1st time at the track - woah

[DLK83]

The guys that race at my track are a mix of young and old, and some of the older guys are super helpful and friendly, some won't even talk to you, it's a strange mix... if you find one of the good guys at your track will actual open up and share some setup tips and secrets, just be quiet and listen to everything they have to say lol.. info from the seasoned guys is invaluable if you plan on racing on a regular basis, it will save you a ton of time and money, I would love to be more of a help to you myself, but there is absolutely nothing in common between carpet and dirt except they're both a great time!!

 

[Johnny b]

Joined a rc plane club about 20 years ago. There was a mixture of different attitudes as well. My plane instructor was a grumpy old man who would yell at me...lol. taught me to fly though. Eventually I got tired of the drive and the attitudes critiquing every little way you land, take off etc. Never went back. Years latter, built my own RC track and had a great group of guys attend. Have a flying club within a mile from me and checked it out. Once again, too many attitudes. Geez a hobby is suppose to be fun and easy going! Group racing is fun so if you can enjoy, learn, and contribute with the good guys, and tolerate the rest, then you got a good thing going!

 

[3x9rtse]

Congrats on your first go on a track !!! As you found out , it is harder than it looks . My daughter and I have been racing SCT's on indoor carpet / turf for about 5 years now ( small break during Covid ) , never tried clay / dirt , but I can tell you carpet is a lot of fun , most of the time high to very high grip !!! Tuning the trucks is pretty involved to get them dialed in to handle the high grip as they want to traction roll very easy .
With that said , now with my daughter being 20 YO and in college , I go by myself with my SCT crew . So cherish the time that you and your son can share such a hobby . If I had to guess this forum is probably 95% or more just bashers and really don't do / try / or have an interest in the actual racing part of the RC hobby . If I can encourage to try if you have the opportunity , because the racing side really develops your driving skills to drive smooth / fast / consistent / with traffic / etc . Qualifiers are usually 5 minutes long , and the Mains are 5 or at some tracks 6 minutes !! So you are staring and driving your truck / buggy for a pretty long time trying to do all those things !
My advise for you starting no matter what the surface you would race on , " slower is faster " , those who race no what I'm talking about . It's like this , you drive a little slower ( smoother ) , have no wrecks during a race , makes you more consistent , more consistent ( no wrecks ) = more laps .
Start overdriving / have wrecks just lost you tons of time , example : I'm 2-3 tenths per lap slower than the 1st place guy , I start overdriving and crash , it could take that marshal 5,6-10 seconds to get me back on my wheels , now will I ever make that time back , nope !!!! Now that just cost me 2nd place and now I'm in 4th or 5th cause at my track all of us are that close that you have one wreck , it's all done !!! LOL
Sorry to rant , again I hope both you guys get the bug and you can many years of it together !!

 

[DLK83]

^^^^^ x2 on this entire statement, I was just too lazy to type all that lol... especially the part about how racing hones your driving skills, it makes you really appreciate a fine tuned race truck when you're blasting around a big clumsy basher!!!

 

[Budha]

I don't think I could judge my position very well on a track unless I was elevated quite a bit. I imagine it will get easier with some track time under your belt.

Even elevated, it was very hard to judge position and even direction. It’s becoming more clear that I am getting older and need to start wearing my glasses for more than just night time driving- lol.

The guys that race at my track are a mix of young and old, and some of the older guys are super helpful and friendly, some won't even talk to you, it's a strange mix... if you find one of the good guys at your track will actual open up and share some setup tips and secrets, just be quiet and listen to everything they have to say lol.. info from the seasoned guys is invaluable if you plan on racing on a regular basis, it will save you a ton of time and money, I would love to be more of a help to you myself, but there is absolutely nothing in common between carpet and dirt except they're both a great time!!

These two guys were the quiet type, it was an open practice session and I think they just wanted me to stay out of their way. Which I tried as best I could - lol.

The owner was super cool though. As I was getting parts to fix what I broke, he laughed and said, you are not the first and won’t be the last - lol.

One of the guys opened up a bit as were packing up. But I think was still annoyed we were getting in the way with our bashers - lol.