02/02/2026
I had an amazing weekend with some good friends at the HobbyTown Winter 6 Hour Endurance Race. If you've ever wanted to see what a touring car looks like after almost 1,400 laps (on one set of tires, no less), here you go. We ended up finishing 7th out of 16 teams. Unfortunately our transponder came unplugged twice and we lost about 8 minutes worth of laps, likely costing us 2 positions. We also made some other mistakes with car prep that definitely hurt our performance, but we learned a lot about how to set up these TAMIYA（タミヤ） TT-01e cars for racing.
I have to hand it to the HobbyPlex Omaha and TamiyaUSA for making this race happen. The entry fee for the event was only $150 per team, and that included the new-in-the-box car kit (which we had to assemble the morning of the event), Tamiya tire inserts, Tamiya Mini CVA shocks, and a full set of Fast Eddy bearings for the car, which all carries a retail value of around $200. The HobbyPlex crew painted the bodies and soldered Deans plugs on the kit ESCs for all the teams, and everybody got at least an hour of track time. They were able to keep the entry fee reasonable thanks to Tamiya's support.
I'm also impressed with the TT-01e platform. No, it's no a top-spec competition car, but for about $150 you can get a rock-solid chassis that includes a motor and ESC. We did 6 straight hours of driving and turned in almost 1,400 laps, yet we only broke two parts: a servo saver and the right-front hub. And those only broke because we took two solid hits from other cars that would have probably broken anything else on the market. Let me tell you, these cars took a beating. We had 16 cars on a track that's really only meant for 10, and the skill level of the drivers varied greatly... which is my polite way of saying that for much of the event, it felt more like a destruction derby than a race. What these cars lack in all-out performance, they make up for with durability and fun.
With any luck, I'll be back next year with Matt (of MOD), Joe, and Brandon!
