Interesting you mentioned about running a harder front tire.

The same night I was having tire lift issues with my 1/12th class, I was also running 1/12th modified for the first time. The only real difference between the two was tire choices.

The stock class I had 20K and Silver F and Silver R (Silver is 35~36 shore)
The modified class 20K (small Yokomo damper tubes) which makes the pod movement a lot more freer. I would hazard a guess and say it felt like 10k. The tires were Yokomo Double Pink F and Pink R.

For the first time ever running a modified 1/12th race I managed to qualify 2nd for A-main behind a Kyosho Factory driver.

Here's a mini race report of my experience.

At the sound of the tone the first place driver wheelie/launched his car over into my lane and put us both into the boards. This meant both he and I were quickly behind the rest of the pack. Luckily we managed to work our way through the whole field to regain our original positions from the start. Then the battle ensued. It was non-stop battling back and forth. We were changing positions lap after lap, I would dive in on the inside here and there he would do the same. We were always a few inches from each others fenders. The racing was clean and never touched. Which in my mind was a huge surprise considering how fast we were going. The car was working so well that it felt like it wasn't all that fast to me. The onlookers were cheering, oohing and ahhing at each corner. To me, that is what racing is all about. Giving a show to the other racers and having fun doing it. With 30 seconds remaining the Kyosho driver clipped a dot and I was able to take the win. Regardless of the win it was such a wonderful moment for me, because I always looked up to this Kyosho Factory driver with his speed and talent. Hopefully, we can continue on with such entertaining battles.

So, yes. Running a harder tire did help out my situation.

And race modified! It's not that hard.

I never knew my first ever 1/12th club win would be in modified.