when i started racing four years ago the track i raced at had 50-60 entries and 13-15 heat races every sunday every year since it has decreased this year we were luck to have 15-20 racers and 3-6 heat races that why i threw in the towel hopefully it will pick up someday in the future and i will return to racing once again! i feel bad for track owners and understand why so many are closing up.

You are the reason tracks are closing it got a little slow without the competiton you were looking for instead of hanging in there and grooming the newbies and helping the sport you gave up so look in the mirror you are the reason that carpet racing may die!!!

The reason it declined was it was getting out of control in regards to costs.
Keeping up with everyone with new motors, dynos, tires, batteries, gadgets to maintain motors, batteries, tires.

Anyone who disagrees is full of you know what.
I went through it myself. Same thing is going on with carpet onroad.
I know a local who raced onroad. When it got slow he switched to oval. He admitted he spent significantly more on oval then he ever spent on onroad.
I get a kick out of oval racers who have different cars for all the different classes they run. $300 + kits for each class. No disrespect intended. Just my personal observation.

Now with new technology like lipo and brushless it looks like oval is getting some people back and new people in. Onroad is just going to suffer because it too fast, too much work (set up, maint), not durable for newbs. All around too complicated a learning curve.

I am a racer at heart, but it got to the point where it was too much time, money, and effort. I only race now in the summer running off road. I am loving it.
Would love to see all forms of racing prosper. It leads to racers trying different classes and growing the hobby.

That's the problem... keeping up. It's a hobby, your supposed to be having fun, win or lose. As soon as you start worrying what everyone else is doing, the fun starts to go away... Instead of worrying about it, run a spec class where the rules are the rules and you can have fun.

There was never a spec type class until recently with lipo and brushless.
Stock motors were supposed to be that. We know how that turned out.
Batteries...same story. Dischargers, balancers, $300 chargers. weak cells rendering a pack useless. rated packs that everyone had to have the best #'s.

It finally seems like there is a level playing field with one cell lipo and brushless motors.

You missed the point..

And yes, there were plenty of spec classes. It's the tracks fault when it becomes a battery and motor war. Even with lipo and brushless, nothing is even.

Nope, I did see your point. I did get out. Got to be too much of everything.
Now I only run in the summer and enjoy myself. Sure I have lost the edge as far as skills go, but I am having fun.


There is no way that tracks could have prevented batt and motor wars.
What spec classes are you talking about. Individual cars like legends or the famous trinity T spec cars in onroad. Still the same issues. Batts and motors.
They were never popular because they did not perform like other classes and or chassis designs.
Now it is no longer about the motors and batteries.

The problem I see here is you just want to win instead of doing it to just have fun you do not have to be in the A main to have a great time. You do not drive a 200000 car on the street why do you ned to have the scale version of it on the track run what you can afford and enjoy your self!!!

If tracks pushed a breakout rule on spec classes, you would stop the battery and motor BS... It would make it more enjoyable for everyone. they guys who want to go fast can move up.

I remember when I started I had a TRC spec truck. Tossed in the motor, tossed in the battery and went racing. Those were the days. Now I add up everything in my pit and wonder where all the money came from and why I spent it the way I did... LOL

I'm still having a blast though, and thats all that should matter in any class on any surface.

The problem I see here is you just want to win instead of doing it to just have fun you do not have to be in the A main to have a great time. You do not drive a 200000 car on the street why do you ned to have the scale version of it on the track run what you can afford and enjoy your self!!!

Are you refering to me or the original poster?
I agree with you. It should be about having fun.
The nature of racing is to compete and win. Now there is the rules in place and the product to keep costs down.
I used to watch spectators look in awe at all the equipment that everyone used to use such as dynos, dischargers, comm lathes, soldering stations. When you think about it, it was a huge cost factor.

The original topic was seeing carpet racing recover. Spec racing was never pushed enough or widespread. Again with new rules and products such as one cell lipos and brushless motors, it looks like the mainstream classes are the spec classes.

The problem I see here is you just want to win instead of doing it to just have fun you do not have to be in the A main to have a great time. You do not drive a 200000 car on the street why do you ned to have the scale version of it on the track run what you can afford and enjoy your self!!!

actually i drive a $50,000.00 car and a $40,000.00 truck so yes i do want the best of everything or atleast the best i can afford... i am not saying that it is always fair that some can have the newest and the best stuff and some others cant afford it, but thats why they have different classes or some dont waste the money to have the best of everything they spend alot of time figure out the perfect chassis set up for there car and there driving style...
i do have two problems with the post that you made

1) why quit because you get a low car count at your track... instead of sticking around and trying to make our hobby better you just bail..

2) why should the people who can afford to have nice thing be punished and be restricted on what we can use... i do understand that there has to be rules but if i want to run a tekin speedo which i do i should be told i cant because some one else cant afford to buy one....

all it is, is about fun. no matter your level. when it becomes "not" fun. you need to retire. just like me


What I have found is i miss the track. but I don't miss the drama. matter of fact i haven't even read this thread. just giving a opinion.

I have stopped reading all these silly threads.

i look forward to the days of going back to the track and having fun driving my toy car. everyday that passes i miss it less and less. but I miss my buddies

Do you miss me?????

actually i drive a $50,000.00 car and a $40,000.00 truck so yes i do want the best of everything or atleast the best i can afford... i am not saying that it is always fair that some can have the newest and the best stuff and some others cant afford it, but thats why they have different classes or some dont waste the money to have the best of everything they spend alot of time figure out the perfect chassis set up for there car and there driving style...
i do have two problems with the post that you made

1) why quit because you get a low car count at your track... instead of sticking around and trying to make our hobby better you just bail..

2) why should the people who can afford to have nice thing be punished and be restricted on what we can use... i do understand that there has to be rules but if i want to run a tekin speedo which i do i should be told i cant because some one else cant afford to buy one....

I totally agree with you I am just saying that people need to be happy with what they have and have agood time no matter if they are 1st or last it is not always about who wins!!! You are right people need to worry more about setting up what they have and driving it better and less about what the fast guy over there has!!! Give someone like Mike Blackstock your car and you drive his he will still spank almost anyone who was up for the challenge!!!

Hopefully we as Oval Hobbyist (racers or whatever the name of the day is) can work together to better the sport(hobby). I believe now that it is alot cheaper for a new person to get involved(lipo and brushless as long as the tracks keep the rules simple for a spec class) We know who we want race against , (competition wise)

You are the reason tracks are closing it got a little slow without the competiton you were looking for instead of hanging in there and grooming the newbies and helping the sport you gave up so look in the mirror you are the reason that carpet racing may die!!!

i am the one who drove a hour and a half to race every sunday even when gas was 4 bucks a gallon for 4 years! what about the guys that live within 15 mins. that quit racing! its not fun to drive that far and race with 3 car in a class you got it all wrong pal!

The problem I see here is you just want to win instead of doing it to just have fun you do not have to be in the A main to have a great time. You do not drive a 200000 car on the street why do you ned to have the scale version of it on the track run what you can afford and enjoy your self!!!

if there only 3 or 4 cars in the class your going to make the a-main i dont think your getting the point everone is making. you must be new to the hobby:wave:

Actually I think you all are making some good points
We have been discussing these very issues at our local track and next season
we will be pushing spec racing in all classes.

all it is, is about fun. no matter your level. when it becomes "not" fun. you need to retire. just like me


What I have found is i miss the track. but I don't miss the drama. matter of fact i haven't even read this thread. just giving a opinion.

I have stopped reading all these silly threads.

i look forward to the days of going back to the track and having fun driving my toy car. everyday that passes i miss it less and less. but I miss my buddies

i couldnt have said it any better!!!!
i miss the track and my friends, but you can keep all the drama that comes w/ this hobby.

if there only 3 or 4 cars in the class your going to make the a-main i dont think your getting the point everone is making. you must be new to the hobby:wave:

You know alot of time I have the most fun when it is just me and the track a practice day can be just as fun as the biggest events. I should know I have been 2 the snowbirds and many roar nats as well as big local races. I grew up in metro detroit and raced on a weekly basis with Blackstock and Cyrul and Alan Horne. Been spanked and helped by all of them over the years and for me no matter if they were there or just some kids that believe it or not thought I was fast I always have a great time. I have a 12th scale car that I have over $1200 into and a traxxas slash that is box stock and either one I run I have lots of fun. One thing to remember "A bad day of rc racing is better than a good day doing anything else" :thumbsup:

i agree that the spec class is a good idea. it will get fresh blood into the hobby. everywhere i go, it seems to be the same ppl and no new faces. it seems that there will be some tracks that will just not be around in a few years cause all the drivers are getting too old to even be able to race. i do not by any means say this in offense, im saying it because it is the truth. i remember when i first started the only class available was too fast for me to handle, but i just dealt with it. i think its also a good way to keep novice drivers and pros out of the way of eachother. that is a reason that ppl are not joining for the intimidating feature of it. the track i race at in rochester NY hosts snowbirds champions and if not champs A-B main placements. gotta look at it like fullscale, u just cant jump right into nascar, have to start small and work your way up...

i agree that the spec class is a good idea. it will get fresh blood into the hobby. everywhere i go, it seems to be the same ppl and no new faces. it seems that there will be some tracks that will just not be around in a few years cause all the drivers are getting too old to even be able to race. i do not by any means say this in offense, im saying it because it is the truth. i remember when i first started the only class available was too fast for me to handle, but i just dealt with it. i think its also a good way to keep novice drivers and pros out of the way of eachother. that is a reason that ppl are not joining for the intimidating feature of it. the track i race at in rochester NY hosts snowbirds champions and if not champs A-B main placements. gotta look at it like fullscale, u just cant jump right into nascar, have to start small and work your way up...

Amen brother start out small and slow and maybe stay slow like me but I love every lap of it :thumbsup:

Amen brother start out small and slow and maybe stay slow like me but I love every lap of it :thumbsup:

thats y i got into the hobby in the first place, its just alot of fun!!!

Honestly we can debate what we can do to keep the sport growing but it seems that the majority of the current generation of teenagers and 20 somethings are not interested in rc racing. This group has been spoiled by instant gratification with Xbox,Playstation etc. Racing an rc car requires work and discipline. Most of the younger group of drivers are not going to spend the time in ANY class slow or spec unless they have an adult who shares the time with them.

I got into this sport in 1991 by accident. I saw a carpet oval race at a car show and was hooked since then. Most newbies do not realize how much time these cars take to get them to be fast and to stay fast. I will say the best way to get new drivers is to look at your own family or friends. Its a great way to spend an afternoon plus you can teach a lot of core values and skills. I never thought that math, trouble shooting or mechanical skills would be so important to this sport. I see more success with new drivers if the adult person is there is help or join in with the younger person. We have quite of few father/son or daughter racers and it is awsome to see. I tried it with my nephew when he was 10 and he didn't hold the interest for more than a month. As long as I was working on the car he didn't mind but after I showed him what to work on to make it drive better he lost interest in the whole thing. I have been able to help other drivers with setups and even giving them older equipment to them to get started.

I see way too many young drivers get dropped off at the track and mom or dad says" see ya in 4 or 5 hours ". This won't keep them interested for the long haul.

it is kinda scary that no new ppl are really gettin into the sport that much though...

i agree that the younger generation is not into rc racing but i also think money has alot to do with it too its not cheap to race. i money seems to get tighter and tighter these days! but i truely hope it recovers one day!

I don't know about other places in the country - but out here, I get NEW people in at about an average pace...the problem seems to be that for every newbie, a old timer changes what or where he's racing, and the net GAIN is zero, and the net LOSS is zero in number...the entries stay the same.

For the 2nd stright month of local CLUB racing, MODIFIED TOURING OVAL was our largest class. Although we did get 5 NEW racers into oval pan cars too (2nd class) so we've got the OVAL Bug into them...and they are still testing the water with a 2wd Pan Car.

(My thoughts have always been aimed at GETTING cars on the track (OVAL) and letting them see how exciting OVAL racing is and can be... GET Them Hooked, then GET them into an OVAL car. )

Honestly we can debate what we can do to keep the sport growing but it seems that the majority of the current generation of teenagers and 20 somethings are not interested in rc racing. This group has been spoiled by instant gratification with Xbox,Playstation etc. Racing an rc car requires work and discipline. Most of the younger group of drivers are not going to spend the time in ANY class slow or spec unless they have an adult who shares the time with them.

I got into this sport in 1991 by accident. I saw a carpet oval race at a car show and was hooked since then. Most newbies do not realize how much time these cars take to get them to be fast and to stay fast. I will say the best way to get new drivers is to look at your own family or friends. Its a great way to spend an afternoon plus you can teach a lot of core values and skills. I never thought that math, trouble shooting or mechanical skills would be so important to this sport. I see more success with new drivers if the adult person is there is help or join in with the younger person. We have quite of few father/son or daughter racers and it is awsome to see. I tried it with my nephew when he was 10 and he didn't hold the interest for more than a month. As long as I was working on the car he didn't mind but after I showed him what to work on to make it drive better he lost interest in the whole thing. I have been able to help other drivers with setups and even giving them older equipment to them to get started.

I see way too many young drivers get dropped off at the track and mom or dad says" see ya in 4 or 5 hours ". This won't keep them interested for the long haul.

Funny that you should say that about the kids.

At My local track most of the racers are quite old, I agree on you for that. But the thing I see from those guys many times is them wanting to be fast, but don't want to put in the work it takes to be fast. I always though making the A main was a goal to achieve, but these old dudes would rather be in the B because they won't have to move over for the faster guys. They'd rather sandbag it so that they can be TQ in the B, because it's easier.

Also a thing I see alot that makes me cringe is dads putting all sorts of pressure on the kid so that he wins right away. Obviously the kid loses interest because the dad is always yapping at him or throwing a fit. When I was a teenager I had to tell my dad to stay home and chill with a rum and coke by the fireplace because he was unpleasant at the races, I liked RC racing too much to give it up because of bad tempers on his part. He calmed down some and now comes with me on long trips sometimes. He's still the best supporter of my racing to this day.

So I don't know if the kids are the ones wanting too much instant gratification, or the parents wanting it too fast for their kids. Go to a kid's hockey game or soccer game and you'll see the same thing.

So my message is to the fathers out there, chill out dude and let us have some fun! Save the big motor for when your kid gets a little better!

And actually think that recently getting into racing has been much more affordable.

-one single cell battery
-an Onyx 230 charger
-one brushless system
-and if you really want to stretch your budget go to the Swap and Sell for the rest.

All we need is for tracks and series to mandate One motor and One battery for the spec classes

Just wondering, how old is to old for racing.
Butch

Your too old Butch lol lol :thumbsup:

Eric

Spec classes are not the answer. We already mandate motors and batteries for all of the 1000 different classes out there.Too many tracks in different parts of the country too agree on anything. 18 years ago we had 2 classes 6 cell 27 turn epic based motor or 6 cell open mod. We had significant growth with 4 cell 13.5 & 17.5. Now with the 2 cell single cell debate it has chased off some racers here. Some do not want to spend the money to go lipo because it has changed faster than NIMH ever did.

actually i drive a $50,000.00 car and a $40,000.00 truck so yes i do want the best of everything or atleast the best i can afford...

Hey DB if you see my old ratty ^$$ Heep on the side of the road heading to the track>>>Stop and pick me up!! LOL seriously you coming to Stricklin this week?

18 years ago we had 2 classes 6 cell 27 turn epic based motor or 6 cell open mod.

WOW you guys must have really been lucky!! I keep hearing this OVER and OVER again, but NEVER in my 24 years of R/C Racing have I ever been involved in racing that only had 2 classes.

Starting with DIRT OVAL - we had 2wd STOCK and Mod "Stock Car" , Stock and Mod "Sprint Car" , and 4wd STOCK and MOD (Stock Car and Sprint Car) that was 8 classes. Plus we had NOVICE/ROOKIE class too (2wd and 4wd usually ran together)

When we started running PAVED Oval - we had 2wd GEAR BOX, 2wd Direct Drive STOCK (6) Cell, 2wd Direct Drive Modified (7 cell) , Novice, 1/12th Scale, Indy Car, Sprint Car, and a IROC Spec Class...

AS Long as I've been involved in R/C Racing, there have been "non-conformist classes" for those who wanted to HAVE FUN! Sometimes THOSE are/were the biggest classes.

Honestly we can debate what we can do to keep the sport growing but it seems that the majority of the current generation of teenagers and 20 somethings are not interested in rc racing. This group has been spoiled by instant gratification with Xbox,Playstation etc. Racing an rc car requires work and discipline. Most of the younger group of drivers are not going to spend the time in ANY class slow or spec unless they have an adult who shares the time with them.

I never understood why TEENAGERS were targeted (for large or traveling races anyway) Mid 20's Married with a job...and bored sitting at home on the weekends, or looking for something to do ONE or TWO weekends a month...that's MY target! (Kids have no money - and rarely can travel)

Funny thing is - I think that while R/C Oval is NOT the biggest racing class structure....if you LOOK at the forms that ARE - they DO have a DOZEN classes...and offer something for virtually everyone.

THAT SELLS Products! (But it makes a race day SUCK!)

Just take OFFROAD - HOW Many freaking OFFROAD Classes are their now?

*Make a list of both 1/10th and 1/8th scale NITRO and ELECTRIC classes...

Then make a list of ALL the Dirt Oval Classes...

1/18th scale to 1/8th scale NITRO and ELECTRIC.

don't forget On-Road... Touring RUBBER STOCK, SuperStock, Mod , Touring FOAM Stock, Superstock, Mod, 1/12th Scale, World GT, Vintage T/A and MORE... plus NITRO -- and 1/8th scale NITRO...

There are probably MORE people in the U.S. racing r/c cars right now than EVER! They are just splintered into 60 different types of racing (and I didn't include 1/5th or 1/4th scale)

There are probably MORE people in the U.S. racing r/c cars right now than EVER! They are just splintered into 60 different types of racing (and I didn't include 1/5th or 1/4th scale)

Amen Joe..................