Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Burlington had 9 for Slash at their last race.

3hrs would be a very short day. Wednesday nights at St. Charles are usually around 3-4hrs. 7pm-10-11pm

TT_Vert

iTrader: (72)

Yeah well if we really get down to it, it's more like 24 minutes of racing and the rest driving/sitting lol! There is seriously a slash class again? What are the rules now adays for that?? What is in St. charles? The parking lot racing?


Dave

vr6

iTrader: (22)

the way i see it, R/C racing is not for you, try bowling, or dart leagues

I love the competitiveness of racing and enjoy hanging out with others that enjoy the same hobby

whether i am at a track for 3 hours or 3, 14-16 hour days, it all mean the same for me.... memories and happiness

my only other interest is motorcycle riding and i leave that for the summer and that for me is another way to get out of the house on the weekends, I HATE BEING AT HOME

TT_Vert

iTrader: (72)

How do you know what is for me or not for me? Best you think our what you say when it can come off as insulting. Not a great idea to say crap like this to someone who you may one day run into who doesn't forget these sorts of comments. I also ride/race sport bikes, cars, play many competitive sports etc. I have TONS of hobbies but that's not the point nor helps to answer my questions.

Dave

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

I got a lot of responses like that back when I was starting. Unfortunately tracks are not usually conveniently located.

So what would make you or others drive 2-3hrs? I’ve tried to get why one track will pull in drivers from 5-6-7hrs away. But some struggle to draw from their own area.

TT_Vert

iTrader: (72)

If you're referring to 2 to 3 hours round trip I don't know much would. I certainly wouldn't drive five plus hours. I think for me the biggest things would be a friendly group of people as well as a reliable and consistent class. Towards the end of my racing days there were times where I was hoping that I would get enough for a class and that wasn't fun even when I literally lived less than a mile from the track. I would do the announcing and help around the track just as a courtesy to the owner since he was fairly new to owning a track. At leisure hours and at RC raceway in streamwood we had a certain camaraderie which was also great. Everyone was always willing to help everybody else for the most part and there weren't too many cliques. In my opinion that's what deters a lot of new people.

I got into RC right when I first started in the mid 80s and watch the hobby evolve many, many times. At times I stepped out of the hobby for a few years sometimes up to 10 because I just got burned out on it or it became like I said a money battery game a few times which wasn't fun or enjoyable. Then the spec classes started to get popular and it kind of drew me back in a little bit. So I guess to make a long story longer if there was a consistent spec class where people had a fairly reasonable entry price and it wasn't a lot you could do as far as modification (aka slash) that would draw me back in.
Dave

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

There’s a few tracks that seem to have a Slash group.

St. Charles put a small carpet track in after Windy City closed. On road, Off-Road, Oval and they have been running vintage RC think once a month races. If you are ever in that area check it out.

They also do outdoor parking lots races during summer. It’s fun. Run about any class possible.

There’s a thread here for St. Charles.

TT_Vert

iTrader: (72)

Yeah I did some parking lot racing and that may have been one of the tracks. There was some summer parking lot series I raced VTA, F1 and mini in. I think that was before euro truck was a thing. That Wisconsin track got back to me and says they'vr had a reliable slash class for a few months so maybe I'll go pick one up if I'm bored one weekend. Just awaiting their rules to see if I'd actually be interested in it.

I did reach out to the track and it seems that's far from the slash class I liked. You can mod pretty much everything but electronics and the trans. Sadly that's not for me.
Dave

nitrous36

https://youtu.be/-M_REltxuMM

TT_Vert

iTrader: (72)

Someone else mentioned that and I don't exactly agree w/ the numbers he is talking about.

nitrous36

I agree his numbers are off. But I think he has a few valid points otherwise.

TT_Vert

iTrader: (72)

100% agree. I was reading some of the comments just now and it certain does bring up a lot of good points, valid bad points and memories. The biggest I recall is how serious some people are and if you are in their line and are holding them up they are not too pleased. That's NOT a pleasant situation and keeps rookies from coming back many times. I remember it somewhat but I got into racing at the same time literally EVERYONE did. RC racign was just starting so nobody knew much of anything and we all learned and evolved together so there was very little of that holier than thou stuff going on. I also had the luxury of coming up w/ the fastest of the fast team drivers living where I did in SoCal in the mid 80s. I didn't know that that caliber of driver wasn't the norm until I started racing back in Illinois. I also didn't know that the way we all were together wasn't the norm. But back in the 80s we were much more laid back. Heck i would do a decent sized race w/ my RC10 then go bashing w/ it the next day. I'd clean it up, rebuild what i had to rebuild to race again and repeat. It was GREAT. We'd charge our batteries w/ DC chargers from our parents real car batteries, etc. I think Astroflight? was my first charger around 1985? I miss those times to be certain. THEN when onroad oval got big I noticed a change. When people were spending hundreds for a pushed 1400SCR pack or the latest modified motor (That maybe lasted 20 runs) that you had to cut the comm on every 3rd race it became a money game and people got upset much more. I get it to an extent but it sucked and wasn't pleasant. I hoped that the sportsman or spec classes would drive people back to the hobby and it did for a while, including me. It seems those have gotten out of hand over the years too. But like real racing, people are just going to continue to push the rules as far as they can for that extra tenth of a second per lap.

GerryH

iTrader: (26)

His numbers are way off. RC Garage lists 118,576 drivers in the US. If you account for variations in how people spell their name, I'm guessing there have been at least 50,000 drivers in the US over the last 10 years. Now I'll admit there are lots of people that have dropped out for one reason or the other. So maybe it's closer to 20,000 active racers. Which according to LiveTime statistics, every week there's about 10,000 unique racers.

But it's a super low number compared to other activities like bowling, golf, snow skiing, etc.

MaX-D

iTrader: (2)

Makes me wish I still lived in St. Charles.

TT_Vert

iTrader: (72)

Where is this track, not where windy city was is it? What are the slash rules?


Dave