Racing Blog 3-9-2006
	Well, it’s that time again, time for another exciting commentary on Salt Lake Mini-Z’s 3/9/06 event.  This weeks run was a Salt Lake Mini-Z points event, and this week we rolled out some new enhancements.  We were a little on the short side as far as attendance was concerned, but that happens sometimes.  In attendance were: Brian (aka Briankstan) Chad Luke Lynn (aka Clanure) Chris Those missing in action were: Kelly Mike (aka Stepchild) John Brandon Mike S For track setup this week, we decided that we had so much fun with our track building experience last week, we would wing it again and see if we could duplicate our luck.  Because we weren’t running HFAY OLPS, we had complete freedom.  It turns out that, in my opinion at least, we can.  We had another very unique track, using both the wide inside corners and the 45’s. Because this week was for Salt Lake Mini-Z points, everyone got their cars setup and began practicing.  We then setup for qualifying.  Most of our problems from the previous week seemed to be at a minimum, with very little glitching.  Chad threw a couple of sheets over the garage door, and we didn’t have quite as many antennas in the room, all of which seemed to help.  Luke’s car was running much better.  Chad converted his 02 MM Enzo to a RM Ferrari 430, and it looks great.  He says he really enjoys racing it and it seemed to run great. We ran qualifying, and I actually finished 2nd, behind Chad.  Qualifying turned out like this: Chad, Lynn, Luke, Brian, Chris.  After qualifying we ran our 8-min main.  This main starts in reverse order from qualifying, so Chad and I were in back.  Racing started out great.  I couldn’t believe it.  I actually led the first 7 laps, and then secured the lead for lap 14, which I then abruptly lost again.  Talk about cloud 9.  This was the first race I have ever led.  Chad took the lead and never gave it back.  He finished with 62 laps, Brian with 59, myself with 54, Luke with 50, and Chris with 37.  All in all, I think it was a pretty decent race.  Then things really got interesting. One of the new elements that we added to the Salt Lake Mini-Z 2006 Winter Championship was a new race that we have dubbed the ‘shootout’.  We run 2 per event.  They are 3 lap mad dashes to the finish line.  Whoever wins gets 1 bonus point.  Man, talk about fun.  I don’t know how the other guys felt about these, but I thought they were great.  Run full throttle around the track, just hoping that you can hold on.  It is only 3 laps after all.   We decided to run these because when there are only 3 laps, anyone can take it.  It’s hard to describe the experience, but I really enjoyed these.  Chad took the first race pretty easily, but Brian won the second one, with Chad in 2nd, and I 7/100th’s of a second behind Chad.  To give an idea of how this turned out.  Between the two races (6 laps total), 4 out of the 5 drivers led a lap.  Talk about exciting. After we finished the shootouts the racers got to take a break, and out came the Overlands.  Everyone who runs an OL for points was present, so it turned out great.  Luke set up the jumps and everyone practiced for a bit.   The OL race was its normal hilarity, with high centering, rollovers, trucks leaving the track completely, and a fair amount of carnage.  I’ve definitely improved my OL driving skill, having turned down the throttle trim, and working on the steering a bit.  I still have a long way to go however.  The OL finish broke down like this:  Chad (25 laps), Brian (22 laps), me (18 laps), Luke (16 laps). After the OL cleanup, we ran the last racer race of the night.  20 minutes into our 12 minute main, however, we realized there was a problem.  Our fearless leader and resident Core expert had the system set wrong.  He got his just desserts however; as he would have won the race had it stopped at 12 minutes, like it should have.  In all reality, it ended up being some pretty good practice.  After a break to rest and replace batteries, Brian got the Core system set up right and we ran the last racer points race of the evening.  This race is run in order of qualifying, so I was actually toward the front.  Chad took control on the first lap and held it the entire race.  Brian actually managed to stick with him and they finished on the same lap.  The 12 minute race was great and everyone got into a groove and had really clean racing.  Chris had to leave before the race, so it was just the 4 of us.  Chad and Brian finished 1st and 2nd, both with 91 laps, I finished 3rd with 81, and Luke took 4th with 75. After the race, it was Monster time.  Luke had another great set of jumps and as soon as the track was torn down, out came the trucks.  Brian didn’t have his MZM up and running yet, so it was still just the 3 Venom Mini- Giants. Well, we have a week off, so you will just have to be patient until 3/23/06 and the return of the Salt Lake Mini-Z blog. Take care and keep racing, Lynn (aka Clanure)