Finally had a moment to recoup from the 2018 Manufacturer’s Cup brought to you by none other than Tekin Racing at Silver Dollar Raceway, home to Amain Hobbies.

I’ve been to each and every one of these races and I’m always more impressed by Kevin Jelich’s track building skill every time I show up. The layout for this event was fun, SUPER flowing, great jump construction, off camber turns, and a few very racy yet technical sections where the Pro guys could really show the rest of us mere mortals how to go fast.

I signed up for 40+ E Buggy and Open E Buggy racing the same Tekin Rx8 Gen3 T8 1900kv power system I have’d since I built this car. I am of course using the latest Tekin T-250 servo to control my Mugen Mbx7r Eco buggy.  I managed to take top seed in both classes during all 3 rounds of seeding.

Qualifying had 3 rounds of which I Tq’d all 3 in 40+ E Buggy, the first 2 in Open E Buggy, electing to sit out the 3^rd round held very late in the evening. Now besides getting a few extra hours of beauty sleep, I didn’t feel we’d ever race in the cooler night temp track conditions so felt it was worth getting out of the long hot days and resting a bit.

Mains day was up and I was Tq in both classes. A few Tekin customers needed some software updates and adjustments prior to their mains, hoping to do better than where they qualified. Starting from the top spot in 40+ was able to get through the first half a lap and only listen to the carnage I was leaving behind. I made one bobble when a damn fly flew into my eyes around the half way mark, no harm no foul.  I’d go onto win this class uncontested.

Pic courtesy of Live RC

Open E Buggy however would not be as smooth sailing. I got out to a quick 4 second lead and somehow manage to collide with another car from another lane or something. I honestly couldn’t tell you where the car came from. But I was hit pretty dang hard in the rear. As my car was going down the straight away I could see my rear wing was not straight. A few more turns and jumps later I could tell this was going to be an issue. On the next lap I rolled the car over in an off camber section and cleanly put the wing 90’s over while allowing P2 and P3 to get by me. I pushed hard to try and catch up only to find out that the rear wing on a 1/8 Buggy is VERY critical to its handling, just a pro tip for the day!  I would have to settle for 3^rd overall, only being 4 seconds back from the leaders. On the box, but thinking it could have gone better.

Out all the 1/8 E Buggy classes including E Truggy and 4wd SC thrown in for good measure, Tekin dominated the field being in over 95% of the cars. I even lent a “non Tekin” user an ESC so he could keep racing on qualifying day when his “other” esc failed him. I updated many users to the latest 272 software you can find HERE.

Meet Brad Perry. Outdoor recreational enthusiast. Photographer. Scale Ultra Zero Limits Award Winner. Brad picked up an RC vehicle a few years ago and ran with it. Literally, he runs miles upon miles with his Scale Ultra Axial Bomber through, up, down and over some of the most amazing terrain in the country. Pushing himself to the limits and doing what few in the world do with RC is a passion. The goal is miles and lots of them, as many as he and his rig can rack up. To power the adventures, Brad chose to run Tekin. Dependable, powerful and highly tunable are just a few of the advantages we offer the enthusiast and when you’re counting on your equipment to hold up to the abuse of long journeys, we put in the time to develop the gear. To prove it, we teamed up with Brad to put our servos, ESCs and motors to the ultimate test. With close to 300mi racked up in just a few short weeks, Brad has the confidence his Bomber is equipped to go anywhere he chooses to go and he sure doesn’t plan on taking it easy. His biggest accomplishment of the year to date happens to be the 58.2mi “Death Run”. Check it out!

Death Run

He happens to take some pretty OK photos out on trail also.

We got together with Brad to find out more about what drives him to strive for such extreme goals.

What’s your home town?

Brad: Livermore,Ca

Where do you currently live?

Brad: South Lake Tahoe, Ca

What’s your background? (work, hobbies, cool stories etc…)

Brad: Most of my life has been spent in the outdoors and has revolved around extreme sports. When I was 12 I joined the Youth Climbing League and first learned how to climb. Around the age of 14 I got sponsored by factory GoPed for racing motorized scooters. At the same time I was really into riding BMX bikes and Rollerblading. That’s around the time I first picked up a camera to document our escapades. Around 2005 when I was 19 I picked up and left the Bay Area and moved to South Lake Tahoe. I got a job at a ski resort where I could ski more than 100 days in a year. This is also the time I first started doing freelance photography work. In climbing I helped establish first ascents in bouldering areas all around Lake Tahoe. I also helped shoot photos for the Lake Tahoe Bouldering guidebooks. I worked both jobs for years until the spring of 2016 when I was able to take on photography as my full time job. I got a job shooting the Tahoe 200 ultra-marathon later that fall. Watching their drive and dedication was inspirational and I was hooked on long distance anything from that point on.

What got you into the RC hobby?

Brad: I kept getting injured climbing and needed something to do on my rest days. It was also fun to bring along when I would shoot landscapes because there is a lot of down time waiting for the right lighting. After attending my first Axialfest and learning about ScaleUltra and the 5k it sparked something. I left asking myself what trails can I do? How far and how fast can I go? I was hooked from there.

What is it about this segment of RC you enjoy the most?

Brad: The physical and mental correlation it takes. Trail running alone can be a difficult thing for some people to do. Your brain always has to be a few steps ahead of yourself so you don’t trip and fall. Add in driving the truck at speed on difficult terrain and it becomes very mentally taxing.

Can you explain what Scale Ultra is?

Brad: On paper Scale Ultra is a race where a driver along with their truck has to survive a 5k run. To me Scale Ultra is so much more. It’s an overall lifestyle to me and I love trying to push among the RC community. Taking on the “Ultra” side of it and trying to push the distance and capabilities of not just the truck but of myself. Setting FTK (Fastest Time Known) records on famous trails and summits and sharing them with the community.

Do you have any advice or tips for people that may want to get into the hobby?

Brad: Running isn’t for everyone at first. Start slow and work your way up. Proper running footwear is key.

What is your favorite rig to drive?

Brad: That’s a hard one but I do love my Axial Bomber. It’s such a stable and strong platform to run with.

What made you choose Tekin to power your adventures?

Brad: The tight knit family feel of the team.

Any personal goals for 2018?

Brad: Here are a few of my smaller goals; do a run that has over 10,000ft of vertical climbing. Do over 70 miles in a single day. Summit the highest peak in Nevada. Do a 14,000ft peak in Colorado.

Brad is close to the 300mi mark for 2018 with his Tekin-powered Bomber. He runs a T-440 servo, RX4 and ROC412 4200kV Element Proof setup to push his rig over and through anything he happens to encounter. We will be tracking his adventures this entire year and watching the miles add up!

The Element Proof RX4 has proven to take water, mud and snow in stride and the Element Proof ROC412 line of motors are no different. Designed to handle whatever you can throw at it, these motors are pretty much ready out of the box to take on the trails. Sensor connections are the weakest link in any system that is going to see moisture, so we provide the proper dielectric grease with every RX4 and ROC412 EP motor.

The first step is completely optional and not necessary, but you can use M3 set screws to fill the 4 extra mounting holes in the motor’s face plate. A small dab of blue thread lock will keep them in place.

The second step is to grease up the sensor connections. Put a good amount directly in the sensor port, don’t be shy!

Next you should apply some grease to the sensor cable plug. The rear of the pins are somewhat exposed and need to be coated to avoid any shorting.

Plug the greased sensor cable into the greased sensor port. You can wipe away excess grease that squishes out or I use my finger and dab it around the plug edges. The more you can seal it up the better!

Last thing to do is install the motor and go play! It is highly recommended to disassemble the motor regularly to clean and dry components and oil the bearings if you play in the water often. A clean motor is a happy motor and happy motors keep trucks on the trail. Adventure your way!

-Ty Campbell