RECON Terra-X

Posted: 1/28/13

RECON Crawlers Presents

The G6 TERRA-X

Location: Traction Hobbies, Reno, Nevada

Date: 1/19/13

Words and photos by Skeeno
Additional photos by the great Dragonturbo3

Last year at the Axialfest, Brian Parker debuted the EXO Terra Cross, a cross between racing and crawling. Sort of like a rock racing event in the 1:1 world with fast areas and technical crawling sections. The EXO Terra Cross proved to be quite a challenge for some of the regular drivers that were used to following their trucks around and not standing stationary. The audience that day was treated to an epic bash/race that resulted in lots of laughs and smiles from everyone.

No doubt, Mr. Parker left the Axialfest wondering where in the world he could host another EXO Terra Cross. Luckily, he lives in Reno, Nevada where Traction Raceway and Hobbies' accommodating track owner, Justin Clark, handed over the keys to Parker for a couple of days.

The Traction track is quite large and is designed for more traditional race vehicles like 1:10 buggies and stadium trucks. This is what it usually looks like.

This clay is smoother than any G6er or crawler would be used to. This stuff would need a little sprinkle of the Parker magic to transform this track into a Terra-X track.

I showed up a little early and caught the RECON crew getting the Terra-X track prepped.

I'm not sure what Stooey was doing over there, but it looked manly.

There were multiple skill sections added to the track. This was the Toyota Hood Jump.

Immeditately following the hood jump was Clickity Clack Corner. Parker was kind enough to block our view with a 37" 1:1 tire.

After the corner were the Snowboard Kickers and street pylon bases.

At the end of the straightaway was the Mezzanine Climb. The bottom of this was dug out and muddied for the mains.

That dropped into a rocky section. This proved to be one of the harder parts of the track. It turned out that bombing over the rocks was faster than trying to avoid them. Parker used an underlayment of plastic to protect the clay and make the loose gravel and rocks even more slippery.

For the Go Fast class, some skateboard kickers were brought in. You best believe they created huge air.

A few corners later was the Sand Trap. This section also used the underlayment and caught quite a few trucks in its clutches.

This was the Tire Foam Pit with optional bridge line. It is surprising how a little piece of foam caught under your truck can hinder your speed and directional ability.

This is what the completed track looked like before the mayhem started.

Around 9:00, G6ers started to show up to Do Work.

Look, the knuckleheads from Sacto showed up.

Even Fast Eddy made the trip.

This is Gary. Gary lucked out by being stationed at the military base in Fallon, which is about 80 miles east of Reno. He made the drive to compete with his Wraith and EXO buggy.

Once the track modifications were complete, it was time for a little practice.

Here the Blog Honcho practices his cornering ability. I think I'm pulling close to .62 Gs. I couldn't get the cool tire roll that Wraith was getting.

The clay makes crawler tires pretty to look at.

Chris Meeks heard the mains were 18 minutes long. He wanted to make sure that he had enough juice to finish. He shoe horned in 10,000mah of power under the hood of his EXO/Wraith.

I told you those kickers worked. Here an EXO chills in the air by the Axial banner.

After a little practice, I looked around the pits to see what I could see. Here's a few highlights.

The first thing I found was the food table. I'll be back for that pulled pork later.

I found a zombie in a Wraith, probably left over from the Zombies on the Rocks G6.

I found this Ridgecrest with a sweet cage mod.

This G6er was ready for water. That is quite a conglomerate of whatever that is.

Just like a Boy Scout, a G6er needs to be prepared.

Thanks to Werty, these guys looked around on the ground looking for a tiny spacer for 10 minutes only to be found on the work bench under a tire.

While everyone practiced, charged, and wrenched, Mr. Clark came in to help set up the races on the computer. He also stayed to call the races and make fun of me.

As usual. Parker gave us a talking to before the races began. Trucks were divided into three classes, Go Fasts (EXOs and Short Course), Wraith/2.2, and 1.9s. There would be two qualifying heats. Each qualifying heat was 8 minutes long. The top 7 from each class would make it into the main event. Main events were 16-18 minutes long with a mandatory caution/restart to regroup the trucks at the midway point of each main. This kept the racing in the main tight and exciting.

After listening to the rules, drivers swarmed the heat sheets to see when their race was up.

Of course, you can't start a G6 without the National Anthem.

Trucks lined up at waited for the tone.

Capturing quality pictures of the racing proved to be difficult with the low light conditions and high speed of the trucks. I have a whole new appreciation and envy of those with high end cameras.
The stadium trucks ran with the EXOs. Here one tries to jump out of the track.

Not to be out done, Werty tries the leap frog pass with his EXO on the huge kickers.

Another EXO blasts over the quad. These EXOs are made for racing.

After Stooey watched the EXOs, he had to go check them out. They are now on his list of To Gets.

Here's a sight that is never seen at a G6, drivers on a driver's stand.

Tree dwarfs everyone with his 6'8" frame, but Pham looks like a 3rd grader standing next to him even while utilizing the milk crate.

In between heats, the RECON JRs entertained themselves with Mine Craft.

There's that pulled pork sandwich I was looking for. The nacho cheese is a Traction Hobbies delicacy.

After making everyone crawl on the ground looking for his spacer, Werty tried to light his truck on fire by not using a hard case lipo. Luckily, he caught it before going full Dan W. in the pits. Consult the Joker's Wild blog if you are unfamiliar with Dan W-ing. (https://axialracing.com/blog_posts/7798)