Talk-It-Up Tuesday with "Coach" Kurt Wenger

 

 

As you may have noticed lately, one company that has been releasing an ongoing list of new products is AVID R/C. Formerly a designer at Team Associated, we've decided to sit down with the man behind many of these new products. Introducing the one and only "Coach" Kurt Wenger!
 

 
 

LiveRC: Welcome Kurt to "Talk-It-Up Tuesday!" Let's get started by talking about how you got started in R/C. When, where, and how did it all begin?

Kurt: Back in 1987, I was 9 years old and I saved up about $250 dollars from mowing lawns for a year. I bought the original gold tub RC10 kit with bushings, wiper speed control, and a motor. It was the original car that started it all (now re-released as the RC10 Classic). From there, I played with it a bit, but my first instinct was to run it at a track. Of course, I needed new tires for a dirt track and that was my first hop-up. From there it was a ball bearing diff hub, and the list goes on! My budget couldn’t support my racing after we got started, but my Dad (who is also an engineer turned businessman) loved the hobby too and he was my mechanic. We went racing almost every free Saturday afternoon after we got hooked.
 
 
LiveRC: What are some of your major career highlights as a racer?

Kurt: My most recent driving highlight was the 2011 Reedy Off-Road Race. I made the 4wd Open Main as a direct qualifier, and finished 6th. I also qualified 5th and finished 7th in the Reedy TC Race Mod Open back in about 2005 with my TC3. I still have both cars for my “Wall of Fame.” My other highlights are of course winning 7 IFMAR World Championships as an Engineer. Not many people can say a product they designed and developed won a single World Championship.

 
 
LiveRC: At what point did you realize that you wanted to make a career out of developing products for R/C car racing?

Kurt: First, because of R/C and my love for math, physics, and general problem solving I knew that I wanted to study engineering. I love the process of figuring things out, how they work and how to improve them. It was only natural to try and combine my passions into a career. I worked at Ford Motor Co. in Detroit and Boeing in Seattle during and after college, but at the right time a position opened up and I was able to make the transition to the R/C industry with Team Associated.

LiveRC: You spent 10 years at Team Associated developing products and working closely with the team drivers. Tell us a little about that.

Kurt: It was a great time in my career to really build my skill as a designer, engineer, and racer. I was young in my 20s, and I had lots of freedom to work long hours in developing ideas into reality. My first project was to design and develop the B4 with Torrance DeGuzman (now at HPI) and we started with a B3 and made some pretty radical changes to the design. I started testing almost every day at SoCal Raceway in Huntington Beach, and then I traveled with the team to events, always working on setups and wearing a stopwatch around my neck. During my time at Associated, I worked with and became friends with top pros across the world like Maifield, Masami, Hara, Cavalieri, Cragg, Tebo, Kinwald, Saxton, and the list goes on.

 

LiveRC: At some point during that time you became known as "Coach." How did that nickname come about?

Kurt: It all started with a green t-shirt I bought at a thrift store. It said COACH on the back. I wore it to the track a few times and the guys at SoCal (especially Mike Truhe) liked the name and it just stuck from there. I was always carrying my stopwatch and making notes in my notebook, so I was like a trackside coach to all the racers on the team. The name fits my personality, so maybe it wasn’t just a coincidence that I found that green shirt….it could’ve been divine intervention. I’m not ruling it out.

LiveRC: In early 2012 the industry was shocked to hear that you left Team Associated. What brought about the change?

Kurt: I wanted some more freedom. My wife has her own business and we had a 1 year old at the time, so you need flexibility when you have young children or you’ll go crazy. Working at home suits me much better and it’s been really nice to make my own schedule and decide my own projects.

LiveRC: We’ve seen a long list of new designs released. Which of these would you say is your personal favorite?

Kurt: I have to say, the Triad Slipper Clutch is my favorite. From the moment I had the idea and made the first prototype in 2012, it just worked. I was also amazed by the difference it made. I knew it was good when I TQ’d a club race over Nolan Anderson and former World Champ Hayato Matsuzaki at West Coast RC. I blew out in the main but I thought the Triad gave me a real advantage over higher caliber drivers.

 
 
LiveRC: Where do the ideas for these new products come from?

Kurt: From inside here (points to head). Designing and coming up with ideas is a process. It starts for me by using the product and really getting to the root of the design and function. Then you think of improvements and how to make them, then test. Next you make a new version and start using it, and the cycle repeats. I try and think of ideas that make sense, and I don’t like making aluminum parts just for the sake of selling something. I like to make something with a purpose.

LiveRC: On average how many hours are behind the development of these products from start to finish?

Kurt: It varies. I’ve designed complete products at the track during a club race, and some take months of work. The Kyosho Shock and Turnbuckle Tool is an example of a simple design that I knocked out in a couple hours during a club race after a friend complained that there were no good Kyosho shock tools available (thanks Mitch!). The Triad clutch was under development for about 5 months while we tested materials for plates and pads and designed the spur gear and mold.

LiveRC: Obviously you have been working hard developing all of these products, how often do you take a little time away to do some racing of your own?

Kurt: I try and go to the track 1 day a week to club race. If you’re not having fun in the R/C industry, it can become a drag like anything else. It’s important for me to stay in touch with racing and driving and being at the track fuels my ideas for new products.

 
 
LiveRC: There are a lot of kids growing up racing R/C today, and have interests similar to yours in developing and engineering products. What advice do you have for them as they work to become a developer/engineer in the industry such as yourself?

Kurt: Do what you love, and love what you do. For academics, a Mechanical Engineering degree is a great start and if R/C doesn’t work out, you’ll have marketable skills to work in almost any industry; Consumer Products, Aerospace, Automotive, Oil and Gas or maybe start your own business.

LiveRC: Over the years you have worked with some of the greatest drivers in the world. Who do you personally admire most as a racer, and why?

Kurt: It’s tough to pick one because there are so many talents out there and each has his own style. Maifield is raw speed, and impossible to catch when he’s on. Pudge is a machine, I think he might be an advanced racing robot from the future. He is precise and hard to rattle. Hara is the jack-of-all-trades, mastering all disciplines through his tireless work ethic. Tebo is the Gas Truck and 8th scale phenom, picking up as an R/C champ after hanging up his racing boots. Masami is a legend. I wish I got to see him in his prime. I got to re-live all the 12 Worlds Masami won through stories with Mike Reedy.

LiveRC: You've traveled a lot with these drivers, who is your favorite AND least favorite factory driver to travel and share a hotel room with and why?

Kurt: My favorites: Brent Thielke and Jason Corl. We can stay up late wrenching and talking about the good old days. My least favorite: anyone that snores. I won’t name names. I think I might have some strikes against me as a roomie because I always tended to leave my dirty clothes scattered all over the floor. When you’re trying to dial in a new setup, who has time to clean?

 
LiveRC: The IFMAR 1:10 World Championships are only a week away. Of all the drivers in the world, who do you believe will walk away the 2013 IFMAR 2wd and 4wd World Championship?

Kurt: Wow, can’t say what order but I believe the top 10 will be: Cav, Maifield, Tessman, Tebo, Evans, Phend, Hara, Naoto, Cragg, and Martin. It will be a competitive race.

LiveRC: One thing most people don't know about Kurt "Coach" Wenger?

Kurt: I’ll give you a few. I’m left handed, but I drive right-handed (don’t ask me why, it just feels weird to steer with my left hand). I love Mexican food, especially chips and salsa or guacamole. My original paint colors were fluorescent red and black instead of flour. yellow/green. My wife Michelle is an interior designer. My daughter Charlotte loves to wrench at my desk (she likes my yellow handle wheel wrench).

  
 
LiveRC: Kurt, thank you so much for joining us today! We anxiously await the projects you have in store, and sincerely wish you the best! Is there anything you would like to add?

Kurt: Special thanks to Michelle and Charlotte and my parents for encouraging me to keep racing since I was 9!

  

 

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