First Track?

[David.K]

1985 Circus Hobbies - Las Vegas, NV. (Closed in 1990)

I remember this well. I wanted to race on the race track they had. My parents agreed to buy me a RC10, but I have to work for it. At 14yrs old I had to mow the grass, clean the small pool every week along with some other chores. I agreed as I wanted one BAD!. The sad news was this was at or around the release time of the RC10 and Circus Hobbies was SOLD OUT and so was everyone else. I had to wait about two weeks that seemed more like the whole summer. When i finally got the car, built it on an all nighter as I was so excited. Racing at Circus Hobbies was a once a month deal. I practiced almost every day to prepare for THE race. Loved that place.

[esaresky75]

Can't remember the exact name but was located in Olyphant, PA and run by Dave, the owner of Main Hobby Center located a few miles away in Dickson City, PA. The track open about 1987 and lasted just 3-4 years. Carpet oval with a wood truck-pulling track in the center of the oval. The hobby shop was started about 1981 and lasted until 2005ish I think. Dave is still around, was always into trains and saw him two years ago in Allentown, PA at a train show, selling of course.

[aeiou]

The very first track I visited was the Ranch Pit Shop track in Pomona, CA. My brothers-in-law let me drive their trucks around the track and it wasn't long after that I had my own RC10T. My first race was at a track in San Diego. I still can’t remember what they called that place, but it was a small track in a warehouse near Mira Mesa.

[8rad]

Cool thread. 1990. Ottawa Valley racers had a track at Carleton University. It was made of PVC pipe and was really sandy. I raced my falcon there that summer. Obviously I was always a bottom feeder with my Mabuchi 540 against the Jrx2's and Pro's but I did beat a few of them because my car was so slow it was impossible to crash or flip over. I remember one race my left shock tower busted on the second lap but I managed to finish the race anyway. One of the last laps I was coming around the drivers stand with my left suspension flapping in the wind and I heard the announcer call over the loud speaker "Here comes Jeremy with his no die Falcon". Made me feel pretty good.

[mrlexan]

Spacecoast Raceway in Cocoa Beach, Florida on A-1A owned by Bill Pinch. Had to be around 1981 or 1982 as I got my first car Christmas 1983. He was a slot car guy that had two slot car tracks in the shop and I guess made his way into RC cars, as most did. There was an empty lot just next to his place in a little strip mall that they made a make shift dirt track. Races were every Sunday morning, which I had to convince my parents to let me go there instead of church.

[CamplinP]

My first racing experience came at Riders Hobby Shop in Ypsilanti Mi in the late eighties. They would make an oval track in the parking lot of the store and race there. Found this video from back in the day. Looks more like a demolition derby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6WqDx23fGY&feature=fvst

Awesome video. Really brings me back. Just the sound of the gearboxes and power systems is distinctive. I can see why they don't allow the use of reverse any more.

[JamesB77]

My first - and only, when i think about it - track was at a place called ProTrax around 1990. It was an indoor dirt track that staged its own races. I think it was only open a few years.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

HobbyWorld Evansville, IN circa 1987. It was an indoor oval made of a tennis court type material. About 100' long and 20' wide. This was the entire track area, not just the track width and length. It was basically 2 dragstrips connected by hairpin turns. Started with my hornet and could turn about 25 laps in 4 minutes with a bag motor. The Doms and 12Ls could turn 54-57 laps in 4 min if my memory serves me right. I worked there also. Funded my racing by building kits for lazy or inexperienced buyers.

Place burned down due to improperly stored SCRs and the owner rebuilt with dirt this time. A brilliant move since everyone practically needed new race cars.

Burned down a second time. SCRs stored improperly again! Then the owner went into construction.

No foul play I assure you. I race with him from time to time still and if he could pay the bills with a shop he would still own one. Good Times!

P.S. I remember having only 4 cars to a heat because that's how many people we could trust to "click" the laps. Later came transponders.

I also remember spraying Mello Yello in the turns so that cars had a slight hope to hold a line. Power was everything at that track. Made it hard for a working teenager to run anymore than one RC10.

[Seabass]

First race was at Acadiana Rc in Lafeyette, LA around 1990. Had a Kyosho Raider and saw an ad on TV one night advertising the first offroad race on the new track. Dad took me and there was standing room only. I remember distinctly pitting from the car outside. Had the battery charger hooked to the car battery. Had one battery, the car, radio, and charger, thats it.

I raced that POS Raider every week for at least two months against RC10s and JRX2s. I finally talked my dad into ordering a JRXT. The final night I raced the Raider, I took 1st in the C main against two JRX2s and one RC10. It was the funniest thing but I sure thought I was the s**t that night.

We also had another track I found out about once I got the JRXT. Every weekend, Sat night I raced at ARC and Sunday, raced at Bodcau. This lasted for 3 years before Iput the cars away. The ARC ended up closing around 94ish. Bodcau stayed alive for a few more years then ended as most do.

[Seabass]

My first racing experience came at Riders Hobby Shop in Ypsilanti Mi in the late eighties. They would make an oval track in the parking lot of the store and race there. Found this video from back in the day. Looks more like a demolition derby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6WqDx23fGY&feature=fvst

I was waiting for that FX10 to be destroyed. That thing tooks some abuse, LOL. You are not kidding about the demo derby.....

[huminski]

Cool thread.

Parlor Hobbies in Matawan, NJ, from about 1987 to 1992. He ran an onroad track in different configurations almost every week in the back parking lot, with a short off road section that could be mixed in.

Raced a Tamiya Fox (learned the value of a sway bar with that thing onroad!) and a JRX2 converted to onroad.

Long since closed.

[Rc10tdriver]

Joe's hobby barn(now bucks hobbybarn)Terre Haute,Indiana 2007 toys for tots drive...shortcourse oval carpet track i raced a tc4 with a novak gtx monster2 roar stock motor cant remember the the exact radio but i had futaba am radio..my battery pack was a venom 1800 nimh i had no charger for my batterie pack but it was fun alll the admition fees weent to toys for tots and all particapents brought a new toy for a kid to have for xmas.so i bought a action figure and gave up my hot wheels collection of a massave amount got 3rd out 10 sedans...my next and last race was the same place same car and system it was the east|west classic 2007|2008 race was terre haute vs new castle indiana.first was in th then the next week we went to nc i got 2nd out 14 on the first week and then 2nd outa 2 on the last due to no1 showed up the sencond we for sedan 10scale but me and the guy that was in 1st haha..then i lost ever thing have havent raced siince..now i got a truck im rebuilting....yay for me.

[RCHJR]

RCH at one point had both units on the far left and right in that picture. The track was a lot between the AAA and a school. Ran 1/12th scale in the school parking lot and 1/10th off-road on the dirt lot. Many a day of work for me as a kid in those days. Kind of miss it.

Radio Controlled Hobbies (RCH) in Costa Mesa California, 1983, with a Tamiya Super Champ. DNF'd on a Saturday Morning. Got lapped by a few Scorpions and probably a Sand Scorcher or two. 653 19th Street.... http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10690

Just Google Earthed it and it's now a Beauty Salon with a Parking Lot over on the vacant lot where the track was..

Capture.JPG

I also see it was 11 minutes or 8.7 miles from 1928 East Edinger.

[dldiaz]

Interesting thread here - neat to read some of the stories.

The first car I ever actually entered a race with was a Tamiya Falcon, when it was brand-new - so Summer 1986.
- This was at a red-sand track built in an open area between an apartment complex and a drainage ditch here in San Antonio.

Of course the RC10s were dominant, so I finally got an RC10 in 1987.
- Then I got a JRX-2 when it was a new release some time in 1988.
- I was in High School 1988-1992, so I did not race for too long after getting the JRX-2, by 1990 I was not racing anymore - I didn't race again until about 2002, then not again after that until VONats in 2019.

During those years though (1987-1990), I raced on a bunch of different tracks:
- started on that red-sand off-road track.
- for a time we had a large dirt oval with banked turns
- there was a small indoor dirt oval that was bumpy as heck - it was really an off-road track with two left turns
- I raced 1/12 scale carpet a few times
- paved oval in the mall parking lot a few times
- then there were 3-4 different off-road tracks (indoor and outdoor) at different times

I still have a couple boxes full of trophies at my parents' house.

I also have a few models from those days - still have my JRX-2, then I have a graphite chassis RC10 setup for oval, and an A-stamp RC10 that I built in different ways depending in what track was popular.
- I also have an MRP GP10 that I raced on that mall parking lot.


Another interesting scenario: the only hobby shop close to my house (given that my only transpo was a BMX bike), was actually a Michael's craft store - the same Michael's that has become a nationwide household name. So the guy Michael's hired to manage the hobby section of their store happened to be an R/C racer! He had the store stocked with as much hobby-grade R/C stuff as they would let him order, but ultimately what sold were the Tamiyas and other more plastic-type models - so he always had the latest Tamiya and other odd things like the Varicom Big Grizzly I bought there!
- The real racer-grade kits and parts were more difficult for me to get to - at a hobby shop across town...

[TRX-1-3]

R/C Plus! in Salem, Oregon. A loamy dirt track, outdoor.some doubles and tabletops, etc. The owner's wife was the lap counter. Lots of card tables and open car hoods. The hobby shop was just offsite so you could run over and get some stuff if you needed it. Must have been around '89 or thereabouts. Drove the TRX-T Eagle right when the full kit "racing truck" scene started blowing up. Man that was fun!