MARCH 16, 2022 www.wintertexantimes.com 22 WINTER TEXAN TIMES all over the U.S. “Many tracks up north have closed,” Westcott said. “I take my love for racing back to Minnesota with me, and I try to find a track there in the summer.” First oval dirt track in Valley While RC offroad tracks were attracting a following in the Valley, it wasn’t quite what two Alamo RecVeh Park friends -- Doug Kortbein and Mike Benoit -- wanted. “I’m an old guy,” Kortbein said. “I think it’s easier to race on an oval track than off-road because your reflexes don’t have to be as fast.” In the fall of 2014, they got their park manager’s permission to build a track where the park’s unused horseshoe pit stood. Kortbein and Benoit designed and supervised the new track’s construction. The park’s owner sent over his backhoe to dig out the pit. “We were quite frugal,” Kortbein said. “We used almost everything from the horseshoe court. All the wood was there for the backstop, so we used it to build the driver’s stand. Meanwhile, we worked to pay for most of the track’s expenses ourselves with fundraisers.” After the track was complete, he said they didn’t have the lap counter they do now. “People in the stands would keep track of each racer’s progress with flip cards,” he said. “Them were the good old days!” “Many flip-card helpers were mad when we got the automatic system,” he said. “They lost their jobs.” He said today they have drivers who come to the Valley from all over Texas and that means there is good competition here. “Almost all parks with oval tracks came to our park to copy our design or we helped them work out the plans for their track,” Benoit said. “We assisted many with their race p r o g r a m s because we want great tracks that offer good competition. We’re still ready to help any park get started.” To kickstart the race program in Alamo, the duo also initiated the Red, White and Blues Series of races that p r o m o t e d racing among parks. First raised mini track Alamo Rec-Veh Park manager Barbara Hamel requested a small track for residents who wanted to try out more affordable RC racing. With the expert help of track builder Jim Davis, it became a reality. RC director Mike Fleming said he gave Davis the design, which he had matched to the size of the ex i s t i ng d r i v e r s ’ s t a n d . His computerized d r awi ng i n c l u d - ed the t r a c k ’ s l e n g t h and radius. Da v i s analyzed the printout and agreed it could be built. “We took what was available to us,” Fleming said. “Amazingly, it worked! Concrete track takes center stage The first concrete track was built in the center of Ranchero Village to impress visitors when they came to the park and to attract new residents. “The new people, mostly RV’ers, like looking at the impressive track,” year-round resident Jerry Dobson said. “Several of us RC Club members let them drive our cars so they get some practice. They get addicted once they try it. Before long they want to spend the money to get their own cars.” It took some planning and quite a bit of money to get the park’s second track (concrete) completed. Dobson said that the owner and park manager got together and decided they wanted a track that was low maintenance. One of the requisites was that the track use every bit of space possible. “RC Club members told them what we wanted,” Dobson said. “Our general manager raced with us, so he knew what he wanted.... He wanted the fastest, greatest and biggest track. And he got that!” Most park racers like racing on the new surface. “It’s much faster, like Nascar on cement instead of dirt,” Jerry Harbarth said. “You can go a lot faster without spinning out. I like it!” According to Dobson, if a park has good ownership and a manager behind its RC Club, the residents have it made because it’s an activity that Winter Texans can get into fairly reasonably. “I’ve lived here for four years, Dobson said, “and during that time RC activity has mushroomed.” He thinks RC racing has a good future, whether it’s a concrete track or another type. “The way I see it,” he said, “is that if a park doesn’t have a track, they’re going to wish they did.” RC RACING From pg. 6
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