Knoxville-area ROCCK featured in local news [VIDEO]

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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

From WVLT:
www.local8now.com

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- For so many of us, the joy of getting a remote control car for Christmas, or perhaps for a birthday, was a moment we remember.

RC car racing, however, is no longer just child's play.

"To have a car like this is anywhere from a $1000 to $2000," Glen Gioia, president of the Remote Operated Car Club of Knoxville Racing, or R.O.C.C.K. Racing, said.

"And that's just the car itself," Gioia adds. "That doesn't include spare parts and all your different tires. A set of tires for these costs $40 to $50 bucks."

At the bigger weekend racing events, it's not uncommon to see trucks hauling trailers -- those trailers serving as a garage and work area for the cars.

"The price of admission can be pretty intimidating," Weston Wilson, who's been racing cars for three years, said.

Gioia's been in the game much longer. He's raced these cars for 30 years.

"I spend at least 2-3 hours a night, every night, working on my cars." Gioia said.

While this hobby has turned into a high-octane obsession for some, at the heart of it all, it's still about that sensation of going fast.

"We definitely get the adrenaline rush, especially when you're at the front of the pack. It can be pretty nerve racking sometimes," teenager Cole Whitehead said.

"There's been times where it's been neck and neck when I've been out there racing with my buddies, and I come off the drive stand shaking," Wilson recalls.

And that's what these racers come out to do.

Go fast. Some of the cars can reach up to 60-70 miles per hour.

Besides that need for speed, the drivers at R.O.C.C.K Racing also say the fellowship between the racers is another reason why they enjoy the hobby.

You can find more information at R.O.C.C.K. Racing's Facebook page if you're interested in learning more about remote control cars--whether as a serious hobby, or just for fun.