Moment with Mike: Racing pranks

 

Let's face it, when you put 100-200 guys together racing remote control cars in a confined area for 13+ hours per day on a weekend, there is bound to be some mischief. Over the years I have heard of some truly genius pranks and tricks played on racers by one another, and I have also been pranked numerous times myself. For instance, Homer gluing my car to the table while it's on the stand (makes it impossible to move or wiggle the car enough to break it free), your waiting to hit the track and your buddies turn your short course body around backwards (you pull the trigger and take off the wrong way), or my ultimate favorite, which occurred years ago to the legendary local Rick Hisel, which was the victim of servo tape behind the trigger on his radio. They set his car on the track, and the first time he hit full throttle, the trigger stuck wide open and BOOOOOM! Rick has never driven so fast, or hit the wall so hard.

 

This weekend was a great time as I attended the JConcepts Winter Indoor Shootout at Fastlane Raceway. With each round taking roughly 3+ hours to complete, it was a LONG day of qualifying. A good friend of mine, Marquon Davis, is new to the R/C scene, and has been working hard to learn the ropes. He wants to win more than anyone I know, and when he doesn't, he gets super bummed. I decided it was time to introduce my dear friend to the "not so serious" side of R/C racing.

 

I rolled up in my wheelchair and sat his car down for his Round 3 qualifying run (as I have done majority of the weekend) for 13.5 Super Stock buggy. The race got underway and he was on a great pace. He was sitting 2nd for his heat, and was looking strong. He got tangled up with a few lapped drivers and unfortunately dropped back in the field. It was obvious the disappointment and frustration on Marquon's face. I decided we needed a distraction to take his mind off things. With the help of those around me, I rolled over to the wall around the track, and as the race ended, he was driving his car over to me to get picked up (as I had done all day long). This time, however, I used the wall to pull myself up and into a standing position, using my arms to hold me up, amongst the crowd of racers watching. I left his car sitting on the track instead of picking it up. In frustration of it all, he turns and looks down to see why his wheelchair buddy won't pick up his car after such a rough race. We make eye contact, as I'm standing up as if nothing is out of the norm, his eyes were as big as pancakes, he stumbled back into the other drivers on the stand, and nearly let his radio fly out of his hands as he started to faint/fall to the ground! 

 

I then sit down, grab his car, and calmly say, "Good run buddy."  We all burst out in laughter and the frustration of the race was gone, as we re-enacted his fainting reaction to me "standing" over and over. 

 

I'm not saying you should go out and prank your buddies by making them faint in disbelief, or glue their car to table, but what I am saying is in racing there can only be one winner. That doesn't mean, however, that only that one guy can have fun. It's important to us all to do good, win from time to time, and be the fastest on the track, but in the end it's not the number of wins, fast laps, or even championships won that really matter. It's about all the good friends, good times, memories made week after week.

 

Marquon will never remember his 5th place finish in Round 3 of 13.5 Super Stock Buggy 10 years from now, but we ALL will remember the look on his face and reaction to seeing me "standing" up after his race!

 

 

 

 

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