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Nitro Offroad Announcements2007 National Champions Interviews - Cody KingSun Apr 13, 2008 5:30PMThis interview is with Cody King the 2007 Expert Buggy National Champion.
Cody. First things first congratulations on the 2007 Expert Buggy Championship!
Thanks Carlton, and thanks for all your hard work last year. I have been racing for about 9 years. I had a couple gas trucks when I was a kid, just having fun in the street. I got started racing in a buddy's back yard were he had a track. My friends raced at Socal in Huntington Beach, and that's where the more serious racing started for me. Allot of people were into electric back then. Kinwald was basically winning everything, it was a good experience.
Thanks Cody much like you I'm doing something I love. Well my dad did RC when he was a kid, and he raced pylon planes for awhile. That really helped with all the nitro and fuel stuff. The thing that really got us going was when we broke the cars, and we saw all the parts on the internet. It was cool to be able to fix it for not too much money. I didn't know that about Paul. Yea cars are definitely easier and cheaper to repair than planes. I tried flying......... once. LOL
Okay let's go back 9 years. Tell us about your 1st serious rc race! My first serious rc race was electric stock truck at Social. I won the B main. Man I wanted to win that so bad. LOL
Hmmm.. I'm pretty sure we ran in 2003, which was the year I think Adam won. I know for sure we ran in 2004, but I was pretty much chasing The Drake around in Gas Truck, trying to collect points. Yes, we did all the races that were popular. Reedy Truck Race, Hot Rod Shoot Out, ROAR Regionals, and even NORRCA. My first real traveling experience was the 2004 RC Pro Finals at Boggy Creek in Florida. Dang I hate it when your right! That just shows how bad my memory is! I was at the Boggy Creek Finals too.
It's a little difficult to have a Gas Truck sponsor and a Truggy sponsor. There are only two companies who manufacture competitive gas trucks, AE and Losi. We found it very difficult to run 3 classes, even before we had to quit gas truck. I still like the class, it just doesn't fit in for me personally. Truggy is pretty much taking over, just like it does on the track. LOL - I think Truggy racing is good for the hobby, because they're entertaining to watch, fairly easy to drive, fun to drive, and for people driving by themselves or bashing, they don't flip over that much. You can just about drive up a tree, and it will land on its wheels. The down side to that is for the newer drivers, or kids starting out, they don't have the finesse of driving a gas truck. It teaches you allot driving 2 wheel drives. Watch out at the ROAR Truck Nats, there might be a few people driving gas truck that don't normally. ; )
I take that as a hint you will be running Gas Truck for that race?
Not sure yet about the gas truck thing, maybe. ; )
At the 2007 Finals I remember Paul's reaction when I announced you as the National Champ. Were you as surprised as he was?
Yes, I was just as surprised as my Dad. We didn't have great points in buggy, so most of our attention was on truggy. My buggy was real good on that track, and I guess it pays to lead allot of laps. : ) The same thing just happened at Silverstate. I was really pressing to repeat in Truggy, and we had a bunch of bad luck. Then I went out in Buggy, and did real well.
It does pay to lead a lot of laps!
The first couple of tanks just spend the time trying different lines and get used to where the pipes are. Also, use allot of your time watching other cars, and adjust your lines if you want to try something. It pays to be able to adjust your line and then hit it right every lap after that. Another big thing is tire choice. You really have to constantly check the track surface, and see what your friends, teammates, and other cars are doing with the tires you want to try.
So you mentioned tires, would you consider that the most important setup item on a buggy or truggy? I would say tires are very important. It's hard to say the most important, because if you flame out, you're not going to win anything either. Each part is a piece of the puzzle, and if everything isn't right, you really can't win an expert class A main.
Do you start with a special base setup or just the standard setup?
I have a basic set-up, but if the track is obviously smooth and high bite, I will stiffen the suspension. There are certain things you can see right away by looking at the track, that you know you want to change. Speaking of that let me thank Tyler Vik for helping me with set-up at the finals. We went to the 1 degree anti-squat on the very rough track, and it was good.
Don't ya hate when them kids teach you something!? LOL Yes and yes. ha-ha - We both want to finish first, but the main thing is that a Kyosho car wins, that's the most important thing. We get some rivalry stuff going at the club races and practicing. At a big race we just focus on working together, and make sure the team is all good.
I know a lot of racers out there see getting sponsored as a way to get free stuff. I try to explain there is a lot of responsibility and work to it but I think it would be better heard from someone that is in that position. Well, first thing is you have to win.... ALLOT. LOL - Most people think they deserve help too early. We really had to win just about every major open class gas race before we got any help at all. My second rule is that each time you get another step higher, you have to work twice as hard. The major factories spend quite a bit of money on the race program each year, and they expect something in return. There is allot of testing and hard work, but it's still fun on the weekends.
I know everyone will kill me if I don't try to expand on that. What does your testing schedule usually entail? I would say we go out a couple times a week and test. If we have a new car, probably every day. Set-up changes, a new plug, tire, whatever. We try to have a goal in mind when we get to the track, then when we leave; it feels like we got something done.
Also how many races a year do you normally go to? Oh man, total races, including club races? We race nearly every week, sometimes twice. Probably about 50 in a year. If you are talking majors, ROAR Truck and Buggy, Nitro Challenge, Silverstate, RC Pro, any IFMAR related race, and some series races. On top of that, a few big electric events. It seems like there is a big race every month.
That's even worse than my schedule! How do you manage to work that with school? Skool? LOL - I'm not enrolled this semester, but I plan to. I'm putting full attention to racing right now.
Does that mean Kyosho America has you busy at the warehouse then? If not maybe I need to have a talk with them! LOL I do work at Kyosho, mainly during the end of the month, when we have to fill allot of orders.
How have things changed in RC since you started? When I started, there were a lot of electric racers. There were like 12 to 15 heats of electric 10th scale at a club race, even on a week night. Now it seems like 8th scale gas is more popular, and there are allot of fast guys at the big races. If you look at results from some of the big races, the top 30 guys have all won before, and have a real shot to win. Now we see more video cameras, better coverage like liverc.com, and even FSN has been at a couple races. The hobby seems like it is getting bigger.
Well Cody, I guess that's about it. Any last thing you want to say? Yes, I would like to say thank you for working very hard on the series, we've had a blast running these races over the years. Also, I want to thank Kyosho, Sirio/Star Motor, KO Propo, Lunsford, Sidewinder/Morgan Fuels, Upgrade RC, Abyss Paints, A MAIN HOBBIES.com, and of course my Dad for the good wrenching and pit stops. "I also would like to thank Byron's Fuel, who we just came to terms with this week. We will be running the new GEN2 Fuel for the Nationals and Worlds in 2008. I want to thank Sidewinder/Morgan Fuel for their great support these last couple years."
Thanks Cody for taking the time for this interview and good luck this year! Comments |
