Page 2 of 3

How was your rookie year?

Jump to first page Jump to last page

View member profile
dr_dodge 12/17/24

well, I dragged this old thread out,

any new rookies want to weigh in.

this was my second year, and it's been amazing!

dr


  • Just barely a year in. Couple podium finishes but no first place yet. Loving every minute of it. Almost get sick to my stomach when I see some of my early builds finally running. I e definitely improved my builds — RaginRicky

I haven't been through my whole rookie year yet, but so far it's been amazing! Met some great people, had a lot of fun racing, and best of all I found a hobby with Hot Wheels!

Maniac 

View member profile
Kingjester 12/17/24

Hard to believe I've officially been in this hobby since autumn of 2022 when Kotm season 4 first started up. Since then I've competed in many different tournaments and while I have yet to have any major championship gold, I've still been enjoying myself none the less and am really glad to have met some amazing people in this hobby.

View member profile
Zizzer_Prime 12/17/24

I still have a long ways to go! I've been collecting Hot Wheels since 1996 and I've never heard of diecast racing till I got on YouTube and watched Races and Fun! After that I told myself I got to give this a shot! I know it takes time and hard work to get there but I will get there one day!

Jourdan 


  • Been collecting on and off most of my life. I had never seen or heard of this racing either. Ran across some racing videos when I took up customizing last year. I was immediately hooked! We raced the hell out of cars when we were kids and I still love it today. — Zamak_Speed_Shop
View member profile
StrayDog 12/17/24

My rookie year is now over, and a whole lot was learned! Still chasing a 1st Place Win, and more consistency, but I've been pretty happy with my races and where I've been landing. Some day I will learn the Secret of Speed!

My rookie year ended last month.  Some success......A LOT of frustration.   A lot of learning....some improving.   A LOT of great people met.    (Also a lot of $ spent).

Dutch

View member profile
AbbyNormal 12/17/24

I began this crazy hobby in March of this year with my primary interest being racing. Along the way I've become a bit of a collector and discovered that there is a lot to learn when it comes to making these things go fast. Lots of learning and frustration during the year, and a lot of effort. I tried to enter as many races as possible in the past months which became a bit crazy recently, but the experience gained will help in the next year. So thankful for the supportive place and folks in Redline.

Overall I'm happy considering that my very first race was the Jungle Falls Beetle Bonanza - and today I finished 3rd in the B-class at Jungle Falls while racing R-Lo. And finally - yeah I've gone way over budget ... way over. Thankful my wife is supportive of my insanity. 

View member profile
alva1370 12/17/24

Well, I can make a bad car into a good car. I can make a good car a little heavier and drift to the left. I learned that shipping costs more than a good burger and fries. But mostly I enjoy doing this because every once in a while the car turns out to be awesome.

View member profile
HSLmotorsports 12/17/24

My first "year" 2020-early 2021 was largely unsuccessful. I exclusively sent cars to sub4ra, from whose channel I picked up my passion for season-long racing series. My first entry DNQ'ed its only qualifying attempt. I latered entered 4 trucks into his Truck Series, and had 2 qualify in 16 attempts (4 trucks attempting 4 36-truck events), both of those trucks finished in the 20s out of 36. Then I took a job that was 70 hours a week and didn't have much time to devote to the hobby. 

2024 was my first "full-time" rookie year, if you can call it that. I began seriously customizing cars in late 2023, they began showing up in Youtube videos around this time last year. I got 3rd in a very tight Draggin Wagon segment at Gravity Throttle, only a few points off the leader, IIRC he was the guy to win the overall event. The announcer had fun with my car, which I painted to look like Bill Elliott's 94 McDonalds car, making parody jingles.

I had some successes, got within 1 point of R-LO at Comet Tail Speedway, the Mercedes I sent to Chase Family Racing got a few wins in the B-Tier series, the Thunderbird I sent to Knobby Ridge, a Toronado I sent to Manchild Motorsports, and a Dodge Charger I sent to Tiny Track Cars all advanced to the second round. The highlight of my year has to be the Richard Petty car I sent to the Big O.  But I had some busts too, the orange wagon I also sent to Comet Tail got a grand total of 4 points in 4 races, the set of 5 cars I sent to Bolo Brown/Wes Coasin were totally embarrassing, getting stuck in corners and rarely finishing laps. The van I'm planning on sending to Elevation Diecast ate concrete while I was showing it off to co-workers. I'm still sending it and did my best to repair it. Hopefully it at least holds its own.

In non-RLD sanctioned events, a car I sent in to the Pottybig Race League was the 1-seed and out-qualified some of the big names. Of course, it was too fast for its own good and DNF'd too many times to advance beyond round 1, and I sent a car to the finale in all but 1 episode of Lord Shank Racing's league in Australia, still looking for win #1 there, got beaten on the last lap a few times (Definitely more good than bad, one of my cars is 3rd in points with 1 episode to go despite my cars getting there after the first episode was uploaded).

I'm starting to host events myself next year. The "NASCAR NITTRO Series" for both stock and modified entries. I spent a ton of money on track upgrades from what y'all see in my current youtube videos. I can't wait to see what 2025 brings.

View member profile
SpyDude 12/18/24

My original rookie year was 2020-2021. Very first race was a rookie drag from RedlineDerby himself, where I entered a JL Clue Cadillac. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was considered one of the fastest Clue cars out there. While I did well, I ultimately didn't win. I teamed up with MattMan to run the Pro-Am competition, ultimately winning that showdown (mostly on points, but that was a damn good car.)

So, My first car ever went to Gravity Throttle Braggin Wagon! That TT says it was a year ago so I am past a year and well into my second. It ran a super sub 35 seconds! Woohoo! At least it made it... I had zero clue of how to make it faster. I just pulled the rubber wheels and dropped in a set of hot wheels tires that sorta fit, slapped on a few decals and sent it. It was super exciting to watch even though it was not the least competitive!

Over the last few months turned to years I feel I have finally started to put out some competitive cars, made some friends and have had a ball building and watching!

So thanks to everyone who hosts races... replies to posts and messages, offers advice and encouragement and makes this site super enjoyable.

A special thanks to Dutch Clutch and Dr. Dodge for your assistance and knowledge along the way!

Good luck to all and see you on the track!

youtu.be/6SRCYu6XxaU?si=YZJt5avzUdyq8e7h


  • Braggin Wagon was the first car I built and sent, too! A whole bunch of DNFs for the time trials for me — StrayDog
  • You do fantastic looking builds and graphics....thank YOU for encouraging me to improve my graphics. Any speed you find isn't from me.....I'm still searching! Lol — Dutch_Clutch_Racing
View member profile
Spam_Holder 1/17/25

I'll let you know in 12 months. Mailed my first car out today.



to join the conversation or sign-up now