here in Millspond, FL (near Miami) at the end of February. Thanks to everyone that made the race possible and my sponsors for letting me race at the level I do.

2WD Mod – TQ / 1st
Mod Truck – TQ / 1st
Pro2 SC – 1st

Till Next time,

Leon McIntosh

X-Factory, Pro-Line

 

On the weekend of January 8th and 9th, 150 of the fastest racers in Florida took part in Round 3 of the Florida State Off-Road Series. As usual there was some awesome racing and great times had by all.  Everyone was looking forward to this round in particular because it was at a track that was recently just created. The track is cleverly named “The R/C Asylum” and is housed in a 100 year old citrus packaging plant in Winter Haven, Fl. (for all you motocross fans its near where Bubba Stewart lives) It is a good addition to the Florida scene because if you have ever been here for a race, you know it is going to rain at some point. However, this track still has some challenges to it that made for some early frustrations. The floor that the track is built on is 3 feet off of the ground, so cold air is always circulating under the track making it difficult to find traction. All weekend the only compounds that worked were Super Softs from all manufacturers with a trade off of longevity.

In the 1/8th Pro Buggy class the star of qualifying was Billy Easton. He took all three rounds and was 15 seconds clear of the next closest competitor. He was also the only guy that turned 14 laps. From 2nd on back it was a battle with the likes of Jr Mitch, Gene Hickerson, Ryan Eckert, Leon McIntosh (myself) and a couple other guys for the final qualifying postions. I ended up breaking two out of three so I had bump from the B. I managed that fairly easily and and gridded up 11th for the A main.

For the A, Billy and myself opted for M4 Hole Shots to carry us through the 30 minute race. Ryan Johnson, a local fast guy, used M4 Hole Shots on the rear and M3 Suburbs on the front. We were all pretty happy with the selection and drove decent races as a result. Billy started up front and had a great battle early on but he let the track get the best of him and JR Mitch went around for the Victory. Ryan and myself were battling for the 3rd-5th spot for the entire race. With some engine trouble in the end I settled for the 6th, Ryan 5th, and Billy 2nd.  A lot of credit has to go to JR, though, because not only was his car good but he drove a great race.

In 1/8th Pro Truck JR Mitch took the victory again followed by Ryan Johnson in 2nd on M3 Hole Shot VTRs. Ryan drove a great race but had problems in traffic due to the tight layout and difficult jump sections.  All in all it was a good race and a lot of credit goes to the guys at the Asylum for putting on a great race. Even when it was freezing cold ( 40 degrees here in florida is freezing ) we still had a blast.

Next Stop, Electric Super Cup Race January 22nd & 23rd at Extreme Hobby Zone in Winter Have, FL.

Till Next Time,
Leon McIntosh

Pro-Line/Xray

Funny Video of the day:

In case you haven’t seen it there is new package for Pro-Line 1/10th buggy tires!! This new system will keep the foams fresher and in better shape for when you go to mount them. Get’em today from your nearest Pro-Line retailer.

LM

Early in August, the graduate business school started advertising for the “MBA Case Competition” taking place in November.  I didn’t know what the heck it was, but I put my name down because I figured if it wasn’t fun it would at least be a good networking opportunity.  So a couple months go by and I started to occasionally hear a little bit of chatter about who was participating, who people thought the company was,  teams talking trash on how they were going to beat everyone, and etc. A couple weeks before the competition in mid-November the teams are finally announced, 5 teams of 5, and my team members and I got together for a few beverages to figure out a good plan of attack so we could win this thing.To give you a little bit of a breakdown of the purpose of the event, the graduate school selects a business that has a problem/problems, and it could be anybody so guessing does no good the previous year it was Tampa Electric company, not a small one by any means. All at once they present the company, information, and problems to the teams, then the teams go their separate ways and do the necessary analysis until all your eyes are so blurred that everything starts to look like the matrix. The teams are then assigned a time to give their presentation of their findings/recommendations to a panel of judges made up of company officials, professors, and other local executives in the business world.  Fun right? OF COURSE! Except for when you are only given 24 hours to complete the whole thing.

They loaded us on to a bus Friday morning at 8am and took us to a “secret” location that ended up being the Hillsborough Education Foundation. Gave us a presentation of all the information we could every want to know from 8:30-Noon.  We got back to school and debriefed as an entire group till 1:30pm, at this point we still thought we were going to have 3 days to pulls this deal off.  At the end of the meeting the professor dropped on us that we were being given 24 hours till we had to present.  So we had from 2:00PM on Friday till 9:00AM on Saturday morning to get everything done. Needless to say there was absolutely no sleeping, tons of regression testing, multiple SWOT analysis’s, too many Guy Kawasaki recommendations, 22 total cans of Red Bull, and more Taco Bell than you could imagine.  My group was great and we nailed the presentation on Saturday morning with some awesome ideas but the Executive MBA team won. Kind of a joke because these people are actually acting CEO’s in the Tampa Bay area and we thought there was a bias there anyways because of the judging panel…..but that’s a story for next time.

However, yours truly came up with an idea that the judges mentioned specifically that they liked during the awards presentation…..yup I’m taking all the credit for it too. 

(Me all the way left, my team on the bottom, and some Tampa execs up top)

The reason I wanted to fill you guys in on this was because I know Pro-Line does a good share of charity work and because I think the education arena is often overlooked when we think of charitable giving. It isn’t as glamorous as supporting breast cancer by wearing a bracelet that says you love boobs but it certainly is something that every child can benefit from. It’s all about growing our future with these kids and giving them to be successful in their future endeavors.  I am sure there is something similar where you live and I encourage you to check it out. The Hillsborough Education Foundation gives a ton of money to scholarships, learning programs, and most importantly the teachers. It was a great event to be a part of because not only did we give them $50,000 dollars worth of free consulting but we actually provided them with useful information to help them gain donations.

You can check out more on them at  www.educationfoundation.org

You can also check out this link about the competition:

http://engineur.com/post/2373923326/usf-graduate-business-case-competition-2010

**Also check out my new sports website the 1st of the year. If you think you can write a story and want to contribute let me know. www.straightsportstalk.com

**Racing News coming soon from the sunshine state where we are still wearing shorts and t-shirts this winter

Till Next Time,

Leon McIntosh

-Saturday Qualifying-

In the always-competitive 1:8^th buggy class qualifying was very tight, particularly with some of the names that showed up. We were graced with the presence of some of the best on-road drivers in the world including Chris Tosolini and Jared Scott.  They both picked it up very fast and were forces to be reckoned with in quals, however once again it was all Billy Easton put his Pro-Line outfitted serpent car on top with a qualifying run that was 10 seconds clear of anyone else. Also the usual fast guys were in attendance as well including, Ryan Eckert, Myself (Leon McIntoshh J), Jp Tirronen, Nick Angelidas, Sean Kersten, and others.

-Sunday Main-

On Sunday there were a lot of mind games going on. Rain was threatening so it was cloudy outside keeping temperatures a little cool but most importantly the sun off the track. This made a difficult choice on whether to run an M3 or an M2 compound tire for the main.  In the end because of some light rain minutes before the 1:8^th pro main everyone went out on softer compound tires. Billy Opted for the M3 Calibers, Tosolini tried every brand over the weekend but settled on M3 Revolvers with the Blue Closed Cell Foam for the main and I ran M3 Crime Fighters.

The start of the main went awesome! It was a Pro-Line 1,2,3 with Billy leading the way, Chris in 2^nd and Myself in 3^rd.  We stretched out on the pack and stayed this way until the first round of pit stops. Shortly after which I had a tie up with traffic and the turn marshal flamed my car out so I was playing catch up the rest of the way. This opened the door for a battle between JP Tirronen, Jared Scott, and Ryan Eckert for the 3^rd spot. At this point Billy was absolutely gone and Toso just didn’t make any mistakes.  In the end though JP grabbed the 3^rd spot closely followed by Jared. This finishing order went like this:

1- Billy Easton               M3 Calibers

2- Chris Tosolini            M3 Revolvers + Blue Closed Cell Foam

3- JP Tirronen

4- Jared Scott

5- Ryan Eckert

6- Leon McIntosh            M3 Crime Fighters

7- Nick Angelidas

8- Brett Kingsbury

9- Sean Kersten

10- Felix Law

11- Juan Mendez

12- Maxy Velazco

It was definitely one of the most exciting races we have run because it actually rained in the first 5 minutes of the main and then the sun came out and dried the track out rather quickly so we raced in a couple different conditions. It was interested to see how everyone’s cars changed as the track changed. Great event and the track crew did an awesome job. Look forward to going back again.

Here is a video I shot on my phone that follows a local sportsman driver for a lap around the track!

Lap">Lap" />around the Track with Jammin Kirby

And just a shot of my car with the new split six wheels in black

Leon McIntosh

Pro-Line/Xray

This is a project that I did by myself…..yup that’s 560 pages of market research for a Laser Doppler Vibrometry system.

Also, just moved into a new apartment. Great location in tampa about 10 minutes from the Lake Park R/C track.  Hardest part has been making it look like home but being a guy that has been pretty easy because here’s the best decoration anyone could have:

Got some new kicks the other day too. Hoping to find the motivation to get on a treadmill and run a little of this college weight off. The shoes are pretty coolest part is I bought the Nike+Ipod Sensor and that things worth its weight in gold. It actually adjusts the music your ipod plays to the speed of your workout and you can program it to do a while bunch of other stuff as well. Just started a few days ago so we’ll see how long it lasts.

Buddy of mine was telling me a story about a $10,000 watch. Then I say a guy at the fed-ex store wearing a calculator watch………like the ones I wore in 6^th grade to cheat on math tests. Didn’t know they still made these bad boys.

I was driving the other day past this church and got excited because I saw a replica of the Ghostbusters car, or so I thought. So I busted a U-Turn to snap a picture with my cell phone when I noticed what it really said. Little disappointed but still pretty funny.

Till Next Time,

Leon McIntosh

Pro-Line/Xray

It was all Billy Easton dominating the race and taking the win with a lap on the field using M2 Calibers with closed cell foam. Leon had a great battle for 2nd with Jason Rouna for the entire 30 minute main. In the end though, Leon crossed the line in 3rd opting to use the softer M3 Caliber tires with blue closed cell foam.

Newcomer to the Pro-Line team, Josh Talmadge, was well on his way to a great finish until engine issues dropped him back in the field. On the highly abrasive Florida surface Josh opted to use Pro-Lines new Recoil tire in M3 compound. It proved to be a great decision as the tires had over 75% tread left at the end of 30 minutes. Josh had this to say after the race,” The Recoils were awesome from start to finish, even when the dust came up I was still able to really push the limits”.  As the dust settled it was a great run for the Pro-Line team taking two out of the top three spots on the podium.

1:8th Pro Buggy A-Main Results

1.  Billy Easton – Pro-Line M2 Calibers w/ Blue Closed Cell Foam

2.  Jason Rouna

3.  Leon McIntosh – Pro-Line M3 Calibers w/Blue Closed Cell Foam

4.  Robbie Saxon

5.  Brett Kingsbury

6.  Gene Hickerson

7.  JR Mitch

8.  Josh Talmadge – Pro-Line M3 Recoils w/ Blue Molded foam

9.  Ryan Eckert

10. Nick Angelidas

11. Ryan Johnson – Pro-Line M3 Calibers

12. J.P. Tirronen 

In 1:8th Pro Truggy, Florida boy Ryan Johnson used VTR Calibers in M2 to take the win. Ryan led over half the 30-minute A-main over ROAR Nats finalist JR Mitch. Congrats to Ryan on a great drive.

Hey guys hope everyone is doing well!! Things are really starting to get crazy down here in Florida. The temperature is already in the mid 80’s and as you may know that means the return of crazy humidity. So not only is hotter than all heck during the day when your outside, no matter what your wearing or doing you will be looking like you just jumped out of a pool from all the sweat. Good news is though we have some of the best beaches in the country right here in the state and I plan on being a frequent visitor.

Racing wise we are continuing our Florida Off-Road Nitro state series for another 2-3 months before we break for the summer. I am currently leading the points but I think it will come down to the last race before we crown a champion. I have been really consistent but haven’t pulled one off. We have some awesome competition down here between myself, Billy Easton, JR Mitch, Ryan Eckert, Jason Rouna, Gene Hickerson, and a lot of local fast guys. Any one us at any given time can win so it’s always tight. Billy usually is the fast guy though. Every race so far he has been able to lay laps down that are almost a whole second faster than anyone else for sure but we don’t know if it’s that Serpent car he created or the AWESOME Pro-Line Rubber J!!  I tend to think it’s the latter but the fore is pretty good too.

Also, The Nats are coming up. Don’t know if I’ll be able to make because I might have an internship this summer with one of the Investors from the show Shark Tank on ABC…. So needless to say I’m pretty stoked about the possible opportunity. It’s a really neat deal that came up through my Masters program at the University of South Florida.  Pair that with the fact that my Fiancé and I are moving out in May so money might be a little tight.

Other than that things are going really well. Just stressed to the max with school because everything is a group project and keep feeling like I get stuck with the engineers that want to over analyze the smallest detail and then I get turned into the bad guy when I ask them “Can it be done in 4-weeks?” Sorry I like to be prepared and get good grades, didn’t know it was such a crime.

Funny Video of the Week:

Till Next Time

Leon McIntosh

Team Pro-Line