RPW Exclusive: Cat Box Raceway’s Little Big Show A HUGE Hit

Column By: DYLAN FRIEBEL / RPW – CLIFTON PARK, NY – A little piece of land right of exit 9 of the Northway can provide so much excitement. That happened Saturday night at Cat Box Raceway in Clifton park. I’ve never been to a true RC race day but was asked to attend by one of our photographers at RPW and competitors Bill McGaffin. I learned you can tell a lot about what big time drivers certain competitors like from the wrap on their RC Car.

49 Modifieds and 19 12T (Sportsman) RC Cars Showed up for JP Little Big Show 4, that’d be a decent field for any big track but it was a tremendous field for an RC Track. There were 12 “Heat’ Races, which were four minutes each and competitors raced the clock to be in the top seven of each class in laps completed in the four minute period, with an avg lap for the Modifieds taking around 6.3-7 seconds.

As I started to watch “Heats” it was an interesting thing to experience. You don’t hear the throatiness of big blocks, but they were zipping around a track just as the real cars would around a big track. The competition at these events is fierce as after the first flight of modified heats, early favorite Dave Peek was on the outside of the top seven and looking toward running the alphabet soup. However he came through in his second heat with his Rocky Warner 1j inspired wrap and took Top Qualifier for the event which would start him on the pole for the nights 100 lap A-Main.

On the card also was the 12 turn motors or better known as Sportsman. After talking with people at the event, it was clear that the Capital District of New York isn’t the best area for them count wise, so for 19 to turn out was a good thing.

Another event on the card was a five minute figure eight race worth $100 to win. It was sure interesting as all competitors were told to turn around and their cars were scattered around the track. As “Go” was said all of them turned around and the carnage began.

It was a fun and entertaining event with ramps, even cans, bottles and shovels thrown in the way to stop the competition.

After the demolition of the figure 8 was over it was back to business running the alphabet soup and it was just as fun to watch guys desperate to advance, as only one car went onto to the next main. By the end both classes had their full field of eight.

As the A-main started it was Dave Peek who took started on the pole of the Modified division and flew off to the lead, but it wasn’t without some competition and heartbreak as Peek himself went off the track in the early stages of the event. The line between fast and wrecking is so thin in RC racing. It’s easy to miss your line by a little and there goes all the lead you had or worked to reel in.

With the laps being so short and fast, there isn’t much time to make up for mistakes and it was Dave Peek in the end picking up the win in the Big Block Division and Justin Smith in the 75 lap sportsman division. With how close these scale models look to the real big cars, it’s a question to some as to why they don’t move up, but it’s also a pretty simple answer.

“I used to race big cars for a few years.” Competitor Dave Peek told me. “I raced sportsman at Malta for a few years and my dad did at Fonda and was the champion there. I realized in a short period of time that talent skips a generation. I am glad I had the chance to run big cars, I started running RC cars as a kid and I’ve run it for 25 years and I love it. The competition is still fun after 25 years. We have a great group of guys who all care about each other and it’s a lot cheaper than running a big car, so I keep coming back.”

If you have never been or seen RC racing, it takes a little bit to get used to the format and not hear the roar of the engine, to smell the race fuel or sit in the stands. However once you do get used it and see how friendly so many of them are, it’s well worth the trip and the day. Hats off to Cat Box Raceway and JP’s Little Big Show, its now on my annual end of the year events to hit.