Interview: Eric Anderson Chats About Motors and ROAR

Interview: Eric Anderson Chats About Motors and ROAR

Name: Eric Anderson

Age: 40

Hometown; Murfreesboro, TN

Sponsors: Thunder RC, Team EAM, Xray/RC America, Hudy, Futaba, Protoform, Orca, Apex RC, Avid, Gravity RC, Pro level RC, Xenon, LEESPEED

Racing Accomplishments: 4-Time Oval National Champion, Oval Masters Modified Champion, Snowbirds Oval Champion, Snowbirds TC Stock Champion, IIC Stock TC Champion, ROAR 1/12-scale Super Stock National Champion, Psycho Nitro Blast Open 1/8-scale Champion, Psycho Nitro Blast Mod 4wd Champion.

 

RC Car Action: When did you get in to racing?

Eric Anderson: At 12. First car was a Tamiya Hornet for Christmas.

 

You raced it?

Well attempted, but that didn’t go so well. First race car was shortly after- a Team Associated RC10L.

You are kind of known for your on-road prowess. Do you prefer carpet or asphalt?

Carpet. There’s more consistent track conditions and not a tire war like asphalt is.

 

What’s your favorite class?

Probably touring car, but love 1/12-scale as well.

 

You’re known among a lot of racers as the motor tuning guru. Why do you think that is?

I guess that’s what most people knew me for before I was actually one of the fast guys in on-road racing. I always built motors at the track and helped anyone who asked.

 

You developed your motor tuning craft through brushed motors?

Yes. It was something I picked up on fast and learned pretty much everything I know about brushed motors from Todd Putnam of Putnam Propulsion. I enjoyed helping guys go fast and giving guys who were down on power, but were fast, the power to go faster.

 

Was it hard to adapt to brushless technology and what are the main things you focus on with the new motors?

At first there was a ton of misconceptions about brushless motors which all came out over the years. We were told, and promised “all brushless motors are equal.” We found out very quickly this wasn’t the case at all. At first it was a tough learning curve and still is for some people. The main focus is getting a good stator and matching it with a good strong and balanced rotor. The sensor boards are critical too. Got to have one that the A, B, C phases are all close on timing or it nullifies the best stator you have.

 

So, I understand you work a lot with ROAR. What’s your official title?

Yes, it’s something I started a couple years ago. I am the Electric Section Chairman.

 

What responsibilities does that position have?

Basically I talk with people at the electric races I attend, including manufactures, access chat forums and such to try and get an idea of what racers are looking for at races, what they expect, what can be done to make racing better, what can be done to attract new people to the hobby, how we can work with manufactures to get better products out for racers, etc. Just general feedback from racers about what they want to see happen and what they think needs to be looked at or addressed with rules and such. Excom has a meeting once a month through conference calls where we discuss all aspects of ROAR and racing. There is a lot going on that most people don’t realize within ROAR.

 

Any big changes we can expect from ROAR?

There is nothing set in stone as of yet. But, the speed of the stock classes is a big discussion right now.

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Updated: August 11, 2016 — 11:37 AM
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