Interest accelerating in local racing group for RC vehicle enthusiasts
Flathead RC group founders, from left, Eric Pieffer, Angus Matheson, Brandon Hamburg and Cory Hutchison show off some of their racers at Glacier Steel Roofing Products Thursday, March 5. (Jeremy Weber photos/Daily Inter Lake)
AN RC racer vecicle travels the course during practice at Glacier Steel Roofing Products.
Members of the Flathead RC group practice their racing skills at Glacier Steel Roofing Products Thursday. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
Members of the Flathead RC group practice their racing skills at Glacier Steel Roofing Products.
Members of the Flathead RC group practice their racing skills at Glacier Steel Roofing Products Thursday. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
Cory Hutchison shows the detail of his custom-built and painted crawler. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
Cory Hutchison shows the detail of his custom-built and painted crawler.
Cory Hutchison shows the detail of his custom-built and painted crawler.
The vehicles operated by the Flathead RC group can go anywhere between 30 and more than 60 miles per hour.
Started in July, the Flathead RC Facebook group is already drawing dozens of racers to events in the valley. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead RC founder Angus Matheson shows off the interior workings of one of his vehicles.
The competitors check their tires and rev their engines. The course is full of hair-pin turns and treacherous jumps. It’s time for some serious car racing — only smaller.
For the members of the Flathead RC racing group, the cars may be small, but the fun and excitement of their racing events are anything but tiny.
What started on Facebook in July as a core group of four friends wanting to draw in more people to their favorite hobby has quickly grown to events that draw upward of 60 competitors, hundreds of friends, family and fans and more than 450 Facebook group members.
“Facebook has really changed the RC scene. There are lots of people out there that have been into RC racing for a long time, but when Facebook came around it really gave us all a way to connect with each other,” group member Cory Hutchison said. “The popularity was always there, but Facebook gave us the chance to come together as a group.”
Started by RC enthusiast Angus Matheson, the Flathead RC Group has the stated purpose of “filling the gap within the pre-existing and growing interest in the radio-controlled hobby in Northwest Montana.” While the group focuses on racing, it is open to anyone interested in racing, crawling, drones, boats, planes, tanks and whatever else the RC world has to offer.
After a wildly successful summer racing season, the group looked to move indoors for the winter and began racing in a garage before space limitations forced them to look for a larger space.
With the help of Glacier Steel Roofing Products, the group found a much larger space where they could put down their portable course and practice and even hold races. As it had been in the summer, the group’s members pulled together to make practices and events possible.
“It is a great community. Everyone is just out to have fun and we are all always looking to help each other out. It is a great atmosphere with some high-quality racing,” Matheson said. “People come out to see what we are all about and after one or two times, they are hooked. Then they are buying their own cars and are out here racing themselves. It’s amazing how quickly this has grown.”
It’s easy to see why the group has become so popular. The vehicles can be purchased for as little as $100 and are infinitely customizable. While small, some of the cars can reach speeds approaching 100 miles per hour under the right conditions — with no driver’s license required. The group includes racers as young as 5 and some 60 and older. It truly is a sport for everyone.
“They are like toys for people who like to tinker with machines. You are never finished working on them, you just stop tinkering with them from time to time to get them on the track,” Brandon Hamburg said.
The group that had just seven people racing in the dirt behind Fastoys in July drew 56 competitors to its last race at Glacier Steel Roofing Products and is hoping to draw just as many or more to its next race there March 14. The races have become so popular the group has been forced to cap the number of entries at 20 in each class of its upcoming Turf War 2.0 event at The Fort in Evergreen March 28.
As the group continues to grow, its members say they will continue to be on the lookout for chances to expand their racing opportunities.
“We are growing, but there is still a lot of potential for us here,” Eric Pieffer said. “There are places around the country that have dedicated indoor and outdoor tracks just for racing. We would love to see that happen and we really think there is the opportunity to do that around here.”
For more information on the Flathead RC Group, visit their page on Facebook.
Reporter Jeremy Weber may be reached at 758-4446 or jweber@dailyinterlake.com.