WHERE'S WALDO: What's the point?

 

What’s the point?

Not the point of life, of course - that’s a question to which the answer is much bigger and more important than anything you’ll find on a website that provides news and commentary on a hobby (this isn’t the last time you’re going to see that word in this article). I’m talking about what drives us to take our RC cars and go to the racetrack. It’s a question that I bet most RC racers haven’t asked themselves in quite a long time, and maybe ever.

Having watched thousands of different RC racers attend events from local club races to IFMAR World Championships, I realize there are just as many different answers to that question. Of course, there are definitely going to be similarities among many of those answers, and they’ll often fit into some specific groups. Sometimes drivers fit into more than one group.

 

 

- Those who make a living.

Back in 1993, when Brian Kinwald left Team Associated and Reedy following his first IFMAR 2WD World Championship to sign with Team Losi and Trinity for a salary, the possibility to  race radio controlled cars as a means of putting food on the table became a reality. Many of them serve some other occupation for their main employer - developing new products, organizing travel accommodations and product orders for other team drivers, etc.

When it pays your bills, it’s pretty easy to answer why you go to the racetrack.

- Those who take have nothing else.

RC racing is just about the cheapest way for a racing enthusiast to exercise those urges, but for many RC racing isn’t just an escape from the real world. I’ve talked to pro-level racers who continue competing for a living because, by their own words, they have no idea what else they would do. I’ve talked to a far greater number of diehard enthusiasts who simply have no other hobbies. To an outsider, it’s an obscure basket into which you’d put all your eggs, but you can’t spend much time perusing your favorite RC forum without stumbling over a conversation involving at least one person who can’t figure out why his friends/parents/significant other/boss just can’t understand spending so much time and money on this hobby. It’s no surprise that racers in this group don’t always look like they’re having the most fun at the track.

Much like a less poisonous gambling or drug addiction, this group simply can’t get away - even if sometimes they think it might be a good idea.

- Those who do it because they’re good at it.

Everyone enjoys activities at which they excel, even if it’s an old hobby that no longer puts those butterflies in your stomach or dampens your palms. It’s fun to brush the cobwebs off your cars, and driving skills, only to find out that “you’ve still got it.” Nothing in RC racing makes up for the advantage of being undeniably talented behind the wheel, and even if you’re just one of the fastest racers in your immediate area there’s something comforting about maintaining that distinction.

Just like the former college baseball star who can’t resist firing a ball or two at the milk bottles at the county fair, or the carpenter who continues making furniture for friends long past his retirement, old habits are hard to break.  

- Those who take RC way too seriously.

He is not driving a “toy car.” He is racing a highly advanced, finely tuned, professional-level, elite miniature racing model, and he’s not at all shy about exaggerating every detail of just how big-time important all of this is. Members of this group are personally insulted and morally flabbergasted that the Scripps National Spelling Bee is on ESPN and that RC car racing is not. More often than not, these racers aren’t commonly at the top of their class even at the club level. You wouldn’t know it by the way they talk - needing to “get up on that wheel and put it in the show after raising the roll center and drop five-weight in the rear shock oil to free up the car coming out of turns one, three, and six.” This is the group of people who spend their own money to have t-shirts made with the companies from which they buy products but can’t forget #hashtagging in weekly #selfies of their cars on #socialmedia. “Special thanks to #brandX, #companyA, and #hallmarkF for the tires, motor, and servo I bought at full retail!” Similarly, it’s the pretty much the same group of people who yell at the nine-year-old turn marshal for putting his car down backward after crash #5 on the same triple, or threaten to fight the newcomer with whom he tangled on lap one of the main event.

Like Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite, some RC racers are grasping to an escaping dream that they’re struggling to let go.

- Those who do it because they love it.

Many of those who race RC cars for a living, and hopefully the vast majority of hobbyists, continue to go to the racetrack because they enjoy it. It’s the reason that all of us got involved in the first place, but for that love to continue over multiple decades is remarkable. There’s no underlying motive for those who treasure their three hours at the track and away from the stresses of life. Whether it’s the thrill of competition, the satisfaction of tinkering with a car until it’s just right, the sense of joy that comes with turning a clean lap, or any other reason that keeps you coming back, it’s tough for this group to peel themselves away from RC racing for long.

For this lucky group, there’s magic in walking up on the drivers’ stand, whether it’s for a practice run on an empty track or lining up for the first round of qualifying.

Of course, it really doesn’t matter which combination of groups most describes you, but it’s an interesting perspective on what keeps you engrossed in your favorite hobby when you take a step back and truly identify what’s going to motivate you to pack your truck on Saturday morning and head off in search of RC car glory.

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