Well I am fresh in from another ROAR Paved Oval National at The Carolina R/C Complex in Easley, South Carolina. I must say, it was once again A BLAST!! For those of you who did not make it for whatever the reason you missed a fantastic event.

Let me start with recognizing some people who deserve to be recognized and thanked more than I can really do here. I tried to do it at the track as I hope each and every one of you that attended did as well.

So in no particular order here it goes.

The ROAR RMT, Mike Boylan and Sam Ledford, there are no two finer guys that could have come in to fill the very big shoes that were to be filled. They put to rest any and all concerns about ROAR’s RMT coming in and “messing up an event”. These guys helped run a program and freed up people to do other things and let those that had jobs to do, do just that, their jobs. They kept things running on time and smooth as silk. Mike and Sam, you put to rest any doubts this racer had and I will never hesitate to support an event that you two are in charge of. ROAR, you need to do whatever it takes to keep these two guys on the RMT.

Guess what. The RMT did not ruin the race. They helped an already great program run smooth and took some of the work off of Donnie. I know you guys were walking into the proverbial Hornets Nest. You guys handled yourselves with poise and professionalism. The rules of the race were enforced fairly and equally to all, really what more can we ask? So if any of my fellow racers out there are concerned that the ROAR RMT will come in and “ruin your event”, let me assure this is just not the case where Sam and Mike are concerned. These two men are a racers racer and are a credit to the sport. Two thumbs up!

THE Race Announcer. There may be equal but there can be NONE better than Jim “The Man” Duffle. This guy keeps you informed of that is going on at all times, lets you know where to go, where the wrecks are and how you are doing. The results are put out with lightning speed and organized on the board so everything is easy to find. I would dare say that he could not do it as well without the help of his wife, Salenna Duffle who is busy putting out the results and taking tons and tons of pictures so we can all remember what a great time we all had. You guys really make us feel at home. Thanks for all that you do.

Plain Ol’ Dave, the man behind the scenes doing whatever needs to be done and keeping the Carolina R/C Complex website up to date. Keep up the good work and thanks.

The Ladies of Radio impound. I will say that I was NOT A FAN of this happening and really thought it would be a nightmare. I WAS WRONG and so were every one of you out there that thought the same thing. These ladies did a wonderful job of having radios out for the upcoming races, putting radios up with the utmost of care from the races that were run and even putting up with me having to come and reset my car a million times. Needless to say it did not take them any time at all to remember who I was. So Darleen Aljoe, Dawe Aljoe and Heather Palmer a huge thanks on behalf of all of the racers for putting up with all of us and treating our radios as if they were your own.

Pre/Post Race Tech guys. You guys really had a thankless job and made it look easy. You took care of us all, showed no favoritism and executed your jobs with a high level of professionalism that every track needs to aspire to if they want to hold an event of this caliber. Chris Palmer and Tom Smith, thanks for all that you did.

Our grand Marshals for the .12 Nitro Pan A-Main. I am not sure whose idea this was but it was GREAT!! For those of you who missed it, we had three young men that spent the week helping out all over the place, mostly doing the thankless task of corner-marshalling during practice although they helped out in other areas all week as well. So at the beginning of the race Trent Smith, Trevor Smith and Blake Wilson got to say those words all of us racers love to hear “GENTLEMEN --- START YOUR ENGINES!!!” That was GREAT!! Thanks men!

The Hobby Connection Crew. These guys are top notch! Not only is there a great inventory but every one of the guys behind the counter is ready and willing to help. If thye do not have it, they will do their best to get it for you. What a great thing to have on site at the track.

Now my take on the week that was the 2008 ROAR Oval Nationals and some things I learned along the way.

First of all, we all spend way too much time complaining on the internet and not enough time remembering that we do this because we love to race, compete and spend time at the track with our good friends.

With all the complaining about ROAR this and ROAR that, I would venture to say that every single one that showed up at the race had a great time. Even if you did not do well I bet you still had fun, in spite of ROAR.

I also came to the realization that Mike was right when he was speaking to us and made the statement that “We need ROAR”. We, the Oval Racers do. They have the recognition and the strength to promote racing and provide a structure that is needed. Without a strong Nationwide Organization I feel it would be CHAOS in oval. There would be so many smaller organizations setting rules that it would be next to impossible for any of to travel to other parts of the country to race and know what to expect. With this being said, I am asking you, the Oval Racing Community to please give us on the Oval Committee time to make some changes. We are not going to fix all that ails Oval Racing in one fail swoop. I think that the decisions we are going to suggest to the Ex-Comm will be the best for setting classes for the coming year with enough flexibility to allow for the continuously changing technology that is facing electric racing. I spoke to several racers and had some great conversations with you guys and trust me, I hear you. Change comes slow, bear with us.

Ok, now that I have gotten that off my chest. On to the event, I cannot say enough about how much fun it is to race at CRCC. The race is always fun and the fellowship we get to enjoy at a race like this, there are really not words for it. The competition is fierce and the track is a challenge, man does that thing change with the weather, or what? I got to visit with old friends, made some new ones and swap some war stories during some down time and over some meals.

Congratulations to all of the racers on your finishes and I hope to see all of you again soon.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

hey scott: Thanks for the great race recap sounds like it was allot of fun. Were can i find pics of this event online? Thanks

Nats pics are in the general discussion under Pics'O Nats.

Things did go very smooth at Nats. In my opinion, ROAR may not be doing things the way EVERY oval racer wants, but you can't please everyone. If you don't like the way ROAR runs an event then stay home. Why ruin it for the ones that do want to go? I guess some racers just are not happy unless they get to bitch about something!!!!!! My 2 cents.:cool:

Pics and videos are on Mike Boylans Thunder racing site also.

Did they impound the 2.4 ghz transmitters as well?

yes!!!!

They impounded every radio. And I against it as I was, the ladies that worked the impound handled it FLAWLESSLY!! I know I needed my radio several times and had access to it whenever I needed it.

What is the reason for impounding 2.4Ghz radios? Besides making more work for impound and increasing the chance of breakage ... was there any advantage?

No, no advantage at all. The reason it was done is because "It was in the rules for an event of this level". Like has been hashed out already, a variance was asked for and denied. Really a non-issue now.

But this rule is being looked at by ROAR for the upcoming year.

I think something that creates problems (or perceived problems on the INTERNET) is the fact that ROAR is involved at the NATIONAL level, and they want their NATIONAL Events to have a certain LOOK and FEEL, you have RULES (Some or sometimes MANY of which you don't use for a LOCAL/CLUB Race) But even if it's a NATIONALS that only has 40-50 racers taking part, or has 300+ the structure of the RULE has to be followed for consistency.

88 OVAL entries at the ROAR Paved Oval Nat's, but HOW many entries a week later for the OFF-ROAR Electric Nat's...across the Country? 250-300? More? (Not sure, but they had 32 HEATS PER ROUND)

The only complaints I've heard from that race was that they got the LiveRC equipment late (On Thursday) and had some issues with it, by not being able to get it set up earlier...plus a computer problem for the LIVE R/C Scoring window.

I believe they had a total of 50 races on MAIN day, including the TRIPLE "A's"

Edit: I went and counted the # of Entries at the ROAR Electric Off-Road Nat's. 296
The heats averaged just over 9 racers per heat. (A few had 10, a few had 8, one had 11, most had 9)

I think something that creates problems (or perceived problems on the INTERNET) is the fact that ROAR is involved at the NATIONAL level, and they want their NATIONAL Events to have a certain LOOK and FEEL, you have RULES (Some or sometimes MANY of which you don't use for a LOCAL/CLUB Race) But even if it's a NATIONALS that only has 40-50 racers taking part, or has 300+ the structure of the RULE has to be followed for consistency.

88 OVAL entries at the ROAR Paved Oval Nat's, but HOW many entries a week later for the OFF-ROAR Electric Nat's...across the Country? 250-300? More? (Not sure, but they had 32 HEATS PER ROUND)

The only complaints I've heard from that race was that they got the LiveRC equipment late (On Thursday) and had some issues with it, by not being able to get it set up earlier...plus a computer problem for the LIVE R/C Scoring window.

I believe they had a total of 50 races on MAIN day, including the TRIPLE "A's"

Edit: I went and counted the # of Entries at the ROAR Electric Off-Road Nat's. 296
The heats averaged just over 9 racers per heat. (A few had 10, a few had 8, one had 11, most had 9)

Off Road Electric hmmmmmmm and how much can you get one of those OFF THE SHELF for, at your local hobby shop and be able to run it at the next Nationals then straight to the back yard and run some more........... Those were 88 Dedicated Oval folks that wanted to run outdoors in teh SC heat on pavement, that tells me alot more about Oval then Off Road though............. Thats another reason I love oval racing...................

It is hard to compare the dedication of different racers. Our last off-road series race had 150 entries that had to wait outdoors through 2 hours of rain and then another 1.5 hours of track cleanup to race. When asked if they wanted to cut the qualifiers down to 2 instead of 3, 99% voted for 3 qualifers even though they knew it would take them well past dark to finish the mains. And this was a local race, not some national event.

This weekend calls for 90 deg. temps and 50% chance of rain. I suspect there will be 150 entries at this race also.

By dedication I was referring to the folks that travelled to be there some over 6 hours of driving if not more......... Not the amount of time we waited Thursday to get practice during the Thunderstorm that ran through right in the middle of the day..........

DC I'm not sure what Those were 88 Dedicated Oval folks that wanted to run outdoors in teh SC heat on pavement, that tells me alot more about Oval then Off Road though............. Thats another reason I love oval racing...................
means...

(I don't race off-road but...) In the area of Southern Cal, where the O.R. Nat's was held, I would guess it was between 95 and 102 degrees all last week. So Heat or being OUTSIDE is no different...so that wasn't an issue.

Out of the 296 entries, I'd guess there was probably only 175 - 200 racers *(with most running 2-3 classes)

I didn't look or count the Different racers at the P.O. Nat's, but I didn't notice a LOT of guys doing multiple classes, but there were a few...so there were probably closer to what 80 or less actual racers.

ALL R/C Racers are dedicated to what they race - some may only be dedicated to racing and supporting their LOCAL tracks, other dedicated to supporting events that have a IMPORTANT Title associated with them...other try their hand at virtually ALL forms of racing. We NEED them ALL!

swtour read the posting right above the one you just left, thats what I meant by that.......