--- RACE RECAP, Pomona Fairplex Off-Road Raceway, Pomona, Ca. Aug 15th - 17th---

Jammin Pro Buggy - On The Podium !!!

8/15 - Friday Practice and Qualifying - With the two previous rounds at Pomona in the notes, Team Jammin knew a few things that were certain going into the event. For sure we had the best tire in the field with the Goodyear Eagles bolted on and a wide groove pattern. The tires are simply perfect for the unique combination of asphalt and dirt surfaces. During the practice session, it was discussed to do some suspension adjustments prior to qualifying. The changes were made and the Jammin Pro buggy was set to qualify. A last minute suspension change suggested by an outside source on top of the change the team had already decided upon proved to be a bad decision. The buggy was horrible in qualifying, but thanks to the tires and driver, the times posted were in the top 20 at 19th.

8/16 - Saturday Main - Due to a shortened TV schedule, practice on Saturday was scratched so the team adjusted the shocks back to the prior setting agreed to by the crew and Jammin Jay lined up 19th on the grid. Jay and the Jammin Pro Buggy steadily sliced thru the field and was sitting 9th at the half way mandatory caution. The Jammin Pro Buggy was working well with a minor clutch issue that kept Jay from being too aggressive. The tires were coming in as expected and the green flag waved again for the final eight laps. More slicing and dicing put Jammin Jay into third as the white flag appeared for one lap to go!. With second position in his sights, the spotter gave the "One lap, go get em" orders over the radio. Jammin Jay put a slide job on second in turn three and grabbed the position from Menzies Larry Job. Dropping into the "Bowl turn", Job cuts under Jammin Jay and they come out of the bowl turn into the whoop section side by side. With Job having the preferred line, he was able to regain second spot while the Jammin Pro Buggy and Jay Halsey take their first podium!!

8/17 - Qualifying and Main - More suspension adjustments allowed the Jammin Pro Buggy to attack the whoop section, but once again the clutch held the buggy back. Posting a 10th in qualifying was not as bad as it seemed since they elected to invert the top ten. With Jammin Jay starting on the pole in the Jammin Pro Buggy, he ran with the lead pack thru the half way mark only to get collected by a competitor reversing out of a pile up as the Jammin Pro Buggy passed. This incident put Jammin Jay to the back. Working back to the front with another top ten finish in sight, the same competitor again halted the Jammin Pro Buggy with a dangerous mistake that resulted in two front flat tires for the Jammin Team on the last two laps dropping the final finish to 17th.

With confidence building within the team and the Jammin Pro Buggy being dialed in with every lap, the team looks forward to more podium finishes.

--- RACE RECAP, The Quarry Off-Road Raceway, Chula Vista, Ca. July 26-27th ---

Jammin Pro Buggy in the top 10 again - Leads a Lap!

7/25 - Friday Practice and Qualifying - Practice was just a matter of finding the right tires and checking out some lines. The Jammin Pro Buggy ran without a glitch. Qualifying was a gamble as the track crew soaked the track with water. Jay was able to squeeze out the 16th best time of 30 cars entered.

7/26 - Saturday Practice and Main - The morning practice went well with a slight part failure on the last lap. The left rear stub axle broke. The repair by crew chief John Kendig was fast and the buggy was ready for the main event. The main went as planned - Work your way to the front! - Driver Jammin Jay passed many cars on his way to a 9th place finish. with 6th, 7th, and 8th within striking distance at the checkered flag, the outlook for day two was positive.

7/27 - Qualifying and Main - After a few suspension changes and an engine jetting change, it was time to qualify. The qualifying session was one of the best drives to date for Jay and the Jammin Pro Buggy. He posted three consistent fast laps to put him 7th fastest for the main. With the inverted start, the Jammin Team would start 4th on the grid. The first start was aborted after one lap when the buggy in front of Jammin Jay flipped right over the top of the Jammin Pro Buggy. The second start revealed the speed of the buggy and Jay's talent as a driver when he came to the front to lead the pack of 30. Could this be the day? No sooner than those famous words from the spotter "Drive your own race" echoed in Jay's ear, the power on the Fat Toyota went silent. After further investigation, the circuit breaker had popped due to a wire that rubbed into a bracket and shorted out. With such a disappointing failure, the team left Chula Vista with a bunch of confidence knowing they could run up front.

 

--- RACE RECAP, Las Vegas Intl. Off-Road Raceway, Primm, Nevada May 16 -18 ---

The Jammin Pro Buggy Team Finishes the weekend with a TOP TEN!!

5/16 - Friday Practice and Qualifying - Practice went well with the usual tuning and debugging going on. Jammin Jay found some good lines and was able to make time in some sections. The last lap of practice is when the gremlin returned with shifting issues. Without time to fix the problem, the qualifying attempt was going to be a crap shoot. Lady luck did not shine as the Jammin Pro Buggy didn't get a qualifying time.

5/17 -Main Events - Without a qualifying time, Jammin Jay started at the rear of the B main. Quick work put the Jammin 915 Buggy into the hunt for the lead. The high lite of the weekend was watching the 915 Buggy stuff to the inside in the sweeper turn under a pack of three buggies with one trying to shut the door. Being a Pro R/C Driver, it was instinct as Jay sent him spinning off the track!!! Jay picked off all but one car by the end of the main landing him with a second place finish. Our rookie driver didn't even know where the podium was. Once he found it, his interview was the stuff of a past champion. Unlike R/C car racing, the top finishers in the B Main do not bump to the A main. Just a side note... The winner of the B Main was DQ'd the next morning for having Variable Ignition Timing.

5/18 - Practice and Qualifying - Practice and qualifying are combined events of six laps with the low finishing buggies from the prior day grouped together in the first session. The track was very wet and slippery so it was going to be tough to qualify for the A main from the first session. When both sessions finished, Team Jammin qualified 18th which put them in the A main.

5/18 - A Main - "There's a lot of stuff happening on the first lap when you start toward the rear of the pack. Buggies are nerf'in each other, spinning out, bouncing off of each other, and plenty of mud flying." says Jay. Coming from the back is becoming the Jammin Team's claim to fame. By the half way point, Jay worked up to 13th position. With the green flag flying again, Jay put the Jammin 915 Pro Buggy into "Kill" mode and picked off four more competitors and was hunting down 8th place on the white flag. Crossing at the checkered flag with 9th place was cause for celebration considering this being only the fourth race for the rookie team.

 

--- RACE RECAP, Pomona Fairplex April 25-27 ---

For a rookie team, the first race was a learning experience with some very positive high lights to the weekend.

4/25 - Friday Practice & Qualifying - Being a new car/team, the objective was to do some suspension tuning and tire selection. With just a few laps of practice to go, the transmission developed a shifting problem. Further investigation revealed a broken set screw on the shift linkage which in turn took out the third gear syncro. The team quickly jumped into action and removed the engine and trans and hurried it to Anaheim where Joe at JG Transwerks burned the late hours to get the trans back going again. Without the dedication of Joe at JG Transwerks and the crew turning wrenches into early Saturday morning, the Jammin Team would be spectators for the remainder of the weekend. Although the Jammin Pro Buggy missed the qualifying session, everyone was upbeat to still be in the show.

4/26 - Saturday A Main - The Jammin Pro Buggy started 29th on the grid due to not qualifying. Driver Jammin Jay made quick work of four cars at the start and steadily worked his way forward during the 15 lap main to finish 16th overall while posting the 8th fastest time in the main. Opting for the Goodyear Racing Eagle rear tire for the main paid off at the end of the race when the track dried.

4/27 - Sunday Qualifying - With a few more suspension adjustments and a tire change to the Goodyear Wrangler Mud Terrains for the wet qualifying track, the Jammin Pro Buggy posted a time of 20th fastest. With the track being 25% paved, tire selection was key. Although the Goodyear Wrangler Mud Terrains worked great in the wet areas, the team felt that the Goodyear Eagles would payoff in the main. More grooves were added to the tire to help it clean out in the muddy areas of the track. A few more suspension adjustments and the team was ready for the main.

4/27 - Sunday A Main - All the adjustments were paying off as Jammin Jay diced his way past other buggies heading to the front. Passing his way up to 8th place, a loss of power developed on lap 8. When the mandatory yellow flag fell at lap 10, The Jammin Pro Buggy was sitting in the 10th position when the engine died. A simple insignificant timing belt dust cover part worked it's way loose and ran thru the timing belt causing it to skip cogs. The official finish was recorded at 19th place. This first race proved that the team has a fast buggy, a good driver, a dedicated crew, and great support from the sponsors.