We gave our youngest son a nitro RC truck, the T-Maxx3.3 from Traxxas, for Christmas last year. He has wanted one for a couple years, and this year it was the only thing he wanted! We purchased it from Awesome Hobbies in Stafford VA. Not exactly sure how we ended up down there, but the owner has a pretty cool setup for the RC crowd. He recently moved his store from a strip mall to a large lot outside of town, probably about 3 acres or more. He built a race track that is about the size of a tennis court and holds several races throughout the year. Michelle took Nicholas down to the track last week; his first time on a real course. He said that it was the best day ever! How great is it to hear your kid say that? As you can see from the video, the track has lots of tight turns and jumps. There is more to it than just putting the hammer down! He learned how to control his truck in the air, it is actually pretty cool. Some of those cars/trucks go about 10 or 15 feet up in the air, they are really moving! He told me that when you are in the air and your truck’s nose is straight down, hit the gas to make it even out. If the nose is straight up, hit the brake. He even learned how to take off the engine; maybe I can have him work on my Chevelle next!
A couple weeks ago, we took him down to the track to see a race. I was amazed at the money, this was definitely not a sport for kids! There were more than 50 people there and most of them there were pulling enclosed trailers behind their trucks. There was even a huge RV there, I have no idea where they drove in from! Each enclosed trailer was basically a mobile “pit area”; they all had generators, air compressors, little power washers, and every imaginable tool at their disposal. I thought I was at a NASCAR race, the kids thought it was pretty cool too.
These trucks are not simple little toys, they actually require a lot of maintenance and up keep. We tried to get him into the electric versions, which actually cost even more, but he wanted nothing to do with them! He’s a real man, he wants to smell that smoke and hear the engine scream! We also learned that there is another group of enthusiasts out there that have a “car show” club. The shop owner said that he was working on “upgrading” a couple of vehicles, with the owners investing over $3500 (each) in tweaking out their vehicles. I could see dropping that into my Chevelle, but not my kids RC truck!!! But thats just me. I don’t think my wife likes the idea of me dropping that money into the Chevelle either, I think she is thinking sofa…. Funny how that works out!
Michelle shot this video at the track, while she was running out to flip over wrecked cars, so cut her a little slack! FYI, this ScribeFire plug-in is pretty cool, you can search You-Tube and plug your video right into your blog! (Video Removed – bummer)
