Opening Night / Day at The Proving Grounds - HALLOWEEN HAVOC? Yup.


Uh.  How many times can I say wow in one post and get away with it?

Wow.  Wow.  Wow.

Redundant?  It barely begins to describe the opening night and next day of a truly world class racing venue and program.




An alternative title for this post would be "The 24 hours of Jenison" and in all honesty they crammed one heck of a lot of racing into one night, then raced again the next day, and it really was about 24 hours from when the doors opened to when we left.

Wow.

Then we finally slept about 14 hours and drove home Sunday afternoon.

I'm sure the Proving Grounds staff put in not just many weeks building the place, but also the last couple of days must have been around-the-clock getting ready for the doors to open.  My hat's off to the Proving Ground and Team Virus Racing crews.  A HandyRacing SALUTE!

The guys from Team Virus Racing set out to build a world class indoor off-road racing facility in Jenison Michigan (which is just west of Grand Rapids).  And they did just that.

But, these guys didn't just want to build a premium racing venue, they also want to promote the sport.  We all know bringing it to new people who may not have had the chance to race on a track like this before is the real gift we can give back to the RC community.  Interested in trying it?  They offer three free outings to get a taste of the action.  Car, batteries, and radio provided.

Just show up and give it a whirl.  3X!




Setting out to do it was easy, the hard part was actually pulling it off.  It was not only one whale of an undertaking, and not only did they build it, but also the Michigan RC Racing community came in full force.

It was a home run, right out of the ballpark.

190+ entries for opening night electric action.  Starting at 6:00 PM they raced, and they raced, and they raced some more, with the last Main of the night starting at 03:55.  Then with 1/8 nitro buggies and truggies and more electric 1/8 buggies following on the heels the next morning.

The drivers meeting would have been standing room only at a smaller track:





They even ran an exhibition nitro vs electric 1/8 buggy race, just 4 fun.
 
( I asked and they delivered).

But let's get back to the track for a moment.  9000+ square feet of open space with high ceiling and bright lights (with marshals for scale, it looks bigger than some outdoor tracks):




A driver's stand not just made from Select Grade lumber, but also has a premo wheel chair access ramp:



(check out the custom fitted and welded hand rails)



and even fire sprinklers beneath the structure (likely the local Code guy called for that one).




The pit area doesn't just have a great sound system keeping the racing action current for everyone...




high quality craftsmanship carpentry for the pit tables...




but also ample electric at each table, AND piped in compressed air...




But, this isn't about me telling you the story, the racing action WAS the story.  It was not just non-stop,  it was NON STOP until after 4:00 AM.

Let the fun and games begin...

First up, Super Stock Truck A-Main

(sorry, I had camera trouble and did not get the Stock Truck Main)




Mod Truck:




Stock 2WD Buggy:




Mod 2WD Buggy:




Electric 1/8 Buggy:




1/10 4WD Buggy:




and finishing up the evening (morning) Stock Short Course Truck:



Then we went out for breakfast, and returned at 10:00  for more 1/8 Nitro and electric action.

after Nitro qualifying was over... 

How about some friendly Nitro vs Electric 1/8 Buggy head to head action?




After a quick setup for the names and transponders following the nitro qualifying, there were a few glitches and the the results got a little wonky.  We had a Driver's meeting after the race and were pretty sure of the following:

1 - Electric with 15 laps
2 - Nitro with 15 laps
3 - Electric with 15 laps
4 - Nitro with 14 laps
5 - Electric with 14 laps
6 - Nitro with 14 laps
7 - Nitro with 13 laps
8 - Electric with 13 laps

Fastest times:

23.340 - Nitro
23.591 - Electric
23.624 - Electric
24.196 - Nitro
24.649 - Electric
25.261 - Electric
25.650 - Nitro
25.797 - Nitro

Names withheld as to who ran what and finished where but special thanks to Nolan, Mike, Charles, Terry, Max, Edwin, Kenny, and Andy for participating.  But, we're pretty sure the winning buggy driver was wearing a HandyRacing T-Shirt...

: )

(if anyone thinks I didn't analyze the results correctly, please email me for corrections)

and then the Nitro 1/8 Buggy A-Main:




Nitro 1/8 Truggy A-Main:




And that concluded the opening of West Micigan's new premier indoor RC Offroad Racing venue.

When visiting, head Southwest out of Grand Rapids on Chicago Avenue, make a right on Port Sheldon, and watch for this sign on the left as you make the first curve:




That folks, was our Friday afternoon through Sunday racing adventure on the left coast of Michigan.

Special thanks to Chad and Keith of Team Virus Racing / Proving Grounds
 
- and - 

Race Directors Hank, David, and Steve for helping keep me organized through the long haul.

Race Results, program, schedule, and updates can be found here Team Virus Racing

Looking forward to visiting again soon.



(all content Copyright by HandyRacing, except the "Halloween Havoc" flier)

Thanks for visiting, Glenn "Handy" Remington and the HandyRacing team.



 del.icio.us  Stumbleupon  Technorati  Digg 

Posted by HandyRacing at 11/8/2009 1:20 AM
Categories: General Racing Action
Tags: handyracing proving grounds new track grnad rapids michigan team virus racing
 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this entry
  • No trackbacks exist for this entry.
Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

Leave a comment

 Enter the above security code (required)

 Name

 Email (will not be published)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.