A MOMENT WITH MIKE: Where is the money class in R/C?

ADVERTISEMENT | ADVERTISE WITH US

Mike Garrison

0 Aug. 25, 2017, 11:51 a.m.

By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com

Last night I spent the evening with my wife cleaning out the garage. In doing so, I filled box after box of trophies, plaques, and awards that have been accumulating dust over the course of my lifetime full of racing (in and out of R/C cars). As I began looking through all of them, there are a select few that I decided to clean up, keep, and hang on the wall, but with a lack of nails many of them are most likely going to end up buried in the dark corners of the basement for my future grandchildren to build a bonfire out of.

Recently I had a conversation with a good friend of mine who decided to give up his attempts at racing Monster Energy Supercross and the AMA Pro Motocross Nationals, and focus on racing the local and regional expert class motocross scene instead. When I asked him the reasoning behind it, his answer got me really thinking.

He explained to me that while he could maybe earn $1000-2000 on a super good weekend getting lapped at the back of the pack in supercross and possibly getting 15-seconds of fame on TV for his efforts if he's lucky, he would rather eliminate the cost of travelling, $300+ entry and license fees, hiring a mechanic, and risk not making the night show which equals $0. Instead, he can attend any number of local and regional races that offer 200%+ or $2000+ pro class purses, spend considerably less time and money on travel, enjoy racing with his buddies, race on tracks he knows and likes, live a normal life during the week, hold a steady job, and almost guarantee he will make $150-200+ minimum per class on the weekend. He laid out some examples of ex-pro riders from our hometown that did the same years ago, and they actually put food on the table by simply racing and winning weekend after weekend at the local motocross tracks.

(Jeff Crutcher enjoying a sandy berm on his way to a local race paycheck on Sunday, and back to his day job on Monday -Photo by Sarah Ball Photography)

Motocross is like R/C racing in many ways, but it is also very different. At most motocross tracks, even a weekly race (“club race” in R/C terms) costs $35 per class to enter, but also pays out a trophy if you do good. In R/C racing we spend less money to club racing, but also don’t expect anything in return for our efforts.

Looking back at the giant box of dusty trophies in my garage, I began to wonder why doesn’t R/C racing offer a similar “local pro” opportunity that motocross does. I am not talking about necessarily making a living by racing R/C cars around your region, but instead more races offering an opportunity for cash payback as well as traditional trophies.

Before you fire up your trigger fingers on the keyboard, I already know there are "one-off" cash payback R/C races in existence – this is not about making cash payback races or eliminating trophies. This is about adding, not replacing, a new incentive to R/C racing on all levels ranging from weekly club races to already great trophy races around the country. I also already know, as a promotor of R/C car and motocross races myself, that anytime you mention “cash payback” it immediately draws a red flag as lost income…but does it really have to?

Along with the regularly scheduled trophy classes, my idea is to add one additional “Money Class” to events. The money class is based off whatever is expected to be the most popular trophy class, and with the stipulation that to race the money class you must be entered in that trophy class as well.

Example: If 17.5 2wd Buggy is going to be the most popular class, the event would offer a 17.5 2wd Buggy class, and a 17.5 2wd Buggy Money class. To race the 17.5 2wd Buggy Money class, you must also be entered in the 17.5 2wd Buggy class.

The class costs the standard class entry fee, but is 100% payback to the top 5 drivers, with a cash payback instead of trophies. All this combined ensures that the driver is entered in the corresponding trophy class that makes money for the promoter, which also means the entry count on that class isn’t harmed or divided by drivers running one or the other. This is a 100% payback class, therefore the racers are awarding the top 5, instead of the promotor purchasing more trophies for the added class. By only paying the top 5, depending on the number of entries in the money class, this helps to also ensure the payback is worth racing for. If you pay back too many places, the purse becomes so divided that the winner makes barely enough for an item off the McDonald’s value menu – let alone the guy who finishes tenth that you’re counting out pennies for his payback.

There are several arguments against this idea that I can foresee. The added time of another class, without making any money for the track is most likely the first to arise. If time is truly an issue, limit the number of entries and potentially raise the entry fee to compensate and keep the payback worthwhile.

The next argument is going be that while you are forcing racers to enter the trophy class to be allowed to race the money class, the entry fee spent on the money class could have potentially been used for another trophy class instead. This is a valid point, however, as a promoter myself I understand there comes a point that while the goal of a race is to make money, the goal is also to put together an event that racers enjoy and will continue to attend and help grow each year. Not to mention, if you hand an R/C racer cash at the track, chances are he’s spending that cash at the hobby shop counter before he ever leaves the building.

Track owners/promoters do make money, they deserve to make money, and they should make money. From a promoter stand point, if I lose money on potential entries to racers who chose the money class instead of paying for another trophy class, but it adds significant fun and excitement to the event which will hopefully keep racers coming back year after year, it is well worth the loss to me.

The third major argument I see to the idea of a money class at more events, or perhaps even club races, is the added intensity on the track when money is on the line. R/C racing is meant to be fun, and I will preach that all day long. It is extremely hard sometimes to remember that you are doing something for fun when the old saying, “No one is taking home a paycheck this weekend, it’s all for fun,” goes out the window. This is a valid argument, in which my only rebuttal is that not every racer will forget the fun for money, and why ruin a good thing for the few that will. My other argument is that you are not taking what should be a trophy class and putting up money instead, you are adding an additional money class to the program which costs another entry fee to race. This means that racers entering the money class are essentially willing to “bet on themselves” being fast enough to finish in the top five to earn more money back. 99% of the time this will be your top drivers of that class, in which still have fun racing, but typically are far more serious than most others regardless of whether they are racing for trophies, cash, or simply bragging rights.

Using the 17.5 2wd Buggy example from above, you aren't going to ruin the fun for those less serious in the regular class because you aren't replacing trophies with their money unwillingly - instead you're adding a separate class for the opportunity to win a trophy in one and cash in another if they so choose. By offering an additional money class, only the guys (or girls) who want to race for money will race. Those who don't want to race for money, won't race the extra class. People don't walk into a casino and bet $100 on Black Jack if they don't want to spend money on a chance to win money - same for racers. 

I’m not saying that the local fast guy or regional speed demon can necessarily make a living racing an R/C car without travelling the nation, as some local and regional motocross racers try to do, but what I am saying is the idea of a money class provides another incentive for people to attend races. When people attend races, the races continue to grow, the track/hobby shop continues to grow, the sport in general continues to grow.

I love the idea of trophies and awards to hang on the wall, and by no means am I saying to eliminate them – that is NOT my argument. Hanging a $100 bill on the living room wall shows no detail as to how it was earned, probably won’t last long before someone snatches it up, and is just downright a waste of money. Hanging a trophy on the wall, on the other hand, is a reminder for years to come to everyone who passes by it that you’re a winner. What I am saying is that while we are all already in attendance to race, why not offer up a chance for racers to earn back a small portion of the money they've spent to race R/C cars. Not to mention, what better way for all the hot shots and smack talkers to put their money where their mouth is.

Who knows, had there been an additional money class offered at the races my dusty boxes of trophies came from, perhaps I could afford another box of nails to finish hanging them all…