The Road to The 2.2 Midwest Indoor Challenge in KC Sort of live!!

[Jason Maxamps.com]

As many of you all know Tony and I are driving down to KC to the 2.2 Midwest Indoor Challenge. We are leaving Thursday night and to help the 9 or so hour long trip go buy I figured we would see if we could post our travels along the way. I need to get a power inverter for the laptop but I think with todays technology we should be able to accomplish this feat. Also we will be posting Live results as best as we can from the event. We're praying we can get on-line in that area. Anyways it should be comical to say the least but at the same time fun. So please check in here Starting @ 7:30 PM Thursday night and join us as we travel from Alexandria, MN to KC late at night.


Jason and Tony

[Jason Gainey (H3RESQ)]

Cool, i'll keep a watching till I fly out on friday. Good times, i'm a little jelous of your road trip over my flight and then a 40mile drive in a chevy aveo....my luck it will be bright yellow too. LOL.

[Chad Hargrove]

My calendar is updated and ready for all the action.


BTW, If your competing good luck Tony, Jason, and Jason (H3).

Chad-

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Tony and I are just going down for the event and bringing our rigs just for fun. If we improve over the summer we may compete next year.
The trip should be interesting to say the least. Last weather report was saying snow for Thursday night into Friday but only an inch or two. This time of year can always be interesting weather wise around MN, WIS, Iowa, March tends to make up for the lack of snow in January and February. I'm not worried after working Five years as a tow truck driver in this stuff I have seen it all and driven in it all.

It'll be a great time and I can't wait.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Here a link of a video walk thru of the course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3aVa0TjuFo

Start Studying the line guys.

Jason

[Nicklepimp]

Can't wait till this weekend. It'll be nice to finally meet you guys.

[Tony Bjerke]

I think Jason is getting a little ahead of himself. In theory the trip should start about 7p Thurs. night. That is only if I get off work in time to make the trip from Fargo to Alexandria and have the vehichle loaded and then on the road by 7p.

I personally would love to compete in this event. Our plans came together at the last minute so I was unable to get signed up before the spots were full. I have all my fingers and toes crossed that there will be an opening that I can fill if someone can't make it. Maybee begging and pleeding with the right people will help. Otherwise we will be getting alot of filming and pictures and general comradery in with the other drivers. Putting faces with screen names is always fun.

[Jason Gainey (H3RESQ)]

Talk to Stephen, looks like he's not going......
http://www.nitrokillers.com/showthread.php?t=615

Maybe you could snag his spot....contact Zorloc on rcc or

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Yup I talked to Steven on the phone and he's cool with it. I have a call into Neal Cahill (Freq Tag) and an e-mail to see if we can swing this. Heck I even threw my dumb a$$ into the ring if there is another opening. I would need to borrow a set of rock claws though. Don't think the stock lizzies would get me far.

I'll see what I can find out and keep you all posted. Tony has been infromed and is ready to go if they approve it.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Well know it's gonna get more interesting Both Tony and I are in the comp. This is gonna be great. You'll all get to see me suck.

LOL

Jason

[Steven Kautz (SVEN)]

I'm bummed I won't get to make it out there, but I am very glad you both will get to compete. Good luck to everyone!

[Jason Gainey (H3RESQ)]

Yup I talked to Steven on the phone and he's cool with it. I have a call into Neal Cahill (Freq Tag) and an e-mail to see if we can swing this. Heck I even threw my dumb a$$ into the ring if there is another opening. I would need to borrow a set of rock claws though. Don't think the stock lizzies would get me far.

I'll see what I can find out and keep you all posted. Tony has been infromed and is ready to go if they approve it.

Jason

Nice....I have a set of brand new Masher M3's you can run...better than what you have....should I bring them?

[Jason Maxamps.com]

YES YES Bring the Mashers PLEASE!!!! Otherwise Tony and I were talking about having to possibly swaping wheels all day long. Man that would be a big help.

Steven thanks for letting us take your spot from what I heard there are 4 still open after Tony and I filled to of them. It would have been nice to meet ya', maybe next year or another event.

OK so as soon as Tony gets here Thursday night we will be on our way. Trying to stay ahead of the snow that is supposed to be coming in from the north west.

Now that I'm competeing for the first time after only basically being on rocks for one day I'm kinda nervous, but I look at it this way someone needs to fill the last place spot and it will be a great experience either way. I can't wait to meet everyone.

Jason

[Tony Bjerke]

Steven, Sorry to hear you can't make it. I am very thankfull at the same time. Me and Jason are very excited to be attending this event, competing or not. As far as tires go if someone has something extra to bring I am sure Jason would be apreciative. Depending on where we line up in the order maybee we could swap out my rock claws onto his rig and he could use those also.

Again, thanks to everyone who his making this happen, we really apreciate it. This is goin to be great event.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Tony did you sleep at all last night? LOL....................I didn't.:D.

Nicklepimp Give my cell a call when you get into town on Friday you to J. Gainey. We'll probably be at the Hotel sleeping. And if you see a guy in a sub micro compact car don't run him over it's Gainey in his rental car.

Tony I'm hitting the store for travel food today and I called the half arsed LHS and got a different servo for the dig. Now I just hope it shows in time so I can get it in.

Jason

[Jason Gainey (H3RESQ)]

I'll bring the masher m3's and some nwtractech foams for you....it will make a HUGE improvment over the stock tires/foams.

See you there, have a safe drive.

[Rick Findley]

Here I am supposed to be getting my stuff ready to go to Phoenix to race tonight! Instead I am watching videos of Rock Crawling! LOL!

So since you guys ain't running for laps, tradin' paint, or banging on each other. How is the competition scored and the winner determined?

[Jason Gainey (H3RESQ)]

Low score win's....usually 5 gates to traverse. -1 for each gate that progress is made..... 10pts. for hitting a gate. 1 point for reversing....etc.

Here's a list of the official USRCRCA rules....
http://www.usrcca.com/rules2008.pdf

[Rick Findley]

Thanks for the info! After 35 years of go-faster racing, burning the candle at both ends. Its just hard for me to fathom the idea of going slow!

Just the other day, my wife called me into the den and said look at this. She was watching some rock crawling competition. She thought that was "cool"! She watched the whole event, later I caught her looking at my Tower Hobbies Catalog! Makes one wonder doesn't it!

Best of Luck Guys!

[Steven Kautz (SVEN)]

Here I am supposed to be getting my stuff ready to go to Phoenix to race tonight! Instead I am watching videos of Rock Crawling! LOL!

So since you guys ain't running for laps, tradin' paint, or banging on each other. How is the competition scored and the winner determined?

Competitors go one at a time through a course. The course is typically set up with a number of gates, which consist of 2 tennis ball halves for each gate. The driver tries to drive between the balls in order to gain progress points. Points are added to a score (by the scorekeeper) for things like roll overs, reverses, repositions, and hitting a gate marker. 1 progress point is awarded for each gate that is cleared without going over 20 points for the gate. There is a 40 point max per course, unless stated otherwise by the course builders. Time limits can also be a factor, which is also set by the club or course builders. The driver who has the fewest points wins.

For the complete rules check out this link.... http://www.usrcca.com/rules2008.pdf

[Steven Kautz (SVEN)]

oops, Jason beat me to it.

[Jason Gainey (H3RESQ)]

oops, Jason beat me to it.

Your explination was much better:)

[Nicklepimp]

Tony did you sleep at all last night? LOL....................I didn't.:D.

Nicklepimp Give my cell a call when you get into town on Friday you to J. Gainey. We'll probably be at the Hotel sleeping. And if you see a guy in a sub micro compact car don't run him over it's Gainey in his rental car.

Tony I'm hitting the store for travel food today and I called the half arsed LHS and got a different servo for the dig. Now I just hope it shows in time so I can get it in.

Jason

Will do.:cool:

[Jason Maxamps.com]

From what I was told Digs didn't go out until today. There was an issue that had to be cleared up with the Bushing. Don said he would overnight it but I said to do that only if he could garentee it at my door before 7 PM Thursday night. Otherwise He'll get it to me Friday night at the scaler event.

We'll see what happens.

I picked up a 200 watt power inverter so we can run the laptop from the van Now if I can keep on line during the trip we should be in Business.

More to come.

Jason

[Nicklepimp]

We (Freetimecrawler and I) heard from Don yesterday that the digs didn't go out at all. The impression he gave us was that we'd be lucky to get them at the comp even. Needless to say we were dissappointed. The way he was talking about having people in KC running them, I figured it was a for sure thing.

Fingers are crossed.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Yeah I didn't hear back on the over night shipping deal so I'm assuming that maybe we'll get them Friday night. Nothing like working on the rig the day before the comp. I just wanted some drive time so I could get used to it a bit seeing that I have never used a dig before. At least I did the Mod to my DX3 a few weeks back so that is working and outt of the way. I also have a servo ready and am bringing all the tools to do the install if he has them for us Friday night.

All we can do is hope. If I hear anything today I will let you know.

Jason

[Tony Bjerke]

Well today is the day. Today Jason, and I embark on a journey through space and time to a land far far away. Speeking of time I think the two of us might be spending the most amount of time in a car driving to this event. I for one will have even more time in the car than even Jason. I have to drive 2 hours to do a hook up for my job. Then after work I have a 1.5 hour drive just to get to Jasons house. Then the real journey will begin. Let me fill you in on something about Jason. If you think you see him alot on the different forums chatting, you should try driving in a car with him. Blah blah blah blah non stop. I won't need any cafine to stay awake. I might however need a set of earplugs to mute the noise enough so I can consentrate on driving.

See ya soon J

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Zing! Hey I just found out My Dig will be in KC waiting for me. NicklePimp I left you a message on your phone call me I have Info for you. It's snowing up here right now. We're supposed to get less than an inch so no biggy but I looked at the forcast for Saturday in KC and it says 60 degrees. Oh baby it's gonna be a heat wave.


Jason

[Tony Bjerke]

We are in luck. I canpost to the thread from my phone if you can't access the internet with your computer.

[Tony Bjerke]

This is me posting from my phone. SWEET!

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Well we are double covered then cause my laptop uses my cell phone for a modem.

Jason

[Jason Gainey (H3RESQ)]

Wow, you guys are having fun and have yet to head out. Drive safe, i'll call you when I get there on Friday!!

[Jason Maxamps.com]

The trip has officially started. Tony Just called and he's slipping his way down the snow covered I-94 as we speak. He should be here in Alexandria by 7 PM or so then we roll south by south east.

More to come

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Ok gang we're on the road about 18 miles out of Alex. The best part is we are driving in a light freezing drizzle. Low and behold only two miles out of town we ran into this. Two cars in the ditch on I-94 and the towing company I worked for, for five years full time. Man I don't miss that at all. We are now just about to West Union,MN then Sauk Center is next. Speed right now is about 55 MPH due to the Ice.

More to come...............


Jason And Tony.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Ok pictures take a while to upload so those will be done only once and a while. Right now we are at mile marker 133 which puts us 30 miles east of Alexandria, MN we've only got 540 miles to go. Next update should be around St. Cloud, MN.


More to come................

Jason and Tony

[Jason Maxamps.com]

We are past St.Cloud, MN at St. Agusta. Stopping to get rid of some liquid extra weight. The roads suck and are really icy up here. but were doing alright, biggest issue is keeping the winsheild clear.


More to come I need to pee. LOL



Jason and Tony.

[Jason Gainey (H3RESQ)]

Keep it safe. It's a roadtrip, you should be able to find something better than red lights to take picture's of......Hot chicks getting gas, crazy old guy, something.

J-

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Were in the Twin Cities right now, 494 and France ave. Little further and we turn south on I-35. Still Drizzling and really ****py out. We should hit warmer clearer weather by the time we get To the Iowa border. Tony's driving and he's ready to shoot somebody. We'll get some better pictures at our next stop. The rain is making for blurry pic's.And the down loads take like ten miles to get loaded up. We'll we are on I-35 Heading south to the river crossing. Be back with more in a bit.

Jason and Tony

[Nicklepimp]

Did you see me wave at you guys...The 1 finger salute?:D I'm right by 494 and Penn right now-just the other side of 35W. Drive safe guys. We'll see you tomorrow.

Oh, by the way...

http://forums.maxima.org/images/smilies/worthless.gif
(http://forums.maxima.org/images/smilies/worthless.gif)

[Tony Bjerke]

Well we finally had to do a driver swap. Between the mountain dew and no- fears and all the idiots that kept cutting me off. I was ready to explode. Besides the only time Jason quits talking for just a second is when he is behind the wheel. We are south of the Twin Cities just pass Fairbault. The freezinf rain still hasn't let up.

As far as pictures it is really slow on the road. We did see a guy on crutches at the rest stop trying to piss. Jason offered the guy a hand but he didn't need it.

[Tony Bjerke]

Well we are still on the road. Just when we think the roads are better we come upon another accident seen. No less than a dozen so far. We are about 90 miles north of DesMoines, IA. Things are going good for us except for Jasons gas problem.

Nicklepimp, we hope you have better roads in the morning than us. Drive space.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Well it's 4:05 Am and we are 95 miles out from KC. We just switched drivers and Tony's back behind the wheel. The Roads in Northern Iowa are littered with cars. From what we were told they have to wait for better road conditions before they can recover the cars. Man that would suck. Some have been waiting for a week sofar. Tony's been napping for most of Iowa and It's now my turn to drift off a bit for the last leg of the journey. I guess we are about 50 miles from no snow on the ground. I can't wait to see the Grass again. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that Iowa has "Modern" Rest Stops.

More to come


Jason and Tony

Princeton, MO area

[Jason Maxamps.com]

We are in KC at the Hotel and In our room. Bed time BOYS. Good Night we goy room 307 sounds like we are all at the top.

Jason and Tony

[Jason Maxamps.com]

We can't sleep. Sun is out and it's 36 degres and rising. Time to clean up and find some food. I'm waiting for Harley to call then it's off to meet him and get the new dig unit. Tony is in the shower playing with...........the water. So as soon as he gets done we're off to explore.

More to come.............


Jason and Tony

[Jason Gainey (H3RESQ)]

Nice, glad you made it with no major incidents....guess it's a good thing J didn't help the guy with crutches pee.lol.

I'm headin for the airport soon, but with time diff.....

[Tony Bjerke]

We tried to get some sleep but it is hard to go to bed when the rest of the world is waking up for the day. We are at the.local Dennys getting breakfest. Hopefully it goes better than drive.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

We are both on our phoned at a Dennys. Food just got here time to stuff the gut.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

The Dig is in! And boy does it work nice!


Jason

[Chad Hargrove]

Now that needs pics! Don't leave us hanging waiting to see the bling.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

So we made it back last night night. I got here in Alexandria at around 5PM and Tony ran into wind and ice when he got closer to Fargo so he had a longer and hairier drive that what is normal. We tried several times to post yesterday on the way back but the connection thru Iowa wasn't reall good. Long load times and some times nothing at all.

Anyways the Comp was a hit and a blast with MaxAmps having a really good showing. We'll start off with the Pro Class.

1st was Austin Dunn (2007 National Champ)
2nd was Bender
3rd was Our very own Jason Gainey who not only broke but fixed and still got a great finish at 3rd
4th was Scott Crews
5th was a fellow MN Crawler, Kevin Crews or as you all know him NicklePimp.

Matt Higgins from RC Car Action was with us and had issues with his motor mount. It stripped a screw while in a run. I had another mount plate for his BM9 outrunner and got him back out but he suffered a lot of motor plate flex and the mount kept coming loose on him. I think Matt pulled out a 30 out of 40 or so in the Pro class.

It was great watching these guys pick the course apart to find the right line. Needless to say I learned a ton and will be making a lot of changes.

Also I would like to take the time to announce that the 2007 Losi sponsored national champ Austin Dunn has joined the MaxAmps/Nitrokillers team as a sponsored crawler. We couldn't be any happier to have such a nice guy on board.

Now to move on to the Am. Class. "Old Guy" from RcCrawler.com snatched up first place with his modified SW2 MaxAmps powered Chassis. Our very own Tony Bjerke pulled off a 9th place finish after stripping his spur gear. luckily I had a spare and we got Tony back out so he could finish the run. I didn't fair so well. I got to the last course and had a great start but when it came to the side hill I slid off and landed hard on the right rear wheel breaking out the tie rod link. It snapped it right out of the axle housing. I was able to remoui8nt the rod into the front hole but this caused a severe toe out of the wheel which made it almost impossible to get up the last hill. Need less to say I couldn't finish the last course. I got a dismal 30 the out of 33.

The course was a bear and by no means easy in any way. It tore rigs apart, steeling parts and never giving them back. The New VF dig worked like a charm it's function is flawless. I will do a separate thread on that. I don't want to forget about Josh Thiede (Harley) He had the other new dig and a new chassis he designed . But I don't remeber what place he got finished in. Sorry Josh, maybe he'll chime in here. So all in all this was a blast and a huge success. I look forward to next year and will be back for another run after a long summer of changes and practice.

Again Congrats Guys you made us proud to have you all a part of the MaxAmps/Nitrokillers team. Keep up the good work.

Jason