2015 Northern Star Council race today.

[davet]

Thanks all. We made it to 4th place at our Council race today. We have over 3,000 scouts in my boys' rank. .0002 seconds separated 4th from 5th and .0010 seconds between 4th and 3rd after combining the times from 6 heats. Not bad for an aircraft carrier.
A couple times we were 1/2 car length behind the lead car after the transition and we eeked him out on the straight. Without the help and advice from you guys we wouldn't have gone as aggressive on our COM.

Thanks again Lightninboy for the rear alignment method!!

From this:

To this:

 

[Redstone Racing]

Congrats! Cool car!

 

[HurriCrane Racing]

Congrats on the great finish. Love the car.
LB is a great source for advice.

 

[GravityX]

Car looks awesome and congratulations on the great finish!

 

[davet]

Thanks guys. I get more nervous than my boy. Many big guns and league racers at this race.

2 hrs before we left for the check-in we still didn't have a rear wheel going to the head equally in both directions. Ended up putting a relief cut in the axle, re-polishing, gave it a slight bend and re-prepped. Put it in about an hr before we left, a twist here and a twist there and Lightninboy's rear alignment technique confirmed all was good. Glued it in and left for the race. /images/boards/smilies/crazy.gif

 

[BulldogRacing]

Thats down to the wire! Nice job!

 

[LightninBoy]

Thanks all. We made it to 4th place at our Council race today. We have over 3,000 scouts in my boys' rank. .0002 seconds separated 4th from 5th and .0010 seconds between 4th and 3rd after combining the times from 6 heats. Not bad for an aircraft carrier.
A couple times we were 1/2 car length behind the lead car after the transition and we eeked him out on the straight. Without the help and advice from you guys we wouldn't have gone as aggressive on our COM.

Awesome job. If I recall correctly, that was with stock axles and wheels. Very impressive.

 

[davet]

Not exactly stock this year. Last year we placed 7th at Council on all stock parts. Felt really good about always using stock parts. When we started building this car last Nov I told my boy that if we make it to Council I'd spring for the good stuff. He put his time in on the drillpress with the stock axles and wheels and we were 1st place at Districts. I had to ante up and we ran different wheels and axles. I still don't feel 100% comfortable doing it. Our times were the same as last year. Our average both yrs was 3.77XX.

Seemed to me that overall times were a tad slower this year. I may be wrong though.

 

[microbrush]

Congratulations! Also, congratulations to all the others who were there. It would have been nice to meet any of you. Maybe next year we can have a booth or all wear pink shirts or something.

We were there as well. I think that the track was longer or something was different. Warren runs our pack race (With the same track I am guessing, but now am confused as there were two yesterday) and our times were faster at the pack race than yesterday. Fact is we made quite a few modifications and were able to gain .055 on their 42 foot test track and our times were slower on the track yesterday then at the pack race. Also, no car that I saw yesterday was able to break 3.70, when last year a couple did. I think overall people were faster? (as more seem to be finding this site). Was the track longer? (some cars were smashing into the end of the stop section-never have seen that before) or it was harder to set up at Basecamp? Anyone know any specifics about the track?

Or is it just the variances in the angle of the hill that makes such a difference in times?

This was our first year there. If you made it last year and took seventh with all stock parts you are VERY impressive!!!! Your car had to be faster this year.

 

[davet]

We just looked at his timeslip from last year and were faster last year. Our average last yr with all stock parts was 3.7594. This year with aftermarket wheels and axles we averaged 3.7733. Our car was the same design as last year except this year we ran a COM of .625 instead of last year's .72. 4" of steer same as last year.

 

[ngyoung]

From pack to districts my sons car averaged 3.03 to 3.001. Same track just set up by two different groups each time. Pretty sure they maxed out the leveling feet at districts which made the slope angle steeper. I know the guys in charge of the track at NSC are far and away better at setting up their track to match but even so there can be variations. If you were racing against a lot of the same kids that went to the council race last year and beat more of them then before I think that can factor into your performance.

Maybe last years was "the fluke"

 

[LightninBoy]

We just looked at his timeslip from last year and were faster last year. Our average last yr with all stock parts was 3.7594. This year with aftermarket wheels and axles we averaged 3.7733. Our car was the same design as last year except this year we ran a COM of .625 instead of last year's .72. 4" of steer same as last year.

The council track(s) were definitely slower compared to last year. It changes a little every year. So you really can't compare cars based on the council times.

 

[davet]

I see you guys all having the "Sub 3.0" and "2.98" badges on your signatures. How would the Council times mate up with those badges do you think? Would the top 10 at the NSC race qualify for any of those badges if raced on whatever track those are earned on?

 

[HurriCrane Racing]

The council track is a 63' track compared to a 42' track for league.
Brock Johnson finished second. His car was running 3.007 on my track.
This would be about a 2.965 on the NPWDRL track.

That being said, the times on the NPWDRL track are much faster this year.

The only real difference between NSC rules and the SS rules are that the SS rules allow 2.0 gram wheels.

 

[davet]

Some were wondering why the wood pad between the rear wheels as seen in the first pic at the start of this thread.
After our weights were epoxied in we decided to add cubes between the rear axles. We put the 1/64" plywood on to keep it stable then made the pocket for 2 cubes between the wheels.

Next year if we race again we'll add that pad before cutting the weight pockets on either side of the axles. That way when we cut the pockets and set the weights flush with the bottom of the car they'll be 1/64" lower in the car and nearer to the axle centerline. Might not mean anything but we're reaching for straws now on our cars.

 

[LightninBoy]

The council track is a 63' track compared to a 42' track for league.
Brock Johnson finished second. His car was running 3.007 on my track.
This would be about a 2.965 on the NPWDRL track.

That being said, the times on the NPWDRL track are much faster this year.

The only real difference between NSC rules and the SS rules are that the SS rules allow 2.0 gram wheels.

One other interesting fact about the NSC council track is that the "flat" section has a slight down slope.

This track has confounded me for years. After a lot of 2nd place finishes (and lower) over the years, we finally built a car that beat the field.

 

[microbrush]

After a lot of 2nd place finishes (and lower) over the years, we finally built a car that beat the field.

Congratulations to you and your son! Well deserved for someone who has helped so many and is willing to share great ideas!

You beat us in Webelo II. We got 7th. My wolf got 5th. Not bad for our first time. Thanks to all who share on this site!

Maybe by the time my wolf is a Webelo II we will have figured out the flat section that is not flat.

 

[davet]

One other interesting fact about the NSC council track is that the "flat" section has a slight down slope. This track has confounded me for years. After a lot of 2nd place finishes (and lower) over the years, we finally built a car that beat the field.

That slight slope has been making me think about what differences in setup there should be over a flat long section. I know one setup is better than another but we won't figure it out. This was probably our last year.

 

[ccw13175]

After a lot of 2nd place finishes (and lower) over the years, we finally built a car that beat the field.

Congratulations to you and your son! Well deserved for someone who has helped so many and is willing to share great ideas!

You beat us in Webelo II. We got 7th. My wolf got 5th. Not bad for our first time. Thanks to all who share on this site!

Maybe by the time my wolf is a Webelo II we will have figured out the flat section that is not flat.

Microbrush. You edge us out in both the wolf and weblo 2 race. We came in 6th and 8th.
Good job. It was a fun day.

 

[twistediron]

I wish they would show the overall finishers