[hemiblas]

I finally picked up one of the zippy 25C 5000mah 3S packs and used my wattmeter to test and a 120A spike was at 10.13V on an 11.1V lipo. That wasnt a bad number for a battery on a full charge. I was geared for 55mph on an MMM 2200 combo. I had it in 5S config with an 8000mah 15C battery that gave an even higher voltage drop at the same current. I can see these numbers dropping significantly when the packs get discharged a bit, but in general I think all Lipos are overrated. I dont think that pack could see 120A continuous draw much like any other pack could see 120A continuous draw. The packs that claim even higher numbers are just making this stuff up even more.
It sounds like that was a fluke and something besides the battery that caused the failure. I can see a bind in the driveline causing a huge current spike enough to take out the speed control. For the most part though, Its all about C rating vs final speed. Generally if you are geared for around 40mph I dont think you are going to have these issues, but gearing for higher is probably going to tax the speed controller and batteries.
On a separate note, if it was the driveline I can see why Castle might not want to warranty the speed controller. It might or might not be their fault, but if they see a 1000A spike took out the speed controller, they will have to question what happened and ask whether it is truly a manufacture defect or not.