Biggest stories from the pits and racetrack of the Cactus Classic

Biggest stories from the pits and racetrack of the Cactus Classic

As with any big race, the pit area of last weekend’s 28th Annual Cactus Classic at SRS was full of new products from a wide variety of manufacturers – including new products being run in race conditions for the first time! Here’s a look at new products found in the pit area this year, along with full HD replays of the A-Main events and interviews with the winners of all five premier classes from the final year of the Cactus Classic under the Arizona sun.

Pro-Line Racing

In addition to their releases for the month of March, including the new Phantom body for the Team Associated B5M and pre-trimmed Trifecta wing, long-time Cactus Classic official sponsor Pro-Line showed off some new tire and wheel designs.

Pro Line buggy VTR wheels

Like Pro-Line’s innovative VTR wheel design for 1/8-scale trucks, their new VTR tire and wheel combo for 1/10-scale buggies forgoes the typical U-channel tire and wheel bead for a simpler design similar to 1/8-scale buggies.

Pro-Line buggy VTR Suburbs

Pro-Line’s VTR Suburbs for 2WD and 4WD rear wheels glue to the new VTR wheel with more rubber meeting the wheel, and the bead is easier to seat onto the rim. Dakotah Phend used the new VTR Suburbs to win the 2WD championship.

prolinetransistor

Pro-Line’s newest front tire for 2WD and 4WD buggies, called the “Transistor,” is an intermediate pattern between the Scrubs and Suburbs, featuring a mix of straight bars and small pins for superior steering on smooth and groomed tracks.


Hobby Pro USA

Hobby Pro USA has made a big push in the 1/10-scale market with their PR-S1 2WD buggy, and team drivers Andy Smolnik and Mike Walker debuted the PR-ST1 stadium truck at this year’s Cactus – with Andy qualifying for the 13.5 Stadium Truck A-Main!

Hobby Pro USA PRST1_1

The body is a bit radical, but the PR-ST1 is standard stadium truck fare built to compete with today’s best racing machines.

Hobby Pro USA PRST1_2

Based off of the PR-S1 buggy and outfitted with red anodized goodies galore, the PR-ST1 is aimed squarely at the resurgent Stadium Truck class.


Serpent

When Serpent signed multi-time ROAR Electric Off-Road National Champion Mike Truhe for the 2014 season, it was obvious that they’d be looking to break into the electric market. With a competitive SRX-2 2WD buggy platform in rear- and mid-motor configurations available, Serpent is next tackling the 2WD short course class with the Spyder SCT-2 that Mike Truhe drove to an A-Main finish.

serpentshortcoursetruck

Aside from the trick carbon fiber shock towers, check out the Lexan ‘wings’ that bolt to the side nerf bars!


Team Associated

On AE engineer Kody Numedahl’s personal B5M buggy we spotted a few upcoming Factory Team parts, as well as new wrenches in his pit area.

associated_newb5mmotorplate

Forget slotting the motor plate – this machined aluminum unit has huge areas cut out!

associated-b5mcamberclockandpivotblock

Aluminum rear camber block and pivot blocks add weight, style, and strength.

associatedb5mrearhub

Beefy aluminum rear hubs have four camber link locations on top, but oddly anodized black instead of blue.

associated-reedyspeedo

Reedy’s speed control still isn’t ready for public consumption, and in fact hasn’t been officially named – though we have heard the name “Black Box.”

associated_newwrenches

Associated’s new wrenches fit 5.5mm and 7.0mm nuts, perfect for upper shock mounts and axles!


Team Durango

Among the most interesting models in Hobbico’s large display in the pit area of Scottsdale R/C Speedway were two updated Team Durango racing buggies, each outfitted with an assortment of Team Durango’s aftermarket hop-ups to show what all is available for the 2WD and 4WD platforms.

Team Durango DEX410_V4

Team Durango’s DEX410V4 comes with harder diff cases for the gear differentials, new universal center and outboard driveshafts, a new two-way slipper clutch that splits the power independently to the front and rear, new front and rear arms, new 19 deg. caster blocks, new low-stiction o-rings, updated shock pistons, hex ball studs and Dimec X-specification ball cups, new captured hinge pins, body clips, and a new body. Whew!

team durango dex210v2

The DEX210V2 has straight and “aero-neutral” front arms that are shaped to reduce aerodynamic lift, a longer aluminum chassis, new rear body mount for the new cab-forward body and updated side guards to match, front shock tower with less rearward sweep and a narrower rear shock tower, rear arms designed to mount shocks on either the front or rear of the arm/tower, longer diff outdrives, new aluminum low-roll center rear pivot block, new rear gearbox with additional camber link location, new tranny/chassis brace for easier transmission removal, new driveshafts with a greater angle of articulation, hex ball studs and Dimec X-specification ball cups, new aluminum steering rack, and a new wing!


Team Orion

TeamOrion_VST2_5550

Team Orion’s new VST2 550 series motors carry the same innovative features from the 540-size VST2, like the multiple sensor port options on the all-aluminum endbell and can, but in a larger size that’s perfect for 4×4 short course trucks. Dakotah Phend used the VST2 550 to win the 4×4 SC class at the race!


TLR

tlrnew22-4body

TLR’s new radically cab-forward body for the 22-4 matches the similar design they released for the 22 2.0 earlier this year.


Viper

viper_xpertservo

Viper recently announced that they’ll be bringing the Xpert line of servos into the U.S. and displayed them proudly in their booth at Cactus. Here’s the top-of-the-line model with an all-aluminum case.

viper4-polemotor

Viper’s new V4.40 motor is the brand’s answer to the stress of the 4×4 short course class, with a 4-pole design for increased torque to motivate the heavy power-sapping big rigs!


DE Racing

DE Racing now offers their popular dish wheels for the XRAY XB4 buggy and TLR 22T stadium truck.

DSC_0252


If you read our race report from Monday you already know who won all five premier racing classes, but here’s your chance to watch how it all went down. After the end of the final main events for each class is an exclusive video interview with the division champion!

Stadium Truck

Replays of A1 and A2

Replay of A3 and Jared Tebo interview

2WD Short Course

Replays of A1 and A2

Replay of A3 and 3rd place finisher Chris Wheeler interview

4WD Short Course

7-minute A Main event and Dakotah Phend interview

4WD Buggy

Replays of A1 and A2

Replay of A3 and Ryan Maifield interview

2WD Buggy

Replays of A1 and A2

Replay of A3 and Dakotah Phend interview

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Updated: July 21, 2015 — 3:35 PM
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