2009 Hank Perry 240

2 Part Race Report
Race report submitted by: Joe Cathey

Northwest Championship Tour race #2, The 22nd. Annual Hank Perry 240 is the longest running annual race in the Northwest, hosted by the Radio Control Car Club of Spokane. This race always draws a large number of entries each year, and this year was no exception with enough buggies to make an “I” main.
The track had an incredible amount of grip, it was very abrasive like running on the street, and traction rolls were a common sight. In qualifying, Yellow Sevens seemed to be the ticket as they had incredible grip and control. I had some bad luck in qualifying, but still managed to qualify 6th in the “A” main. The Main event was a different story. With a half hour main event to run, I chose Yellow Cross Bows as the track would wear through a small pin tire in about 15 minutes. During warm-up for the “A” main, I could tell the tires still had the performance like the Sevens.  After the first few minutes of the “A” main I managed to stay out of trouble and get into 3rd position. After the 5 minute mark, the second  place driver made a mistake, allowing me to take the position. Then I pressed hard to try to make up time on the lead driver, and soon found myself right behind the lead driver after he made a mistake. We battled for a couple of laps, and he eventually made another mistake, allowing me to take the lead. From there on out, I just drove smooth. The tires never gave out late in the race. I was noticing late in the main other cars were sliding around a lot, but my car still had great control on the abrasive surface. I just cruised in for the win, ahead of JConcepts/Associated driver Mike Hudson in second place.
Products Used: Illuzion Scoopless body for the RC8, Illuzuion 1/8th buggy wing, Mono Max-up
wheels, Yellow Sevens, Yellow Cross Bows, JConcepts inserts.

From Mikey Hudson’s point of view:
Mains: 1/8 Buggy B-Main (15 minutes) – Staring 3rd on the grid I got out in front by the end of the first lap. I managed to stay out in front for the whole race, taking the win by one lap. 1/8 Buggy A-Main (30 minutes) – Starting in 9th position, I had an excellent start and getting up to 4th by the end of the first lap. From there I stayed in 4th place through the majority of the race. After some problem for two of the cars ahead of me, I inherited 2nd place and set my sights on the leader (about 16 seconds ahead). I put in a great effort, but my tires started to go away. I had used them in the b main also. At the end of the race, I brought the gap back to around 6 seconds. 1/8 Truck A-Main (30 minutes) – I had a horrible start to the main after numerous pile ups on the first few laps dropping me to 10th place. I stayed calm and started to put in great laps while gaining some positions back. I worked my way up to 5th position at the halfway point. I kept charging hard and managed to get a lap back on fourth place and then took the 4th spot with about 5 minutes to go and stayed there for the remainder of the race.
Products Used/Notable Happenings: 1/8 Buggy – Yellow Sevens for the first round of qualifying. Yellow Crow-Bow combination for rouds 2 and 3. Yellow Crowbars in the B and A main. Due to the extreme abrasiveness of the track, my tire selection based on the previous year was way off. I only had one set of tires for my buggy mains. Hi-Flow Body, HD Wing and Mono Max-Ups. 1/8 Truck – Yellow Cross Hairs for all of qualifying and main. Hi-Flow Body and HD Wing.  Joe Cathey took the buggy win using Yellow Crossbows, HD Wing and RC8 Scoopless Body