Ruckus Racing’s Acura RSX Endurance Race Car
To count down the start of the 2023 Lucky Dog Racing Racing League season in the Pacific Northwest, we want to spotlight some of the teams that utilized Cobalt Racing Brakes at last years “Howl-O-Ween” endurance race in Portland.
Lucky Dog visited Portland International Raceway to finish up their 2022 regular season last fall over Halloween Weekend. We were pleased to support a variety of teams on track that weekend, including Ruckus Racing and their Radium Engineering-supported team with their Acura RSX endurance car.
As usual, Pacific Northwest weather in October was unpredictable. Teams tested Friday in a deluge of rain and then passing showers Saturday and Sunday which provided some relief for those seeking a bit of dry track time throughout the weekend.
Ruckus most recently joined the endurance racing ranks. Their Acura RSX is one of the more unique builds in Lucky Dog. Not only does it look like a proper race car, but it’s also rather quick, especially in the rain with its front-wheel drive providing superb traction. Under the hood lies a Honda K24 engine running off a Link ECU. This is their debut season in Lucky Dog but they have done a great job keeping the car clean all season considering their team drivers were all new to wheel to wheel competition entering the year. Team owner Aaron Suchy commended the value that the series offers saying “Zach Hemelstrand and I were both kind of tired of street car driving and wanted more track time. Endurance racing is an amazing dollar value for the amount of seat time you get. So that was a big draw for us. I love how easy it was to get started, anyone can do it. It is a very welcoming series and all of the teams are so nice and positive.”
Portland was just their 4th race in the series with their newly built RSX. “Every other race weekend we have had major mechanical issues that have set us back, but we always finish a race. Portland marks the very first weekend without any mechanical issues. The car ran flawlessly both days, and as a result, we found ourselves in contention for a podium spot. We just kept the car on track as much as possible, only stopping for fuel”. With that approach, they will continue to find success now that they have the car mostly sorted out.
They also now have their brake package working well. “We tried several different brands of brake pads early in the year, but did not have good success,” says Aaron.
“We decided to upgrade the front brakes and try Cobalt Racing Brake Pads. The bigger front brakes eliminated our overheating issues and the Cobalt pads provided consistent braking and pedal feel in all conditions, time after time after time. I’ve been very impressed by how long the pads are lasting. We can get 2.5 endurance race weekends out of one front set. The rears have done 3 full race weekends and still look great and will keep going. This is extremely impressive,” Aaron tells us.
Outside of one extra pit stop for fuel compared to the rest of the B-class contenders, their weekend was really solid. They took home a 3rd place finish on Sunday only a few laps behind that of the class winner. They showed great pace and were one of the fastest B-class cars on the grid.
With a year under their belt and a car that is more mechanically solid, we know they are going to be a front runner for most of the 2023 season in the Lucky Dog PNW Endurance Cup. Watch for them at the season opener, April 22-23, at the “Podium the Ridge” 7+8 Hour Enduros in Shelton, WA.
Be sure to follow Ruckus Racing on Instagram: @ruckus_racing503
To learn more about Lucky Dog Racing visit: www.racelucky.com