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Letter to the editor

Off to the races

By CHRIS ZUPPA, Times Staff
Published December 21, 2007

Racers take part in qualifying rounds on Dec. 8. About 200 participated in the first JConcepts RC Clash and organizers hope the event will attract even larger crowds in the future. View more photos
	[CHRIS ZUPPA | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [CHRIS ZUPPA | Times] Radio-control cars jump obstacles on the dirt track during the qualifying rounds for the inaugural JConcepts RC Clash at Northdale's Lake Park. The competition featured gas-powered and battery-powered radio-control cars that can go as fast as 50 miles per hour on the straightaway.

"Vroom! Vrrooom! Vrrroooom!"

The tiny engines roar, pit crews anddrivers moving in a frenetic rush. You can barely hear the loudspeaker announcements. But this is not Daytona Beach. It's not even St. Petersburg. This is Northdale's Lake Park, home of the first JConcepts RC Clash. Nearly 200 competitors were here in early December, from places as far as Great Britain, California, Arizona, Ohio and Massachusetts, and from around Florida, to race radio-control cars over three days. This form of racing isn't new to the area.

The Florida Winter Championships took place at Lake Park during the 1990s, but heavy rains and flooding in the park drove the event out. The Hurricane RC Club now hosts a race twice a month on Sundays, and organizers hope the RC Clash will attract larger crowds in the future. "I just kind of felt like this year was kind of time to have another big race," said race founder Jason Ruona of Clermont. "We're trying to get it to the point where it has 400, 500 entries perhaps, and get it really big."

For more information, visit www.rcclash.com, www.hurricanercclub.com and www.fsors.com.

[Last modified December 21, 2007, 10:56:56]