Throughout Gary Pauna’s
life he has had a passion for RC racing, and although it has been around the
Twin Ports and surrounding area since at least the 1970’s it was never
sustainable until he took the lead. Races like the Fitgers 500 in Duluth and
the Fall Fest in Superior, as well as small clubs have come and gone.
Frustrated with the travel involved in racing out of town, Gary acted on his
belief that the Twin Ports could provide enough dedicated racers to start a
club that could sustain a top rate RC Racing venue. The following is a brief timeline of
events leading up to the birth of Lake Superior RC Club (LSRCC).
Most club members
that were around in the beginning remember racing in the early 1990’s at a
small hobby shop in Duluth called Wild West Hobby. The racing was great, but
the tracks were very small. After the shop closed, racing moved to Howard Ports
in Cloquet Minnesota for a couple of summers.
It was when racing in
Cloquet came to an end and Gary had to travel as much as 120 miles to Brainard
Minnesota to race that he decided to start LSRCC. He found a couple of local
venues for carpet racing and then obtained the racers index from Wild West
Hobby and Howards Ports. In order to determine interest, he sent out cards to
racers asking them to meet at his home if they liked the idea, and YES THEY DID!!
LSRCC racing started
at a local roller rink on old carpet donated from a power company. After a few
years, new carpet would be purchased and racing would move to a large venue in
the Superior Armory.
Off road racing took
place at the Spirit Mountain Ski Resort for a time and would then move to the South
St. Louis County Fairgrounds where LSRCC has the largest off-road RC track in
Minnesota.
Today LSRCC hosts
Thursday night onroad and offroad club races as well as special events such as
the Minnesota State On Road and Off Road Championship races. The Minnesota
State Onroad Championship is held at the DECC Arena in Duluth Minnesota in
conjunction with the World Of Wheels Car show.
In short, the
entrepreneurial spirit of an avid RC racer along with the dedication of our
club members have led to the inception of a year-round RC racing venue that is
second to none. So check us out at the Superior Armory or the South St. Louis
County Fairgrounds!!
Superior Armory
Location: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?name=Natio ... id=7059187
South
St. Louis County Fairgrounds
http://www.mapquest.com/mq/9-rzamkv9NjmPdFIRG
Club Races are on
Thursdays at 6PM and special Events vary. Be sure to checkout the schedule/results
page or calendar on our site to make sure there is a race on Thursday and for
special event dates.
Classes vary from
year to year. They also vary depending on if it is a club race or a special
event. To find out what we are
running, check out the schedule results page and take a look at the current
standings where the classes are listed. You can also post the question to one
of our forums or show up at one of our races.
For club events, your
first race is free, after that you must pay $10 for your first car and $5 for
each additional.
A membership costs
$20 a year for a single and $30 for a family. This lowers your fees to $7 for
your first car and $4 for each additional. In addition, you can practice at our
on-road track when there are no events. Gas powered cars cannot be ran after
10PM.
Special Events vary
in cost; this type of information is posted on our site.
LSRCC uses ROAR rules
as a foundation and modifies them to suite the wishes of the majority of its
members. See the club Bylaws.
The best way to get
started is to show up at our races and ask other racers questions. You will
find they are more than willing to help. Also, there are many resources on the
web that can get you pointed in the right direction.
At LSRCC you can
start in Novice to get you feet wet. If you decide to race more than one class,
you must move out of novice.
You can preregister
for races on our web site or register in person. You will always pay at the track
prior to the start of the event.
We use transponders
on our cars to electronically count laps. If you do not have one, you can see
the race director and ask about renting one. If you do not have or rent a
transponder, you can still race, but your car will be counted by hand, which is
less accurate.
The typical format is
two qualifiers where the racers in a given class are on the track together
trying to get the lowest average lap time.
This will determine where you start in the Main Event.
Whenever you are done
with a qualifier or race, you MUST Corner Marshall the following race, which
entails picking up cars that are disabled and putting them back on the track so
they can continue racing.