RAR STUDIOS- RC Photos, Videos and other stuff

2002

I will be moving in the next few weeks or so, and as a result it has been a time to go through old boxes. And guess what I found. Old cd’s with photos and video from 2002.

Looking through them, it is very clear that my skill at taking photos of rc cars and trucks have improved cnsiderably. But the photos are interesting because it shows what the track looked like back then. These were the old days, no 1/8 buggies or truggies. There were a few monster trucks, but it was just about all 1/10 stadium trucks.

In the next few weeks I will be uploading to Flickr, so bear with me.

3rd Points Race

It went better than could be expected. The rain on Friday helped out a lot, and the new sound system kicks butt! A big thanks out to Tom, Eric and Toby for all they have done!

Here is a link for the photos. There aren’t too many, only 80 or so.

FLICKR

Third Points Race May 16

A big thanks out to some people who have been working on the track.

Toby moved the dirt pile off of the concrete pad, single handed, with nothing but a shovel and wheel barrow! That was quite a lot of dirt, so a huge thanks. Plus cleaning out the drains on the pad! Also Toby has been redoing the catch fence in the bottom turn, so big thanks for that too!

Eric and Jamie for working on the track. Getting the jumps reworked, raking and getting the track in shape!

Unfortunately I wont be at the races taking photos, have to work. Getting screwed on this deal I had to have off work on race days, and it looks as if i will have to work during the fourth race too. This sucks!

2nd Points Race

A great day!

No real problems other than some inconsequential stuff. I got home and checked how many photos I took and was a little surprised.

1,111

After I went through them removing the out of focus, out of frame and others I didn’t like and was left with over 700! Damn it! How the hell am I going to upload that many photos?

I will try to get them uploaded to this link, but it may be a while before it is finished.

LINK

An apology

I would like to take this opportunity to make an apology for some comments I have made both on the now defunct Trinity Tech Talk thread and on this blog.

As an employee of Hobbytown I should be more careful in what I say and write since they could be viewed as being the opinion of the store. I was not thinking about that and for that I do apologize. None of the opinions expresses by me on Trinity, this blog or elsewhere are the opinions of Hobbytown USA of Reading, Pa, the owner or anyone or thing else other than myself.

I did let my irratation get the better of me, since the crux of the issue that lead to the thread being deleted was for all intents of purpose a non issue.

So that is all I will say in regards to my own behavior, I just hope the racers who are still offended by my opinions understand the point I was trying to make. And that they do not bear any ill will toward Hobbytown USA of Reading, Pa or the racing program.

Who is a track for?

I have worked on the track at Hobbytown since soon after it was first built back in ‘02 or something. To be honest, dirt tracks take a hell of a lot of work to keep in shape. And it is no small matter of pride for those who do the work. I am by no means alone, I don’t want that impression, there is one person who has been the one driving force for the track from the start is Eric Tobias. All of the track designs, and no lie, a lions share of the work over years has been him!

But I am amused at the attitudes of certain people regarding a track. Is the track there for the racers? The answer to that is yes. Everyone who works on a track take great pride in positive comments about it. The bad comments, at least in my case, aren’t an attack, but a clue to where changes or improvements can be made.

The amusing part is when someone makes complaints about the track condition. To be specific that it is bumpy, rutted, the jumps degrade over a race day, dusty, whatever. This is off road racing, bumps and changing track conditions are part of the challenge. I mean the Hobbytown track changes from the upper section to the lower section! The lower section gets very dry and dusty, while the upper usually stays mostly damp with good traction. So it is a challenge to set up for the track.

Besides the track conditions the main problem is how racers regard the rules. The rules that are a standard for every track as far as I know. The time between heats does vary from track to track, but it is announced at the drivers meeting prior to qualifying, so it is not a surprise to anyone. At least it shouldn’t be.

Another problem area is turn marshaling. Three minutes is more than enough time to get your truck, get back to your pit, drop it off and get back to the track to marshal. Again  this shouldnt be a problem, but it is. This is a very real problem for all racers. Another aspect of turn marshaling is the mains. I do understand not everyone has to stay until the last main is run, but all to often racers leave after they finish theirs is run, leaving the following main short on marshals. As the mains dwindle down turn marshals get harder to find. This is terribly unfair to those racers whose mains are run at the end of the day. If the roles were reversed and those people saw a shortage of marshals they would be rightly more than a little pissed off about it.

My point to all of this is very simple, it is basic everyday common courtesy. There is a small percentage of racers out there that are sorely lacking in this. Yet they are the most vocal when they feel they are not being treated fairly or in a manner they feel they deserve. No racer deserves any more respect than any other. It should not make ANY difference if you are a sponsored racer, club racer or it is your very first race! Respect should be given to all, equally and with no regard. And the tracks should also be respected. There are real people giving their time, their hard work to make the tracks as good as possible.