LiveRC's Scotty Ernst interviewed by Australian Shadow Racing team

An international perspective: Scotty Ernst

 

Scotty Ernst is one of, if not the most, well known personalities in the RC industry. Since his early days as a racer, through his track and hobby store ownership and now as a worldwide RC promoter and announcer his reputation in RC has grown and continues to do so. This cheerful and enthusiastic family man has had a huge impact on the development of some of the most exciting race events and series on the planet.

 

Scotty: Thanks for asking me to chat with you and thanks for the very kind words. I started into RC in 1988 when I got out of the US Navy, Saw my first RC Race and was absolutely hooked on the hobby. It was so thrilling and exciting to watch I could not wait to get into it. But I had to wait a bit as I did not have the money to buy a new car so I eventually bought a used car and equipment and was able to start enjoying the hobby.

 

Scotty: I started it back in the early 2000’s when I started my plans for the IIC International Indoor Championships race that I hold in Las Vegas each year. I needed to separate my promotion business from Trackside Hobbies Business we had since 1993. Around that same time I had become friends with Uwe Rheinard and we were at an event in Europe that unfortunately was not going that well and I asked him if he wanted to do something together and change the way events are done in Europe. That is when the Euro Touring Series took shape and now 8 years into it, it is the largest race series in the world. The Asian On-road Championships is a series I started 2 years ago to bring a fun and competitive racing series to that part of the world. After our 2nd year, it is off to a great start and looking forward to 2015. Really hard to believe how things have grown through the years.

 

Scotty: Taking on the task of promoting events is a very difficult one. It takes many aspects to make it happen. When you look at it at a club level, you first need clubs and tracks that are willing to share in your same vision that you have to help get things rolling. It takes a financial commitment that you may lose completely or take a few years to get back. I think simplicity is the key to making things enjoyable for everyone. Not many rules and focus on the fun we can have. Get the experienced racers at the club to help the new guys who are getting in and show them that it is not necessarily equipment that wins races, but practice and preparation that is a major part of winning. Do this so the new racers are not intimidated when they arrive at the track and see all the guys with 10 years of equipment on their pit table and think they have no chance.

 

Scotty: Even though we are racing the same types of cars, racing is for sure different as you look at it in different countries. Racing in the US is just as competitive and vast as other countries, but with the size of the US, there are just so many big races going on each week that it makes it more difficult for racers to attend all the major events. If we look at Europe, the racing there is amazing. Great competition just like the US but since there are not as many big races as say compared to the US, it has a different vibe there. Also the biggest factor I feel is the size of Europe. In the US, you can drive for 10 hours and not leave the state you live in. In Europe, you can drive for 10 hours and cross 5 countries. This adds a whole different feeling to racing there. There is a real feeling of camaraderie for your fellow countrymen when they are racing. I will never forget one of my first major events I was announcing in Europe. It was the off road Euros in Vienna. It was the G main on the track and the entire team from Great Britain was gathered on the side of the track waving their countries flag and cheering on their fellow country man in the G main. It was awesome and it is something that has stayed with me to this day.

 

Scotty: I am just like everyone else and would love to see RC Racing in the mainstream and shown on TV. Will that ever happen, I don’t know. We are closer now than ever but we are missing the thing that I don’t know if we can give the chance to win major money or danger aspect. If you look at most things on TV they have the chance to win big money or get hurt. Viewers want to see that. They want to see the kid in the spelling Bee win $50,000 or watch the Motocross guy do a double back flip and possibly crash. That is what draws viewers and sponsors. I hope we can find the secret formula to get RC on TV.

 

Scotty: Over the past few years, we have seen a huge influx of new people into the hobby. Most of that came from the introduction of Short Course. These trucks really connected with consumers and related to real looking trucks and that really worked. I also know of some schools who have added an RC Club to their after school programs and this is a fantastic way to get young people into RC. (I have created school RC programs and found it to be a great educational tool. It works both ways. Editor)

 

Scotty: Favorite will always be on-road racing both Touring and 1/12th scale. In the late 90’s and early 2000 I would travel a lot racing the on-road scene in the US and I miss that. TC3 days! I loved that car. These days it is Off-road. We switched my old track to off road dirt and that is what I race now days, 2wd Buggy with my AE B5M and Short Course with my SC10.2. But I am going to try and race a few on-road races this year. I hope.

 

Scotty: He is for sure from a distant planet far, far away. Charlie and I have been very good friends since the early days of my owning Trackside, He would come to the track with his dad and we became friends and have been since then. Working with him is great because we have so many stories to talk about while on the air and we both have a great passion for the hobby and I think that comes across during our show.

 

Scotty: 2015 will be a fun and exciting year. I have all the ETS, EOS and AOC events as well as my IIC event in Las Vegas and I have a few new things planned. They are still in the planning stages, but if it works out, it should be something really fun.

 

Scotty: I guess I would say just never lose sight that this is a hobby. I get so disappointed when I see guys get so angry about some bad luck when racing. In the end, this is still a hobby and something we do to get away from the stress in life and it should be fun. Always try to have fun doing this awesome hobby.

 

Scotty: Thank you very much for the chance to be part of Shadow Racing and I appreciate the kind words. Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing you and your viewers somewhere in the coming year.

 

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