Hi everybody. Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted, school has been kicking my butt. So there is a lot that has happened since I was last on here. The Worlds went on, the Championship at Gateway for the High School Eliminator was decided, and the iHobby Expo took place.
I’ve been a life-long fan of people that burn gasoline, especially throttle twisters. Jeff Emig, Ricky Carmichael, Ricky Johnson, the list is long.
The standout is, and always will be Evel Knievel. This guy defined what it meant to go big. What a perfect day to pay tribute to the man, Halloween!
Thad Garner, good on ya.
amp;feature=related">amp;feature=related" />
On October 30th I will go to bed as a 30-year old and wake up as a 31-year old. Thank God! I can’t wait to finally put the whole “turning 30 crisis” behind me. I have a better sense of who I am and what I want out of life then I did in my 20’s. I plan on getting married summer of 2009. I have finally found that very special someone to share my life with and someday start a family of my own. Love can do funny things to people. :)
Family, Friends, Love, and Happiness are the greatest gifts that life has to offer. Life has its share of ups and downs. So I just want to say thank you for all of the wonderful gifts that I have received in my 30 plus years here on Earth. I do believe we get better with age. Age is just a number and I am not even close to composing my bucket list yet! 
While many of my local friends are on road racing the Midwest Series race in Toledo this weekend, and all the honch dirt guys are busy at some ‘BIG’ race in Charlotte, North Carolina … I find myself heading to Las Vegas for a week of ‘work’.
It really doesn’t matter what field you work in, trade shows suck the life out of you. I’ll be staying in the Venetian, which is physically connected to the convention center the show is at. In theory, I could go all week without ever going outside. Breathing that much recycled air for a week… it’s like being stuck inside an airplane. Good times.
Me and some of my R/C dedicated co-workers will travel with our Losi Micro T’s. With our massive hotel rooms, we’ll construct the 2008 Venetian Indoor Super Cross track. Doesn’t matter if we’re not racing hour long 1:8 buggy mains, we’re a serious as a heart attack.
All you ‘Left Coasters’ think you have all the fun… Well, here in the Midwest, we simply bolt up two stroke engines to everything :) This past Labor Day weekend, we had probably the nicest three days of weather of nearly the entire summer. It was the perfect time to play with all the toys.
This is 25+ years old or now. My parents bought it (barely) used when I was like 11 or so. Check out the vintage decal action! The control off the front is a hydraulic throttle control, then it has a tether/kill switch that you can see going from the engine area to my vest. It’s a 2 cylinder, two cycle (pull start only) that I think it rated around 15 hp. It’ll top out about 30mph.
Braaapppp!
So the other day I Googled my name and this was what I found…Someone had posted my pic comparing which female driver is hotter. Thought it was funny because I am an R/C car racer up against some Big name female drivers in the industry that race: Nascar, Formula 1, and etc.
Hey there! It’s been some time as I’ve been quite busy as of late. We’ve (CEN Racing) been working on many new products that are due out later this year and my time has been limited. Although, I’m not one to complain, I definitely needed some time away. So, with that in mind what better place to visit but Thailand! No, it’s not the presumed beach, Pina Colada and a hammock, but Bangkok Thailand is definitely 2nd to none when it comes to culture, food, and of course R/C Racing.
My first stop was in Bangkok Thailand where I visited our CEN Racing Distributor and entered into Thailand Cup that had a surprisingly decent turnout of apx 200 entries. The race went well and I really enjoyed the hospitality out there.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of nearly all forms of racing. I of course enjoy all the traditional forms, but who doesn’t enjoy some good ole’ lawnmower racing or belt sander racing? Anyway, as a fan, I typically find myself defending NASCAR to people that see it as a ‘they just turn left’ event. I enjoy watching a lot of the strategy that crew chiefs employ to position their driver in a position to win. Either way, the race yesterday at ‘The Brickyard 400′ was an unfortunate let down. For those not in the know, it seems like the combination of the Car of Tomorrow (isn’t it today yet?), the abrasive Indianapolis surface (not designed for NASCAR), and a unproven tire compound made for a less than stellar show. The event was stopped repeatedly so teams could inspect and replace failing rubber.
Well, my weekend fuel burning fun was not going to be put on the line. I decided instead to go back and watch some good ole’ demolition. This demo had actual racing, though…they call it Team Demolition. The goal, one of the team cars has to complete four laps around the mud oval. All the other cars can opt to run ‘offence’ or ‘defense’ however they saw fit. Cars were cutting across the track for massive take out moves. All this to a sold out crowd…and everyone left with a huge smile on their face.
It was brutal, primal…and awesome. Long live racing!
I was forwarded this picture from an old racing buddy who now lives in Spain. I believe this was like 1986 or 1987 and we were racing a 3-hour Enduro in Hesperia, California. In the picture from left to right is Myself, Rob Hopkins and Casey Heinrichs, we all lived in Lake Elsinore, California. My first job in the R/C Industry was at Lakeside Hobbies, which was owned by Rob and his Mom, Margaret. It brings a smile to my face too see this old picture and the memories are priceless. I hope racing brings you the same kind of joy! See ya at the races!
I’m so addicted I may need psychological help. Off roading, Wheelin’, rock crawling, rock racing…or what ever you might call it, I have the bug so bad, I don’t have time for anything else, nor do I want to do anything else. Luckily my family likes it, or they’d just have to go! Haha I’ve been wheelin Jeeps for over 20 years now and that type of dirt sports just never gets old and it’s one reason I have always helped to push the sport into the radio controlled world.
While I’ve been on a whirlwind tour for my job, which included seeing almost 15 different cities in 60 days, I’ve also been tearing up the rocks in my Jeep JK Rubicon. We’ve been out to California, Utah, and New Mexico during those 60 days as well. It’s been non stop traveling and fun…. but I think I’m ready to sit back and start building a new RC Rock Crawler to get ready for the National finals in Moab Utah, coming up in September. All the parts are starting to arrive and I now have the time to get moving on building a super capable rig. It’s so nice to not have to fabricate most parts used to build a crawler anymore. A guy like me can build a comp worthy crawler in about six hours. The first crawler I ever built was a work in progress for several years and could never even crawl that well, by today’s standards. I’ll keep you all posted as this new build progresses, as it will be using some new and unique parts that everyone will be interested in.
