Andrew Knapp takes wins the

1/12th Modified title at

the 2015 U.S. Indoor Champs

Firsching T.Q. and wins World GT-R

Wynn goes back-to-back in F1, win + T.Q.!

Max Buca goes back-to-back in youth division, win + T.Q.!

Andrew “Youngmoney” Knapp takes 1/12th modified!

Andrew Knapp took his Trinity powered CRC Xti-WC 1/12th car to a convincing victory at the U.S. Indoor Champs. Couple that with a T.Q. in 17.5 and the newlywed had a great weekend!

The grand daddy of all indoor races in North America is the U.S. Indoor Championships (USIC) in Cleveland, OH. This was the 36th running of this prestigious event. Over the recent years, the turnout has been up and down, well off the hay days in the late 80’s and early 90’s. This year, a great turnout with over 330 entries descending upon the Strongsville, Ohio Holiday Inn. As usual, the race room was the hotel ballroom now fitted with new CRC Fasttrak II (FT2) carpet. In the past, some of the issues of the event centered around a bumpy subfloor and rough track. This year, the floor/track building team knocked it out of the park with a smooth sub-floor and perfect installation of the new high traction FT2.

World GT-R

This year, the USIC accepted the new and hot class of World GT-R with open arms. These are World GT 1/10th pan cars with CRC’s new RT-1 rubber tires and GTR rims. The class uses a 17.5 motor, 1s battery and a new long list of bodies featuring great scale looks. The RT-1 tire with its scale appropriate size makes the class look great on the track. In the FIRST year, the World GT-R class was the 3rd largest class in terms of field size, pretty impressive for the first ever race.

The cars handled very well on the rubber tires. The RT-1 tires had no wear and no degredation, running as fast on the 20th run as the 2nd run. No ride height changes, no gearing changes for changing tire sizes and no tire truer!

Tom Firsching proved to be the man to beat with his CRC Gen SE. Tom was the T.Q. and drove away in the A-main. Speedmerchant ace pilot, Steve Boice, ran tough all weekend in 2nd with CRC’s Brian Wynn grabbing a 3rd place finishing position.

Tom Firsching TQ + Wins the World GT-R class!

Realistic Porsche, Corvette, Toyota sports cars (and others) battled it out with 1/10th pan cars using the new CRC GTR rim and RT-1 rubber tire in the new World GT-R class.

Tom’s winning Porsche World GT-R car. A stock CRC Gen X-10-SE with some spacers under the front end plate to raise the car for the scale-sized RT-1 rubber tires. Great looks, excellent grip, multiple seasons of use, no performance fall-off; its all good with GTR!

Formula 1

Brian “Dumper” Wynn goes back to back at the US Indoor Champs!

Brian Wynn was the dominate winner in F1 last year at the 2014 USIC in Cleveland. This year, he again rolled in to the event with a victory in mind. With all the big manufactures present with their latest F1 offerings, Brian took his CRC WTF-1 (1500) car to an impressive T.Q. and win with teammates Jim Piersol and Mark Sweeney 3rd and 4th! A solid run for the CRC F1 team!

CRC WTF-1 (1500) – powered by the CRC Factory Certified (37362) 2s shorty pack. Wynn also used the optional FC-16 chassis conversion kit (1511) available soon.

1/12th 17.5

Andrew Knapp T.Q.’s 17.5 1/12th scale

Andrew Knapp took his CRC Xti-WC 1/12th car to a Top Qualifying position in 17.5. Andrew used CRC SPEC purple stripe tires (2230 + 2232) to dominate qualifying. This was not a spec tire only race, however, his strong results prompted MANY other drivers to switch to spec tires. Up and down the grid, purple stripe tires were lining the A-main.

CRC Xti-WC (3214) – with the Black Art R8C (4167) body and Hobbywing 3.1 1s ESC (7006).

Youth

Without a doubt, the most dedicated, hardworking, focused and handsome driver CRC has on the team is back-to-back Youth division winner, Max Buca. This young man is a dedicated student and hard working racer, he even does his homework between rounds! Max defended his title with his CRC 1/12th car complete with CRC Spec purple stripe tires. Another big T.Q. and win in the awesome youth division at the U.S. Indoor Championships! He doesn’t talk much, he doesn’t smile much, been when it comes to getting it DONE (whether it is homework or the A-main), Max is all business! Great job kid!

Max Buca takes the Youth Class again!

1/12th Modified

A few weeks before the USIC, Andrew “youngmoney” Knapp tied the knot with his lovely wife Lauren. (She’s very nice, a wonderful girl…. but her taste in men??? well not so much, but that’s another story for a different webpage…) Rumor had it before the race was that Andrew was rusty and out of practice, spending more time on his honeymoon than practicing for the Indoor Champs. Based on his sizzling performance at the U.S. Indoor Champs, Andrew must have had a honeymoon at a carpet RC race track because he was on the money, or “#youngmoney” in his case. Although Knapp did not T.Q., he was dominant in taking 3 of 4 rounds, only to loose the pole position when he failed to finish round #4. He was the only driver to post a sub 8 second lap time.

In the A-main, Knapp had a classic dogfight with Associated driver Keven Hebert. It was a a real treat and a pleasure to watch both drivers wrestle these little rockets around the track within inches of each other. After a couple lead changes and a couple minor board meetings, Andrew fought his way to the front to win the A-main in the featured class at the U.S. indoor Champs.

Andrew used the World, Japanese and now US Indoor National Champion CRC Xti-WC 1/12th scale car with CRC Pro Cut tires to take the win. Knapp chose the Hobbywing 3.1 1s controller to power his Trinity modified motor.

Andrew Knapp’s CRC Xti-WC

Andrew used a very stock CRC Xti-WC (3214). The stock kit springs were used; .50 mm front and rear as well as the kit center spring (red). Unlike other competition car kits on the market, the CRC car come STOCK with a lightweight graphite axle. The ONLY options on the car are as follows; Foam front bumper (3259) Extended rear top plate (3263) 2 mm roll center adjuster (3279) 92 tooth spur gear

CRC Xti-WC (3214) – with the Black Art R8C (4167) body and Hobbywing 3.1 1s ESC (7006).

Lots of help needed

Just minutes after winning the biggest race in his career, Andrew was found on the floor rolling up the carpet in a big teardown effort. In addition to picking up the track and sub-floor, Andrew was the main man during the carpet install before the race.

Set it up and tear it down!

Moments after the modified A-main, here is Andrew (right) rolling up the carpet with his racing hero and mentor, Terry Rott (left). Both Grand Rapids natives, on any club night they can be found battling it out at Rapid Competition RC. In the early days, “the young, wet behind the ears” Knapp was guided by the former USIC Champion, Terry Rott. Over the years, Terry taught the student many tricks of the trade. Now, Terry finds himself chasing one of the fastest racers in North America on club nights, with the wily veteran stealing a win every now and then.

It is a lot of work from dedicated members to put on a hotel race. Create a flat sub-floor, lay down the carpet, put up the layout, then tear it all up after a no-sleep weekend of intense racing. They have been doing this 36 years in Cleveland.

Summary

What a great turn-around for the U.S. Indoor Champs. Finally, a smooth, flat racetrack! Congrats to the sub-floor team, Steve + Dawn Schuttenberg, Michael Elwood and Geoff Ferron, you made a BIG difference. A nice flowing layout put on top of the new standard for R/C racing Carpet, CRC Fasttrak II. With almost 330 entries, there were some hiccups, but in general, a well run race. Can’t wait to do it again!