Tricksligger

I got very sad news this weekend. Our local track is being closed until further notice. I guess a couple months ago a child was playing around the area where new clay is placed and got hurt. The operator of the track has warned the club members many times to not let their kids play around or behind the track. Well someone wasnt watching thier child and he got hurt.

So anyhow. I have run into an opportunity. We have a friend of the family that has a large warehouse type building open for rent. I have had a construction business for the past 10 years but times are REAL slow. I have been looking for a new business venture. We just had a very large hobby shop close its doors.(not due to lack of business). Another lhs has opened up since then but carries alot of airplane stuff.

So Im thinking of getting some friends together and making this dream of mine come true. Id like to cater to the off road and onroad drivers.

I need some ideas. Carpet track or dirt track? Can you even run nitro on carpet? I wouldnt be able to afford a high dollar ventalation system right away so nitros may not be a option. Then I would miss out of 1/2 the market.

I was thinking maybe a onroad carpet coarse with removable jumps.

As of now there are 2 other tracks. A hour and a half away and 2 hours away. Which would be 3-4 hours from Miami. Both are outdoor tracks which lose about half thier members in the summer due to the Florida heat. A indoor air conditioned track would be great for South Florida in the summer.

What are some ideas? I know you have thought about it before what were some of your plans? Any input would be great.

Chris_RC

Most bang for your buck, indoor 1/10 sedan and 1/12 pan and an extension to the track when the offroad cars hit with removeable jumps. 1/10 trucks and buggies, maybe even 1/18. If you have more room, outdoor 1/8 track. That would be the most popular class.

Tricksligger

I was thinking of a mini and micro track for kids and such. They dont take up much room. I forgot to mention Im in the flooring business. So the first step would be to carpet the entire floor of the building then the building of the tracks become easier.

Alpha Male

My Feedback: (11)

Imagine if you owned an indoor, carpeted track with movable/removable jumps........designing it would be half the fun. You could make free-standing, carpeted jumps that are suitable for various sizes of vehicles and pull out what you want for the track depending on what everyone wants to run. I personally have never seen that kind of environment, but I bet it would be fantastic!!! [sm=biggrin.gif] You and your clientele would have a clean, quiet place to run electric on-road and off-road, regardless of the weather or season and the vehicles would need little or no cleaning. I bet people would buy an electric car, truck or buggy just to join in. It would probably not be too difficult to section off a corner of the building for smaller cars (mini-z size) and maybe another corner for a pile of rocks to crawl.

If I lived close by I would help you set everything up to make sure that you did not change your mind.

Could you put padding under a commercial-type carpet? I don't know what is normally used, but it would probably help lessen the impacts from hard landings.

I wish I could make this idea happen around here. [&o]

FoamyVictim

Another vote for a carpet track with movable jumps. That would cover the broadest audience, and get more people to come race. 8th scale is starting to go brushless now, and those things are tanks! Go for it, make plenty of vids while building and testing and post them online EVERYWHERE! Talk about it, get people interested, advertise as much as you can... if you build it, they will come!

Tricksligger

Here is an example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdoPr...eature=related

Ive got alot of interested parties right now. Im going to be looking at empty shell warehouses this week. Comercial real estate is so cheap right now by biggest investment is the carpet and corp. fees. Ive had business insurance with my agent for 8 years and never had a claim my insurance will be cheap. I have plans for a spectator retaining wall for safety. No one but drivers past this wall type deal, to keep liability ins. down. I'll keep you posted.

FoamyVictim

Looks like you've got a good handle on it. Best of luck to you, we need more people like you!

Troggie

You can go to www.hobby-sports.com this is my local track that is carpet and they have jumps that they can put out though not a lot of interest in it since mostly all TCs running. They change the track layout about every other week it seems to keep it interesting. Though they have an issue with retaining people to run during the summer because it is too nice to be inside here in Michigan :P