With touring car racing in the decline over last couple years due to high prices and have to have upgrades to remain competitive. Vintage trans am seems to have breathed new life into not only touring cars but R/C in general bringing back fun to R/C yes I said "FUN" with its door to door racing and its seemingly fast enough speeds. What remains to be seen is can it stay or is this a class of the moment. I thought this would be a good place for all to post about VTA I have bounced from thread to thread and have seen alot of tracks talking about or allready running this class. I know at my track IndySlots we are seeing good growth and picking up a new racer almost every week and now the season is starting and our track has never had a big 1/10th crowd in on-road and we have seen up to 12 this summer.....So post your turnouts and opinons.... :thumbsup:

Ft Wayne has shown some growth and plenty of potential with VTA. It has helped save our 1/10 onroad program. Some argue it's not a perfect class, and it isn't, BUT it works pretty damn good at keeping people sticking around. Perfect is a personal interpretation, proof is in the numbers.

Long term, I don't know if it's the fix. In the mean time, though, we have to cash in on it.

Ben

I just started racing On-road a few weeks ago. I run in TA and love it. We get 4 to 6 at Classic hobbies in Akron Ohio and about the same at The Gate in Cleveland. Trans-am has me hooked and I'm sure I'll get into the other classes of on-road.
Jeff

I am hoping when the track in Linton starts running again that it catches on there. I have not ran in it yet but from what I have seen it looks fun. I hate how most of the other carpet classes have become about who can spend the most money. I am too old and tired to be dumping tons of cash to play with my toys:thumbsup:. I know that in racing speed is money how fast ya wanna go, holds true. However RC needs a way to get beginers into racing and bring back the old timers (me) without them spending their kids college funds. This sound like it is close to fitting that bill. Just wish they would have ran Chevelles inthe old T/A class so I could paint one up like mine.:rolleyes:

VTA is a vaccine for the major ills of R/C. Medium speed, close competition, cheap entry, and emphasis on chassis and driving. This is what stock racing is supposed to be.

:thumbsup:

The VTA is definetly a shot in the arm for on-road racing. Here in NE Ohio and Western Pa, there is Classic Hobbies (Akron), HobbyTown (Boardman), The Raceway (Beaver), The Gate (Maple Heights) and I think Freddies (Ravenna) that will probably be running them. I have raced almost exclusively oval for the past 18 years, but I had a blast with my 68 Camaro/TC3 at Classic for my first time out with the VTA!

My only idea would be that the courses not be has technical for this class. Alot of people may be entering this and have very little or no on-road experience (ME), and with really tight, technical lay-outs, newbies may get discouraged real fast. Maybe start out with mild lay-outs and work up to tougher ones later in the season. Possibly make the tracks easy to remove a hard section or two, but still have some right turns and switchbacks. Just my ideas. Also suggestions have been heard about running them on oval days and adding a 'S' or chicane on the straights. The cars could also be run clockwise on an oval set up this way. Again just ideas that I think might help keep the class going.

Thanks for listening,
Dale

All in all it isnt perfect and still has some high cost to it but in relation to other classes its CHEAP for sure. When i have had the chance tto talk to guys on here or at my LHS I really dont try and force this class I just ask them to see it and explain it does seem costly in the begining but what isnt. The hook is set when they see the class and hear the laughter and hub bub from the other racers. I think the biggest thing it has brought back other than fun is the pit talk between driver and driver and the spec aspect where really know one is out motor'in ya and if your slow its in your line and your setup.

Glad to see that everyone is having fun with T/A. Funnest class ever:woohoo:

Anyway, make sure your track is on the tracks list at the USVTA site

tracks:
http://www.apexspeed.com/usvintagetransam/tracks/index.html

sign up form here:
http://www.apexspeed.com/usvintagetransam/tracks/tracks_form.html

This class is indeed refueling club racing all over. Thank goodness w/all the major events out there that are 4+ days long they seem to be strangaling club racing all over which in turn takes the average joe out of it. Tracks close classes start and end w/such frequency as novelty class emerge week in and week out and die out as quickly as they started. There is no loyalty between club and racer anymore and tracks seem to fall apart as owners dont want to enforce anything so they dont upset the racers they do have and it seems almost every track has "The Guy" that seems to be the hinge pin w/the core racers and he gets mad and takes his merry bunch of sheep w/him in affect hurting the hobby and his track at the same time. With this class it seems that nothing matters but how cool the cars look and how competitive they are. It seems to have roots and yet its a new class and I think it will stick and this season it going to see a ton of growth for sure....

In the heat of battle, or even a heartbreaking loss, there's always laughter. That's what makes this class so much fun. Shelf life looks good for a least a couple seasons, hopefully we can learn a few things from this class and apply it to others.

Ben

What he said^^^^^

We can't keep a rubber tire class going for more than 3 or 4 weeks during a season.

VTA is cool.....Ive bee thinking lately about something called "Monster Touring" (or monster oval). We put some 40 series Roadrages' on our lowered LST2.....tou talk about fun!..

EVERYBODY has a monster truck, lower it, stiffen it .......you could race in PARKING LOTS,

The visual appeal would be cool because they are big....cost would be low..


I know it sounds crazy but I think people would really dig it.

Maybe Ill post some pics of the LST2.....its the most fun weve had in a while.....easy on parts, crazy fast.

any takers???

Above post... Huh?

We're one of the tracks that dove into VTA last year, and had a few of us ran the VTA nationals. It's definitely a very fun class to race. We're in full support of it this year, and into the future!

This sounds like fun.How well do these tires work on carpet?what traction compound is used,if any? TIA :thumbsup:

This sounds like fun.How well do these tires work on carpet?what traction compound is used,if any? TIA :thumbsup:

They work alot better then you might think I have run paragon and Jack the Gripper and both work well....

Once the traction comes up on the carpet, and you get that nice black groove, the VTA rubber tires grip almost as well as foam tires. Remember, you're VTA car isn't going as fast as a stock foam tire TC, so you need less grip to begin with. Jack the Gripper and Zip Grip Free both work well. It's more a matter of what you track will let you use for compound. More and more tracks dont allow Paragon Ground Effects, and Jack is more the standard these days.

Guys I know that the 21.5's have been hard to get but Hobbytown in Boardman and thier track just got a shipment..

"
ApexSpeed | Post #2833
I’m thrilled finally be able to announce a union between the Snowbird Nationals and the United States Vintage Trans Am Racing Association. In less than a year, the USVTA has been leading the charge to help bring one of the fastest growing single classes in all of R/C car racing to club tracks around the country. To this point, the support and feedback has been outstanding, and this news should add to the excitement.

The addition of the USVTA class at the 2009 Snowbird Nationals will showcase one of the most exciting and entertaining classes I have participated in through my 25-years of racing R/C cars. With a decline in all R/C racing in recent years, racing needs a big shot of fun and excitement—and this is the perfect class. Much more reasonable speed, lower costs, realistic and exciting looking bodies, wheels and tires, less traction and wheel-to-wheel action drive this class. It IS the next big thing.

There will be at least 2 representatives from the USVTA in attendance to assist with tech, Concours and help with any questions or concerns that may arise. We’re all very excited to see Vintage Trans Am begin it’s relationship with the 2009 Snowbird Nationals, and we look forward to a fantastic event in February.

So get your Concours done up for the end of January, and get ready for some fantastic T/A action at the 2009 'Birds!





doug
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USVintageTransAm.com"