THE Cub Report, 06.04.2010, Version- Internet Super Trooper
Bubba DNF’ed both moto’s at Freestone over the weekend thus making the 450 nationals a whole lot more boring for the rest of the summer (looks like a Dungey runaway now). You see one of those crafty photographer types ran across the track just as Stewart was mid-air from a jump. This distracting Bubba causing him to crash and hurt his hand, resulting in a DNF and a DNS. When I saw the Bubba/photog “incident” on video it reminded me of about 6.4 googolplex times a marshal has stepped directly in the path of my truck on track causing me to crash for no good reason at all. If you are a noob rc’er, cars racing on the track have the right-of-way before marshalling the poor schmuck that just crashed, just fyi.
We are big video gamers around the office, how can we not be? Brian was an uber award winning game designer in his former life (yes, you’ve played many a game he designed), and the rest of us huddle around game consoles whenever we aren’t running rc’s full speed into cinder blocks. The big E3 show is this week and you can be assured we’ll be plastered to SpikeHD starting at 11 am CST today for their live tv coverage of the show. Interesting how E3 is getting record coverage even though the gaming industry is in a state of turmoil yet rc is arguably the biggest it has ever been, yet iHobby Cleveland 2012 has lackluster support from our industry. WTF.
Ryan Cavalieri crushed’em over the weekend at the Top Gun Shootout winning 3 classes. I don’t think most people know just how much hard work and determination it takes to be as dominant as he has been for so many years. Crazy huge props to RC and his sponsors AE, Orion, Pro-Line, LRP, and Airtronics.
Speaking of racing… Gary K. (of Horizon fame) posted a blurb on his Facebook page last week concerning the rising costs of entry fees at big races. Gary mentioned the $85 entry fee for the ROAR nats this year and I totally agree, entry fees have simply gotten out of hand (but even $85 isn’t that much compared to certain other events). Weekly attendance at many tracks has been down, so the tracks attempt to make up for the loss of funds via charging crazy prices for their ever more frequent “big” races. By the time you throw in high entry fees, gas, hotel room, and several sets of race tires, the cost of one guy racing a couple classes at a “big” event is easily a grand. If one “big” event was truly superior, providing the very best track, stand, pit area and other accommodations, as well as the best media coverage and prestige, it would be justifiable to have such a high entry fee, but $80+ has quickly become the norm for every Joe Blow race that carries the moniker of a “big” event. As long as people continue to pay the crazy entry fees race promoters will continue to raise them, but there will become a point where overpricing will start to shrink attendance at large races, you’d think $80-$120 has got to be approaching that limit. Vote with your wallets people…
Speaking of Facebook… Pro-Line posted a brief history of PROTOform and Dale Epp last week. Pro-Line has been providing the uber cool for the off road crowd forever, and the same can be said about PROTOform for the on road crowd. Learn a brief history of PROTOform by clicking HERE. Everybody seems to have a Dale Epp story and here is mine- About 5 years or so ago at iHobby I got into a long convo with one of the guys from the Pro-Line booth. I didn’t know exactly who it was, but I’ve been known to talk the paint off of walls, so that wasn’t a problem. I walked away not only impressed with this mans knowledge of the industry, but also by how he seemed to have his finger right on the pulse of the hobby. A couple hours after the convo my cell rings and it was one of my industry buddies asking me if I had a good time talking to Dale Epp. I was more than a little embarrassed as I informed the caller that I had no idea I had been talking to an rc legend! Since then I can assure you I know Dale Epp by name AND face, he’s a cool guy, a great ambassador for the hobby, and he puts out works of art for bodies.
The BigSquidRC Summer Kick Off Bash is nearly here! What is it? It’s a bunch of bashers meeting up to do some driving, huck some ramps, pop block long wheelies, and chew the fat. Cost? Zero, nada, FREE! Where is it? It’s in the Chicago metro area at the HobbyTown USA located in Orland Park. When is it? This Saturday. Why should you go? There are lots of reasons- you can have a blast driving your rc car/truck/buggy, you can show off your hop-ups, compete in rc sumo, shopping cart jumping, etc, or just chill with the Squid Bash Crew. If you are reading this you are cordially invited, I personally hope to see you there. Support your hobby and make it this Saturday if you can. Click HERE for complete info.
That’s it for this week folks, support your local hobby shops, tracks and bash spots!
YOUR Cub Reporter
