The 2026 Wicked Weekend, one of Race Time Entertainment's premier events in the USA, marked my first major race in nearly ten years. I was excited to see how much the competition had evolved during my absence and to race Serpent's updated SRX8 Gen4. While it builds on our previous platform, the Gen4 has developed its own distinct personality that can only be fully appreciated under race conditions.
Practice would start for me on Thursday night from 8-10 PM, and then again from 7 AM to 12PM on Friday. This year I chose the latter practice as it gave me more time to work on the cars, prepare tires and survey what other top drivers were doing. The practice went ok for me, trying a variety of setup options and tires. There were moments in practices were I could hang with top drivers for a few laps and then I would crash out. I mainly contributed this to the long layoff and very demanding conditions on the race track. The track was very bumpy, with major holes, but there were also many smooth sections that were very high grip.
There were many issues to overcome, including the rain, which flooded our pit, and altered the track condition even more, as if it was not hard enough. The tracks become quite damp, with the rain pouring down for the remainder of the Friday. This basically forced many to use different treaded tires and even softer compounds. It was obvious that many top level pros found the bar type tires to be the fastest , made mainly in soft compounds. Unfortunately for me, I did not have the bar tires and for sure not in the correct compound for the condition, so I had to run soft compound tires in very dense tread patterns. This seemed to be the best for me.
After the qualifying had started, it was pretty easy to see that although I was more than competitive in the over 40 class, my skill level in the pro class was not quite where it used to be. As the race went on though, things were improving with the car setup, and also my driving so the gap was closing in all classes I raced. In 40 plus nitro buggy, I could run easily at the top of the field, which was the same in 40 plus e buggy. I was able to grab a couple of tq’es in those classes, but ultimately qualified 2nd in 40 nitro, and 3rd in 40 e buggy. In the pro class I was hovering around 15-20th. Not great, but not bad for nearly a 10 year break.
As for the nitro buggy, this was really a case of refining the setup, which was already quite close. I tried many rear end changes, but settled on one that was fastest, with the minimum amount of difficulty. The front end actually felt pretty consistent and was for the most part pretty good. Based on what I saw, more rear refinement would have helped, but that is what these events are for.
In e-buggy , was a bit more challenging, not having a new version and really running my old car from 2018. I really did not leave myself here with a good starting setup. This class was more difficult for me, as I was dealing with electronic issues, as well as a setup I really was not all that fond of. It just seemed loose in the rear most of the event, so that I will need to work on.
In the over 40 E buggy was the first main I would run. This started off good, and then went to really bad, and then I found myself trying to make a run for the lead. As I closed on the leader with 2-3 minutes to go, My Speedo thermally shut of. So that was over. A bit disappointing, but its racing.
In the over 40 nitro buggy, this really could not have gone any better. The tires I chose for the main were Dialled RC V13’s in Green compound, which honestly felt really good on the track. The SRX8 Gen 4 from the start was really quite good too drive. I easily made may way to the lead and honestly did not really look back. It was not until the later portion of the race, say 20 mins or so, where I could see the tires getting hot or the rear suspension was not as stable. I stayed focused and simply tried to bring it home, staying out of trouble.
In the pro nitro buggy main, I actually drove pretty well, but had too many mistakes which naturally cost you time. I wouldn’t say my best performance, but it was good for more track time, and gave me more time to evaluate the car. I think I finished near the back, of that B final, but I had some good battles with drivers. At least I didn’t finish last, so that’s a take away.
Overall, it was a successful weekend. It was great catching up with old friends, getting back into top-level competition, and taking home a trophy after such a long break. More importantly, the event confirmed that the SRX8 Gen4 has a very competitive foundation. Its cornering efficiency and balanced handling stood out all weekend, and with continued testing and refinement I believe there is still more performance to unlock. I'm looking forward to building on what we learned at Wicked Weekend.
