For those who don’t know Will Brinton, he’s a rare breed that’s funny, nice, sincere, and a dedicated racer that gets it done in Omaha, Nebraska. With nearly 15 years of HobbyPlex action in Omaha, Will can tell you everything about the surface and how to get dialed in on the dirt. You see, he raced on the track back when it was 1/18th off-road on carpet with masonite jumps. Fast forward through time and Hobbyplex now has one of the best racing programs in the country that features 1/10th indoor track, carpet onroad track, scale courses, dirt oval track, and even holds FPV races now and then.
Being a regular there and watching HobbyPlex progress through the years, has been a great experience for someone who’s passionate about racing such as Will as he’s now a wealth of wisdom. With this accumulated knowledge, Will has helped countless racers who are unfamiliar with HobbyPlex’s surface. This is what it’s about!
Will’s favorite memory from HobbyPlex was back in 2016 at the Byron’s Fuel Challenge race. Tragically, he lost his best friend and pit guy who passed away before the race and another buddy, Jeremy Felles, ended up taking over as pit guy so they could race in memory of their good friend. Unfortunately, things went terribly and Will started 8th in the B main. Throwing the book at it, they made wholesale changes to the car and he cruised his way through the field and won the B main to start 10th in the A. After the 45 minutes, Will drove all the way up to 3rd and finished 3rd overall. He was so happy he cried.
Adding holes to the foams makes them softer, allowing the tire to make a larger contact patch with the ground for more grip. Grip is good, but sometimes it can be evil!
Here is the underside of the tire that has the Vcut and holes added (taken out) for a softer feel. When traction is on the low side, this is a good way to get some more grip.
For the 2wd fronts, Will adds 1 hole and punched through the ribbed section. This slightly softens the foam and makes it feel like a “broken in” foam from the start.
Here are a few amazing layouts of the track to give you an idea of what the surface looks like.
Above, is a very recent track photo of HobbyPlex. You have to give it to Alex Sturgeon for doing such a great job with a large facility! So much work and so much love put into this place.
So here it is and thanks to Will for dropping a fully loaded, max detail tire guide for HobbyPlex. If you haven’t ventured out to HobbyPlex, now is the time because you’ll already be dialed in on tires. If you see Poppa Willie around, don’t be shy and just say Hi!
To download the PDF version of the Tire Guide, you can click here for that. If not, save the JPG version of it below and let’s go race!
