THE Cub Report, 09.24.2012, Version: Thirty inches of thigh-slapping, blood-pumping, nuclear brain damage!
Hola amigo’s, and welcome to yet another way-super-uber edition of your favorite Monday morning rc column.
First… sadly I must say I learned about the passing of Jim Rupard on Saturday. Jim was a staple of oval racing here in the Midwest and a HOF guy to pit next to. I was lucky enough to spend a week out in SoCal with him while working one of the early RCX shows, Jim was a blast and our comedy relief when things started to get stressful. Rest In Peace Jim, you were a talented driver and a great person to be around. May all the tracks be perfectly watered and all the marshals be on top of your car before it stops rolling where you are now.
On a much different note…
I’m sure you’ve seen the Associated teaser photo we posted on Friday. Wow, I think my 8 year old has better PS skills than that. I can only imagine what the marketing guys that used to work at AE think about that one. Back in the day pretty much anything coming out of AE’s marketing department was a work of art, I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that was a huge part of their overall success. Some industry people say the guys at AE have their hands tied in certain areas after being bought out, while others say that isn’t the case. Any which way, everything evolves, for the better or for the worse, but wow, here’s to hoping their future photoshops look a little more Associated like.
And…
Yes, we are part of the 12 weeks of giving away vehicles from Hobbico. Editor Brian decided to base the winner of this weeks truck on a poem or rap. From what I’ve read thus far ICP Guy (aka- Xerxes, aka Leader of the Jeff Hoy Fan Club) is leading the pack, so you guys better step it up if you want to win a new truck. Even if you don’t want to enter the contest you should at least check out some of the entries HERE, they are pretty freak’n cool to read.
(Editors Note: It’s not the best poem or rap that wins.. your entries just need to be in that form. The winner is chosen at random from valid entries)
Also…
I wonder why all the top name rc’ers compete in so many different classes at big races. At the local level racers do multiple classes simply to get more track time. Races are still only 4-7 minutes (typically), even though we clearly have the technology for them to be much longer. Local racers have to run multiple classes just to feel like they’ve gotten a decent amount of track time for the day. At the upper levels, when people outside our hobby look in and see our top guys running 3-6 classes at big races it looks quite silly. It would only make sense that our top guys race one class, the premier class, but instead I guess their sponsors require them to run every freak’n class that is held.
What satisfaction can a world class rc racer get out of pwn’n the lower classes? I highly doubt K-dub would get any satisfaction out of crushing the 30+ A class at Lorettas. K-dub is one of the best motocrossers on the planet, therefor you only see him racing the premier class in the premier series. Maybe its time that around that big dinner table after the next “big” race all the factory rc guys sit down and talk about racing one premier class and letting the lesser known names fight it out in the lower classes. It’s all about professionalism and taking rc racing to another level, not about winning another cherry-picking trophy to sit next to your IFMAR World Championship cup.
Yes, I’ll go there…
I don’t think I would shock you if I said that HPI was not impressed with last weeks Cub Report. Yes, I totally understand that a lot of things can come up and delay a product release, I’ve worked on many, many, projects in the rc field that have been delayed. The big difference was that my company had those delays in private. So… perhaps HPI should consider the fact that I write about things that are hot topics of conversation around local hobby shops (and around the lunch rooms in Champaign and SoCal). Whether HPI likes it or not their “eXtreme gas” powered vehicles have been a popular topic of convo since announced, and lately the convo has been turning downright ugly because they are so far behind schedule (not to mention they have given their competition a 7 month head’s up).
Yes folks that’s it for this week. I hear there is a H U G E industry announcement this week so keep your eyes peeled on the BSRC front page (like usual). Oh and, support you local hobby shops, tracks and bash spots!
YOUR Cub Reporter
