Really looking for an opportunity...
...to lose spectacularly to all you racing pros, but all the races fill up so fast. It looks like some of the races are announced well before they are on the calendar. Is there a specific post or thread I should be looking at? Again I just want the opportunity to look good going down the track in last place. Thanks!
Discussion
Many hosts will maintain a presence on other social media for their tracks and you may glean a heads up on when the official sign up post for the races will go live here. Find their other links in the "About" section of their YT channel or in the description box under their videos. All my best!
For the gravity chaos tournament run between chaos canyon and gravity throttle racing, we posted on YouTube and our fb pages ahead of time, the day and time the signups would be put on here, to try and give everyone as much of a chance to sign up. Maybe this is something more hosts could do.
As a host, I love to give new drivers a chance to compete, but you have to limit the total number to usually 16-32, to give a mix of enough people while also not having so many that it will take a year to get through all the cars.
- What about reserve a few spots for newbies for a limited time frame? Such as 3-6 spots reserved for newbies for 1 week. Then if they aren't filled, open them back up to the public. — Tortoiseking
- That could work. If I returned cars, I would open to any cars received by a certain date, but you have to qualify to get a spot. But as we're based in NZ it's too expensive to do that — Chaos_Canyon
- The reserve idea sounds good, maybe just a trial run. I'm speaking for myself, I don't know how many other newbies there are out there. — Sunshine_City_Garage
Don't forget to click "see all events" at the bottom of the listed races page....it will open up stuff you may not be aware of. There is a Halloween race posted on there....there's even someone that posted a race for the year 2057 ! Lol! Not kidding!
- This is what I was hoping for, thanks Dutch! I thought it might be that I just wasn't looking in the right spot. I'm so entering the race in 2057! By then my cars might be fast enough to take second to last! — Sunshine_City_Garage
- No rush to mail the cars... Lol — ManiacMotorsports
Thanks again everyone for all the comments and help. My situation is that I'm really into the restoration and customization aspect of the hobby, but the racing is cool to watch. I've been thinking lately that it might be cool to see one of my cars on the track. The problem I was having was that by the time I learned about a race, secured a car, and got to modifiying it, the race was either full or already run. I'm curious to see how my first race car nightfright will do. I don't have any stats on it yet but hopefully in the next few weeks I can share some stats, including some track times from Hot Nuts Racing! Craigster Sr. and I have hit it off and he has graciously allowed me to run some cars in some "unofficial" runs. Thanks Craigster!
- That looks sweet! — johnson9195
- Heck Yea Jim! We'll get you pointed in the right direction 'At SPEED' real soon my Friend! — CraigsterSr
- Sounds great Craigster! — Sunshine_City_Garage
A lot of the drag races are open to all comers, you can get your start there. Elevation Diecast has a couple posted if you want to read the race description/rules.
- Hey congrats on your win at Jungle Falls bro’!! — G_ForceRacing
- Yes congrats! — Dutch_Clutch_Racing
- Thank you guys, it was a nail-biting ride for me this time, from qualifying 4th to finish! — BadWoolRacing
In addition to what has been said, most builder don't have cars pre-built and ready to run. I know for myself, I sign up for the race and then get to choosing, acquiring (if don't have what I need), modifying, testing, etc. I assume I am not the only one who does this. I believe all host on here give you plenty of time to do all of what is needed. Don't be shy, sign up for the next race that appears and get building!
- I'm guilty of beginning my build after a race is announced but I am hoping to get ahead of the curve when possible. I've begun to craft cars with zero idea of when they'll be used. Since most races have common rules I'm building to those specs. Paint will be done and chassis/axle work will be finished. The only thing I'll have to do is adjust to the specified weight limit in the rules and BAM, race car! I've been posting about mass production primering in the "On The Bench" thread. — BadWoolRacing
- I have several varying castings that I have pre-drilled and prepped ready for a race. I have had issues getting the paint done in time. Waiting for the the primer to dry, then waiting for the paint to dry, letting the decals set up and clear coat. That's if I don't screw up the paint along the way and have to start over. I used a white primer that just would not go onto the casting very well. The high points would not "hold" the primer in place. I wanted to throw that one in the trash! — johnson9195
I just check the "Tournaments and Events" section on the reg to see if anything has popped up that I might be interesting in joining. I have a very very limited facebook exposure at this time, but again, just checking in here seems to keep my calendar full. Good luck moving forward and hope to see you on the track(s).
- Thanks GBU, I right there with you, I don't do facebook. I will keep a sharp eye on the events page here and with Dutch's suggestion of "see all events" this is a much better option. I just wasn't seeing enough on just the calendar page. — Sunshine_City_Garage
- This^^^ — Crazy_Canuck
Let me tell you that you may be overthinking this because being in last place is not that hard. I do it frequently and quite well. Pick a few tracks that you hope to race on and check for them on Facebook or other social media platforms as they will typically announce races their in advance. Also, it's not imperative to have some fancy painted car. It's more important that you've gone through some prep work getting axles glued down and or polished. And of course, focusing on getting weight into the car. So I advise you to just jump in and start doing it and soon you too will be an Internet star. in fact, as I start my second year of racing, I plan on doing a lot. Fewer fancy paint jobs. I'll be focusing on sending in stock paint jobs with more of a focus on the cars internals. Good luck and hope to see you on the track
- Thanks for the words of wisdom Abby, we can take turns coming in last place, lol. — Sunshine_City_Garage
- I am right there with you in last or close to last place. I just got a car back yesterday that I sent out a long time ago. It's crazy to see how different I prep my cars now. I used some hardware store graphite on it and the wheel spin was horrible. They worked much better when I sent it off. Same thing happen to another car from that time period. — johnson9195
I tend to work on a bunch of different cars all at once, of varying styles. Mainly, I start by drilling them and taking care of the wheels, making sure they're polished and tuned up as best as I can get them before I set them aside for a while. Then, when a particular race is announced, I go looking through my "already started" project cars to find one that more or less matches the upcoming race, and start adding weights. I don't glue my cars together until all testing is done and over with: I use tape and simply tape them together for testing in case I have to crack them back open for weight redistribution or better wheels. Once I have the car set up the way I like it, I paint it (or not), put glue on the inner door panels, and seal the car one final time, clamping it with a set of rubber grips until the glue dries. Then the car is ready to race.
Btw, nice customization in StageFright. I have that somewhere in my collection, and apparently the real one was here at Old Tucson Studios last year, along with some other wild customs.
- I also pre-drill castings for possible use for racing or customizing. I drill and tap them and sometimes I strip the paint off as well. Most I leave the factory paint on them since I don't know ahead of time what a race theme might be. I probably have 100+ castings drilled and tapped waiting for me to do something with them. — johnson9195
- The pre prepping does sound like a great idea, but like I mentioned before, I'm more into the customization and restoration aspect. Although, I f I took a few pages from you book -especially the taping together until a good race comes around- this could work. I know to a certain extent I run against the grain here being more about looking good that finishing first, but here's to looking good coming in SECOND to last! Thanks for the compliment on my Stagefright custom, I had one as a kid, so I had to do it. — Sunshine_City_Garage
Hello eager racer.. I operate Jungle Falls Raceway. I have a Race coming up August 1st. It's a Cops and Robbers theme. Need a cop car. And and getaway car. You can look up race on here for rules and weight limit. It says closed, but I can make a hosting decision to let you in if interested.
It's not a dragstrip. It's a combo of 45 feet of orange track that opens up to 70 feet or so of open track. You will need endurance and speed but most of all you will need good driving.
I do post races on YouTube for all to appreciate the glory of No brakes no mistakes, gravity fueled racing action. Try to be prompt with videos and returning cars.
Goodluck on your racing journey either way..
Jason
- Sunshine_City_Garage......you just got an invitation to run "THE JUNGLE"! Take it and learn from it. The Jungle is extremely challenging. Have fun. Don't get discouraged. — Dutch_Clutch_Racing
- @Sunshine: START BUILDING !!!! Keep the weight low in the chassis--tall vehicles don't do well at The Jungle. Good luck! — SpyDude
- @Jason/Jungle Falls: Let him in. I'm good with more competition. — SpyDude
- I wanna come play to, Jason! I missed sign ups by a day, it filled so fast...... — BadWoolRacing
- Thank you for the great offer, I will definitely take you up on that! I have watched your track in the past and would be delighted to make an attempt! I will check out the rules now but I know I can find something to meet the deadline. — Sunshine_City_Garage
I would like to say thank you all for such a great response to my racing dilemma. I'm happy to say that through some very generous offers I'm now ready to take on 2 races, waiting to hear back fro a 3rd, and found 2 more on the sign up section, including one I think is right up my alley (pun intended), Franken Gasser! Great to be a part of such a wonderful and helpful group of car enthusists!!
1. Jungle Falls cops and robbers
2. Diamondback Wash Test 'n Tune Event
3. Franken gasser @ Hot Nuts Racing
4. (Hopefully) Pikes Peak 2.0
And last but not least..Best of the Basics Stock Race
- Hey, so which races are you going to be in? Edit your post and list 'em out so we know you're running with us! — SpyDude
- welcome to the fun. — dr_dodge
- Sweet! I'm running at Jungle Falls for Cops and Robbers, then the FrankenGasser if I can get my car screwed together correctly. — SpyDude
- Awesome, see you there! Can't wait to see what it looks like! — Sunshine_City_Garage
I'm busy around here, maybe too busy to build all these cars. I am signed up for a "sardine can" race. I misread the rules, that's a tough one for me. You can have my spot in that if it's ok with the host. 2nd one is Pikes Peak. That's a road course, I'm gun shy about building a car that turns. You can have that one too if it's ok with the host. Check it if these two will work for you?