Published: October 03, 2008 10:03 pm            

The need for speed: Area resident after Guinness World Record for fastest R/C car

By VANESSA WELCH

vanessa.welch@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — This weekend, Mike Ogle will be turning his wheels again to beat a record — the Guinness World Record for fastest speed of a radio-controlled car.

The Mt. Vernon resident will be racing his car today at the International R/C Speed Challenge in Rockingham, N.C. So far he has assisted with three other cars that have held the record, but this will be the first time he has a chance to hold it personally. And although the cars are one-tenth the size of a regular race car, Ogle said many people are amazed beyond words when they see just how fast they go.

“They’re ridiculously fast,” Ogle said. “These cars go over 100 miles per hour in less than three seconds. Zero to 100 in two seconds. That is an adrenaline rush and you can’t blink of breathe. When you successfully win an event, you’ve done something just to have it under control.”

Ogle’s hobby started years ago during his childhood. He was fascinated with building model cars, and he stumbled across racing R/C cars by accident, he said.

“One time I saw these guys at a city park in Cahokia racing radio-controlled dune buggies around a track,” Ogle said. “I thought ‘That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I have to learn how to do this.’”

Ogle also enjoyed drag racing, and realized he could combine his interests. He followed his passion out to California in 1986, and worked for Associated Electrics, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of R/C cars. He also served as a contributing writer for many R/C magazines.

When Ogle and his wife Holly decided to move back to Mt. Vernon in 2005, Ogle said he wanted to continue his hobby with R/C cars. At the time, Roy Anderson, who locally founded Grand Motorsports in 1993, was selling his company which offers R/C dragster kits and other accessories internationally. Ogle purchased the company and continues to run his home-based business through grandmotorsports.com.

On a daily basis, Ogle receives car parts and assembles them for individual kits ranging from $150 to $500. Those who would like to customize their cars purchase kits along with different motors, batteries, tires and other parts from hobby stores according to Ogle.

“If you wanted to have a ‘65 Mustang, you can go buy a ‘65 Mustang body and put it together,” Ogle said.

Ogle hand-made his R/C car to race in the ISC event and said it cost around $1,200 from using custom-fabricated parts. The car body is actually clear plastic and was painted blue on the inside, he said.

Ogle has spent hours of preparation to ensure his car will be ready for the Electric Open class in the event today. One of his friends and specialist Tim Mohr of Castle Creations helped him with electronics. Ogle noted the car is hooked up to a laptop and Internet through a USB port where he can program acceleration curves.

“The car has a computerized brain to run the motor and the car is powered by lithium-polymer batteries,” Ogle said. “The computerized-radio system for racing it includes gas, breaks and left and right options.”

Ogle has already broken past records by holding the record for speed and lap’s time in drag-racing 132 feet. He’s also assisted with or helped build three other cars that have held the GWR for fastest R/C car. The current world record holder in this category is Nic Case who reached 134 mph two years ago in Fontana, Calif. Ogle said Case wanted to organize an international competition, and arranged for the ISC to take place this weekend.

So far, Ogle said his car has exceeded 100 mph, and he believes new technology and a longer track will help it gain more speed.

“We’ve gotten up to 104 mph and we do believe we can go faster,” Ogle said. “When we practice at Lincoln Park we have 300 feet to accelerate and stop. In North Carolina, there will be a full one-fourth mile drag strip, plus another 1,000 feet of shut down. So we have 2,500 to 3,000 feet we can take advantage of out there.”

At competitions such as today’s race, Ogle said part of the fun stems from friendships made with racers the night previous to racing.

“We get adjoining rooms at hotels, and all night the doors are open and music is blasting,” Ogle said. “People walk from room to room and say ‘Got any tires?’ or ‘Come down here and see what he built.’”

“The creativity and craftsmanship expressed by the people at this level is tremendous because most of the cars are hand-made. It makes it a very attractive hobby.”

Ogle said racers also help each other by using their unique experiences and knowledge.

“What I really love is that we’ve got guys in Australia, Canada, England and Puerto Rico all working at the same thing,” Ogle said. “They’ve all got different methods and backgrounds and bring different things to the table.”

Whether or not Ogle gains recognition for beating the world record, it is certain his cars will remain well-known throughout the world.

“One time I walked into a hotel in Hartford, Conn., dead tired and rain-delayed at 2 a.m.,” Ogle said. “I knew there were other racers at the hotel but I figured everyone was asleep.”

As he walked across the lobby with one of his cars, a person from Puerto Rico gestured for him to stop where he was at. After disappearing for a short time, the man came back with a group of his friends who recognized Ogle’s Grand Motorsports car.

“They started to take pictures of the car,” Ogle laughingly said. “It wasn’t me — they recognized the car from magazines.”

After allowing the men to hold his car, Ogle asked them if they would like him to take a picture, to which they responded “Yes.”

        

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