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Moment with Mike: Proud to be an R/C racer

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Mike Garrison

0 Jan. 8, 2013, 6:33 a.m.

1/8/2013

By Mike Garrison

LiveRC.com

Sitting at dinner the other night I was given the opportunity to listen to my 78 year old grandmother give her take on the world today. How people are not polite, courteous, or nice anymore. When she was growing up she said, "People said hello when they walked by, held doors open for you, and if you saw someone tied to a train track you saved them instead of grabbing a camera and making a reality TV show about it!"

I am still in a desperate search of what reality TV show has someone tied to a train track, but I understood the point she was trying to make and I began thinking about it. Over the weekend I attended the 2013 Novak Offroad Race in Omaha, Nebraska. While at the race I realized that if the "real world" was like that of the "R/C world", my grandmother along with millions of others would find it a much nicer place.

The weekend started off with FREEZING cold weather. Naturally with cold weather and precipitation comes a man on wheels worst nightmare...snow and ice. The steep parking lot was covered ice and snow, and I wondered how many times over the weekend I would end up sliding out of control clear to the bottom, smashing into the building. Turns out I didn't slide at all, as there was always a nice racer walking by who was willing to help out and hold on to my chair while navigating the icy downhill.

Once past the parking lot at the HobbyPLEX you are greeted with multiple sets of large doors. Typically the only solution for me to open a big heavy door is gain as much speed as possible, and ramming it until it opens. Not one time this weekend did I have to bulldoze my way through a door, as there was always a nice racer willing to stop and hold the door.

The HobbyPLEX crew had over 100+ trophies to assemble for main day, and after a long day of qualifying, it looked as though the managers of the PLEX would spend several more hours at the track doing so. I turned around from my pit table, and there was young local racer with a bottle of Windex, a squeegee, and paper towels putting every single sticker on every single trophy, simply to be nice and help out.

While announcing one of the races this weekend I started the Mod 2wd Buggy A-Main without realizing that one of the drivers was off the track with a car repair. He had worked so hard all weekend to make the A-Main, and it started without him by mistake. Naturally he was upset, but unlike the "real world", he came up to me on the drivers stand for our SC race together wishing me good luck and apologizing back and forth for the mishap instead of leaving mad and holding grudges.

Multiple times throughout the weekend drivers unfortunately broke their cars in warm-ups. Almost instantly, someone would run out of the pits with their own car, handing off to someone they may or may not have known, for them to race instead.

Bob Novak and Brent Newman from Novak Electronics made the trip all the way out from California for the race, as well as obviously sponsoring it too. A local racer put together, custom painted and accessorized and Losi XXX-SCB for Bob to race for the weekend AND take back to Novak as a gift showing the appreciation of Novak's support!

Last but not least this past weekend, as I came off the drivers stand ramp from my qualifier my front wheels tucked under at the bottom. Needless to say this is equivalent to slamming on the front brakes of a motorcycle at 60mph, resulting in a stoppie followed by a face plant. I was moving fast enough I skipped the stoppie, and went straight to the face plant. Milliseconds after I hit the ground two fellow competitors had already picked me up, sat me in my chair, and even turned off my radio for me.

Sure we all have our "jerk" moments or yell and scream at one another on and off the track, but in the end the R/C community is an awesome group of people. My grandmother may or may not be right with her unfriendly accusations of the world today, but one thing I am sure of is that the R/C world and the people involved in it are truly some of the nicest people you will find. I am honored to be a part of the R/C community, and always will be...

(This young man is proof that R/C kids, adults, and everything in between, are ALL truly great people as he steps away from playing with helicopters and computer games to help the track finish up the trophies.)