im sure your right, but what I mean is the manuf. cup has a novice class, no sponsered drivers, win that and you get a year sponsership, thats the prize. lucas sanford won it last year.

They do and I think that is a cool idea. I wouldn't complain if one of the top "Pro's" ran regular at my club track either.

I have not heard about this but I've been out of racing for a few years and just got back in.. When did that start?? Where can I find more info on it?

I run with a 100% sponsored driver every week, and ive learned alot just by watching.

It's called being a factory driver! They wouldn't be called "factory drivers" if they didn't test prototype parts for the company producing it. You think "average" r/c racers have it bad? Check out a Supercross race. amatures with average equipment race against the "Factory Pro's" with exotic motors and suspension that you cant buy (or afford for that matter).

R/C racing is great because I can buy 99% of what the factory guys use at my local hobby shop at any time. If you want "one-off" parts, then practice and become "factory" yourself.

I think the Mfg's Cup started last season and I am not sure if that type of race had been done in the past. I know Hot Bodies had a thing were a series wasd run using their equipment and the winner got a chassis deal for a year. The Cup is run at the end of July in Idaho. There is info on the net fot it, but I don't remember where I saw it last.

Gandhi,
I learned alot from watching the "Pro's" at the Silver State too. I still can't get a set of tires mounted that fast and have them last. LOL.

I can mount them that fast.............. they just dont stay on.just check out R/C Car magazine, Jan 08, page 38.

Nobody is making money off parts that have not yet been released, the only person making any money is maybe the driver (depending on how deep his sponsorship is) but the manufacture is making nothing. For example currently Tebo is driving a O'donell Truggy and Buggy and neither of those cars are available to the public, the only person making money from the situation is Tebo, O'donell makes nothing by holding back and not releasing the cars, they dont make money untill they start selling the cars.

What I dont think you realize is how much time and energy most of the top drivers put into the hobby, they are out there testing during the weeks and traveling sll over to big races, there is a whole lot more than just running cars that you dont have, and anyways I bet that your car could be setup better than it is right now, and untill you have your car setup the best it can possibly be, like the pro's spend countless hours doing then you shouldnt complain about the pro's having better/newer cars than you. And if you ever get good enough to be a factory driver I bet that you will see that there is no reason to have restrictions.

This topic is a bit ludicrous. However I feel inclined to throw my 2 cents. This is THE NATS. Its our top event in the US. If you are a sportsman driver, you should not be worried about whos running what at the Nats. This is an oppurtunity to see what these big companies can do. They can show off their products, their enginuity and I can sit back and read or watch the cool stuff going on. Racing is not fair, if you cant run with the big boys, than just enjoy where your at. Dont complain because you cant wait a few weeks for their fancy new parts.

man ive been into racing since a kid from motocross to drag racing oval track aaand rc and in the end its money/good stuff and talent that wins races you give me drakes buggy i will do nothing more than break it LOL and you give drake a box stock losi and he will put it in the show. good rides and good parts help but you need driving skills as well. look at nascar the single car teams with an average skilled nascar driver runs 20th and the big multi car teams with great drivers run up front. same in motocross corr offroad and drag racing.

Supercross/Motocross does have a production rule. What that means is the motors/suspension components that the pros run have to be available to the public, but thats it.

Every time I read one of these threads it appears every one is right.

Bottom line is the rule. We have to abide by them and when we sign up we should be at piece with that rule.

I think a factory class a privateer class and a club level class would be good as far as feeling a fair shot and skill level, but then the sand bagger thread pops up.

So the best bet for a fair and on the level know what your in for race would be to only have one class per kit. Resorts would line every one up fairly.
And no bump up, 10 to a class or 12 what ever. 1st 2nd 3rd in every main
This would insure every one that they would have a shot at a win. And the racers times would be very close per main and would result in some tight racing through out the field.

The A,B,C mains could be trophies and the rest could be cash. That way you wont need 10,000 trophies to cover an unknown amount of mains.

Any hoot. Thats racing. GO FAST AND TRY NOT TO CRASH!

that does not make sense to have a sportsman class at the ROAR Nats..

However i do agree that the team drivers should be driving whats available to the average joe.

im not saying this to be fair for anybody, but we as customers want to know what kind of product we are buying. these pros get paid to run those kits at such levels to sell their product..if the product is not available to the public, then why run it?

i understand they run these kits at such races to boast its worth...but if i cant buy it or if i cant buy such motor or radio or servos or any hop ups that these top level drivers are running with, then why sport it?

that is true NASCAR has top level teams that do a ton of R&D, however NASCAR also has rules to make the playing field as true as possible, which is why they have inspections, real inspections i might add lol

ROAR inspections just check weight and fuel and tire diameter and so on..what they need to inspect is how true such kits are. this could also take out the fun factor on wondering what the team drivers will come out with next! also you dont want your competitors to know what your company is brewing..imagine if you tossed in months upon months of R&D, and you release your product to the public then you see another manufacturer come out with the very same features..how beneficial was that to your company?

Race prep and R&D comes a long ways in winning races man, especially when the competition is as steep as it is. any one of these guys can run off with the win, so what is it they can do to gain that advantage?

but at the end of the day, it all comes down to what you did for your product that you represent. All i know if i was boss and i had individuals who didnt do much of any work and just wanted to collect the funds, i could care less who they are, they will be fired! they are out there representing my product such as testing and R&D and if they cant, they have no business running much of anything! Have pride in what you run. JMHO :tire:

and what i mean by pride, run what you represent! and what you will want your customers to run...how does it look when you run some hopped up kit that the average consumer would have to pay hundreds of dollars AFTER they went ahead and brought the kit? show some pride and run your kits as close to stock as possible and toss those setup sheets in the box with the kits and let their customers know what they are really getting.

same with these guys running their engines, why run for a motor company when you have no trust in that manufacturer? then why run it?

have pride and run what you believe in...

this is why im glad to know i dont have a chassis sponsor, cause if i see something that i know is better, i wont have to buy hop ups or after market parts, i can just buy the kit that suits me best!

everything else that i run, i run cause i want to run it! i represent the company cause i believe in what they do and im proud to do so and i dont feel i need to hide much of anything.

people lose sight on what the hobby is about, and if it was all about the money, i would have sold all my gear on EBAY over a year ago when i started.