Sebastian Montes/The Gazette
Remote-control car racers at The Track are preparing for the Northeast Grand Slam to be held this weekend.
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For nearly 20 years, a non-descript warehouse in an office park near the Washington Grove MARC station has been a minor Mecca for remote-control car enthusiasts from across the mid-Atlantic, hosting a handful of tournaments every year, even the occasional national championship.
For three days starting Friday, all roads lead again to Gaithersburg as the final leg of the four-race Northeast Grand Slam brings some of remote-control car racing's elite to the warehouse known simply as The Track.
Germantown resident Doug Hoyles called out lap times as the miniature-but-mighty vehicles became a blur on that open stretch — to scale, reaching speeds well beyond 200 mph.
Shaving precious fractions-of-a-second off lap times is far from child's play, explained Saturday's race director Victor Kao. Drivers must be of a decidedly scientific bent, constantly tweaking camber and pitch, re-jiggering magnetized motors and rebuilding wishbone suspensions; keening on aerodynamics and slip differentials and using polymer compounds to give foam or rubber tires a better grip.
"They talk a little bit; no elbows or fist-fighting," he said, breaking into a smile as he looked up from soldering a battery. "But I can't say I haven't seen it."
The best academic acumen that 15-year-old Chase Chandler can boast is of being handy in math and science class at Good Counsel High School. The Gaithersburg teen devotes at least three days a week to The Track. Racing seriously for less than a year, he saw promising results at The Slam's January stop in New York. Success this weekend, against drivers that have been racing longer than he's been breathing, will start with meticulous preparation, he said. When the time comes to stand at their side on the drivers' platform, his focus will hone in until the busy weave of streaking cars falls away.
"I think of me as the only one out there," he said.
The dozens of die-hards that flock to The Track most weekends are more collegial than combative, talking shop between races. There is no shortage of aging Baby Boomers reviving a long-lost love and fathers looking for quality time before their sons veer off after girls and other teenage pursuits.
Then there's Doug Hoyles, who six years ago took up racing with his son as a cure for the winter doldrums. A corner at The Track is now stacked with 90 cars of every shape and style, every last one the proud purchase of the 42-year-old.
"We had cabin fever, so I bought a couple. I guess it never stopped," he joked.
Truth be told, The Track might sputter dead without its devotees, said owner Mimi Wong, 56. The venture she started in 1991 has seen better days, despite being one of the only indoor venues in the region and having the only slot-car track between Harrisburg, Pa., and Richmond, Va.
Part of that she attributes to mail order and the Internet. And for a hobby that can take an up-front investment of several hundred dollars or more, the faltering economy has only deepened the trend that too many teens seem unwilling to bother with anything that isn't ready-made and hassle-free.
"This is mechanical skill. Sometimes these kids, they want everything to be fixed right away, they don't want to get their hands dirty," she said. "For the people that already have all this stuff, what they going to do? They gonna play. To get newcomer; that's very, very difficult right now."
ZOOM ZOOM!
The three-day Capitol Carpet Challenge, the final leg of the Northeast Grand Slam, will be at The Track this weekend. Practice sessions run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and resume at 7 a.m. Saturday, followed by qualifying heats at 11:30 a.m. Championship heats start at noon Sunday. The Track is located at 16806 Oakmont Ave. For more information, call 301-417-9630 or visit www.rctrack.com.
