Welcome racers! I had been thinking of starting a thread for our track when Hank still had the "track threads" area up but put it off. Since we are going to be starting an off road track I figured this was the best place as any to start it.

For those that would like to know my name is Rick Morgan. A friend (Johna Simar) and myself took over the running of the local carpet oval track during the winter months about 3-4 years ago. We have since added an AMB system and tried to upgrade any items that we can every year. Just this past winter we began getting involved in the hobby shop portion of the business. We now have a shop set up in a building next door to where I live and will be starting on the off road track (also located here) very soon. We are still waiting for approval from Horizon Hobby and Great Planes but have some parts in stock now. This is the place for our racers or anyone that would like to race with us to discuss items concerned with the track. Our motto is "Racing to bring you the fun!" and we do our best at trying to bring this to everyone that races with us. We have a website that you can visit at RER/CR&H (http://www.racersedgerc.com) to find more information and bring any questions you may still have back here.

We appreciate the site Hank has here to be able to provide us a discussion area so if this is your first time here, take some time to look around the rest of his great site.

So without further ado, let the track talkin' begin! :)

I have been talking to several racers at Racer's Edge Racing and all of them have said let's talk to Rick and see if he will move racing from Sundays to Saturday. So I thought this would be a great place to start the chating? What do we all think? What are the pro's and con's? And if we change will MOM still make me Pizza?

Why does it seem that everybody else can put 1500 smilies in there post but I try putting 3-5 and it says I have to many and have to change it????????? Lost my whole dang post too!! Ok let's try this again.

KSG...........good to see someone from the track finally stopped by. Maybe this will bring some of the others out of the woodwork.

Cons
1. PRO Speedway "would like to" race on Saturdays. They haven't gotten anybody but I don't know as I want to step on their toes either?

2. My partner seems to have to work most Saturdays but that may be able to be changed.

Can't think of any more cons right now.

Pros
1. BIG ONE..Donalbain wouldn't have to run out of there each week to get some much needed sleep before work! :)

2. We'd be able to watch more NASCAR races.

3. Those that go to church Sundays could get there earlier Saturdays for more practice.

4. I could sleep in Sunday. :)

I imagine "The cook" will still be there no matter what day we choose.

Now I know there is some discussion on Saturday racing through the summer too. Pros and cons of this?

Cons
1. There is much more going on during the summer. Several dirt oval tracks run Saturdays. Would we be in competition with them for the "entertainment factor"? Yard work but that can be either Sat. or Sun.

2. Partner working.........

Pros
1. The Donalbain factor...... LOL

2. NASCAR......

3. Church........

4. Sleep...... :)


So I dunno guys, give me some feedback.

One more big Pro and that would be John could watch NFL on Sunday's :D

And as far as PRO raceway, there is only one or two at Racers Edge that actually go up there on a weekly basis, and it is much to far for the rest of us on a weekly basis, so I don't see any problem as far as PRO, and I don't see where you would be stepping on their toes.
Maybe if you were closer to their track, but not with the distance there is between them.

Let's hear it, anyother racers want to change?

Hello, I'm new to this and never got a chance to race over the winter in smethport, since i didn't find out about it till the last week:( I live in Warren and our season has just ended, and i already miss it lol i wasn't the worst racer there, but i wasn't the best either, i'm still new to the sport, but love it alot... i was just wondering when and where they still race during the summer and also my dad owns alot of land up yankee bush in warren where i could build an offroad track if anyone would be interested.... He also has a bulldozer and backhoe so, it shouldn't take me to long to get it up and going, i was just wonder what if any input people would have on it and if people would be interested in doing it... cause up till now, that is my only option for racing during the summer, so if anyone knows of any track onroad or off, where i could race or if anyone would be interested in racing offroad in yahkee bush, please email me with your imput or questions.. thanks, Bruce Scooby_cakes@yahoo.com

Other than the obvious having to put up lights. In NY and Southern Ont., there are at least 7 dirt ovals that race on weeknights and they get good turnouts, better than when they race on the weekends. This way people can make weekend plans and not have to miss the races.

Hey all. I've already twisted Ovalman's ear. He's made mention of my "plight." (do you like saturdays?) Anyway, how's the track comming?

New purple ano shocks should be in any day now. Can't wait to launch the maxx!

scooby_cakes.....have no fear, we are going to be building a off road track so you'll have someplace to race during the summer (if it ever quits raining). You are more than welcome to build your own but make sure you let us know where it is so we can come race too. :) We tried to get some dirt to get started yesterday but the guy at the gravel pit wasn't around all day and of course here it is raining again today! As soon as we can get things started here it shouldn't take long at all to get it done. We are still hoping for a June opening. Great when your Dad owns heavy equipment huh? :D

johnqpublic.....'sup Paul? The only problem with weeknight racing is we have a few people that work nights. It cramps their style I know but I guess you have to work when the boss tells you to.

Donalbain.......rain is how the track is coming unfortunatly. :(

My take on the Saturday's racing is Darin's attendance would be down as I work a Tues. - Sat. Night shift. I really don't see that schedule changing in the near future....unless of course something drastic happens. That's only 2 racers that would wither down.:confused:

JCOOK: That's OK because Darin is more into chasing girls right now that other cars, not to mention his great wardrobe :lol:

Yeah, He's chasing girls as well as real cars, (or should I say dreaming about real cars). Yeah his wardrobe can be quite disturbing...his mother isn't too pleased with his attire at times. I figure if I fight him he'll find something even more ridiculous to wear, so I tolerate it.:lol:

Glad to see everyone making their way here. This is a good place to have your say and keep up with what's going on.

JohnQ: good to hear from you, keep us up to date on some of that oval racing this summer.

Scooby: I understand they had quite a 4wd class at Dreamboat Hobbys last summer, aren't they going to race this summer?

Speaking of 4wd class racing, I'm hoping we can really get something going at Racer's Edge this summer. I was there tonight supporting my LHS, and Ovalman has a good start on a decent parts supply. The spot they have for the track has alot of potential. Track building is alot of work, and it takes a while for any dirt track to settle in and be right to race on. A real off road track in this area will be a treat for sure, I hope we can get everyone to come and give it a try. There's nothing quite like piloting a 4wd buggy over big jumps and seeing those dirt rooster tails coming off the front tires in the turns!

Most everyone in this area is used to running off road trucks and buggys on pavement and carpet. Just think, you guys finally get to run all those neat pin spike tires that came with your kits! You'll get to see what your R/C was designed to do!

4WD Dirt track....Hmmmmmm...Maybe I can break out the TA 02:thumbsup:

Just as an update............load of dirt just went by the front of the house. Have to go check it out for "quality". :) I'll let everybody know how things look soon.

K1M....hehe.....I still have a pair of silver IFMAR pins and directional fronts that were never mounted from my original XXT! :)

XXT?...thats fairly new!....I think if I dug around I could find some unused JRXT Tires!

Kim, check dirtoval.com for updates on the DO racing...I'm a regular there (read: slacker)! LOL! Rick, I still think aan oval around the offroad track would be perfect LOL!

Rick: I have to agree with johnq an Oval outside the off road would be neat, that way you could attract both types of racers and make more "$"..... and being in business, I know making more "$" is the goal right? Just my 2 cents. By the way as far as the IRS is concerned that's all I made last year(2 cents);)

Didn't think it was ever possible to find in Penna. but it seems my Pa found the motherload of clean clay! There are five loads in so far and I figure there needs to be between 5 and 10 more before we get started. Maybe I otta reconsider ordering those mini pins in the next order afterall! :)

John and Paul....I'd like to, especially how good this stuff looks so far BUT (there's always a big but huh? :)) we kind of decided that it's got to be an "either or" with this thing. With the room we have to use, it's gotta be oval or off road to make it a "good" track. Kim just mentioned that (oval on outside) last night too but I don't want to "skimp" on one type of track to facilitate the other. We want it to be the best it can be and to do that I think it's gotta be either an oval or off road. The oval will come soon enough I think. I've been promising Paul that for awhile but you just gotta hang in there man! :)

No Problem! I'd like to try off road a few times anyway. Hopefully I can pick up a truck...I dont think my hugger/custom works/losi truck will be much good for offroad:D .

Haha...........no, I don't think so either! I can't believe you might try off road though. Figured you were like Kevin Allen, he likes to keep his racing "two dimensional". :) Find a XXT/XXXT and come have some fun cause I know your a Losi kinda guy right? LOL

OK, this will sound like a stupid question to all of the hardcore off roaders, but what is the difference between an xxt and an xxxt?

Paul, only dumb question is one not asked.........er something like that. The XXXT is basically a brand new vehicle from the ground up. I believe about the only thing the same on the two is the rear suspension arms and f/r shocks. They seem to have a lower center of gravity compared to the XXT. Hope that helps.

I believe K1m said it well, we can have oval racing anytime. I never raced @ Coast's track (before my time) but i always have a blast on the fairground track. I'd probley wet myself racing on a full blown off-roader.

Hey, I have a xxtcr, loaded. I could part with it.:rolleyes:

l8r

Big difference is about $75.00....no the XXXT is the Newest Version of the Losi. While the XXT is the older version. The gear ratio for the XXXT is I believe 2.43 while the XXT is 2:61. The XXXT's appear to be more forgiving on setups. It appears easier to drive than the XXT. Other changes were on the bulk heads, we used to break a few on the XXT thruout a season, the XXXT I don't recall changing one in the 2 years we've had it. The XXXT seems to be a faster truck, I'm guessing due to the gearing changes and the fact that they dropped the stance of the XXXT approx. 1/2 inch. I could be all wet...anybody feel free to jump in...

Ten loads are in so now it's time to spread it out and see how much more we are going to need. Not sure but the weather might put a crimp on the construction process in the next couple days. If that happens then it might suck because it takes newly laid dirt forever to dry out it seems. Look for a few pictures to be posted on the website later today or tomorrow.

Hehe...........Don's gonna wet himself. :lol:

no, i guess he stopped having the offroad track a few years ago at dream boat, so i'm not sure if he will or, he said he might, but i dought it, thats why i want to build my own, i'm just not sure if to make it big, like a 5 lap track or a speed track, cause my dad has his own small trucking company, so hauling the dirt or what not wouldn't be a problem, any imput? thanks, bruce

Ovalman : did K1m discuss with you the benifits of drainage? Just hoping it was in "the budget."

Hmmmmm, A couple of big mudholes to skip off of sounds like fun.....the little kid in me coming out...:devil:

Don.......yea we talked about that a little bit the other day. Hopefully things will work out "as is" so we don't have to worry about it to much. I just hope it's not another one of those wet summers. :rolleyes:

When we first built our track many moons ago, we used a hose laid out on the ground to mark out the size and shape one section at a time. That way you can move it around until it's right, and see what it's really gonna look like. Then we used the only thing we had at the time, a rototiller to dig up the dirt. Some people do it the easy way and haul dirt in. Hehehehe!

At first I didn't put in a drainage system, that came several years later, but it was evident after the first heavy rain that I should have. There's no excuse for standing water anywhere near where R/C's are being run! ESC's are too expensive, and it only takes a drop in the wrong spot. With some kind of drainage, even if the race is delayed because of rain, if it quits you can still race. I'll say one thing, it's easier to put some pipes in at the start, rather than digging everything back up to do it.

Of course then there was the mud race....15 to 20 people showed up to race and it drizzled all day. Several of us got tired of waiting and decided to race anyhow. What a mess! You couldn't tell which car was yours, they were all the same color - brown! Every one took out their electronics afterward an literally hosed them off. (Not recommended)

I'm kind of surprised. It has rained quite a bit here the last couple days and it doesn't look to bad. There are a couple low spots that "puddled" but overall things look pretty good. Of course it's gonna be awhile before we can get back on it now and OF COURSE they are calling for more rain the next couple days now. :mad: We are hoping to get the rest of the clay this week some time so we can get started on the layout next weekend. Have to see how the weather turns out I guess.

I was over at the hobby shop and talking to Rick today and it was in the middle of a rain storm and I have to admit that where the track is, it looks like it was draining rather well. But of course K1m has a point. Once you get the jumps in, there will be puddle areas and that would probably need drainage. Again just my two cents.

So are we changing the indoor season to SATURDAY's? One vote YES!

just curious, when does the indoor racing season start again?

Geez guys, let's get the outdoors started before we talk about the indoors more. :D Just kidding........Bruce, we usually start racing indoors the first part of November and run till the end of March.

Puddle areas...hopefully a broom will work wonders on them between jumps. :)

Ok...........poll time! Which way would you like to start heats, staggard or heads up? Mains will of course be by best qualifier.

I'm leaning toward a staggard start. Now, are we talking about a time staggar or a physical staggaring of the field at the line? If it's possible to do a time staggar for the qualifiers, then I'm for it. Leave the physical staggar for the main. I'm for staggaring 'cause "we" have been doing the "heads up" for at least four years. This usually gives to a hanous 1st turn pileup. I like that we have begun staggard starts for the mains.

Are we spelling staggard correctly? Seems odd.

d

This will be a start like they do at PRO Speedway, basically an IFMAR start, everybody on their own clock. Depending on how many we run per heat probably 3-5 second intervals. Mains would remain how we have been doing it indoors this year, physical stagger. BTW this is for off road...........indoors would probably be about impossible to do a staggered start unfortunatly. :(

Stagger, staggered, staggar, staggard...........I guess you figured it out. :) LOL

whats wrong w/ the way almost every other track does it?...6 car heat....3 rows of 2, etc. Then for the 2nd round everyone moves up one row....front row to the back.

Trying to figure out what truck to buy. Do you guys think that the Losi Spec Truck (w/ bearings), would be as good as the MF edition XXXT? (handling-wise)

Rick, maybe you should think about making those blue tires mandatory...it might save everyone some $$$$. Just a thought.

PB

Paul...We'd basically be doing it that way. The first heat we would start the cars (say numbers 1,2,3,4) 1,2,3,4 then in the second heat they would start 4,3,2,1. They would start at 3-5 second intervals however.

I don't see how you'd go wrong with the XXXT spec truck with some bearings in it. About the only difference would be a little weight (graphite versus stiffzell) and maybe some rigitity (same reason). I imagine you could probably live without the threaded shock bodies too huh? :) Basically they are the same truck just one doesn't have all the fancy smancy stuff on it, so you'll save some $$$ too.

Dunno about the spec tire. It would save me on having to stock a bunch of tires though. :thumbsup: Hmmmm.......

Ive been scouring ebay for an xxxt that dosent require me to stay up too late to bid on it...LOL! Also one that dosent go for too much $$$...people will pay way too much for used stuff on there! Yes I could live without all of the fancy stuff...especially being new to off-road.

I hadnt thought about the stocking of the hobbyshop angle on the tires...something to think about. Also it would "dumb-down" the tire selection process...which is perfect for me, since I dont know jack about off road tires anyway!!!!!!! :thumbsup:

You must be squattin' on the site here! :lol: Oh yea, if you're a seller eBay is Da place man but smart shoppers don't get much bought off of there. Every once in awhile you find a deal but not very often. I've been watching Emaxxes on there on occasion. People are idiots..............no way am I gonna pay $300 for a used one when a new one can be had for a few bucks more!! Then you have the shipping theives.........$25 shipping for a 112C charger????? Don't laugh, I've seen it. :confused:

Anyway, I'm off on a rant again. I'm basically in the same boat as you with off road.............don't know jack but I'm a quick learner. :)

Not squattin...it sends me an email everytime someone posts...not sure why. Anyway its my work email, which is always open........

so what are all the classes you will be running on the off road track? will you have stock and mod classes and do you have nitro classes or will they run togeather? also, what days will you have races and is it gonna be by the same place you have your indoor track?:thumbsup: :wave:

Best bet is to visit our website (http://www.racersedgerc.com) and check out the classes/rules. We will have stock, mod, and nitro classes available. Check out the location page to see where the shop/track is located. We haven't decided weither we'll be racing Saturday or Sunday yet however.

ok, i read the whole thing, but i didn't see where the track is located... i might be just stupid lol but other then that, it sounds really good, i'm excited to get at it lol thanks

Try this Scooby

http://www.racersedgerc.com/images/shop.gif

Pa just went to get the material for the jumps so we'll be getting started on that today or tomorrow, whichever my little Bro' decides on I imagine. :) I'll be sure and take some pics to post as the construction progresses. Johna got the pipe yesterday for the barriers so we're all ready to go as soon as the dirt arrives.

Kim........sorry to hear what happened so you couldn't make it to Ohio and put a beatin on Bud man. I know you were REALLY looking forward to it. Hope the back gets to feelin' better! :thumbsup:

Ovalman: Yeah, It sure was lousey timing. I really screwed my back up this time, but after 4 days it's finally getting better. Just didn't think I could handle the 4 1/2 hour drive or I would have been there too. :D

Our two representatives from Racers Edge made a good showing in Elyria, Ohio racing BRP's on "Da Track". Don took 3rd in the A main and KaneSurfGuru took 1st in the C main. That's all I've heard so far, hopeing they'll both fill me in on all the details when they get home.

We'll have to shoot for the next race, June 1st - maybe we can get some of the rest of us to go too, hint, hint.

Sounds like the track is coming along, if the weather co-operates, you should be racing before long. Let me know when you're ready for testing, I hope to run XX-4 and/or truck on it this summer. It's hard to make jumps right without just running some vehicles on it to see how they land. If you want, I can bring my 4 wheeler and track grooming equipment. Just let me know.

JohnQ: Keep you eyes open, there are good buys out there. I bought a XXX-T with full titanium for $140 last year off Ebay. another good place to watch is Radio Control Zone:
http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=213&daysprune=


Just My 3 Cents:
1. Blue tires don't save anyone $$, they just look stupid.
2. I'm all for Saturday racing too.
3. Heads up starts in qualifiers, staggered start for the mains.

Well we ARE started but by the looks of it, it is going to take some time now (a lot of hand work, rake, shovel, wheelbarrow). I know there were some offers of help from my good friends so be looking for an e-mail soon guys. I'd like to maybe get together next weekend if possible. I'm going to be looking at a lawn roller in the next couple days, one that is small enough to be pushed to roll the jumps. Look for updated pics tomorrow.

Oh yea, Kim, a vehicle flying would probably help to make sure things are made right too. :)

I've got one that's no wider than 2 1/2'. Heavy. Old. T-handle. Let me know.

How heavy Don? Is it something that would be able to be pushed up and over the jumps? We need to get one for permanent use but maybe you could bring yours along to get things done faster.

Looks like this weekend may be out unless you guys wouldn't mind working Sunday? :) Gotta go get truck inspected on Saturday and I know how much you guys like stuff on Sundays. :lol:

Heavy, I can't lift it by myself. You could use it on jumps, if you got a rolling start. Don't know about Sunday yet. Let you know.