WHERE'S WALDO: Overreacting to contact [VIDEO]

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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Last weekend’s JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals at Tacoma RC Raceway in Washington offered another example of the RC racing scene’s dichotomy between new-age interests and old-school tradition, putting on display the fracture in ideology that continually stunts the industry’s growth opportunities.

New-for-2017 JConcepts driver Ryan Cavalieri locked up the 2WD Modified Buggy win from the TQ spot on the grid in the first two A-Mains, leaving his competitors to decide the rest of the podium. Reigning IFMAR 2WD title-holder Spencer Rivkin, Washington native Harley Yoshii and Dustin Evans were all in contention for second overall, based on their scores in A1 and A2. The third A-Main is when all hell broke loose.

Yoshii made a mistake on the first lap of A3 and slipped to fourth behind Evans and Carson Wernimont, with Rivkin out front. After one minute, Rivkin crashed in the same spot Yoshii did - in the front left corner after the triple - which allowed Evans to catch up. Just thirty seconds later, Rivkin crashed in the center of the track and dropped to fourth behind Evans, Wernimont and Yoshii. A half-lap later, Wernimont got out of shape entering the straightaway and was shuffled back to fourth behind Yoshii and Rivkin - then pulled off after a couple of bobbles the next trip around the course.

At the 2:15 mark, Evans traction-rolled at the end of the straightaway and Yoshii took over the lead with Rivkin in tow, drawing cheers and applause from the crowd. Yoshii made a few small missteps after that, with Rivkin slamming on the brakes to avoid a crash at the 3:30 mark when Yoshii pushed to the outside of the lane over a rising left-hand turn. Yoshii settled down after that and put in a few very clean laps to establish a comfortable gap, but Rivkin regained all of the ground in just a few corners once the announcer called out that there were 30 seconds remaining in the race. As the master clock expired, the spectators lining the track perimeter were cheering on their hometown kid.

On the final lap, the wily world champ saw an opening in the same rising left-hander that Yoshii had failed to protect just 90 seconds prior. Rivkin went for it, spinning the leader and knocking his own buggy into the pipe, and TRCR immediately erupted in boos of disapproval. While Yoshii’s car landed on its wheels, Rivkin hopped a pipe into the turn’s infield and both drivers struggled to get back on the racing line - with Rivkin taking over the advantage. Yoshii tried to race his way past on the inside entering the back straightaway, but Rivkin held onto the position and secured second overall.

Here's what happened, starting with a harmless bump from behind in the turn before:

Here’s the full replay from Anthony Honstain - skip ahead to 5:00 for the crash:

There’s a lot to talk about here.

First of all, if Yoshii doesn’t leave the door open, this is a non-issue. Rivkin knew the driver he was following had struggled in that section of the track, and had already tried to take advantage of a mistake in that very same corner six laps earlier. Harley Yoshii is an incredibly talented young racer whose regional wins have garnered recognition far outside the Pacific Northwest, but it’s impossible to imagine the excitement and pressure of leading one of the industry’s top pros in front of the hometown crowd unless you’ve been in that position. The fact that he didn’t crash, but simply missed taking a defensive line entering that corner, is a testament to his composure and car control - terrific building blocks for a successful RC racing career.

At the same token, Rivkin had every right to go for the pass. He expected the opportunity to be there, based on previous laps, and it was the biggest chance he had all race long. Show me a driver who says they wouldn’t have done the same thing, and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t win RC car races. I’m not sure Rivkin would’ve made the corner smoothly had Yoshii’s car not been there to serve as a brake pad, but that’s not the point - they were racing buggies, not teacups.

The crowd reacted to the initial contact for obvious reasons: because Yoshii is a TRCR local, and because Rivkin has earned a reputation for his on-track aggression. The Internet has been more colorful, but less kind, in its assessment of what happened.

Actually, the TRCR faithful were likely on edge watching it happen - after all, a similar incident with 40 seconds left to go caused Ryan Matesa the Stadium Truck main event win last year.

I’ve heard from Tacoma-area racers over the years about how clean, respectful and fun it is racing at TRCR on a weekly basis, so it makes sense why they’d all react that way - and remember what happened last time. I was told that Yoshii was upset over what happened at the end of the race, but if he's used to being raced cleanly and no one said anything about him getting run over, it's easy to understand why he wasn't thrilled.

Aside from the crash itself, there’s an entirely different discussion about how the cars returned to the racing surface. Because Yoshii’s buggy proceeded along the pipe to the next 90-degree left turn, it blocked Rivkin from re-entering the lane - and the resulting collision technically caused Rivkin’s car to cut the corner. Some have argued in response to this replay that it was a direct violation of the traditional “rule” that says a car must return to the track in the same spot it left or suffer a ten-second penalty - but just because the JConcepts Indoor National Series claims to follow the latest ROAR rules doesn’t mean they will all be applied equally. If you’re not going to tear down stock motors or insist on everyone using a LiPo sack, ROAR’s rulebook is just a suggested guideline. Besides, if I had a dollar for every time I saw a car re-jump a pipe within six inches of where it originally left the racing surface over the last 20+ years I still wouldn’t be able to afford a fast food value meal.  Rather than an objective referee-like perspective, your opinion of what happened is more likely a result of how you felt about one or both of the drivers involved before the race started.

Here’s my hot take: I loved it. If you've read this far before starting to furiously type your Facebook response, I want to make it emphatically clear that I don't think either driver did anything wrong. The problem with what happened isn't the crash itself, or how the cars returned to the racing surface, but the absolutely unsustainable honor system that uses the empty threat of announcer intervention to guilt racers into self-policing the perpetually unavoidable.

Spencer Rivkin’s aggressive driving style has won him championships in both hemispheres, and those tactics have created conversation. Spencer is the fastest rising star the RC racing scene has seen in over a decade. Without this little bit of “controversy” no one would be talking about the seventh annual JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals. No one got hurt, no cars were broken, and the race to the finish line came down to mere inches. 

Now, I’m not one for making comparisons to full-size motor sports when it comes to competition format, racing classes or sponsorship, because they’re always irrelevant, but when it comes to creating an exciting spectacle there’s certainly a precedent. Just two minutes into the 450SX main event in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, Eli Tomac took his title rival Ryan Dungey up to the tuff blocks.

With six minutes to go, Tomac again dove inside of Dungey.

And this time, knocked him out of the lane completely.

Look where Dungey returned to the racing surface - at the end of the next section, like Rivkin did.

Dungey didn’t pass Tomac by skipping that lane, so it’s not a direct comparison; and in actuality, that should’ve been the determining factor. If you look closely at the replay, not once did Yoshii put a wheel ahead of Rivkin after both cars had driven back onto the course. Rivkin should’ve conceded the position or been penalized - neither of which happened.

With four turns remaining on the final lap, Tomac took another shot at Dungey - and cost himself the victory.

Each time Tomac aimed for Dungey's tank shrouds, everyone at Sam Boyd Stadium - except for Dungey fans, of course - went nuts. See how that contrasts with how RC fans react to similar displays of aggression?

Oh, and Tomac wasn’t the only one to throw an elbow in Vegas. Eventual race winner Jason Anderson cleaned out Chad Reed with just one minute to go.

Whether or not you’re a Supercross fan, and regardless if you think Spencer Rivkin’s pass on Harley Yoshii was dirtier than an unkept fireplace, I think it’s time that we revisit the unwritten rules of contact in RC racing. The decades-old standard of trying to determine intent every single time a car lightly taps another is ridiculous and leads to more arguments than outright take-outs do. Maybe if drivers didn’t expect to be able to cry foul to the race director when erratically trying to block those following behind led to incidental impact, they may be more likely to concede the position and wage a counterattack a turn or two later - leading to more passing and greater excitement. Having announced hundreds of club races at different tracks, I grew tired of racers asking for post-race penalties for collisions I didn’t see, and it’s laughable how often racers and race directors have come into the LiveRC trailer asking for a replay of an on-track crash in order to influence the finishing order, because someone always leaves disappointed. Wouldn’t it be easier if what happened on the racetrack stayed on the racetrack?

In this instance, Yoshii had two choices: realize he blew the corner, let Spencer go like Dungey did with Tomac multiple times, and try to get him back at the top of the hill (he nearly did anyway); or try to block him, risk getting punted, and hope the announcer would set the record straight. How did that work out?

Spencer's choices were much more straightforward: if he doesn't go for the pass, he loses the race. Once contact was made, he could either stop and wait (and lose the race), or take off and have a chance at winning unless the race director penalized him. He had nothing to gain by hitting the brakes.

If we are truly trying to embrace any shred of momentum and turn RC racing into something that people will want to watch, we’re not going to be able to do it with single-file funeral processions that last five - or even 60 - minutes. If there’s a racer that keeps getting away with roughing up his rivals and the race director doesn’t feel comfortable taking action, why not let the other drivers return the favor the next time they have the upper hand?

If Supercross racers can knock each other to the ground, and TORC/LOORRS racers can literally bang each other’s fenders off, perhaps it’s time for RC racers to toughen up and brush off the occasional collision. And if the companies sponsoring both racers in a collision, as well as the event and the announcer of that race, aren’t going to step in and remedy a situation like this for an event that doesn't have Nationals- or Worlds-level implications and show the local (and YouTube-wide) RC community that racing like that isn't acceptable, then it’s time to change the expectation that trading paint and position is not allowed.