Home Racing World

There just must not be any real interest in 1/32 slot car racing in my part of central Florida. Even though there was a good turnout at our September race they are only interested in showing up for the races even though I made it clear that they were all invited to come by most any time. Only Marty has any interest in tuning his own car, the others are satisfied to let me do their mechanical work whether it is a car they bought or one of mine.

I guess I should be satisfied that one or two close friends have enough interest to come by and run laps between the races. If there is no turnout on Oct. 10th I will give up on trying to establish an ongoing club of racers.

Need to move to Adelaide Bob. Blessed with a variety of clubs in 1/32 and 1/24. See if there are any clubs in the area and maybe go to another club to see how it pans out?

I'm not a 1/32 racer, but if I had a home track, it would definitely be 1/32 scale. Have you tried posting notices about your races on public bulletin boards in places such as grocery stores or at local hobby & craft stores in your area? I've seen an RC raceway post like that up here. Are there any weekly "Want Ad" booklets available where you could try a cheap ad or two? It sounds like your area might have a communications problem when it comes to slot racing, but I don' t really know your area well.

I built to Bob,put out the word,they didn't come either. But I still enjoy the alone time.Dave :flags-waveusa:

Bob, some of my best time is spent "alone" building and testing my cars. Having said that, I second the suggestions already made and ad this one: find out where the "baby boomers" in your area hang out (we were the ones into slots in the 60s), network a little, maybe even start a social media page. Meanwhile, keep building, enter a proxy or 2 and hang out here on HRW.

I wound up the same way. Our group was inundated with guys who didn't want to run the cars we ran, and the next thing we knew, our group didn't have any of us in it. So, they are all out running post-modern NASCAR that we never cared about, and there's only one other of the original group I'm still in touch with. I haven't run any of my classic LeMans, Trans Am, Japan GT, classic NASCAR, or even jalopies against anyone in years and years. One side benefit of the carnage was that our favorite track, the oldest, became available to me to restore and save from the dump. The former owner quit slot cars altogether after decades, sold his stuff to his brother far from here, and got into motorcycle racing with his son. So, I run cars on each of the four lanes and swill beer, eat slotburgers and laugh all by myself! If I didn't live out in the country, someone would have hauled me off by now!

This is the reason the recent rash of proxies here on HRW is such a boost for me.

Count your blessings. QUALITY not quantity.

I would rather spend one Saturday afternoon with a man like Marty who has the passion for our hobby, than a host of Saturdays with others that do not.

My brother and my son and I stared into 1/32 cars to give us something to due in the winter. We had one track and it was on old doors. As word got around to the people we knew, we kept getting bigger . So now after 4 years we have 7 tracks and about 14 racers at most races. We have 14 different classes and run 12 per season. But as Harry said some of us just get together to run laps. My son that started with us lives down your way in Winter Garden. He would race I think if it's not to far. Hang in there, We met most of our guys at auto related things, car parts stores, car shows, and church.

You guys.
I have been racing alone in Annapolis for better than eight years. The only time I get to race anyone is when someone wants money and invites me to bring my track to their event.
Most times the next oldest to race is twelve. I have to furnish all the cars. Whoopee.
I would give almost anything to get some adult competition.
I have a kid race almost every weekend between now and the end of the year.
Not complaining, very loud.

I would love to have kids racing at my track but, alas, I live in a retirement community in a retirement town in a retirement state. I posted a notice on the bulletin board in our clubhouse seeking other baby boomers who just may be tired of bingo and playing cards. I made it clear that participation is entirely 100% free. Even cars and controllers at first. So far not even a hint of interest. Some of these guys must have raced slot cars sometime in their past. Are they that afraid of being chastised by their spouses for playing with toy cars?

I don't have any racers in my area either. Most times its just me and my son in law, or maybe a co worker from time to time. I enjoy running my cars solo, so its no big deal. Maybe its time you just sat back and played by yourself for a while, and let folks find out where you are.
My two cents

Bob

Bob, my son is 44. He and his family live in Winter Garden. He loves to race but has limited time because of his job and family. And he's big enough and gray enough to pass for a retiree.lol
Charlie

If Mohamed wont go to the mountain then the mountain needs to go to Mohamed. See if there are any other clubs or at least people with tracks within a 20/30 mike radius of where you are Bob. Visit them and become part of their club and attend regularly. Once you establish yourself they are very likely to want to race at your track. Or if they have a proper club series they will want to include your track into their schedule. There are at least 7 or 8 tracks within 20 miles of me and 5 different clubs. Im not including commercial tracks, just people with tracks in their sheds. Depending on the situation I might turn up to a particular event/race night at any one track.

Bob,
Not sure how you add is set up - but if it doesn't have a picture, you may want to consider adding a nice, brightly lit shot of your track with a couple cars sitting on it - maybe something like this?
(I know that would grab my attention if I was walking past the bulletin board! :D )



(I just used one of the pictures you had posted on the forum, but a "staged" shot with a couple vintage NASCAR cars, etc may be just the ticket to grab peoples attention. :) )

Hope you can find some additional racers - but in the mean time - I hope you are able to enjoy that great looking track just the same!
:banana-dance: