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TonyPhalen.com
My First RC Car - Tamiya Subaru Brat
my rc history
My initial introduction to RC happened back in early 1983 when my dad purchased a brand new Tamiya Super Champ. The Super Champ was big, bulky and about as fast as a kid on a tricycle. One day while out front of our house, my dad was playing with the Super Champ and accidently ran it full speed, backwards, into a small brick wall that was surrounding our garden. Aluminum parts went flying and, well, that was pretty much the end of our Super Champ experience. We did visit a few local tracks (one being the Ranch Pit Stop in Riverside) but it really didn't go anywhere from there. That Christmas 'Santa' brought me a Tamiya Subaru Brat with all the fixin's. I built it, drove it and had a great time with it until that fateful day when something broke on it...and away to the box-in-the-closet it went.

My First RC Trophies
Some time later my buddy Mike and I were renting a 2 bedroom apartment very close to where we worked. Another surprise Christmas present (also from 'Santa') landed a cool little Radio Shack RC car in my hands. I told Mike about the Subaru I had as a kid and, since he knew NOTHING about RC, we decided to head down to Hobby Shack (now Hobby People) and check 'em out. This was in 1991, right when Team Associated was about to release their RC10T Stadium Truck. Knowing we had to have one, we put our deposits down on the spot. Of course, to kill some time (and work on our driving skills), both of us walked out of there with a Tamiya Blackfoot, Futaba radio system, a cheeseball charger and some killer 1400SCR batteries!

A couple months went by and our RC10T's finally showed up. In a matter of hours we had them home, built and tearing up the street! After doing a little research, I found a local track in La Habra called The Race Place. After much trash-talking between the two of us, we decided the only way to see who was better was to head down to The Race Place and settle it on an actual track. At the end of the night, Mike had finished 1st and I finished 2nd in the Novice class. Sure he beat me that night, but that was the start of a long racing career for me!
my racing cars
HPI 5B Racing Buggy   HPI 5T Racing Truck   Team Losi GT8  
racing stats
years racing: over 10 years
national titles: 9
regional titles: 14

where i race
onroad asphalt: West Coast RC
offroad: OCRC Raceway
offroad: West Coast RC
parking lot: OC Circuit
large-scale: Milestone RC
sponsors
due to my current job, i cannot retain sponsorship. i would, however, like to give a big thanks to the following:

Hot Bodies - racing cars & trucks
HPI Racing - racing cars & trucks
Tekin - ESC's, brushless motors
Thunder Power - batteries
Precision Racing Systems - gears
Gabe Brown Engineering - racing parts for the HPI 5B / 5T
rc racing accomplishments
2011 East Coast Short Course Nationals
1st Place Short Course Buggy
2nd Place SCT Big Block
10th Place Short Course Open


2011 Surf City 700 3-Hour Enduro
1st Place Open

2010 Short Course Nationals
1st Place 1:8 Electric SC Open
5th Place 1:10 SC Open
4th Place 1:10 SC Stock


2010 East Coast Baja Nationals
1st Place HPI 5T Class

2010 SoCal Series 6-Race Baja Series
1st Place Overall HPI 5B Class
1st Place Overall HPI 5T Class


2009 Gabe Brown Baja Series
1st Place Overall HPI 5B Class
2nd Place Overall HPI 5T Class


2009 Short Course Nationals
1st Place A-Main Stock SC10
4th Place A-Main SC Open


2008 HPI Baja Nationals
1st Place A-Main Unlimited 5B

2008 HPI Time Attack Challenge
1st Place Fast-Lap Time Attack

2007 Micro Off-Road Nationals
2nd Place A-Main Open 18R
2nd Place A-Main 4wd Open Truck
2nd Place A-Main 2wd Open Truck
2nd Place A-Main 4wd Stk Truck
3rd Place A-Main 4wd Mod Truck


2007 Micro On-Road Nationals
1st Place A-Main Open Rally
5th Place A-Main Open Truck


2006 Micro Off-Road Nationals
1st Place A-Main 4wd Stk Truck
1st Place A-Main Sml-Blk Mini-MT
3rd Place A-Main Open Buggy
2nd Place A-Main 4wd Mod Truck
2nd Place A-Main Big-Blk Mini-MT
1st Place - Super Main


2005 Micro Off-Road Nationals
3rd Place A-Main 4wd Stk Truck
2nd Place A-Main 4wd Mod Truck


2005 KO Propo Race
2nd Place A-Main 19T F201

2005 1st Annual Toyota Scion RC Race
1st Place A-Main Modified TC
1st Place A-Main Pro 19T TC


2004 1st RC Motorcycle Nats
1st Place A-Main 1/5th Stock
2nd Place A-Main 1/5th Modified


2004 SoCal Supercross
1st Place A-Main Mod Truck
1st Place A-Main Mod 1/18th


2003 Northwest Carpet Champs
3rd Place A-Main 19T TC

2003 F1 Racing League Season 1
1st Place Overall Pro Stock F201
2nd Place Overall HPI 5T Class


2002 1st Rutherford House Blowout
1st Place A-Main Expert Mod TC
1st Place A-Main Expert Stk TC


2002 Reedy Race of Champions
3rd Place A-Main Open Mod TC

2001 SoCal Supercross
3rd Place A-Main Pro Stock Truck

2001 NORRCA Onroad Nationals
1st Place A-Main Factory Mod TC

1999 NORRCA Road Course Nationals
3rd Place A-Main Expert Stock TC

1999 CA State Road Course Champs
1st Place A-Main Expert Stock TC

1999 NORRCA Road Course Series
1st Place Overall Expert Mod TC
1st Place Overall Expert Stk TC


1999 ROAR Region 12 Offroad Champs
1st Place A-Main Stock Truck

1999 California State Onroad Champs
1st Place A-Main Expert Stock TC

1999 9th Annual Kimbrough 400
2nd Place A-Main 1/10th Mod Oval

1999 Hobby Shack Expo Race
1st Place A-Main Modified TC

1999 3rd Annual Western Spring Nats
1st Place A-Main Expert Mod TC

1999 Div 3 Sedan Championships
1st Place A-Main Expert Mod TC
1st Place A-Main Expert Stk TC


1999 HPI Challenge
1st Place A-Main Modified TC

1999 Reedy Race of Champions
2nd Place A-Main Stock TC

1998 Nevada Oval/Road Course Champs
1st Place A-Main Expert Mod TC

1998 California State Onroad Champs
3rd Place A-Main Sptsman Mod TC
2nd Place A-Main Expert Stk TC


1998 Div3 Oval/Road Course Champs
2nd Place A-Main Stock TC

1998 Winter Onroad Series
1st Place A-Main Sptsman Stk TC

1998 Div1 NORRCA Road Course Champs
1st Place A-Main Sptsman Mod TC

1998 NORRCA Road Course Nationals
2nd Place A-Main Expert Mod TC

1998 Div3 Oval/Road Course Champs
1st Place A-Main Expert Mod TC

1998 Tamiya TCS Championships
3rd Place A-Main 4wd Mod Sedan

1998 HPI Challenge
1st Place A-Main Modified TC

1997 NORRCA LB Offroad Expo
1st Place A-Main Expt Mod Truck
3rd Place A-Main Expt Mod Buggy


1997 Killers Klassic Onroad Race
1st Place A-Main Sptsman Stk TC
2nd Place A-Main Sptsman Pro10


1995 NORRCA Offroad Series
3rd Overall 2wd Modified Buggy
1st Overall Modified Truck


1995 California State Offroad Champs
2nd Place A-Main Expert Stk Truck
3rd Place A-Main Expert Mod Truck


1995 Endless Horizons RC Hobby Expo
2nd Place A-Main Modified Truck

1994 Endless Summer Classic
1st Place A-Main Sptsman Mod 2wd
1st Place A-Main Sptsman Mod Trk


1994 Div 1 Offroad Championships
2nd Place A-Main Modified Truck
2nd Place A-Main Modified Buggy


1994 2nd Annual SoCal Offroad Champs
1st Place A-Main Sptsman Stk Buggy