Racing the Tamiya Bullhead

On Friday night I decided to race my Tamiya Bullhead after having so much fun with the Lunchbox the week before.

In fact, I actually raced the Bullhead. Last week I intended to race the Lunchbox but during practice, seeing how completely outclassed it was, I ended up borrowing a car to race. But the Bullhead was just too much fun (moreso than the Lunchbox) so I decided to race it. Of course, I knew I was still going to be outclassed, but I figured it would still be a lot of fun. I ran the 4WD truck in the 2WD class with the kids — and it was great fun! There was an over-under jump that I knew I had to simply bypass (the Bullhead just couldn’t get up the speed to jump it), so I just drove to the side and bypassed it. But it didn’t take long to see that if I took a few other shortcuts, I could almost, maybe, sort of keep up with the other drivers. (With 6.5” tires I can just roll right over the track barriers, so it’s not like they’re obstacles for the Bullhead!) I still came in last!

As I said, the over-under jump was simply too far for me to make it during a race. However, I did try getting a good head start to gain some momentum and I was able to make the jump — by launching off the jump, bouncing on the floor (the “under” part), and back up to the top of the other side of the jump! It was a site to behold and I wish I could have gotten a video of it!

In the mains there was an unfortunate break, however. One of the wheels snapped off at the hub. “Will it balance on three wheels?” I asked the corner marshall. The answer is no, unfortunately, so I was out of the race. Some people were surprised to see how it broke, but as the wheel weighs a full pound and it hangs off of the comparatively small hub, it’s not really much of a surprise that it broke!

I’ll definitely be taking the Bullhead back for more racing!