Scrubb

I asked what kind of equipment or money advange would a driver have.

Hey Eddio O, clear out some space in your PM!

lmiracing

first of all im not a sales manager at a honda dealership, but I dont understand how if I was that would mean that "i dont need to be sponsored"? I'm assuming you mean that financially I "dont need sponsorship"?
that makes no sense. I am sponsored, I'm sponsored by Speedmerchant, NYC Hobbies, Speeddesigns, and TT racing. soon to be others added to that list. I am proud to represent those fine companies that support me.

Jim la stella in the future please do not speak on my behalf. sorry if i sounded rude.

thanks.

and i see eddie O's point here. the fact of the matter is anyone has access to the equipment needed to win at the highest level in this industry whether its nitro, electric, stock or modified. 15 years ago could that same statement be true? probably not but the fact is the industry has changed quite a bit since then.

and if you dont think that the normal customer has access to the equipment needed to win at the highest level check the results of this past roar on road carpet nats. Yes sal tunes my motors, and he is probably one of, if not the best in the business right now..but everything he uses..brushes, springs, cans, arms, dyno's, zappers...everything was store bought. well the motors were handouts i guess those werent exactly bought at the store but you get my point.

Warren, what eddie meant about the batteries was that nychobbies bought the cases and you matched them, point being anyone can go buy the cases of batteries just like nychobbies did.

sorry but this thread is starting to get out of hand so i put my .02 in, which i never really like to do.

Warren Weaver

iTrader: (49)

Well said donny

xrayroooahhhh

iTrader: (12)

I can't understand why people are crying about racing against the fastest guys??????? This makes no sense at all !!! I'm a rookie and if it wasn't for watching.....talking......and listening to our top drivers I definately wouldn't have improved as much as I did !!! Sorry we can't all be number 1 !!! I started this year to enjoy the thrill of racing......you know what......the C main can be thrilling !!!! This thread sucks......just what we need.....another black cloud thread !!!!!! We should let this one die .......

JMO

gotpez

Thank goodness this wasn't the case everywhere!

I've been in the hobby for 17+ years now. Until about 6 or 7 years ago, at least here in the Midwest, stock was the beginner class. We occasionally had a fast guy with maybe a 50% sponsorship from a small vendor, but that didn't usually last long. These guys quickly moved to Mod because Stock was too slow.

Here at my local track, we haven't seen anybody run Mod let alone 19 turn in quite some time. The reason: Stock is fast enough. That's coming from me, and the rest of the drivers I've spoken to. After 17+ years of racing, Stock shouldn't be fast enough for me, but it is.

I think the answer is quite simple. Redefine the stock class and slow it down. Throw out the 27 turn motor and either move to a slower brushless (13.5 is too fast), or if brushed technology is going to stay around, move to 30+ turns.

We don't need to make any rules about keeping people out of the class or anything else. If it's slow enough to allow the newer drivers to master their driving skills, it will be too slow for some of these sponsored drivers. If it isn't challenging (or fun) enough, they will automatically move up to either 19 turn (or brushless equivalent) or Modified.

As another option, eliminate the Stock class from the big races. These are supposed to be the best of the best. This will give the newer drivers in the stock class something to strive for.

Technological advances of the years I've been in the hobby have been amazing. Our current batch of Stock motors, including the 13.5 brushless, are faster than the modified motors that were winning National and World Championships when I started.

jiml

iTrader: (3)

Sorry, my bad. Didn't mean any disrespect.

jiml

iTrader: (3)

But when an average driver borrows a motor from a pro driver and goes half a second a lap better there's no doubt IT IS THE MOTOR!

Look we can go around like this forever. We're not solving or proving anything.

Josh Hohnstein

iTrader: (3)

If you borrow a motor and go .5 sec a lap faster....you had a crappy motor.

There is nothing they can do to a motor that you cant.

jtveten

I think GOTPEZ has got some good points. You can't put the blam on the sponsers or their sponsered drivers, they are only trying to market their products. The stock class is still the largest attended class, at the club level.

The 19T attendenance at most clubs is thin and mod has a hard time fielding enough to race. If you were to slow the stock class down by going to say, to a 4 or 5 cell battery configuration, that might be a solution, like they are doing overseas. This would force most of the fast guys into running 19T and mod.

Andy who?

Don't speak for all of us from the Midwest. Back as far as the early 90's the stock class had "factory" guys and people lined up outside the tracks to get in.
One thing that I notice getting back into the hobby is that a lot of the people complaining about the "fatory" guys or the fast guys at a local track seek out newbies so they have a fresh ear to complain to. Next thing you know they get the wrong impression and miss out on one of the biggest resources for info.... the "factory" guys. 90% of the Factory guys will go out of their way to help with time AND parts!! If you are new to the hobby get to know a "factory" guy. He remembers how it was to start and he'll be glad to help!

flameoutgarrett

iTrader: (10)

Ding Ding....that is exactly what a factory guy is supposed to do.

hammer hits nail right on the head.

dgullickson

iTrader: (45)

Someone complaining to a newbie that they cant keep up in stock? Sound like someone that raced for 20 Years and is a "Wild" one....

stiltskin

iTrader: (103)

I was lucky enough to race with most of the East Coast's fastest drivers this past weekend. A friend of mine helped me out with my motors and I had plenty of power. I was running practice laps with a national A-main caliber guy who had more sponsors than Tiger Woods and I managed to pull him in the straightaway. I was not hurting for power. He still managed to beat my lap times by over a second because he's a great driver. He held tight lines on every corner while I bounced off of flappers every time the announcer called my name. These guys win because they're good. You only get better by racing with people who are better than you. I enjoyed racing with them and I don't want to see them forced out of the class just because they're good. They have a vivid imagination when it comes to picking racing lines and it is very helpful to watch them and learn from them. What good does it do you to copy Chris Tossolini's setup while he's running a 7 single motor and you're running stock. Keeping these guys around helps out the average club racer and gives me someone that I can relate to. If you've never seen Larry Fairtrace, Jason Schreffler, Jeff Cuffs, Craig Xavier, Robbie Dodge, Ray Darroch, Andrew Gray or the other top drivers wheel their car, you are missing out.

jiml

iTrader: (3)

First of all tell the announcer to stop calling your name. Happens every time, "oh wow look at this guys go" WHACK! oops.

Just curious were you running 1/12 or TC?

Forcing guys out of stock, no bad idea. I want to see something where drivers want to move out of stock, not do it because they have to.

Another problem is turnout. If there aren't enough racers to split the class then everyone will run in one. Even the factory guys want to have fun when they race.

tc3team

So true.

Luckily I have seen many changes in r/c (including the switchover to rebuildable stock motors and from nicad 1200 to todays cells).

Understanding how technology improves and knowing how to use it also helps you on your way - the "hobbyist" has problems, or will not wish to learn how to use equipment properly.

Gone are the days where you can use a wind up charger and hope to win a race with it.... gone are the days where you need to gear a motor correctly for the power to last...

I'm not saying tech is the only reason why some people throw this hobby into their past, but it does have an impact....

Neither am I in the A finals every time I race, but I am still racing now because I have a good company supporting me, but more importantly I believe have always been persistant in keeping r/c as something I enjoy doing.