RC Showdown draws drivers from far and wide
<p>(Bethany Rolfson/The Western News)</p>
<p>Cars lining up for the first race of the day, Sunday. (Bethany Rolfson/The Western News)</p>
<p>Nathan Goulding, professional RC Racer of Spokane, Wash. holding his RC pickup. (Bethay Rolfson/The Western News)</p>
<p>2WD Buggy Winners, from left: Troy Douthit, third place; Darren Hill, first place and Jerad Fuhlendorf, second place.</p>
<p>4WD Open, short course trucks and buggies, winners: Third place winner, Rian Ellis; first place winner, Dustin Denton and second place winner Matt Dortmund.</p>
<p>2WD Open, short course and stadium trucks, winners: Third place winner, Troy Douthit; first place winner, Darren Hill and second place winner, Steve Scheer.</p>
Approximately 30 people came from near and far this weekend to race and watch remote-controlled cars on the Snowshoe Speedway.
On Saturday and Sunday, amateur and professional RC car, truck and buggy racers came from as far as Spokane, Wash. and Missoula to the outskirts of Libby to race on the Snowshoe Speedway for the fourth annual Hot August Showdown.
The event lasted all weekend, with three types of racers, four-wheel drive short course trucks and buggies, two-wheel drive short course and stadium trucks and two-wheel drive buggies.
This was the first year that the showdown took place on a weekend. In previous years, the event would last all month long, with points added up at the end of the month to determine a winner. This year, the club decided to have it on a weekend to encourage more drivers from out of town to participate.
Sam Scheer, president of the Kootenai RC Racers Club, said that this year they had $2,000 in sponsored raffle prizes and raised $1,000 in local donations. One sponsor donated a $300 radio to give away during the raffle, Scheer said. The raffle prizes also included cleaners, baseball caps and T-shirts. At the event, grilled hotdogs, chips, sodas and waters were provided for contestants and spectators.
Nathan Goulding, professional RC racer, came to the showdown from Spokane. Goulding has been racing for one year, investing $400 in his racing truck with a GoPro camera that he installed. He said he made an initial investment of $190 to buy his truck and he’s made some minor repairs since then. Goulding said that he routinely repairs his vehicles after races, like the repair he made on Sunday, when he temporarily fixed his pickup with double-sided tape.
Scheer, owner of Scheer Bros. Hobbies and his brother Steve Scheer, who manages Scheer Bros. Hobbies, started informally racing remote control cars at J. Neils Park but had dreamed of one day having an official dirt track for the vehicles.
“Those cars weren’t meant for driving on concrete,” Ken Peterson said. Peterson and his friend, Charlie Welch both purchased two RC cars from Sam and Steve’s store and, although they were excited to race the car, there wasn’t a track in the area.
“I was so excited about it because it was so fast,” Peterson said. “We wanted to race each other but we didn’t have a big enough track.”
That’s when, in 2013, Peterson and Welch decided to build an RC Racers track on Peterson’s land. Welch designed the track and they proceeded to work for a month to build it. They named the track Snowshoe Speedway, after the road where Peterson lives.
The Kootenai RC Racers Club was officially formed after the track was completed. The club’s first order of business was to make the Snowshoe Speedway the official track of the club.
Today, the club is comprised of approximately 40 members, ages from 12 to 75, who find joy in the competition and technology that goes into RC racing.
“It’s a real intrigue for older guys to come up and watch a bunch of old guys playing with toy cars,” club member Welch said. Welch has been a big fan of racing since he was 12 years old. He used to build his own drag-racing cars, and said he sometimes wakes up at 3 a.m. to watch NASCAR.
The club has attracted locals like Club Member Richard “Rosie” Rosenlof to join. Rosie used to race back in the 1980s and when he heard that they had a track, he decided to join. He said his favorite part of being in the club is the nice people. Rosie also motivated his son to start racing.
This year, the club had different events, including community days each month, in which the public could come and race for free. They also have points races for club members, where at the end of the year, whichever member collects enough points wins a trophy. Club members are also allowed to use the track at any time for practicing.
For more information about the Kootenai RC Racers, contact Sam Scheer at (406)-293-9362, email kootenaircracers@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/KootenaiRCRacers.
Reporter Bethany Rolfson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at Reporter@TheWesternNews.com.