New ROAR rules Short Course class announced

In response to the explosion in popularity of the Short Course class and in preparation for the Reedy Truck Race of Champions, I'm happy to report that as of the next club racing series, Hot Rod Hobbies will be offering a ROAR rules Short Course class, in addition to the current "open" class. Here is a PDF of the provisional rules, courtesy of ROAR's website. Aside from meeting measurements and weight requirements, trucks will be able to run either LiPo or NiMH batteries, with a 27t brushed or 17.5 brushless motor. These are the rules that will be used for the Short Course class at the Reedy Truck Race of Champions - there will be no "open" rules class at this event.

Shootout plaques now shipping!

Hot Rod Hobbies apologizes to all of those racers at the Shootout who did not receive award plaques, due to an equipment breakage at the trophy manufacturer...however, we're happy to say that your awards are finally in and ready to be delivered! If you did not give Jimmy your mailing address at the event and would like your trophy shipped to you, send your information directly to Jimmy and he will make sure you receive your hard-won awards!

Paved Oval Schedule Change - August 1st!

Important update to all of you paved oval racers! Due to a scheduling conflict, Jimmy has changed the next oval club race to Saturday, August 1st at 9:00am sharp...this, instead of the usual "first Sunday" day and time. Be sure to come prepared with your easy-ups and coolers, the action on the track will undoubtedly be matched in intensity by the Santa Clarita summer heat!

12th Annual Shootout Final Results!

The official results are in, click here for a complete PDF of all main event results. Congratulations to the winners of what was definitely a fiercely competitive event, we hope to see you all next year!

Rookie Stock: Marc Battles
Stock Buggy: Rob Gillespie Jr.
Stock Truck: Josh Mitchell
Super Stock Buggy: Cody Turner
Super Stock Truck: Cody Turner
Super Stock 4WD: Cody Turner
Sportsman Slash: Craig Turner
Expert Slash: Aaron Waldron
Open Short Course: Jonny Wachter
40+ Super Stock Truck: Bill Koch
Modified Truck: Jared Tebo
Modified Buggy: Jared Tebo
Modified 4WD: Ryan Cavalieri

Mowry and Tebo win the Shootout Pro-Am

A rookie driver couldn't have asked for a better mentor! Hot Rod Hobbies local, Brian Mowry, drew Jared Tebo as his Pro in the Shootout R/C Pro-Am...and their combined skill was enough to net Tebo a $100 bill, and Mowry a first-place trophy...plus, the kind of experience you just can't pay for. Many a local driver could be heard expressing their envy, trackside (along with a few plots on how to pass as a rookie, at next year's event) - but the results were clear. Not only would Tebo give advice and set-up help, but he'd give Mowry a spot in the Kyosho tents right next to him, where he could observe all the pros and get their expert advice.

It's a great reason for rookie drivers to attend the Shootout and if you have the chance to make it next year, do not miss this tremendous opportunity. Congratulations Brian on your well-earned victory! Thanks to the Kyosho America website for the photo.

The Shootout is in the books!

Hot Rod Hobbies and Jimmy Babcock would like to thank everyone who came out and participated in the 12 Annual Off-Road Shootout, this year! Thrilling victories and agonizing defeats were on tap during today's races, most of which came down to the third and deciding main! Jared Tebo came in with a convincing victory in Modified Truck, requiring only two races to wrap it up while piloting a prototype Kyosho truck...but the other classes were all up in the air, ratcheting up the tension for the top contenders and making each battle a seriously spectator-friendly event.

Congratulations to the winners, we hope to see you all again next year! In the interest of accuracy, I'll be waiting to post the winners until I have an official RC Scoring Pro results sheet - there are several tiebreakers and I don't want to post incorrect information. In the meantime, click on the photo below to visit a gallery of over 100 photos from the day's main events...and apologies in advance, if I didn't get a shot of your car in action!

Matt Francis inducted into RC Car Hall of Fame!

He's a multiple time world champion in off-road R/C racing and now, there is an official Hall of Fame to honor Losi/Trinity's Matt Francis and other racers like him, whose achievements in the sport of R/C racing warrant inclusion! Jimmy Babcock has formed the RC Car Hall Of Fame to honor the contributions of the sport's greatest names. Congratulations, Matt!

Shootout, Day 2 - The bar gets raised!

With one day of qualifying under their belts, it was clear that everyone came ready to up the ante today...and up it, they did! Qualifying times were much faster, across the board and after four rounds, we had new TQ times in every class!

In the A2 main of the stacked Open Short Course demo class, the battle continued to rage...this time, with most perhaps anticipating another battle between Team Associated's pair of Ryans, it would be teammate Frank Root roaring ahead to squeeze out a half second edge over Cavalieri to secure the victory. The winner of this demo class will be decided tomorrow...it's bound to draw a lot of spectators!

Here are the Top Qualifiers of each class, after four rounds...these are the guys who have a great big target painted on the backs of their vehicles, for tomorrow's main events!

Rookie Stock: Marc Battles 17/6:15.894
Stock Buggy: Brent Calvert 18/6:00.031
Stock Truck: Brent Calvert 18/6:01.903
Super Stock Buggy: Rob Gillespie Jr. 19/6:09.910
Super Stock Truck: Cody Turner 19/6:18.045
Super Stock 4WD: Cody Turner 20/6:13.276
Sportsman Slash: Josh Robertson 15/6:03.170
Expert Slash: Aaron Waldron 17/6:19.846
Open Short Course: Jonny Wachter 18/6:11.766
40+ Super Stock Truck: Bill Koch 18/6:11.430
Modified Truck: Jared Tebo 20/6:06.427
Modified Buggy: Ryan Cavalieri 20/6:02.903
Modified 4WD: Naoto Matsukura 21/6:07.523

Don't forget, if you aren't able to make it out to the track to enjoy watching the main events tomorrow...LiveRC will be broadcasting all day!

Shootout, Day 1 - Top Qualifiers!

The first day of intense driving is behind us! With reportedly well over 300 drivers registered to race the event, this year's Shootout is already a success...but there are still two days of racing left, and one more day of qualifying. The drivers are all getting their vehicles dialed into the new layout, the track has grooved up, and the competition is only going to get more fierce over the next two days, as the rest of our registered drivers log their qualifying runs!

This year features a triple-A main Open Short Course demo class, with the pros showing off their door-to-door racing skills over the three days of the Shootout, one race per day between rounds! The demo also sports an international flair, with current IFMAR 2WD buggy World Champion, Hayato Matsuzaki, along with Masami Hirosaka's young protege, Naoto Matsukura (who just last year became the youngest driver ever to win an IFMAR 1/12th scale world title at the age of 15), hailing from Japan. Today, though, it would be Team Associated's Ryans - Cavalieri and Maifield - duking it out for the top spot, with Maifield taking the win over Cav by a mere two seconds. Look for tomorrow's race to be even more competitive!

Here are the top qualifiers in all of the classes being raced at the Shootout, after day one!

Rookie Stock: Sean Silva 16/6:04.442
Stock Buggy: Nathan Lavery 18/6:11.109
Stock Truck: David Orner 18/6:10.283
Super Stock Buggy: Cody Turner 19/6:11.825
Super Stock Truck: Casper 18/6:08.414
Super Stock 4WD: Cody Turner 20/6:17.434
Sportsman Slash: Craig Turner 15/6:16.354
Expert Slash: Austin Bishop 17/6:18.599
Open Short Course: Aaron Waldron 17/6:19.799
40+ Super Stock Truck: Bill Koch 18/6:14.944
Modified Truck: Ryan Maifield 20/6:12.230
Modified Buggy: Ryan Cavalieri 20/6:12.681

Photos (and video) of the new layout

For those of you who have been waiting to check out the new layout, visit the racing page here on the site and feast your eyes on what is certain to be a challenging and fun course, for this weekend's Hot Rod Hobbies Shootout and the summer months, leading up to the Reedy Truck Race in September!

Update: Thanks to Rod Angelito for shooting a quick video of the layout on his cell phone and posting it to Youtube...take a look. The racers at the Shootout are going to have their hands full!

The new Shootout layout, contest results...

Jimmy Babcock thanks everyone who submitted entries for the layout at this year's Hot Rod Hobbies Shootout...but after getting several submissions that reminded him of the classic 2001 Reedy Truck Race of Champions layout, he decided to "go retro" this year and install that layout, once again! Because none of the submitted layouts were selected, everyone who submitted designs for the contest will be included in a drawing, to take place at the driver's meeting on the first day of the Shootout. The winner of this random drawing will have his or her entries covered. You must be at the drawing to be eligible to win!

Watch Brent Calvert Win the Championship

I posted a news item about this last week, but as it turns out the cameras were rolling as Brent Calvert won his second main in Stock Truck at the recent 10th scale Electric Nationals (held at the HobbyTown USA Hobbyplex in Omaha, Nebraska), thereby clinching the national championship!

Enjoy the embedded video below of Brent's title-winning race, or click the YouTube icon to watch it over there, in High Definition.

Melting tires...paved oval this Sunday!

Just a reminder that this Sunday is the first race in the new Paved Oval series and if the weather lately is any indication, it'll be a hot one...so bring your shade! Everyone's starting with a clean slate on points in this series that will take us through the end of the year, so this is a great time to get involved!