I made the trip to Alabama for the SIC. The weather was cold, ranging from 27'f-55'f. The first thing I did after a few tanks of practice was go 50cts thinner shock oils all around on my new SOAR 998 TD1R.2 buggy. The buggy felt great with VP-Pro SS Rain Master Tires and SS Gripz Tires.

I raced 40+ and Pro Nitro Buggy. I used the Pro class to get more track time and try different tires but it got so cold that I could not feel my fingers so I skipped the last qualifier of Pro and the C-Main that ran first thing Sunday morning so I could sleep in and stay warm in my hotel room.

In 40+ I finished 4th, 5th, and 4th after a few bobbles in each of the 3 rounds. SS Gripz were the best tire in qualifying so I planned on running them in the A-Main where I started 7th on the grid.

The Main event was run around 6:45pm at night and it got cold again and was about 46'f at the start of the race. My buggy felt Dialed in the 3 minute warmup but unfortunately I had the left front tire blow off the rim at the end of warmup. I guess the glue didn't stick or not enough glue got in the bead because of the extreme cold temps. With a 2 minute grace period called my Pit team - The Barth Family had just enough time to sway tires out. But all I had glued up was a set of VP-Pro Soft Gripz that were in my pit bag just incase the SS compound had too much traction. So I had to deal with drama in the mains once again.

I started the A-main with cold never run tires and an engine that was cold also after being shut off for 2 minutes before the tone sounded. Luckily I got a great start and moved up to 4th on lap 1, 3rd on lap 2, and 2nd by lap 3. By then I was 8 seconds behind the TQ and leader Donald Elliott. As my tires warmed up, the traction came up as well and I started reeling in the leader. Every time he pitted I took the lead until I pitted. We stayed within 5 seconds of each other the entire main and I came out right behind him after my final pit stop at the 24 minute mark and the battle was on. Unfortunately it was getting colder and my fingers were loosing feeling in them. I piped the back 180 and got stuck handing a 7 second lead to Elliott. I tried to charge back but kept making mistakes so I had to back off and settle for 2nd place. This track was very tricky and easy to break your buggy as they were dropping like flies all day long.

All in all it was a great race and I am satisfied with my result. Thank you to all my sponsors for their support and special thanks to Tim and Becky Barth for all the pit help at the event. Until the next one - stay Dialed!