What's Reasonable Racing?

[richard]

Hello guys, I have really enjoyed racing with most everyone at my local track. Since I am a novice at short course RC Points Racing, I have a question about Etiquette on the track. I have noticed after a few races that as I move around the track I pretend it’s real in the fact I wouldn’t want to smash people, pit them or place them on their lid.

I am starting to think this is stupid when others are just wide open knocking anyone out of the way and working the turn marshals to death. It’s almost a technique that’s common an acceptable, but heck if you measured the feet the turn marshal gives them from straighten up their cars. I’d bet they come up short. I realize it maybe silly to pretend it’s real in ways like drifting around the track behind another driver waiting for the perfect pass, and it’s almost a why bother because before there is 3 clean laps you can bet the WOT guy has caused a pile up every 35 seconds.

I promise I am not being rude or insulting to the people that fit this shoe, I’d just like to know where one crosses the line. Or because it is pretend and no one can really be harmed is it more of a joke race where anything goes because it is toys?

Thanks for the replies….. :

 

[Ballen]

welllllll , we dont have a track here in this part of the state i live in ,but where i did live there was a track and i assure you it depends on the people raceing ,if it is a serious real race they take it serious.now if you are just practiceing that is totaly different,but again it depends on the circumstances. fun or a real race.

 

[Phins Fan]

^+1^ If you are the noob at the track than take some time to evaluate the competition over a couple of weekends. See who is a racer and who is the WOT guys. Also keep tabs on who the LHS seems to support more. More times than not they will support the racer but thats why I stopped going to RC Madness. They were lettin noobs just crash into everything/one the entire race and it got to be old real fast. Not that I'm a pro by any means but I do like competition and not getting wrecked by a douschbag every race!

See who the track supports or the veteran driver and have a chat with him/her. They may be able to give you some valuable tips!

 

[alien13]

At any organized race, the race director should be pulling wreckless drivers. Where I race, if you are going to race like a jackass, you're not going to race. If you continue to be that way, you get banned.

Though I do know that not all places are like this. I've been to another place where there is much favoritism, even if the bad driver is taking out every person who passes him.

 

[Phins Fan]

Exactly!!! The place I used to race showed alot of favoratism towards a group of wreckless drivers as they typically bought everything from the hobby shop there so the owner used to look the other way when they wrecked us who are tryin to run a clean race

 

[alien13]

The place where I usually race booted a kid two weeks before the end of the points season because he would bash anybody near him. He was the points leader, his dad spent tons of money there, and he still got the boot. This is probably the best organized place in the area.

 

[Lessen]

Stick to your guns and race the way you feel is the most honorable. I race on-road VTA and in some ways it sometimes is the equivilant to short course racing in that there is quite a bit of contact sometimes, but that's racing. It's not always ugly but sometimes things just work out that way. At the end of the day the real racers enjoy racing clean and being raced clean. As far as etiquette...

Don't race people during qualifying runs. When they catch you run a wider line into the next turn if it's reasonable. At my local carpet track nobody really expects the slower guy to run a wide line into the "sweeper". It's just not a good place to attempt to give up the best line. Remember, you're racing the clock so position on track is meaningless.

In the race things are different and a little more "gray". I'm fairly new to racing so I'm off the pace in 17.5 TC but fairly competitive in VTA at this point. I'm not going to pull over for faster cars in the VTA main. They'll have to earn it and honestly they do eventually. Now in TC I'm not quite up to speed. There are people I will race and people I'll pull over for even in the main (even for position) if I know they are a boatload faster than me. No sense in holding up somebody who is that much faster than me. It's just asking for trouble. I don't expect anybody to do it for me, but that's just the way I roll.

 

[richard]

Well the best I can Gather is: It's not how you play the game, it's about whether you win or lose. This can make the hobby a little less interesting for newbies. Just Say'in

Thanks for the replies......

 

[Rolex]

Back in the day of the local track here, there were always a few who did not know how to let up on the trigger. Getting slammed or knocked off the track got pretty tired, pretty quick. When those idiots were running, several of us would duct tape a sheet of plexiglas to the roof and drag it behind our cars.
If they hit from behind with both wheels, they would go straight up the ramp and cartwheel. If they hit either side they would flip and tumble.
We could just keep running our cars while they kept running to set theirs back up.
Lessons in racing courtesy were learned the hard way. :

 

[richard]

Back in the day of the local track here, Lessons in racing courtesy was learned the hard way. :

Now thats funny, if I wasn't the new guy I would do that. But I'll just pretend I am in Rome and just do as Romans until I get bored and quit altogether and return to other hobbies. I couldn't see this passing in other forms of entertainment such as video or real car racing on any level. I am at a serious loss as to why people would even find it fun to bash in a race and if this is such fun why isn't there a RC demolition derby?

Thanks for the laugh Rolex....

 

[Rolex]

Glad you enjoyed it. The laughs at the track were great.

 

[hamz9561]

There is an RC demolition derby. It's called SCT racing.