Top Notch Tour Round 5 at Channel Islands Raceway 2017

On December 16th, 2017 I attend the 5th round of the Top Notch Tour at Channel Islands Raceway in Santa Barbara, CA. First I would like to thank Shara and Jeff Hurley for all the help in the pits and the epic turn marshaling!!

It was a interesting day in that the Thomas fire was bearing down on Santa Barbara and we had to wear masks to avoid breathing in smoke and ash. Overall I was extremely impressed with the track facilities, with both a 1/10 scale track and 1/8 scale track. Although the only hiccup we had was the power going out in the pits due to the some issue with the generators.

Here is a shot of my TLR 8ightE 4.0 right before my first qualifier. The buggy felt good in the morning with a fresh oil throughout the buggy.

I was driving really dumb in practice and took out my front shock tower... Here is a shot of the aftermath.

Here is a shot of the track from the top left corner when looking from the drivers' stand. The track was very challenging to many large, off camber jumps and tight technical turns. This was actually the top of the off camber step up that claimed many broken parts throughout the day.

Here is a shot of the step up, it was massive!

Before the step up, there was a small rhythm double in front of the drivers stand. After the double, there was a small down hill to a small double into a very tight turn. So many people got the small double wrong and ended up flipping over. 

After the downhill double and tight turn, there was a very technical mid field that would jump onto the back straight. A lot of time was either gained in the middle with a smooth tight lines, or you blew it and got passed. Many times people would flip you in the first turn, you you would end up wide from coming in too hot and promptly be passed.

The top straight away was very narrow and it was easy to to get the line wrong and hit the back wall. the end of the straight led into a step down, that then lead into a high speed berm. That step down gave me so much trouble all day and the berm nearly took me out completely.

Here is a shot of the berm. Trying to make a pass in the loom in the middle left of the image sent me flying off the track. In order to make it fast through the berm you has to stay low.

After the berm, there was another off camber double right out of a 180 degree turn. This part of the track was fairly simple.

After the previous double, you came up to another 180 degree turn and directly into this huge double that lead into the lap counter. The objective of the big double was to stay low and downside perfectly in order to set up the turn that came immediately after landing.

The weather was nice overall, but a plume of smoke rained down ash over the track. Here is a shot of the sun being blocked out!

Here is another shot of the smoke that lingered over the track.

The Ebuggy main was rough for me. I ended up getting taken out pretty hard and here is a shot of the aftermath.

            Here is the video of the main.

The Sportsman buggy A Main started very poorly for me, but I kept my cool and tried my best to keep it all together. I ended up getting a 3rd place finish!

           Here is the video of the main.

This race was a great learning experience for me and I really enjoyed myself overall! I am excited to paint some fresh bodies! 

Thank you AKA and Team Trinity for all of your support with keeping my tires, motor, and batteries dialed.

-Matthew Garcia

Toys for Tots Race 2017 at Thunder Alley RC Raceway

On December 9th 2017 I attended the Annual Toys for Tots Race at Thunder Alley Raceway. I want to start by thanking Oscar Lopez for helping me set up my buggy the night before this race, I cant thank you enough sir! Thank you Buddy Blacksmith for the help in the pits, I am looking forward to the DNC!

The track was very high speed and required you to flow with the many ruts  and Gale force winds. It was a packed house with over 100 entries, and there was plenty of competition. 

Here is a shot of the drivers stand!

I had the privilege of pitting with the Buddy Blacksmith, Ryan Taylor, Ryan Pavidis, and Don Vinkemulder. I was lucky enough to get a lesson on buggy set up and racing techniques. Turns out my late night wrenching caused me to assemble the rear hubs improperly...

This is what it looked like walking from the track to the pits.

As the day progressed the track started to smooth out and groove in more on the long straights and big jumps. Other parts of the track continued to deteriorate and larger ruts formed.

Here is a shot from the top of the track.

There where two Double Doubles and a triple. This shot shows the straight leading up to the top of the track. At the top you would have to Double and then accelerate to make the massive step down Double that followed.

Here is a shot of some serious acceleration. This buggy was fully loaded and ready to launch!

After rounding the corner of the step down, you would immediately approach the Double to Triple. Here is a top down view of the section!

After all the huge jumps, you had this little berm into some double doubles and then a single double to a tabletop. The tabletop actually led to the straight away that was very high speed.

Here is a shot of the straight away and the pits. Everyone was very focused on their pit duties! You can see a couple buggies pushing hard down this section of the track.

Here is a video of my TLR 8ight 4.0 buggy in the C main. The buggy was super dialed all day long. The Oscar Lopez set up had the buggy performing great! I used AKA Soft Long wear Gridiron II tires on all 4 wheels.

Overall I had a great time at the Toys for Tots race. I got some valuable testing in and learned some important set ups. I only raced gas buggy this race and ended up getting 4th in the C main. I made some really dumb mistakes while trying to play the bump game and it cost me. I will be ready to crush it at the next race!

Thank you AKA and Team Trinity for all of your support with keeping my tires, motor, and batteries dialed.

-Matthew Garcia