Too bad these nitro guys don't get out much.

Different stuff gets raced in different areas; where I live nitro has all but died out, but I have a bunch of friends in ventura county (CA) where both nitro and electric are going strong. ...but monster trucks are really popular down there, and no one races them here (well, now we have 2 revos, but they should keep out all the others)

Most of the ventura co. stores don't carry anything from duratrax, but where I live I generally see about 20 evaders at each race, and my LHS can't keep them on the shelf.

REAL ELECTRIC INFO:

Electric cars are much easier and more reliable, you don't need new brushes for every race, the com only needs to be cut every month or so, and if you don't overgear it, a motor can last over a year. Most shops will cut your comm for you for $5-10.

Of course, that is 27 turn (stock) motors, which are slower than gas. Mod motors, which are faster than gas, cost more and need more frequent work.

Brushless, on the other hand, are faster than gas, nearly maintenance free, last a very long time, run longewr than gas on the same batts as the brushed motors. The prices on them are falling, 1/2 today what they were 2 years ago, and you only need to buy once (When I say no maintenance, I'm serious)

As for batteries, a good battery pack can be had for $32 assembled ($27 diy), and a lot of people aren't racing on good packs. An old race pack that a serious racer is getting rid of for $10 will beat the pants off a $15 cheapo pack. Also, LHSs seem to have ridiculously overpriced batteries, not $5-10 over internet pricing, but rather 2-3 times the online price. And we have lipos on the horizon, and their prices are starting to become doable.

Electric has brushless and lipo on the horizon, with 30 min run times with more power than most people can handle... what is coming up for nitro?

and oh yeah: screw roar. really. it's roar's damn fault we are still running with brushed 7.2V motors... you can have a cheap, fast motor that lasts a long time if you use higher voltage.