Season 5 is fast approaching! Featuring racing every Tuesday and Friday night, new Casual and Advanced event formats to better suit our racer preferences, and only three classes running per race night to make room for a wave of new drivers, this season will be one to remember! We will begin with 5 open practice/build/prep events in September, and then racing begins on Friday, September 27th.
Note: This webpage is a summary and collection of links. To view a lengthy press release about Season 5, click here. For a video walkthrough of this information with additional context, view the video below:
The Schedule Rotation:
Racing events will take place every Tuesday and Friday night, in a two-week rotation, for a total of four unique 6-round racing series. Tuesdays and Fridays will each alternate between “Casual” and “Advanced” event types. Here is a graphic of the 2-week rotation and the classes run on each night. For full descriptions on the four individual points series, see page 5 of the press release here. This schedule format will really allow racers and fans to pick and choose their series and events based on what classes and track types they enjoy the most.
The Full Schedule:
RC Sports’ full schedule of events can always be found on our website on the event schedule page. For a full schedule in filter-able format, click here. To view the separate schedules for each individual race series on their own page, click here. Each series will have one Trophy Race as part of the series, where plaques will be awarded to A-Main winners – see schedule for those dates. To see the full schedule in all its glory and mass of letters, see below:
How did we decide on this format?
A survey was conducted in Summer 2024 to learn about our audience: what they wanted to race and when, and what is most important to them about their RC Sports experience. The feedback gathered from this survey, and the need to run less classes per race night to make room for more drivers, led to the season format you see above. For a full breakdown on this decision making process, including results of the survey and analysis, click here.
Why are we running less classes per race night?
RC Sports is committed to providing an RC Racing product that fits into a fast-past, compact 3-hour (maximum) program that busy folks can fit into their weekly schedule. Running 6 classes, we reached the point in Seasons 3 and 4 where it was starting to take longer than 3 hours to get all the racing in, and our events were running too long. We had to cut some fun elements of the program to get all the racing in. So, we are trimming the program down to 3 classes per race night in order to make room for more drivers and fun elements once again. Fortunately, by having an alternating schedule, folks will still have the opportunity to race in all 6 classes if they want, whether they’re available on Tuesdays or Fridays. To read more about this decision and why it supports RC Sports’ mission, see page 6 of the full press release here.
What are Casual and Advanced event types?
Our survey results indicated that our fan base would be better served by having separate nights that cater more to casual and advanced drivers, classes, and concepts. Our “Casual” event types will be more fun-oriented and suitable for beginners and young drivers, and our “Advanced” nights will have more emphasis on the competition and smaller individual-race entry counts. On the Casual race nights, we will not shy away from doing crazy stuff like driving the track backwards or in the dark to mix things up, but on Advanced race nights we will keep things more consistent for racers. Drivers of all skill levels are welcome at both event types. This graphic lays out the difference between the two event types:
What Else is New?
Since individual race nights will be reduced to three classes, we will have room in the program for additional fun and themes. We are excited to introduce special bonus races that will take place at the end of the race night and be free to enter, included with your regular race admission. Off-Road and Oval (Casual) (Friday) series events will feature many different finale bonus races, ranging from fun and games style events like 2-man races to challenge races like the Super Ten vs Spec Buggy cup race. For the Tuesday night Road Course series, we are bringing back the Drifters. The bonus race will be a drift race every night, so prepare to throw the plastic drift tires on your car and stick around for some slide-y fun to end the night. Oval (Advanced) races will be the only series without a bonus race at the end of the night; on these nights we will instead be lengthening the A-Mains to 100 laps for an even more premier racing experience. In addition to the bonus races, we are also introducing a trophy race for each series (see above), as well as additional themes for some nights, like Spooky Darkness racing, Doller Dogs night, Chili Dump and more. These night themes can be viewed on the individual schedules above and the filter-able schedule here.
Ready to get started?
There’s lots of opportunities to get prepped for Season 5! The first thing to do is review the information above, and then check out our class descriptions and rules, to decide what classes and race nights are interesting and right for you. Then, come on in for one (or multiple) of our Open Practice nights (see schedule below) and chat with our staff about what you’d like to race! Ask any questions you have, check out some cars, and get help choosing and prepping your race cars for an awesome season! See you soon! 🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁
