Indoor Off-road Racing in San Diego?

Breaking News

Dateline San Diego! I got off the phone yesterday evening with the newest sponsor of the JBRL Electric Series Keith Jones. He is doing a "Double Gold Sponsor for Jimmy Babcock's Electric and Nitro Series." If you didn't notice the two new banners at the track they are Jones Cancer Foundation and Rocketshipracing.com. It is nice to see this man sponsor both series races especially in this economy. I had to hunt this guy down it wasn't easy but the RC Insider takes no prisoner's when it comes to getting the latest in RC News involving my adopted hometown!

It has been speculated or rumored since last summer that someone has purchased or in the process of purchasing a building and looking to put in an Indoor Off-road Track somewhere in San Diego County. I have been sitting on this story for a while because until someone mentions actual plans to me then I am better off staying quiet. Well last night I tracked Keith Jones down and spent some time getting a feel for what he is trying to do. He is in fact working on placing an indoor off-road racing facility here in San Diego County.

He has a Realtor and he is looking at several different options. He has mentioned to me that he is trying to acquire the land that goes with the building so he can be the sole owner and never have to worry about losing the building. Keith is looking at making this happen either in San Marcos and quiet possibly Encinitas, California. His vision is that he hopes to acquire some of the old Circuit City buildings in this county. He wants to make a track like West Coast RC Raceway. Indoor off-road, asphalt on-road, and outside possibly adding a dirt oval track. That is why he wants to acquire the land with the buildings. He also mentioned to me that he is at 50% finished on one of his contracts so we might be closer that we think to some indoor fun!

To help offset the costs Keith is looking to partner with local RC manufacturers. Hopefully there will be some interest with some of the local businesses. Keith mentioned yesterday he hopes that by this September 2010 he is dropping the clay dirt inside the future site location here in San Diego.

Some background on Keith Jones is he is living with Cancer. Jones recently started his own Cancer Foundation which is one of the Gold Sponsors of the JBRL Racing Series. One of the buildings he is in the process of getting will go to funding Cancer research as well. People might ask how he is able to do this... He has worked on over 71 motion picture films and invested his money wisely. I mentioned to him yesterday since he is new to the San Diego area, he needs to get in touch with a few local outfits and maybe get together and brainstorm some ideas. I recommended that he gets in touch with socal-rc.com and get his websites on their forum. I plan on putting him in touch with Dan Callander.... At this time this is all the info I have Keith and I will be speaking more at the next JBRL race in April at OCRC Raceway and I'll be staying on top of this developing story that is in the works here in San Diego...

I'll post a link to Keith's Business. It is known as http://www.rocketshipracing.com/. His number is not published yet so I promised at this time I would only put him in touch with the necessary people that my offer some help with getting the track up and running. San Diego here is a prime opportunity for you guys. I would hope everyone would support a facility like this coming to San Diego. It would be great for all of us....

Also I got a PM on RC Tech from Palm Desert RC Raceway yesterday. Guys I am so glad you finally opened up I know it has been a long process and I am very glad to hear 8 mile racer's RC dream is coming true man! If your in the Palm Desert area get out there and race it. The track races on the weekends so check the website for hours and times and head out for some fun in the desert. Palm Desert RC Raceway will also be hosting a RC Pro Series Race June 5th. I'll post a link to the track. Apparently legendary track builder Joey Christensen wants to build and hold a Short Course race there. I'm in! If you build it Joey I'll come. I missed the Silver State this year! I love this hobby and anything I can blog to help you guys out just let me know.....

Speaking of the Silver State race congrats to San Diego's Zac Burnside and Tekno RC for their nice solid Runs at the Nitro Challenge Zac finished 5th in 4wd and Tekno RC with a 7th place finish.

Ok I am out of breath and I am going to do my best to get another blog out later in the week.

Stay tuned....



Links

http://www.rocketshipracing.com/

http://www.palmdesertrcraceway.com/

http://www.jimmybabcock.com/

News and Notes 3/12/10

Sophia Rose Flint

1/29/10

8 pounds 5 ounces

20 inches

Scripps La Jolla

10:37am

Good evening everyone,


I wanted to take this time to let my followers and readers know that my blog isn't dead. I just have had it on hold due to the birth of my daughter at the end of January. I can honestly say these have been the coolest two months of my life. Just watching little Sophia grow has been a blessing. Now that I have shared this info with all of you I can switch gears and get back to race mode.

First off... WHAT HAS BEEN UP WITH THIS FREAKING WEATHER LATELY? Seriously I had some free time earlier in the week and my brother happened to be in town. Needless to say our golf game was rained out! Are you kidding me? This is San Diego!!! Not Seattle!!! LOL! Hopefully the worst is behind us. Last weekend was my first weekend back racing. No better place for me to start racing again was two miles from my house at an undisclosed location in Chula Vista known as Frank's backyard track. It was a SOCAL-RC.com's fundrasier race.

SOCAL-RC.com is hosting a booth at this years RCX. I have never been to RCX, but in the future I really hope I can get out to this Hobby Expo and check out the latest and greatest in RC. If you want more information on RCX you can find it on-line or you can contact San Diego's local connection to this Hobby Expo SOCAL-RC.com. They have ticket's available, so if you go please stop by and check out their booth.

I am personally glad to see these guys take the time out of their busy schedules to make some time for this cool hobby know as RC. I support and these guys in their quest to really try to give San Diego exposure at this Hobby Expo. Last week, they held a race as fundraiser to raise money for their booth at Pomona. I donated the winnings from last weeks race. I know times are tough and money is tight, but I urge all locals that race with these guys to donate what you can so they can have a safe trip and spread the word about RC in San Diego. So please stop by and see these guys at the Hobby Expo next weekend.

On to my next topic. I wasn't able to make it out to the Grand Opening at the end of January at Barona's new RC facility in San Diego. From what I heard they had like over 120 entries. That is awesome. I have been so busy lately, but I am hoping to get out there this weekend. At the end of this blog I'll put a link to this track. RC racing is really making a come back in San Diego I see more two day races coming to Barona in the near future and possibly JBRL Nitro races in years to come.

Ok my next item of business is track preview's. I have been blogging about Palm Desert RC Raceway, and Modesto RC Raceway I plan to have those track preview's shortly in the next week or two. I think you will find what I have to say is very interesting about these tracks.

Finally, I wanted to mention congratulations is in order to a one Zach Rogers. Zach races for Banzai Motors, Team Associated, JConcepts and a few other sponsors. I just wanted to say congrats to this young man he has been en fuego as of late... That means (on fire)! Zach has taken the podium at the Golden State Challenge earlier this year in Mod Truck and Mod Buggy. He also was on the podium at the Supercross Series at West Coast Raceway by winning superstock buggy and mod 4wd buggy. Finally, he was on the podium at the ROAR Regional at Roadrunner's RC in Ventura, CA last month. I don't have his results but I read he did well at this event.

I have taken the time to write about Zach because he is an up and coming RC driver in this sport and is the future of racing should he stick with it. He is without a doubt going to be a contender in this years JBRL and most 2 to 3 day events in and around California. Plus he is a huge fan of this blog and likes what I have to say which is nice to hear.

Ok drivers, that is all for now but in my next issue I will be discussing the JBRL Electric Series in more detail as to the new rules and regulations.

Links:

www.socal-rc.com

www.downtowndelrin.com

Stay tuned for my next Blog...