Team Associated’s Keven Hébert Wins US Indoor Championships

Keven Hébert of Team Associated provided the following race report from the 2011 US Indoor Championships:

The 32nd running of the US Indoor Championships was held 24-27 November in Cleveland, Ohio. As the longest-running and most prestigious event in on-road racing, this is the race to attend for on-road racers. Every year the race features a challenging layout and this year was no different. Set up in the hotel ballroom, the smooth, high-traction layout was conducive to great racing. The schedule called for three rounds of practice on Thursday, followed by three rounds of qualifying on Friday, and three more on Saturday. All finals were scheduled for Sunday.
On Thursday, the first practice runs were used to shake down my cars and to learn the layout. But after running all three cars the first time, (Mod TC, 17.5 SS TC, and Mod 1:12) it was apparent that all had too much steering and were driving “on the nose” more than I am used to, so I ended up making a few minor changes to make them easier to drive. By the end of the day, my cars were much better and I was confident heading into qualifying.
I had not run Super Stock 17.5T TC since the IIC in early October so it took a couple of qualifiers to find the right power combination for my LRP SXX Stock Spec speed controller. However, after six rounds of qualifying, I was TQ by a few seconds over second qualifier Martin and third qualifier Andrew Hardman.  Both looked fast and would be contenders in the A final. Modified TC qualifying went equally as well. A lot of set-up improvements throughout qualifying allowed me to take the fastest time every round. Martin and Andrew were again second and third, but this time Andrew held a slight advantage and would start second. Modified 1:12 was the most competitive class of the weekend for me. Even though I was TQ in the first five rounds, the last round would determine the pole sitter, as it usually does. While I had a mechanical failure, teammate Mike Blackstock drove a near perfect run to claim TQ by a little over two seconds. I would have to settle for second on the grid with Paul Ciccarello in third.
Sunday’s finals started early with Super Stock TC the first of my three finals. My TC6.1 was great throughout qualifying and things would be no different in the final. At the start tone I was able to get away clean and thanks to a tangle between second and third place on lap two, I built a four second lead and I was able to drive the rest of the race conservatively to secure the win. The Modified TC A final followed the same script. Another clean start led to a four second lead that I was able to maintain for the rest of the race for my second win of the day. The last and toughest race of the day was Modified 1:12. I knew that a good start was crucial so that I could stay in touch with Blackstock and keep the pressure on him. We both had a clean start and ran a second apart for the first two minutes until a bobble by Blackstock allowed me to close in and our cars touched. Mike kept the lead, but on the next lap he missed the corner coming in the sweeper and the resulting contact with the boards ended his race. With Mike out, I was able to maintain a three-quarters of a lap advantage for the rest of the race and take my third win of the weekend.

Thanks to the organisers and fellow racers for another fun and successful Champs.

Source: Team Associated