Local Track Discussion Forums

Interested in direct info from the racers who race at a specific area track? All the area venues have their own internal bulletin board forums where you can interact directly with that track's racers. Find the forums here:

The Track, in Winthrop Harbor IL

Leisure Hours Raceway in Joliet IL
Underground RC Racetrack in Chicago IL
Outback RC in Marengo IL
Strictly Raceway in Norridge IL

Local Chicago Area Fall 2009 Racetracks

These local area tracks are racing regularly this Fall:

Indoor Offroad:

Leisure Hours Raceway, Joliet IL

http://www.leisurehoursraceway.com

Indoor Carpet:

The Track at Harbor Hobby, Winthrop Harbor IL

http://www.harbor-hobby.net

Underground RC Racetrack, Chicago IL

http://www.undergroundrcracetrack.com

Small Scale Carpet Racing:

Strictly Raceway, Norridge IL

http://www.strictlyraceway.com

This year's 1/12th scale indoor carpet racing season is just getting underway. Underground Rc Racetrack and The Track up in Withrop Harbor are both expecting to see racers running the newer single cell LiPo and 13.5 brushless motor powerplant. Kris Polancek, an Underground regular, recently did some thorough testing. See what he has to say about it in the Underground forums. Check it out here:

http://undergroundrcracetrack.com/forum/index.php?topic=317.msg1381#msg1381

Fall On Road Tuning

It's that time of year for many of the area's on road racers to be thinking about moving from asphalt racing to carpet racing. Follow along with veteran Chicago racer, Kevin Kane, as he instructs what to do with your 4WD sedan chassis to optimize it for carpet season:

Elk Grove Carpet Track Suspends Their Racing Program

RC Hobby and Track, in Elk Grove, announced late last night in their RCtech.net thread that they are suspending their racing program for the time being. From what was reported it says the Village of Elk Grove has stepped in to halt any racing due to a "zoning violation".

September Happenings

Lots of action at almost all the area's tracks this month. Click on the track links to the right to find their websites.

Look for another month at least of asphalt racing every Sunday at Strictly Raceway. They race outdoors until the weather won't allow. Usually until at least mid-October.

Sunday, September 20th, is the final leg of the Asphalt Assault 2009, the area's big on road asphalt series, to be held at Al's Hobbyshop. Track will be built in the back of the store.

Leisure Hours Raceway is jammed packed with practice and racing this month. Beginning of September is practice and racing available on all their tracks indoor and outdoor. Mid September is a first with Dirt Oval Racing. Later in the month is the 2009 Midwest Series.

Outback RC, the area's only electric only off road dirt track is expected to get a great turnout September 27th, Sunday, for their Short Course Truck Showdown.

The Track at Harbor Hobbies is practicing and racing pretty much as normal for the month for September with the exception of not racing off road this coming Friday, and not racing on September 20th, Sunday, because of the Asphalt Assault race up at Al's. Call them for more details.

RC Hobby and Track announced they are taking delivery of new carpet this coming week. We'll announce here once they are back to racing.

News from Underground RC Racetrack, look forward to an added lane of carpet in October going deeper, giving the track extra wide lanes with more interesting layouts. UG will have the area's largest carpet layout. They are also the only track in the Winter that has their own indoor weather reports.

Hear about anything in area racing we should know about? Shoot us an email!

Elk Grove to Install CRC Racing Carpet

Vic, RCHT employee, announced today they are purchasing and installing brand new CRC racing carpet as possibly as early as next week.

As many of you know RC Hobby and Track, in Elk Grove IL, recently opened their doors for carpet racing. Much to their dismay the new Ozite carpet they laid down back over a month ago had problems with shedding. Bad shedding. The issue had kept many of the area's racers away from the venue once word of mouth got around about the problem.

Chicago area racers can now look forward to the start of the indoor racing season in Elk Grove with assurance they'll have no more worries about carpet fuzz.

Here's their current venue and racing info:

RC Hobby and Track

Welcome to the newest indoor track in the Chicago area. Featuring new Ozite carpet and a 40'X80' track. Spacious pit area and an oversized drivers stand with on site parts and support to keep you up and running. Here are the vitals:

Owner: Brian Rolnicki

Location: 2150 Touhy Avenue
Elk Grove Village, IL.

Phone: (847) 347-5249

Track Hours: Monday - Friday 5:00 pm to 12:00pm
Weekends 10:00 am to 7:00 pm

Practice $ 9.00

Race $15.00 Extra Classes $5.00



Racing: Currently we are racing on Tuesdays at 7:00pm
Check website for news and race results

Website: www.rchobbyandtrack.com

Labor Day 2009 Track Time at Leisure

If you have the day off and are looking to spend some quality time practicing asphalt on road or dirt off road, all of Leisure's tracks will be open for practice on September 7th, Monday. We don't normally see them having the entire facility available for practice all at the same time so consider this a good thing!

OFFROAD PRACTICE (OUTSIDE & INSIDE)
ONROAD PRACTICE (OUTSIDE)
11:00 am - 4:00 pm

Dirt Oval Coming to Leisure Hours Raceway

A first for our pals down in Joliet! Bernie confirms dirt oval racing is coming to Leisure Hours Raceway for the first time ever.

Monday and Tuesday, September 14th and 15th they'll be creating the oval. Reports are to expect a 16-18 foot wide lane, slightly banked, with an approximate 75 foot straightaway. Infield should be 20 feet wide.

Wednesday September 16th will be an open race night with two qualifiers and one main race. Start time will be posted on their website soon.

Thursday the 17th will be electric only practice time on the oval from 5:30pm until 10:30pm. Friday the 18th will be the same evening time slot but nitro practice on the oval.

All of the above is to culminate in a Saturday September 19th open practice and Sunday an oval jamboree of nitro and electric racing. Check their website for specific times.

There's a new thread just created for the event on rctech.

Hobbytown Crystal Lake Negotiating Details for New Indoor Track

As mentioned on the WI/IL racing forum of rctech,  Hobbytown Crystal Lake IL will be moving to a new retail facility and in that move there are intentions of creating  new indoor and outdoor off road dirt tracks. Employees at the store have given details that the indoor track would be an aprox. 50 foot by 40 foot dirt track. No details have been given as to the outdoor venue. The indoor facility would open in the next few months.

All of the plans are still not in stone yet and legal details are  be worked on.

Hobbytown CL has had an outdoor parking lot racing program for quite some time now and we generally don't hear much about it because they've actively chosen not to create and maintain a thread in the rctech racing forums. Employees of the HT say they really want their racing program to be about the fun factor of racing and reach out to many very new racers and they don't really have intentions of wanting to attract the area's more serious racers.  More power too them!

The Track at Harbor Hobby Announces 2009/2010 Indoor Season Schedule

The Track, in Winthrop Harbor IL has just announced their carpet racing schedule to begin the second week in October 2009. They'll now be racing on road electric on Saturday evenings. This is a change from previous years schedules, that many area racers have asked for.

First scheduled Saturday on road club race is October 10th, practice begins at 9am, with racing to begin at 4pm. Three qualifiers and one main race. Practice time is free all day  on Saturday's for anyone racing in the evening. Cost is $15.00 for first class, $10.00 for the second class, and $7.00 for a third class.

The off road carpet racing schedule will remain the same for this year, with The Track racing 1/10th scale off road vehicles on Friday evenings. Track is open for practice at 4pm with racing at 7pm. 

Rules for the popular short course truck class are:

10.5 Brushless motor limit, use any 7.4volt LiPo battery or up to 7 cells of NiMh batteries. You can run any tire intended for SCT vehicles.

Also for the month of October The Track is offering a Racer's Special 

Discount. Bring your receipt from any other local track you raced at in the month of September or show your results from those races and receive a 50% discount on your first class of racing.

If you have any other questions or suggestions please call Eric at The Track. 847-246-1762

Photo Coverage of August 23rd Asphalt Assault

Outback RC Announces Special Electric Short Course Truck Race Day

SCT Showdown at Outback RC Raceway
September 27, 2009

Along with normal club racing, a special feature class will be held for Short Course Trucks (SCT). Trophies/Prize will be awarded to the top 3 positions in this class. Entry, like all classes at Outback RC Raceway, is free.

Classes that are likely to be running on that same day are 4wd, 2wd, and Open (1/8th electric, most anything). The Rc Pro NCCS Spec Slash class will be rolled into the SCT Showdown class this day. All classes are limited to electric vehicles. Rookies are welcome, and a special class may be set aside for such new folks.

The track is open at 9am. Registration is from 10 til 10:20. Then classes are drawn up, a drivers' meeting is held, some track watering is done, and qualifying starts at 11:00 sharp. Three rounds of Rocket Round Qualifying and mains are held. All heats will be 6 minutes. See more track info at www.outbackrc.com.

Use rcsignup.com to sign up (although signup is allowed in person up til race time):
http://events.rcsignup.com/events/di...nt.cfm?ID=1086

For this special SCT Showdown class, there are some rules, as follows:

SCT Rules:
-Any 2wd SC Truck from Traxxas, Associated, Losi, & HPI
-Stock tires from any SCT, but cannot be modified in any way
-Any stock motor from any SCT, 17.5 brushless, or 27 turn brushed
-Any 6-cell NIMH or 2s LIPO battery
-Any ESC
-Any diff
-Any steering servo
-Any modifications except must retain stock chassis
-Any final drive ratio
-Any SCT specific body
-No minimum weight

You can't run a modified T4 in SCT unless it is completely converted to an SC10. You can only run SCT trucks, no hybrids like a B44 with a truck body or an 1/8 scale buggy with a truck body. It must be an SCT RTR or kit.

Yes, you can run SC10 tires on a Slash and vice versa.
Yes, you can run a 17-turn SC10 motor in a Slash and vice versa.

2009 Asphalt Assault This Weekend!

This Saturday and Sunday, August 22nd and 23rd is the second leg of the three series electric on road race being held at Strictly Raceway, 7719 W. Lawrence Ave., Norridge IL.  Saturday late afternoon the track will be ready for free no charge practice. Sunday the track will open for racers practice at 7am. Racing to begin at 11am.

Here's the details thread on rctech.net:

http://www.rctech.net/forum/wisconsin-illinois-racing/302301-asphalt-assault-2009-a.html

Can't Get Enough RC- local racer spotlight

Robert Rangel loves RC and more than RC he loves racing RC.

I met Robert earlier this month at the first leg of the 2009 Asphalt Assault up at The Track. What first drew me to him was his infectious laugh and then his zeal for talking RC, and  that he's new to the area's on road racing scene.

I had a second trip up to Harbor Hobby this month and ran across Robert again. Up there practicing with his newer RCGT and his SC10. Robert actually had four vehicles with him, USVTA, RCGT, Slash and SC10. Great paint schemes on all of them.

I asked Robert to tell me how he came to start racing RC. He said he started about two years ago racing offroad up at the old Bristol track on Monday nights. Since then you can find him as a regular racer at The Track in Winthrop Harbor. He's since added a ton of vehicles to his stable. He's hooked now as he says. 

He's recently come over to on-road racing and with the help of Eric, the owner of The Track, he's learning how to tune his on road stuff. He now owns two on road chassis' both TC5's one for RCGT and one for USVTA. 

Robert now travels all over to race...loving every minute. He's now traveling out of state to hook up with many off road races before this year's outdoor season ends.

Catch him locally at the MIdwest Nitro Series, of course weekly practicing at The Track, and new this year to the Asphalt Assault.

Fun Newer Race Classes

Last year Vintage Trans Am began to really take off. Strictly now regularly sees two heats of cars for racing, Underground RC Racetrack saw an A and a B too on Sundays. this Summer at Strictly the hot new classes have been RCGT and F1. USVTA is still popular too. For electric off road out at Leisure Hours last winter Slash was the hot ticket on Saturday nights.

What makes a class "hot"? 

I know for a fact Kevin Kane popularized RCGT at Strictly this Summer, and that Rob King was responsible for getting F1 off the ground at Strictly. 

This coming indoor season, especially for Leisure it will be interesting to see how Bernie deals with all the new short course vehicles that have and will come out to compete with Traxxas Slash trucks. Last year it was easy. Stock Slash was just that...a Slash that you changed very little and used a 3800 stick pack. What will the classes for short course be like at Leisure this year??

There's talk of and I want to jump on the bandwagon at Strictly's indoor small scale track of trying to resurrect Mini-Z racing. Well resurrect might not be the word because I don't think Mini-Z racing ever really caught on here in Chicagoland. Stay tuned and I'll bring it back up soon.

Hey, find anything interesting here? 

Leave some comments.

Newest Local Track

The newest area track, RC Hobby and Track in Elk Grove is up and running for over a month now I think. Lots of people have been stopping by. Biggest negative issue so far for them was not buying and installing CRC racing carpet. They do have an Ozite product laid down, but it's not traditional racing carpet.  In the first weeks racers were seeing tons of fluff balls and fibers working their way into vehicles. Ruined bearings and lots of time spent pulling pubies out of everything. Reports are it's way better but not perfect. Looks like they absolutely need to vacuum after every race and practice session to keep it manageable.

Hopefully the problem gets solved before the indoor carpet racing season begins. The track is in a perfect geographic area for many area racers.

The best thing that could happen to the place, in terms of generating way more business, would be for them to drop 60 yards of clay and dirt in the place and groom a wonderful electric indoor dirt track. There's never been one so close to the city since Chicagoland Hobby had their dirt track in the back of their store in the 90's. Dirt would draw a huge crowd.

Here We are in 2009

2009, a great year to be a local Chicago area RC racer. We have what? Eight tracks and racing programs and counting in about an hour drive of Downtown Chicago. More venues to race at since I started racing 8 years ago at Leisure Hours Raceway back in the Crest Hill Il days.

Many of the tracks have their own "internal" forums, and then there's the big major forums like rctech.net/forum. And there's local websites that have area racing forums that have dried up like chitownrc.com, where racers don't contribute anymore. What all of these places and forums on the internet have in common is as an area racer you just might not want to post up something that isn't set in a positive light for fear of hurting someone's feelings or worse yet impacting the business at that track or hobbyshop. Well that's one of the reasons I thought we needed a new place, like this, to offer frank, honest and hopefully helpful info about our area tracks and support businesses like local hobbyshops.