The low down on High Speed Hobbies and Charlotte Raceway

I got most of the work on the 18R done today, and had to get out somewhere to try it. I decided to drive up to China Grove and check out the High Speed Hobbies that I read about, with an indoor track. Also, the Charlotte Raceway is not far away in Concord, so I made a stop there too. Not too much good news on either front, but it's not all bad.

High Speed Hobbies is 7 miles north of 85 on Highway 29. It's a nice little place and the people there are great, they let me run on their track for free. Sadly, the track is small.. REAL small. The 18R looked big on it, and they normally race Kyosho Mini-Z cars on it, 1/24th scale. It was doable in 18th, but I was on the track alone and it was tight around the turns.

They have an excellent selection however, and actually some of the best prices I've seen. As an example, they have a Scalpel kit for $109, where the lowest internet price is $99. They carry Kyosho, Associated, Traxxas (a large selection of parts), Losi, X-Ray, and a few other lesser names.

Charlotte Speedway is a new place that I heard about at Hobby Town last night. It's on 29, just on the other side of Concord. Sadly, it's mostly slot cars. They have four slot car tracks with computer timing, and I watched them run around for a little bit. Sorry, but I couldn't get exited about throttle only controls.. the guys were standing with their hands down at their sides while driving and at first I couldn't tell who was racing and who was watching. They have some RC stuff in there, mostly Traxxas, but there is a chance that they might go further into RC in the future.

This has been your local RC update, you stay classy Bashers.