I stoped at a once former premear R/C track on the way home from the Ovalmasters. I was blown away at how it looks know. The track it self is not in that bad of shape. I could not believe my eyes.. I have seen this place hold a number of national events. It just amazing to me why no one wants to open this place up... Can you guess this track?

Ritchie Mac

with some weed kill and a brush hog we could be racing on it in 3 hours!

strange the track shut down,but it remains?

If It Is King, Nc.
I Was There For An Arcor Event Years Ago.
Daryl Poprosky
Bozrah, Ct

Is this track in Alabama?

Yep it King R/C Speedway in King NC. I wish I lived close I would see about opening it up again..

Ritchie Mac

WOW I have a story for just about every corner of that track LOL

Ya know Ritchie, there is a answer to the "live to far away" deal.........MOVE!! LOL

BOY would I love for that place to open again.

To race on this old girl you better be prepared to pull out some big bucks because from the way that surface looks a repave job is going to be the only way to race pan cars.

I raced there in 91, 92, and 95 at the Paved Oval Nats. Even Bud from Bud's Racing Products was there with his lime green shorts and socks. Also had a football player for the Tampa Bay Bucs one year.

Saw a great 1/12 mod Amain between Chris Doesick and Joel Johnson. Chris was racing for Tate and Cam and Joel for Trinity.

Had to drive 3.5 hours just to race 16 minutes just for a club race (4 minute racing...what fun).

In 91, there was over 400 drivers. The stock mains went all the way down to "S". That may have been the year a driver from WV got mad he didn't win his way down the line main and stole the first place trophy.

King was a great place. I remember that race with Doseck and Johnson. I made it there for a Nats one year and I can't for the life of me remember what year it was.

...how things Change

The ol KING is in a Shambles -

It was recently announced that Chris Doseck is racing for FULL THROTTLE MOTORSPORTS and Joel Johnson is THE MAN at KYOSHO AMERICA!

the track looks ok but the driver stand may need some help

I remember the old (TNN) The Nasville Network show "This Week In NASCAR", with Ned Jarrett, doing a piece on King Speedway years ago. Sad to see a track in that shape. For the guy that ask if it was in Alabama, he is thinking of the old Spring Cove Speedway in Killen, AL which now is in about the same shape as KING Speedway is now.:(

that was the last place I raced back in the day. wow. I remember turning the corner on the place back then and sayign wow. Remember the inside concrete carpet oval?

I live in Lexington, KY. and I remember racing inside on the concrete oval also. I remember a slot car track in one corner of the building, I don't think it was set up just piled in the corner. I do know it was snowing like a bi#*h that weekend. I think the race was called the "carpet blast"? Anyone remember this one? Ritchie, we met briefly, you had your pit set up in a back room if memory serves me correctly? -Rick B.

So What happened to it? it is in Oval Country!! Didnt he own the building and the concrete company ?

I do not know the details?

its a shame when tracks go under....I have been racing oval for 14 years and have seen my share of tracks go under.........Not sure why but in my experience I have found the oval crowd not coming out in force and supporting thier tracks....dang shame!

It is quite a shock to see the photos of the Whip and King in a state of disrepair. Back in the day I raced at most of the well known tracks around the country...mid to late 80s. I know most of you out there racing now I've never met and you probably wonder who in the heck McAllister Racing is. In the late 80s most of the Oval racers and manufacturers traveled back and forth from East Coast to West Coast several times a year. We were based in So Cal at the time, but I traveled to Whippoorrwill 3 or 4 times a year. I raced at least 2 Nationals at King, raced at MegaTrack, the Peach bowl and others. Those were good times. Wish I could come race at a lot of the new tracks as well. As you can see from the pictures posted...nothing lasts forever. Hope I don't look as bad as the delapidated tracks, but I'm still kicking. As Darrell Waltrip said..." I might be an old dog, and my chain might be a little rusty, but I've still got teeth. I can still hold a pret...I mean, fair wheel.

Gary McAllister

Gary didn't you have a conversion for the 10L to make it a 3 shock car?

heard there was interest from a hobbytown and humpty wheeler bout building a track in mooresville, nc. I wish we had a nice banked track closer by but every track has to mimick the birds these days. maybe they'll make a come back some day. Easley is a great track. But we kinda have to support our local tracks these days. Wonder what kinda shape Coopers is in?

Is Sandhills still around? I always wanted to race there. I watched the build on rc-oval.com

I remember all the tracks around maryland back in the day all went banked. indoor.

I think there was baltimore, Waldorf and Chantilly Va all had banked carpet tracks. I understand why they died.

oh and chambersburg pa

Are you kidding me...?? I actually thought King was still running...LOL....I ran at the Whip for some weekly shows in the early '90s; went and worked the track crew for the '89 Trinity/TRC ShootOut. Got to meet a lot of the big dawgs back then - Bartos, the Rules from BoLink, Clausen, Johnson, Tim Morton from TRC, Bob Hosch (the owner of the Whip)...memories...

Out WEST there's hardly any of the old tracks still alive.

We've got the ORIGINAL 'Velodrome' from the old RCThunderdrome Days, but that's not a track that's regularly operated for R/C use. I rent if for our special events.

The Original
RANCH PIT STOP
BOB n JIMS
ONE STOP RACEWAY
RACER'S HAVEN RACEWAY
SHOWTIME SPEEDWAY
El Cajon R/C SPEEDWAY
Perris R/C Speedway
Yorrba Linda R/C Racway
So-Cal R/C Raceway
and so many more have all gone away.

And that's just in the SOUTHERN part of this state.

I use to love reading about KING and the WHIP, and even Boylan's Original track... the old K&N Winterblast and more (back before the Net, and when PRINT RAGS actually printed stuff about OVAL racing.)

It is quite a shock to see the photos of the Whip and King in a state of disrepair. Back in the day I raced at most of the well known tracks around the country...mid to late 80s. I know most of you out there racing now I've never met and you probably wonder who in the heck McAllister Racing is. In the late 80s most of the Oval racers and manufacturers traveled back and forth from East Coast to West Coast several times a year. We were based in So Cal at the time, but I traveled to Whippoorrwill 3 or 4 times a year. I raced at least 2 Nationals at King, raced at MegaTrack, the Peach bowl and others. Those were good times. Wish I could come race at a lot of the new tracks as well. As you can see from the pictures posted...nothing lasts forever. Hope I don't look as bad as the delapidated tracks, but I'm still kicking. As Darrell Waltrip said..." I might be an old dog, and my chain might be a little rusty, but I've still got teeth. I can still hold a pret...I mean, fair wheel.

Gary McAllister


MegaTrack was repaved in the mid 90's http://www.trax70.com/cpg133/thumbnails.php?album=1

Went to King for the last big race that was held there, beleive it was 97 Trinity Race, it was a nice track.

i used to live 30 min. from king superspeedway and ran there every other week.I placed 4th in the A-main at the 1997 paved oval nationals. won the last stock a-main there the last night they ever ran. shame to see pics like that.lots of the nascar boys used to run there.best times ever. clayton jennings

...how things Change

The ol KING is in a Shambles -

It was recently announced that Chris Doseck is racing for FULL THROTTLE MOTORSPORTS and Joel Johnson is THE MAN at KYOSHO AMERICA!

Thanks for upsetting my stomach!!!!

My old home crapet track in 90-91, Hi-Tech Hobbies in Loveland, Ohio I got to race with Bud, Joel, and Chris. I did TQ but ended up 4th but to a bump and run from Chris and then Bud. Still to be a local and finish 4th to some of the top rated drivers, I was pumped!!!!!

There is a SMALL issue after that event I'd like to talk to Bud about.......like MY dyno. Also Dave Pulfer was a BIG help back then, haven't talked to Mike, I hope his dad is ok.

Wow,This is one of those "If I only had the cash" replies.
I know a ton of guys up here in the northeast that would kill for a place like that to run.What do ya think Clayton??:thumbsup:

Dan

nice to hear all the names of the past popping up....nice T-Day gift to us all!

They later put that fuzzy carpet (ozite?) on the inside and would have over 100 people for a club race on Saturday nights. David Timmerman (?) of East Coast Motors was (h)ell on wheels there. David was always great at setting cars up but Tate was better at winding motors.

Like most tracks, the return on the investment wasn't very good and he milked it when oval racing was in it's prime. Also like most tracks, a new one opens and people go elsewhere.

Gary McAllister of McAllister Bodies?....If you are, I'm Don from D&S Hobbies in Florence, SC. I just got some Carolina Late Model Bodies for the 18T from you. We are racing in hobby shop's parking lot with these bodies. About like 1/12 scale but better driving with 4WD.

Bud's Motor Dyno! Now that was some high tech stuff. For those who don't know what Bud's Motor Dyno was you missed out on one of the 20th Century's great technical wonders. They should have one in the RC Hall of Fame!

The last I heard, Sandhill was closed. I think Colombo's son passed away also.

If Mike Russell is reading any of this clue us in on Sandhill.

Bud's Motor Dyno! Now that was some high tech stuff. For those who don't know what Bud's Motor Dyno was you missed out on one of the 20th Century's great technical wonders. They should have one in the RC Hall of Fame!

You want my design specs on it? Dave Pulfer with his dyno gave me the idea for the loads needed on the slave motor, simple Radio Shack Parts. This was back when he was runnig for Wimpy :)

THE original dyno from 1990, drug out and cobwebs dusted off in 2007.

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m307/bonespec/RC%20Stuff/BoneDyno.jpg

Just resistors across the slave motor :)

Also at the above time, Dave Pulfer was running for Gary McAllister, had a few weird ideas about corner weights. Matter of fact Dave said a LTO chassis wouldn't work on a banked oval, you needed to run a 4-2 pack.racing

Well, I ran a Composite Craft 10L chassis, took me two weeks to dial in, then it was "catch me if you can".......

I was running a Blue/Orange RF to save on tire wear, blue every other corner, racing against John Foister (now BSR tires) and other hot shots until the 1700 SCR black cells came out, I didn't have the money to upgrade.

Jessie, Coopers is still there and with about the same amount of work that the three of us put into it a few years back, it could probably be up and running again. All it took for us was a few boards, some paint and a lot of labor but it was well worth it.

Talk to Norris, he will brobably work a deal out for you to run it. ........ I'll come race there.......and bring the nitro bunch too!!!

If no one else answered this, Sandhills has been closed almost 2 years since Fabio passed away.

this track in king nc... who owns it now.. i guess i should say who owns the land? if you could get someone who owns the land to build the track.. most would stay open. it seems to me that the overhead on the track is what shuts most of them down. having to pay normal track expenses plus the rent of the property.. gets to be too much when racer count falls off. if there was no rent for the property and the track was built with money that did not have to be borrowed.. probally would last a long time. i also heard that humpy wheeler was considering building a new rc facility in concord nc.. maybe he should consider just purchasing a track like this and bringing it back to life. the track surface itself looks no worse than the track i race at.. the grove. the grove has been there a while and the surface has alot of roughness but that is what ride height adjusters are for. i am fortunate to say that i do still have a large outdoor oval to race on and it has provided some great racing and freindships over the years.
www.hobbystop.com

Reading this just reminds me how long I've been doing this hobby and all of the great friends I've made. I started in 89 in the Boston area and Foxhill raceway, probably one of the biggest indoor carpet tracks anywhere, quickly became my home track.

I've traveled across the country and have been to so many tracks in so many different states (way over 20 at last count). I have memories of so mane tracks that no longer exist such as:

RCPC, Bridgewater, Mass
The small indoor asphalt oval in Wilmington, Mass
Hobby etc, Nashua, NH
Big carpet Tri-oval, Plainville, CT
SK hobbies, Johnston RI
Megatrack, NJ
Central Maine R/C Speedway
CEB, Marion, PA
King, NC
Sugar Bowl, GA
Sandhills, NC
Hobbytown USA, Tuscon AZ
Western R/C, Las Vegas, NV
And numerous others......

It's always sad to see a track close, but unfortuantely it is the nature of the hobby. I'd love to see the banked tracks make a come back, but the economics of running a track just never seem to pencil out. Maybe one day when I hit the powerball, I'll build an R/C mecca.

-E

Today is Thanksgiving day. I am thankfull for many things in my life. I have been blessed. As an oval racer I am thankfull that we still have track owners, operators, and series promotors to give us a place for racing. It takes a special person.
Thanks to all that keep us racing. Thanks to all that try to keep products for us to use.

I raced at King many times. I would make a four hour drive from Richmond, Va to race and return home the same day. I too have seen many tracks come and go.

As I write this, I am going to try to be a better racer ( enjoy my friends and just beginning able to be there ) and stop whining over things that in life realy just do not matter.

I hope everyone has a happy T-day

Whatever happened to BMS In Tennessee?

Mario

What about Autograph Raceway in Pendleton? Anyone ever hear from Greg Greene anymore?

What about Autograph Raceway in Pendleton? Anyone ever hear from Greg Greene anymore?

another person I raced against "back in the day"........

interesting article i found on the web

History and Evolution of RC Cars
The 60's
R/C cars started in the mid-sixties. Pioneers made 1/8th scale pan cars using .19-cubic-inch 2-stroke model airplane engines. 1 Around 1967, companies like WEN, Model Car Enterprises, Dynamic Models, and Associated started to produce car "kits". 1

The 70's
Besides disco, this was also the era of 1/8th scale "gas" powered R/C cars. Companies such as Wencon, Control Technology, Delta Systems, Dynamic Models, and Model Car Enterprises produced cars such as the Wen Car, Scorpion, Delta Dash II, and the MCE car. 2

Powering these cars to incredible speeds were two-stroke, internal combustion engines mounted on an aluminum chassis. These engines used fuel made of a special blend of nitrogen, methanol, and lubricant.

Electric powered cars started to emerge in 1974. WorkRite and Leisure were some of the companies that produce these electric powered cars. 3

In 1976, Tamiya Inc. released their very first R/C car, the 1/12 Scale Porsche 934 Turbo. This was powered by an electric motor with a pan chassis and direct drive transmission. 4

Three years later, the first 1/8th Scale On-Road Gas World Championship was held in Geneva. Phil Booth, from England, was crowned World Champion driving a PB Racing car. 5

Cars in the 70's were designed to run on-road, such as smooth parking lots. Tamiya followed up the Porsche 934 Turbo with others such as the Lamborghini Countach, Toyota Celica, and scale Formula 1 cars such as the Ferrari 312T3 and the Tyrrel P34 Six Wheeler.

The release of the Tamiya Rough Rider in 1979 brought a new dimension to the hobby. The car was capable of running in off-road conditions such as dirt, rocky terrain, and water. It had a die-cast suspension system and large rubber tires.

Immediately following the Rough Rider was the Tamiya Sand Scorcher. Both cars are now collectibles, sometimes fetching over a thousand dollars in eBay.

These off-road cars could be run anywhere. In backyards, rough parking lots, or baseball fields. Little did anyone know that this would start the R/C craze in the 80's.

The 80's
These were the fun years of the hobby. The 80's saw an explosion in the popularity of the hobby, most notably in the 1/10th scale off-road category. This was an era when you could expect to see 400 competitors in a major race.

The 80's also saw World Championships, held every two years, for the 1/12th scale on-road electric cars. In 1982, Associated Electrics became the first 1/12th Electric On-Road World Champion. 5

1985 was the year of the first IFMAR 1/10th Electric Off-Road World Championship. Again, Associated Electrics won with the RC10. 5

This was also the year that Tamiya surprised everyone by introducing a 4-wheel drive (4WD) buggy called the HotShot. This was the first true off-road racing car from Tamiya. It was faster than its 2WD predecessors, especially in slippery and dusty conditions.

1986 was the year of the first IFMAR 1/8th Gas Off-Road World Championship. 5 These were awesome 4WD beasts capable of speeds of 40 mph, off-road!

By 1988, 4WD off-road cars exploded in popularity. Top electric cars were the Schumacher Cat (1987 World Champion), Kyosho Optima Mid, and Yokomo C4.

In 1/8th Gas, the Kyosho Burns 4WD took 2nd place in the 1988 IFMAR World Championships.

This year also saw the emergence of a new class, the 1/10th electric on-road racing cars. These lightweight cars had incredible power-to-weight ratio, capable of circling oval tracks at speeds in excess of 40mph!

In 1989, cars went even faster. At the Encino velodrome, a 1,000 feet bicycle track, Kent Clausen drove an electric RC10L to an incredible one lap average speed of 57 mph! 6

The 80's were truly the best years for the hobby. Crowned were World Champions in 1/12th scale electric on-road, 1/10th scale electric off-road, 1/8th scale gas on-road, and 1/8th scale gas off-road.

The 90's
The decade of speed. Kent Clausen drove an electric RC10L to a staggering speed of 70.1 mph at a bicycle track. 7 This heralded a new type of racing, Superspeedway. Here, cars are run in large oval tracks, sometimes in bicycle tracks 1000 feet long.

At the second International Electric Drag Racing Association World's Drag meet, in 1992, electric cars covered 132 feet in 1.8 seconds at speeds over 75 mph. 8

This time also saw the emergence of 1/10th scale gas cars and trucks, such as the Serpent Impact and electric trucks modified to run using 2-stroke engines.

1992 was the inauguration of the first IFMAR 1/10th scale electric on-road World Championship. Held in California, USA, the event was won by Joel Johnson driving a Trinity Evolution 10. 9

By 1993, 1/10th scale electric truck racing was popular. What started out as monster trucks for backyard bashing, these racing trucks are as technologically advanced as their buggy counterparts.

There was a downside to faster speeds. Battery, motors, tires, and cars became more advanced. Money became an issue, and to an extent, a necessity to win races.

To make racing more affordable and fun, parking lot races were organized. It was a move back to the origins of R/C car racing of the 80's. Fun was the name of the game.

It is worth noting that Tamiya started to introduce scale and realistic looking cars similar to real cars that we drive everyday. These would eventually lead to the popularity of "touring" cars in the year 2000.

1994 saw the arrival of 1/10th scale gas trucks. Associated released the RC10GT, and Tamiya the TR15T. This was also the inaugural year of the Tamiya Racing Championship in the USA, set to promote low cost racing.

1995 saw the first IFMAR 1/10th scale I.C. On-Road World Championship. This was won German Michael Salven from a company called Serpent.

1996 saw the trend towards smaller scale cars. Tamiya had the mini series, cars that were technically 1/10th scale but had dimensions similar to a 1/12th scale. The Roadrunner GTO 962 was a 1/12th scale, 4WD touring car. BRP released a 1/18th scale on-road truck.

In 1997, the first Kyosho World Cup was held in the Philippines. With 30 teams from 17 countries, the winning team came from the Philippines. These cars were 1/10th scale powered by 2-stoke gas engines. Adding to the realism was the 1-hour long race, which included several pit stops for refueling and repairs.

Touring car mania was on. Companies such as ABC, Associated, HPI, Kyosho, Losi, OFNA, Roadrunner, Schumacher, and Tamiya produced over 40 different cars to choose from.

1/8th scale on-road gas was a domination of an Italian driver, Lamberto Collari. He won 5 straight IFMAR World Championships from 1989 - 1997. The car was a Serpent Vector with a 2-speed transmission and a 3.5cc engine. Racing speeds were in excess of 70 mph!

1999 saw the rise in popularity of gas-powered cars. Off-road gas buggies from Mugen and OFNA. Tamiya even joined the gas car craze by producing the TG10 Pro.

2000 - Present
The year started of with Atsushi Hara winning the 2000 IFMAR International Scale Touring Car (ISTC) Electric World Championship for Japan.

2002 was a shocker, when Surikarn Chaidejsuriya of Thailand won the 2002 IFMAR ISTC Electric World Championship, driving a Tamiya car. It was a surprise because this was the first time a Tamiya car has won an IFMAR World Championship.

The Future of R/C
The fun hobby of R/C is currently experiencing dwindling interest and slow growth. Does the future look grim for the hobby? Will it, like a fad, eventually die out? Personally, I believe that this hobby is too much fun to die out.

As to the future growth of the hobby, I believe in the concept of "self-fulfilling" prophecy. If we predict that the hobby will grow, subconsciously our actions will lead towards achieving that goal.

As a mere hobbyist, what can I, or we do? Well, we can start by helping out newcomers and beginners by giving them helpful advice. And that is the main motivation for me in writing this book. To help newcomers, and see this hobby grow and exceed the glory years of the 80's.

The next step would be to organize low cost, non-competitive, and fun racing events. The idea is for us to all experience the fun of racing, win or lose. And for newcomers and beginners, you can help the hobby by inviting your friends to get into the fun hobby of R/C cars.

I haven't been around as long as alot of you guys but I have seen my share of great tracks close, but Megatrak is still going strong, it's now called TRAX70. It was repaved in the mid 90's and the racing surface is smoother than what some racers may remember as the ol' Megatrak. I've been running the show there for five and a half years and we have had our share of great racing. It just make me glad that this one was able to survive.:)

Whatever happened to BMS In Tennessee?

Mario


track is still there, but a garden center took over.

What about Autograph Raceway in Pendleton? A


Hah!!!!!!!!! Sam Mudd and I went King,NC for the Procar Nationals!!! man!!! that's a long time ago!!!!

Sam's in racing real cars now.. him and Brad Hayes is racing in the SCCA Series

There was a track in Tennesse up 65 it was run by a couple of brothers. It was made of concrete and held a ROAR Regional in the 90's. It was not BMS.

That was the first time I met Richie King, he was pitting with Budde Wolfe.

Anybody know the track I am talking about?

track is still there, but a garden center took over.

Is the track still in good condition to race on? Wonder why they dont run on it?

track isn't in bad shape, but the new owners don't want anything to do with it. Probably an insurance issue too. Before it was bought I saw some of the neighbor kids riding bikes around it and someone dumped some muriatic acid in turn 3 that messed the concrete a little.

I raced there I think was 92 and was a fast and fun track too. Shame to see its covered in weeds now. I got out of racing for many years due to having kids and agree need to support the local tracks. Chris

There was a track in Tennesse up 65 it was run by a couple of brothers. It was made of concrete and held a ROAR Regional in the 90's. It was not BMS.

That was the first time I met Richie King, he was pitting with Budde Wolfe.

Anybody know the track I am talking about?

are you talking about abington va?Rockys track...
Budde Wolfe...this man would restart a race if it started bad and cuss you if you caused it.....it was great

I used to race oval on a indoor high banked asphalt track in Brockport NY.There used to be a good turn out every week.I guess the owner got sick of it and bulldozed it.Now they sell antiques in the building.

No, not in Va. It was in Tenn.

Maybe in Crossville, Tn.