WHERE'S WALDO: When keeping it real goes wrong [VIDEO] [UPDATED]

0 June 7, 2017, 12:41 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Do you remember my column a couple of weeks ago, about how RC racers get irrationally bent out of shape about on-track contact? Here’s a refresher: www.liverc.com/news/special_features/14894-WHERE%27S_WALDO%3A_Overreacting_to_contact_%5BVIDEO%5D/

How about the article from March, where I wondered if it would take physical assault and/or serious bodily harm before the RC industry came together in an attempt to police temper tantrums? Here’s that one:
www.liverc.com/news/special_features/14422-WHERE%27S_WALDO%3A_Where_do_we_draw_the_line%3F/

Both of those are required reading before this latest example of a racer using a remotely-operated, four-wheel-drive, nine-pound cannonball as a tool of vigilante justice.

The inaugural Manufacturer World Cup drew over 150 entries to the A Main Performance Hobbies Silver Dollar RC Raceway over the weekend, pitting drivers against one another in traditional Open classes while top pros in attendance raced in a modified Reedy Race-style format to determine individual and team awards.

It also included an action-packed 60 seconds that corroborated everything I’ve been writing about for months.

After Billy Tylaska of NEMO Racing locked up top qualifier honors for the 40+ 1/8-Scale Truck class with the fastest time in the first two rounds, he decided to sit out the third and stepped into pit lane to help a friend. In his absence, Brian Curran and Scott Rapoport were the only drivers who made it by the line for a 24-lap run, taking the race for the round win down to the final lap - and that’s when all semblance of composure melted down.

Actually, there wasn’t much composure to begin with - it was a pretty ugly heat in general. Check out the 7:15 mark for a big track cut that goes uncorrected. Otherwise, fast-forward to 14:15 and grab a small cup of popcorn. (EDIT - 1:05 CDT: Rapoport acknowledged that he did not stop long enough for the shortcut at 7:15 in the video, and was docked ten seconds.)

Here’s a breakdown of what happened:

Curran and Rapoport were about eight seconds apart on the clock, but running together, when they started the final lap alone on the track. Curran got out of shape approaching the center tabletop, and Rapoport tried to jump to the inside.

Curran moved toward the pipe to block him (which may have not been intentional), and the trucks tangled in mid-air before tumbling out of the lane - leaving both to scramble their way over the pipe to get back on track with Rapoport taking the position. At this point, though, Rapoport would’ve needed to pull away by 6-7 seconds to have a shot at winning the heat on the clock.

Two turns later, Curran accidentally jumped into oncoming traffic - narrowly missing Rapoport - then whipped the truck around 180 degrees and blew past the apex of the next turn in what looked like a much more obvious take-out attempt.

After crossing back to the left side of the track, Curran lined up again to blast Rapoport out of the way - and did so, sliding completely out of the groove in order to make contact.

Curran slowed down unnecessarily in the final turn, giving Rapoport the opportunity to bump him sideways on his way toward the finish line.

Curran lined up to take another shot at Rapoport’s truck - leaving the racing surface completely despite making hard contact.

And so the score was settled, right? What happened on the track wasn’t exactly sportsman-like, and far outside the realm of the “no-contact” clause of the unwritten rules of RC etiquette, but I don’t think it was awful - actually, I laughed while watching that part of the replay. Besides, Curran TQ’d the round and qualified second overall, while Rapoport earned second-place points for Q3 to secure third on the grid. Even if Rapoport had beaten Curran in the heat, the only result would’ve been swapping starting spots for the main event.

Unfortunately, what wasn’t caught on camera was Curran erratically entering pit lane after the race - and crashing into Tylaska. If you listen closely starting at 15:00, you can hear Tylaska yelling (at first thinking his shoulder was injured, but it turned out to be his elbow).

That’s when it was no longer funny. It turned into a colossal failure on almost everyone’s part, and it left someone with a potentially life-changing injury.

For his part, I thought Rapoport did a pretty good job of staying calm. It wasn’t until his last-turn bump that he initiated contact. It’s difficult to discern intent from the replay, given that 40+ nitro truck drivers aren’t always the most consistent, but it sure did look like Curran aggressively went after Rapoport’s truck on at least one occasion. And while one could write off that last lap as two drivers having fun with one another, the final hockey-check entering pit lane made it clear that Curran’s temper had overcome his self-control. There’s a good chance that it never got that far if the race announcer, Justin Wilde, said a word about it over the microphone - after all, he was calling the “battle” the whole time. Instead, he let them smash each other off the track.

That’s perhaps the biggest problem. Either Wilde didn’t see what he was watching as wrong (which meant he wasn’t looking out for aggressive driving) or he didn’t feel empowered to penalize - or even reprimand - anyone. I understand that Silver Dollar Raceway director Kevin Jelich checked up on Tylaska and spoke with Curran after the incident, but it didn’t impact his weekend. In fact, Curran finished second in the final, behind Rapoport, after Tylaska had suffered a drivetrain failure.

Photo: AKA Products, via Facebook

And yes, that’s both Rapoport and Curran wearing AMain Performance Hobbies t-shirts in the podium photo. Not a good look, is it? (EDIT - 1:05 CDT: Neither Rapoport nor Curran are sponsored by AMain Performance Hobbies, though Rapoport is sponsored by accessory brand ProTek RC.)

Tylaska has kept a sense of humor about the situation. He told me on Facebook Messenger that “if I had run that last qualifier, not only would I have not gotten hit the CVD pin would have broke then - and be fixed for the main. That’s the last time I ever skip a round.”

So what drove these drivers to take an otherwise meaningless lap of a rather inconsequential qualifying heat, in a class of one heat (13 drivers total) of an undercard class of an inaugural event with zero trackside spectators? Sponsorship implications, of course!

So what happens from here? I’m not sure. Tylaska has told me that his arm is less painful but still has a visible deformity; he has yet to visit a doctor. Curran told Tylaska he was “real sorry.” It’s unlikely that this situation will have any lasting effects for the track or the staff that (didn’t) handle the situation, the drivers let each other know (and those watching) that they were angry for touching on the track without getting disqualified or kicked out, and all it took was some minor musculoskeletal damage to a third party.

It could’ve been worse, I suppose. It wasn’t a mainstream pro that got hit, or a child - and Tylaska took the truck in the arm, not the head or chest. Potential crisis averted! We can all go back to pretending like these things never happen in time to hit the track this weekend.