Jason Branham reports from his recent win at the 2013 Ice Breaker race, USA… I attended the annual ICE BREAKER this past weekend in Dallas, TX at the recently renovated Indy RC World. Indy has done a great job cleaning up the facility but mainly the track area got the biggest upgrades with lighting, expansion and new dirt. There were around 140 entries and the bulk of the entries came to compete for Pro Buggy honors.
In qualifying my cars were working very well on the high bite, blue groove surface but finding the right tyre compound for the time of day was crucial. Everyone seemed to be fast with lap times very close but it was going to come down to who was going to be the most consistent. The high bite surface could cause a traction roll at any time so if you weren’t on your toes you could get out of shape and get it wrong very quick. I managed to TQ the first round of buggy with my XB9 but with mistakes I knew the time may not stand. Kyle Skidmore from AE was running fast and consistent during Saturday’s qualifying and he was able to put it all together to take the overall TQ honors in buggy proving he was going to be the man to beat. In truck my XT8 was very good and I was able to put together a couple of good runs and take TQ, one of which would stand as the fasted time of the weekend.
In the Pro Truck main I got off fast but was trailed by Hunter Kinsey of Kyosho right up until the first pit stop where he ran into motor issues. After the first pit stop I had a large lead in which I continued to extend until an incident with a lap truck left my truck broken and done for the race.
In the Pro Buggy main top qualifier, Kyle Skidmore, got off to a slow start and I got by him quickly. With the right tires and set-up I was able to maintain consistency and stretch my lead fast. My XB9 stayed very consistent throughout the entire 45 minute main making it easy for me to check out and take the win.
I couldn’t be happier with my XRAY rides at the moment and with the XB9’13 on the way things could just be getting better.
Pro Buggy top 10:
- Jason Branham – XRAY XB9
- Denver Houghton
- David Joor