LCRC Mugen Challenge 2025

This past weekend was the 2025 Mugen Challenge at LCRC Raceway in Pennsylvania. Another large turnout of 446 entires made for a compeitive field of racers. I opted to run all 4 of my Kyosho 1/8th race vehicles at this event including the new MP11 along with learning my RawSpeed tires at another new track. I arrived early Thursday morning to be part of the golf outing next door where where I had 2 good shots. Then in the afternoon we got some semi-controlled practice to familiarize ourselves with the track. I also committed this day to challenge myself to a 5 day fast over the weekend which I will explain at the end for those who may be interested in my experience/reasonings.

On Friday it was just more practice and I started to try some different tires and also offered to those in attendance to try out some RawSpeed truggy tires. They were watering semi regularly and the track started to groove a little bit but it did stay dustier than normal. For the most part I was running our new test compound single blue when the track had moisture. It’s a new SS like compound we are testing that has a bit more elasticity. When the track was a bit drier and the sun was out as well I had good success with yellow (soft) and when the track was fully dried I tried pink and found them to be possibly best of all.

Come qualifying day on Saturday though it was cloudy and the track never grooved and the watering just seemed to make the track dustier. I again ran the single blue for the whole day in Mach one in the truggies and Triads in the buggies. We were limited to two 6 min qualifiers on the day due to the high entry count. Round 1 I found success in nitro truggy with a 2nd and Ebuggy with a 1st. In rd 2 I had success in Etruggy with a 1st and nitro buggy managed a 3rd. Overall after qualifying was complete I would start TQ in both electric classes as well as 3rd in Nitro Truggy and 5th in Nitro buggy.

Sunday was a concern due to the threat of rain but they were pushing thru the program to get it in. We avoided the morning rain and they also opted not to water as much and the track started to take a slight line and then groove in certain areas. Due to the track being drier I took a flyer and ran the pink Mach ones in nitro Truggy for the first main event. With a 25min main on this high speed and often full punched layout I felt competitive at the start chomping at the bit of my competitors. But I got into the back of him early on and had to wait and then followed for a while until the first pit stop sequence where I finally asserted myself in 2nd. For the next 15min or so I tailed Lee Setser by 4-5 seconds not seeming to be able to get closer. During the last pit stop he came in one lap before me which allowed me the lead for his out lap. He made a mistake on that lap and after my pit stop I came out right behind him and the battle was on. I chimed at the bit for a number of minutes not able to make a clean pass on this high speed one lineish layout. Finally on the last lap he went a bit wide into the dust on the left and I put my car inside and he tried to close the door but got out of shape and into the pipe and I got by and held him off the final sweeping corner just barely to take the win. It was a very exciting final.

Next was Etruggy where I ran the same set of Pink Mach One tires with success. Early crashes by my competition allowed me to build and extend my lead and cruise to victory.

Next was 25min for Nitro buggy and my MP11 was ready for battle. Pink Triads were my tire of choice and the grip had really begun to come up. Initially in warmup I felt I missed my setup as the front swaybar felt very light (2.1) due to the higher grip. Fortunately the MP11 continued to impress in that even though my setup wasn’t ideal it still maintained its drivability and allowed me to have a successful race. The race didn’t start ideal however with early mistakes knocking me back to 6th and then 7th before finding my groove and moving back thru the pack. With probably the best car in the uphill 6 pack and my pink Triads hooked up I was able to pick off drivers and take the lead on lap 17 and extend out to a 10 second victory at the end of the 43 laps.

One more to go. (Last year I had the same results going winning the first 3 before falling short in Ebuggy with a 2nd.)

This time in Ebuggy I wouldn’t make a mistake in choosing the right tire for the main and stayed with the Pink Triad. With the grip continuing to go up they just got faster. While the whole weekend lap times were within a 0.1 for most of the top drivers, in this main I was able to be over 0.3 faster per lap than the field which allowed me to have another pull away victory and complete the Quad-Fecta 4 victories on the weekend!

Can’t be much more pleased about the results of the weekend. Completing the quad-fecta, showcasing the new MP11, and also showing the Raw speed of RawSpeed tires at another facility. My Alpha Falcon Spec B kept me on pace in Nitro and my Tekin and ProTek electronics and batteries provided all the power necessary in the electric classes. Also I ran the new more budget friendly Futaba T6PV radio in my electric cars to show its ability as well! Just a great weekend.

Set-up Sheets:

MP11: Diffs: F10-(C13w/3 gear)-R6

A block - B upright, small dot up and out

B block - B upside down, small dot down and out

C block - B upright, small dot up and out

D block - A upright, small dot up and in

Caster block/KPI - Kit with 2mm front and 1mm rear spacing in the arm

Shocks - F 1.2x6 (550) New 72mm blue spring, R 1.3x6 (450) Black 84mm rear spring

Swaybar - 2.2 front, 2.6 rear

Ackerman - Forward

Ride Height - 24/26

Gearing - 60/17 (43/13 diff/pinion)

CVD front and Rear

Rear upright upper hole, 4/1 spacing

Standard wheel hubs front and rear

Front Link - Middle in tower, Middle on Caster block, 12.25mm

Rear Link - Low in on tower, Middle low on upright, 11.25mm

Steering link - 28mm

Shock location - Front - middle tower, out arm. Rear - One from out tower, out arm

Battery location towards center

No bump shims

Engine - Alpha Falcon Spec B with Kyosho 3 shoe clutch (2x0.9, 1x0.95 springs on LW shoes)

Kit MP11 body and Wing. Wing Spaced in forward position

Health Talk, not medical advise As mentioned in the first paragraph I also opted to challenge my mind and body this weekend with a 5 day fast. (I’ve been seeking ways to remain more healthy and youthful and to keep on competing with the kids in this hobby!) I’m writing this Monday afternoon with 4 hours to go. The last time I ate was 6PM on Wednesday. I opted for a water fast and added some electrolyte (salt,mag,potassium,trace minerals) to drink. Overall the first two days were pretty easy for me with just some hunger at times. (I have done a 3 day fast before as well as occasional intermittent 18/6 fasts so this part wasn’t much challenge.) Day 3 I started to have some moments of slight dizziness when I would say squat down and stand up quickly or marshal too hard. This was Saturday qualifying and midday I just needed a nap so took a quick 20 min nap and felt refreshed. As long as my exertion wasn’t too much I felt really good and my mental clarity was improving. All the above are pretty common things from what I’ve studied. Sunday was main day and at the end of the program we had race/marshal/race/marshal/race. I Marshalled after nitro truggy but the back to back ones I asked for some help(thank you) as I just didn’t want to risk overexertion. In the end I felt pretty good and clear minded and focused and had great results.

My reasons for doing the fast were multiple. Spiritually I wanted to grow in my relationship with the Lord and every time I had hunger I would praise Him for sustaining me. And in my daily Bible reading I had better memory of what I was reading.

Physically I also wanted to do it for the metabolic and body reset effects it promises. I wanted to get into Autophogy and gain some cellular repair from the no doubt damaging effects of my eating habits my first 35+ years of life and the chemicals I’m constantly exposed to with my job. I also wanted to see if I could achieve the greater mental clarity and more control over my eating habits. It’s truly amazing what fasting can help your body to accomplish. So in all just wanted to share that and if you have any interest in learning more I would be happy to share some of the resources that motivated me to give it a try. I’m just about to finish and can say that I’m glad I did it. Do note that it’s something you need to work up towards. I’ve also been low carb for a number of months which has me in ketosis more often than not which helps the transition into fasting as well.

(One week later feedback). I left the house at 183lbs and upon completion of the fast was down to 172lbs and noticably thinner in the face as per my family who was ever worried. But upon refeading (as slowly as I could at first) I have eaten a lot over the past week and have actually gained it all back and a little more (I would love to get up to 190 and have previous felt maxed out at low 180's). I feel like my digestion has improved and overall energy and ability to build lean muscle ect as growth hormone was activated during the fast. So again, I just reiterate that I am pleased with the experience and results so far.