FRIENDLY RACING AT RC CAR RACETRACK
CHICO » The signal to race is on. Drivers sent full power to their throttles.
“Rheeeee!” sounded the electric motors of RC cars speeding down the carpeted racetrack.
“The loop is live, the loop is live,” Track Director Kevin Jelich said with loudspeakers.
People from all over the north valley brought scaled-down versions of vintage-style cars, European semi-trucks, dune buggies and Formula 1 cars to AMain Sports & Hobbies indoor racetrack in Chico on Saturday.
Jelich said people to come and race at the Chico racetrack to race weekly and in 2015 they hosted a world championship race where people flew in to compete internationally.
John Taylor is one of more than 40 drivers at the weekly “Carpet Club” racing event. Taylor brought a Vintage Trans Am RC car which is designed after cars from the 60s and early 70s.
These radio-controlled cars scale in at around one-tenth of the size of their authentic counterparts and have a limited amount of power based on their class. Taylor said he enjoys driving Vintage Trans-Am cars because the races are dependent on the drivers’ skills.
“I’ve had this one for a few months now. It’s a fun class because you get to race guys; there’s a very competitive feel,” Taylor said.
Taylor has a workbench set up in the pit room; a large area where drivers’ toolkits, spare parts, charging stations and disassembled cars occupied more than 20 tables.
Between each race, drivers would perform pit maintenance between races and adjust settings to fit racing conditions, similar to how full-scale races work.
“At a club race, this is when you want to go out
there and try stuff,” Taylor said. “You always have guys that are always experimenting, because that’s the key: you want to go faster.”
Robert Beaver has been building and racing his RC cars for six months. In the driver’s pit, Beaver applied what’s called “Tire Sauce” to the rubber on the wheels of his green 1969 Chevy Camaro Z28 in order to grip better on the racetrack surface.
In classes where all vehicles have the same amount of power, like the Vintage Trans Am class, races are usually determined by the driver’s skill.
“The challenge is setting up your car into the corner, you know; not over jumping, dealing with traffic; someone coming through either behind you or getting around people,” Beaver said. “In my case it’s mostly people coming up behind me because I’m slower.”
Beaver’s workstation is filled with tools designed for RC cars which he learned how to use from being around other drivers.
“I like being on the racetrack — the camaraderie of it all too. It’s a good group of guys and we all share information,” Beaver said.
Taylor said one of the coolest parts about the RC car community is that people who come are very friendly and often share trade secrets or information to help each other out.
“You have so many different walks of life. I mean you’ve got deli owners, I work on the air force, construction dudes, retired guys, kids,” Taylor said. “It’s one hobby that no matter your age, your occupation or anything like that, everyone comes together.”