There is the thing right there. All these ideas of creating participation, but the real problem isn't the cost, the class or the ease, its the experience. Imagine if budweiser or miller had to create complex situations to get people to drink.....fail.

I think an RTR class would work, more inviting to people who want an entry into racing without having to a tonne of research on what to get to start. Novice Buggy RTR class. Hmm. Would have to be very well scrutinized no doubt!

My brothers children and mine will soon be in a 25.5 spec legends class running oval.. most likely all by themselves.. We're getting the cars together for under $150 a pop and since 3 makes a class at our track, our 4 kids should have a blast tearing up nothing but our own stuff lol!

I am currently doing a similar thing with my kids. We will soon be running legends with silver cans. 3 maybe 4 if I convince the wife to join in. The when the youngest gets older we will have 5 running. I expect it to be great fun.

We considered silver cans, but we are getting a smoking deal on some new in package 25.5 Novak VTA boss motors.. so we are slapping those in there instead! Will make the only maintenance end up being repairs (we hope) because we are also slapping bearings in all 4 chassis..

The problem with using Novak motors is that they've gone out of business, so you can't expect to grow the class if newcomers can't source the motor.

We're just running it as a 25.5 class in general.. we just happen to be using Novak's because we got a smoking deal on them. I am still not over them having gone out of business either

there is also the mudboss class its basically bone stock slash with a dirt oval body run on carpet with foam tires. no modifications allowed what so ever except shock oil

Similar situation with the silver cans, basically a throw away price($20) all in with a brushless compatible esc. Once the silver cans are wasted, its 25.5 trackstar or equally cheap option.

How bout run what you brung? When I first contemplated joining this crazy resource sucker we call RC racing, I had no idea of classes, no delusions of winning, I just wanted to do something fun in a social setting with other nerds of my ilk. I say, if you wanna race rc cars then just go race some rc cars. If you're worried about "decimating the entire freagin' field, brah" than spend to your heart's desire. If you're like how I was, then get a car that's appropriate for your particular track (onroad,offroad,buggy, truck,etc), charge a battery, make sure the wheels go right when you turn the wheel to the right, and run it. Just my 2 cents.

Run what ya brung is typically "Novice" class.. cheaper entry fee and have fun.. not for the thrill of winning..

On the more serious side, run what ya brung can be worked into a breakout class which can be a ton of fun and stupid serious lol.. We're hoping to get a breakout going this fall on oval!

Breakout like drag racing breakout? So the time is legislated rather than the equipment? I kinda like that. I bet if everyone just showed up with cars at a track you'd figure out how to have some fun without all the bureaucracy

Yup.. you set a minimum lap time, and try to run as close to it as possible without "breaking out" and going under it.. most laps wins, breakout laps don't count..

You can really screw with people by drafting and other games as well when the racing gets tight!

When people ask the inevitable question, how do we get more new people into race, the common denominator is "must be cheap to get people interested". I think the bigger question is how do you get "kids" away from video games and how do you get parents to invest the time to take their kid to a track to practice and race.

If you are going to run spec class, you have to keep it very restricted and you have to tech the vehicles. Racing by it's very nature is a competitive sport. Add the "youth soccer" mentality of not keeping score and everyone gets a trophy and it is even more difficult. Tamiya has the GT Pro Spec class. Very limited hop-ups on their lower end TT02 chassis. But unless you get a very large turnout that you can have an expert and sportsman class, those "new people", if they have to run against better racers because of experience or set-up skill eventually get tires of being at the back of the pack.

If a track is going to try to build this kind of class, it is most likely going to be a one off at their track. And the bigger picture on these limited spec classes is once the novelty wears off, people start dropping out and then the class slowly dies off because the "spec car class" you created would not be competitive in any of the other regular classes.

Why not just do a better job at locally policing the driver skill in the classes. Start the newer drivers in Novice. If someone comes in with a $ 1,000 car and waxes the field the first two races, bump them up to sportsman immediately. But also don't let the guy who has been racing for ten years but wants to race on the cheap with his ten year old chassis and five year old motors and batteries and one set of tires a year race in novice just so they can win. Most people at your local track know who each other is and their skill level. But it usually takes the track owner to have to be the bad guy to bump someone up a class but they are hesitant as they do not want to upset a paying customer.

Panda

There's an even bigger question. How do you even get people to the track. Been a lot of good ideas for classes. Most I've read of before. Work in some areas, some they don't. The hard part is getting people to just come to the track. I'm 6 years in the hobby, but this is first year of racing. And just last week I finally saw an actual indoor track.

As for being forced to move up in class. From reading not all places alway have a next class to move up to.