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Written by Tammy Walro
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Wednesday, 02 September 2009 06:53 |
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The Woodville Mall area is all abuzz these days.
Actually, the buzz is coming from the parking lot behind the mall as the One Eighth Racers of Toledo, one of the oldest on-road radio-control racing clubs in North America, hosts the 2009 Roar On-Road Fuel Nationals through Sept. 6.
Competitors from throughout the country and the world rolled into town early in the week and then began hitting the track on Tuesday.
“These are the nationals – it’s one of the biggest races in the country for RC racing,” said Roger Williams, a member of the One Eighth Racers of Toledo who lives in Lake Township.
The event has been held previously in such locations as Las Vegas, Kissimmee, Fla. and Washington, D.C. “But we have one of the top five tracks in the country right here,” Williams said.
The track, a permanent facility built in 1994 by the One Eighth Racers, serves as a weekend facility for club members, a regional facility for the Midwest Series, as the home of the club’s own regional race, The Great Lakes Challenge (GLC).
Avid racers say is one of the best-prepared and fastest scale car on-road asphalt surfaces in the U.S. and Canada.
“Competitors are coming from all over – California, Mexico, Japan, Germany,” Williams said. “Some are coming just coming back from the Worlds, which I think were held in Italy.”“A lot of these guys are factory-sponsored racers – this is their job, and they make a good living at it, plus traveling expenses and bonuses,” Williams said.
Early in the week, the lot behind The Andersons, adjacent to Elder-Beerman began filling with vehicles, motor homes and travel trailers, along with canopies to provide shade and shelter for racers.
“There are 220 entries, and there are two people per car, so you’re looking at probably 440-500 people there, at least,” Williams said. “We have just about every motel room around here filled because of the races.
“They’ll be eating at local restaurants, shopping – it’s good for the local economy,” he added.
The One Eighth Racers, which have been around for more than 40 seasons, races both 1/8th- and 1/10th-scale radio-controlled race cars.
The club has about 45 members who come from throughout the region, including Cleveland, Detroit, Findlay and Bowling Green. “We have men and women, fathers and son,” Williams said.
He will be competing in the A-Scale Master’s Class at the Nationals.
"It’s exciting – if you’ve ever seen radio-controlled racing, this is the best there is,” Williams said. Club members invite race fans of all ages to come out and watch the action. Qualifying starts Thursday at about 1 p.m. and continues Friday and Saturday all day, until about 8 p.m. The mains will be run on Sunday beginning at 8 a.m.
For more information, visit www.racersoftoledo.com or www.roarracing.com.
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