R/C Tech Forums - View Single Post - 1/10 On-Road Racing - How cheap can it be done? Lets get new drivers hooked.
Old 11-16-2016, 08:46 PM
  #59  
Kevin K
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I personally think the best option is the use of a "Sportsman" class at a race track. This class is never really used to its full potential and thats a problem IMO. A sportsman class can be structured in a way that allows beginners to get any on-road car they want with a limit of say max 17.5 motors(Stock Sedan). So if someone wants to race a TCS Mini they can...if someone wants to race VTA setup car but not race with regular VTA racers until they get the hang of it then so be it...same thing for someone wanting to run 17.5 sedan they can run in a class thats all about beginners with out being pigeon holed into getting a lesser quality car that they cant grow with. This was always a class that was around but seemed to die off about 5-6 years ago. No racer that has been racing for years is going to run in this class and you also have rules setup that once you start to show dominance you move up the actual class that your car is setup for...IE Stock Sedan, VTA or whatever it is.

Like its been said none of the racing classes(Stock Sedan, USGT or VTA) are necessarily entry level....but a class like sportsman is exactly that.

I have been running an on-road race series in the IL, IN and Wis area for over 14 years and the Sportsman class was a great place to grow racers. The bad thing is as on-road numbers have died down this class has not be used as much. We still offer it as a part of our series but is rarely used. I think that at our next series race at Windy City this Saturday that we will have a group of sportsman racers and that maybe this will help jump start this class at WCRC because its IMO the best option for getting people into racing. It lets them race what car they want with out the "pressure" of racing with the season vets if you will of that class.

Also nothing about RC racing is cheap its a Hobby...and you spend what you can afford. If you have a 300$ budget so be it but do not hold back someone who has a 1000$ budget by making them get some cheap car because they are starting out. We as racers/hobbyist need to understand that we all do not view this the same way and being limiting is not being inclusive....thats why a sportsman class is great then a racer can get what he or she wants and have a group of racers to grow with until you feel you can make the next step.
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