How did you finish if your first RC race?

[Breakin2]

I'm looking forward to racing RCs this summer for the first time. As a total newb, I'm also a bit nervous that I'll make a total ass of myself. I'm a pretty good driver in my mind, but of course I never actually raced against anyone. How did you vets make out your first time at the track?

[nitroburner9248]

Just get used to the track....if they have practice time..take full advantage of it. Oh and find one of the experienced guys at the track..they are usually more than willing to help out someone new..

[Krasi_5000]

i think i will also be going to a track this summer...last year i didnt have the time nor the car i wanted to go with now i got a new engine, 2-speed and tires and its tuned and all so i think i will go take a shot at it!

[Pro3/nmt105]

Even though most bashers think they're good at driving, in reality just driving around requires no skills and you will have to learn how to drive on a track. It takes alot of practice (I know from experience). Just driving on a track is also completely diffrent from racing, when racing everything is alot more stressful and you end up makeing stupid mistakes because you get nervous when another car comes near to you. I guess you overcome it eventually though.

Dont worry about looking stupid, everybody looks stupid on their first couple runs on the track.

[psbarger]

I got 4th outta 5th with my Micro RS4 (first car I've ever raced). I was on AA's while everyone else was on 5 cell NiMH's so I was vastly out powered (thats my excuse and I'm stickin with it!). Had a blast and now I have a hopped up Micro RS4, a stock one, and just bought a X-Ray T1 Evo2 so I can race 1/10th touring car!

One thing is for sure, beware of racing. After you do it once you will NOT be able to quit. Say bye bye to you free time, and money.... but you'll have a blast. :D

[thunderbt3]

my first race, i came in second in a field of 5 i think

im mostly a basher but im gonna try to race some more this coming summer, i brought over some topics from real racing like apexing and driving clean lines, passing clean, it was all good

you race the track, not the people that are on the track, the guys i was racing with were busy chasing each other and not concentrating on the track and bumping into the walls and stuff, i led most of the heats i was in, the only reason y i came in second is cuz one of the guys started following my lead and came close to me and he took me out going into a corner :D

well i think second place is good for the first time the car touched the track running on rubber tires that were really worn down, they looked more like slicks hehe.

[highroller]

Every first race is the same for everyone, you want to do good but not seem like a rookie doing it. Just remember everyone started the same and even the most experienced driver gets butterflys when climbing the drivers stand and preparing for that first turn. Each final heat gets easier as you learn and take with other racers before and during the race. If you make a mistake applogize if necessary, a lot of guys loose their cool to fast when they should be having fun. Attribute collisions as a racing thing and learn from it and still have fun.

[Jamie]

Just remember that you have to drive slow to go fast. I finnished last in my first race just because I was trying to go too fast.:o On a tight track the average lap speed may only be 10mph and a fast track only 16mph so trying to drive your 45mph stadium truck at top speed will just result in ZIP-CRASH, ZIP-CRASH, ZIP-CRASH, ZIP-CRASH, ZIP-CRASH. Good luck. being in the winners circle is worth it.:)

[Breakin2]

That's good advice. I can see myself trying to gun it every chance I get. I just hope other drivers don't get too PO'd if I ram the hell out of their cars by accident.

[Alex122488]

I remeber racing my 1st and only race about 1.5 yrs. ago @ LHS. At the time I had a stock Traxxas Street Sport. I was racing against modded Tc3's and RS4's. A very "mixed" class if you ask, but lots of fun. I had no previous driving skills, so I spun out and wrecked ALOT. Altough I came in dead last, I think of the experience as more of a fun and learing thing, rather than being the "best".

Now I have a NRS4 2 and I'll be doing plenty of reading up, practicing, and most importantly, having fun...

[AEcrazyT3]

Thats what I had the first time I raced... I knew enough to change out the tires for foams... But I didnt make any changes to the suspension and it was set up for asphalt... Really soft... Anyhow this track was carpet and my car was running very fast.... Problem was, with that setup the car would traction roll on every turn! I had to slow waaaaaaayyyy down just to make a turn without rolling over! I gave the turn marshels a workout that day! But the guys at Hobbytown, VA beach really helped me out and got me started.... Ive been hooked ever since!

[thedominator]

My first race was with a t-maxx. I was all over the place and i think I wound up getting a 4th out of 6 trucks. Racing is very addicting.:)

[AEcrazyT3]

Originally posted by thedominator
I wound up getting a 4th out of 6 trucks. Racing is very addicting.:)
4th out of 6th place! Thats great for your first time.. Especially off road... I have no skills off road!

[WheelNut]

First on-road race I got 2nd out of 4. The guy in first had a way better electronics than me (1500 stick packs is all I had back then! lol) and I couldn't catch him, but I did well against the other guys I think. This was in the novice class, and it was their 3rd race of the season.

I my first off-road race I raced my XXX-NT. And I got a DNF in the main. I beat all the new guys, and got bumped up to the class with the regular racers. But my steering knuckle broke on the 3rd lap, that sucked, but it was fun.

[Maxxcrazy]

On my first race, some jack@$$ turned on his radio in the pits and It just happened to be on ythe same channel as mine, so my car went flying full throttle over 15ft on a jump only 1ft high and almost hit a little kid. Then the guy finnaly turned his radio off and I went over a jump and my esc wire popped off.

The next weekend, I screwed up a lot, I overcharged my good batts on my bad charger, I broke a stud, broke a diff output and assembled the diff wrong, broke my wing mounts and popped a driveshaft out. I gave up 4wd buggy racing, they're just too fragile for my track. I'm building a monster truck to race.

[DirtRules]

i broke in my first race ever and finished last, but in the second race that i ran in the pro class i won every single heat TQed and won! after you race, you wont go back to bashing i promise you!

[Kartracerx55]

My First Race was a national event down here in CO. Called Rumble in the rockies. It was my first race ever and I was so scared I was poopin' Bricks. I qualified in the D-main :(. This veteran came up to me and told me when another RC car came up on me I would race the car and not the track. So for the main I tried it and came in second:) So, just try to relax before a race and just concentrate on the track, ignore the other cars if possible. It was a great experience for me, cause many vets helped me out. Good Luck!

Best Regards,

Kartracerx55
;)

[KTRTS]

Depends on how you drive- I'm faster when I'm trying to catch someone, but other are faster on their own with no cars nearby. :D

[Wr95jp]

hummmm.........

lets see, 1st race i got a Did not Start ( died in pract )

2 3 4 5 6 All DNF truck quit every time on the first lap

after loseing $60 in race fees I got rid of the truck.

I race in stock class elect Now, last week first race i got

6th out of 12 cars i guess it was luck lol

[b3guyRC10]

My first race, won first qualifier- RC10GT
won main-RC10GT
Next race ditched both qualfiers due to engine prob's-RC10GT
won main with spare picco engine-RC10GT
recent trophy race won both qualifers-RC10T4
won b-main mod truck-RC10T4 I have not lost a race yet lol

I don't get to race much bc near me they race at odd times, but I have had a good amount of track time. BTW at the trophy race with the T4, there were 35 drivers and the a-main was made up of sponsered drivers. I was on the bubble to be in the a=main, but good thing i stayed in the b-main because my pack crapped out half way through the main............

-Will

[Nsxshogun]

I haven't raced yet because of the bad weather, but me and few friends were racin around and I beat :D a rs4 3 evo and 2 4-techs. I lost to a yokamo gt-4 he beat me out cause of the way bigger motor.

[Strike 4]

How did I finish? I didn't even start!:D

[Sparkey_STi]

I dont race because the closest track is WAY to far for me to drive (expecally when i cant drive!). But i just want to ask, when you race is it the first to cross the finish after X laps, or who compleats most laps after X time?

[sofast]

Before you officially start racing.. Hang out at the track, and get to know everyone.. See if they will let you practice when the racers do so you can get a feel for the track first..

If your friends with everyone there and can joke about crashing you wont be as nervous when you are racing:D

I have yet to race at my "local" track... Kinda odd considering its a 2 minute walk to the end of my street... lol... Oh yeah.. thats a plus because I can go practice on the track when ever I want.. You know.. so no one can see me mess up:p

[rcguy2477]

On my first race in the truck class, i finished last. It wasnt that i was too slow, it was that the tires i had just bought had barely any grip.

And for my first race indoor carpet 1/10, i also finished last. I could have ran it harder, but i let the people pass me, which in turn slowed me down a lot.

[space_doc]

Well, let's see...My first race (I race stock truck) I crashed twice (luckily I didn't break anything) and then came to a grinding halt when my batteries dumped. The second race I stripped my gears and wound up last after replacing them and getting back in. My third race I finished 4/6. So, I guess you could say for a newb at the track I was pretty much average. Everyone at the track was awesome though. The regulars helped me swap out my motor (even let me borrow a stock motor! cuz I had a mod in), solder new deans plugs, fix my tie rods when they popped twice, and gave me hints on how to drive.

I agree with everyone, go to the track on practice days and get a feel for it first. Meet people and make friends. Most guys at the track are friendly and helpful, at least they are at my track. If they're not at your track, find a new track! ;)

[Gutter Ball]

Can't remember exactly how I finished...but I'm pretty sure I didn't finish. When I first started: cheap 1500's in a Rustler with standard servos and a dial charger. 1500's lasted maybe 3 minutes of the 8 minute heats, broke a standard servo (cause the metal geared ones were too expensive...lesson learned) every race day (finally figured out it was cheaper to buy 1 good servo instead of 4 crappy ones) and lost all the cheapo batteries due to poor maintenance and lousy charger.

By the end of the first year though, Hitec MG servo (still got it somewhere 4 years later!!), couple of 2400 packs and a Duratrax Intellipeak charger...we managed to finish races and made the A main on our very last day! Been hooked ever since.

Don't worry about looking like a "noob", everybody's been there. Just stick with it and you'll get better. There were a couple of new guys that came in with the best of everything last year, but couldn't drive very well. They packed up early so I talked to one of them and found that they were embarassed because they didn't drive perfect on their first day, so they quit racing. Nobody laughed at them or anything.....too much pride, or they hurt their egos I guess.

[RustlerBoy]

In my first qulifiers, all my batteries dumped 4 minutes in. Then my gramps went and bought me a matched Sanyo SMC 2499 and i took 2nd in the b main out of about 15 ppl.

[Performance RC]

My first race ever I finished 1st of 5.

[BCat125]

It was so long ago that i dont remember. It was like 8 years ago at least. I think that i might have finished in second place out of three with my super blackfoot.

[VaioGeek]

There is a lot of good advice already here - but I'll add my 2 cents. I used to bash kyosho elect buggies with my brother about 10 years ago. We never went to a race.

Racing is very differient and more fun (in my opinion). Bashing is fun if you just like driving your car/truck around. I found it boring after a while. Racing is about learning and applying what you learn. I find it so much more rewarding kind of fun. My first race (the club runs a Novice class for new drivers) I bounced all over the track. I wasn't used to having walls marking the track. I found that I wasn't as good a driver as I thought. I is much easier to drive when you are just shooting up and down the street!

I've learned so much from my fellow racers and boards like this since then. First was what tyres to get and to throw away those cheap foam inserts and have moulded ones! Didn't go through a set of tyres in one day's racing then! Then there are motors, batteries, and learning to drive fast!

Now I'm regularly making the B main and just on the edge of A (out of A, B, and C mains).

You learn to drive so much better when you are constantly challenged/challenging other good drivers. That's what makes racing so much fun! Of course, I am addicted now and have gone through several rounds of upgrades in my goal for getting in the top of the A-main.

Oh - and I see a lot of posts about 2nd or 4th in first race. Don't focus on that for your first race. Position will come when you get good at driving the track and learn to tune your car to it's maximum potential. For your first race, focus more on learning how to maintain control in a race environment and see what the fast guys are doing. Seriously watch their cars and them on the driving stand.

Well - have fun! That's the most important thing.