We had the Texas EOS rd 3 this past weekend, and although my results did not indicate it, my Hobbywing Powered GZ1  car was the best car in the modified class on the track all day.

In qualifying I had a few shots at the TQ, but mechanical problems gave me essentially 2 DNFs. The last qualifier I was on a TQ pace by 3-4 seconds over National Champ Chris Adams and Brandon McNally when the steering rack jammed up on me. There was only 20 seconds left in the run.

I had to bump from the B Main, where I was able to lap the field with ease. The main time was even faster than my qualifying time and was about to be the fastest time of the weekend (it ended up being the second). In the A, I went from the back to third after the first corner, but on the following turn I got hit from behind by another car, which sent my GZ1 tumbling into the boards and popped a rear toe in turnbuckle. I lost exactly 2 laps here and this is where I essentially joined in behind the leaders. I was able to get around the second place car and stick to Chris Adams rear bumper for a while, but I had a stud start to come loose on the lower front right hub, so the car was a bit unpredictable, even then, Chris only increase his gap over me by 2.5 or so seconds the rest of the way.

I left very happy. First time on asphalt in about 10 months for me and first time ever with the Gizmo without even having a set up when I showed up to the track. I only had time to run 2 practice battery packs, and all the way until the A Main, I was the only car to be able to get into the 12 second lap times.

A few build tips for those of you starting on your build:

1.Use the steering rack stop that we are providing for the car. It’s important to prevent damage to the rack.

2.Use loctite on set screws and studs that go into aluminum.

3.Ream out the hole in the chassis for the P06 slightly to press them into the chassis easier.

I will post the set-up as soon as I have some time to do so. The set-up was close, but the car needed a little more rotation. I’d say I had 2-3 tenths left on the car. But it was not a bad start.