Originally Posted by JLock

There has been a push for years to attract new racers into the racing niche of the hobby. As most of us can attest, nitro cars attract more spectators to the track than the electric cars. People tend to gravitate to the sounds of the nitro cars and love to hear them shift gears and fly down straight-aways. With that said, I, being a long-time nitro racer, love the idea of an inexpensive, spec-type, entry-level class if it means getting more folks into the racing niche. The cars are big, durable, and somewhat easy to drive. I also love the rules in regards to a box-stock spec class (levels the playing field making driving and setup the key) and a SS class (for the experienced racer that likes the class but not in the same league as the beginner driver). The one thing that kills me about conversations like this are the racers that come in very negative with the “been there, done that”, “we have enough classes, why dilute the racing pool more”, or “it will never work” attitudes. Some of these type of guys forget that when they started racing, many of the experienced guys back then cursed under their breathes when your newbie butt was practicing/running on the track, wondering if you were going to take them out due to your lack of driving skills. I see the IGT class as a way for the newbie to get into nitro and get his feet wet, hopefully learning and developing skills along the way, and then graduating to the other classes if that is what they want to do. Also, it keeps them out of the way of the more experienced racers while the newbie is developing his driving skills. However, I see too many elitists that are only concerned with themselves and their clique’s self-interests at the expense of the hobby and racing in particular. The way I see it, today’s spectators are tomorrow’s racers. If you have 50 spectators watch your club races each time you run and you can attract 5-10 of them during the year into buying a car and coming out to race, then you are accomplishing the desired goal. These newbies have friends that they might be able to convince one into buying gear and coming out to race as well. I, for one, am tired of the “status-quo” racer that is satisfied with running with his clique and damn everyone else. It is this type of attitude that is killing on-road racing in many areas of the country. Let’s roll with the IGT/DTM (not forgetting OFNA which also has an equivalent car) and see what happens. If the class dies off due to non-participation by the newbie, then so be it. But we won’t know if it will work if we don’t give it a chance. Quit being a class snob (directed more toward the 1/8th scale on-road guys who think their class is the most important one in the r/c world and the r/c world revolves around them). What newbie has $1500 to $2000 to burn getting into the high-end 1/8th scale car that can only be run on a specific, traction-prepped surface when they can buy one that is less fragile, more affordable, and can be run almost anywhere (bash with it in between organized racing).

Juan