In this edition of the JConcepts Friday5 we talk to North Carolina team driver, Brandon Melton!
1. When you first got into RC racing, what pro driver did you look up to and why? Or maybe there was a local/regional driver that you followed?
When I just started out racing at a very local level, there was a racer named Shane Weisner that I looked up to, not just because he was very fast, but because he did everything himself 100%. He walked to the beat of his own drum with car setup, motor tuning (in the days of cutting comms, tweaking brushes/springs, etc.), and showed me ways to try and think outside of the box of what our competitors were doing. As I started meeting true factory pros at larger events in the early 2000’s, I would say Matt Francis stood out to me as the most approachable and just an overall cool guy. I remember at one race, my ride from the hotel to the airport fell through, and without knowing me from anyone else, Matt offered me a ride which I’ll never forget. Not only did I look up to his speed and personality, but his willingness to help an RC stranger in need sealed the deal for being a good role model.
2. If you have been racing for awhile, what would you say is the number one technology advancement in RC to date AND why?
As far as the equipment we use on our cars, I would say 2.4ghz radio systems are the most advantageous tech development. I can’t imagine some of the 500+ entry races that exist now, with remote pitting/camping, and not being able to just turn on my radio in the pits whenever I want. The days of walking from the pits to the frequency board to wait for a clip to practice, or having to get your radio out of impound if you needed to replace a servo sucked, so the luxury of not dealing with this anymore is huge. As far as the whole industry and not just the cars, I would say LiveRC and other streaming platforms that allow family and friends back home that couldn’t attend to watch the races, and also to be able to follow along with the schedule from a remote pit area on demand when you can’t hear the race announcer. I know that my 13 year old loves the fact that his mom can watch him without being there, and I know there’s likely hundreds of others in the same boat, so that’s cool.
3. When life interferes and you can’t wheel your RC car, how do you quench your thirst for RC? Do you work on your car, listen to a RC podcast, watch some racing videos, read RC magazines or books, etc?
As my kids get older and are playing sports on the weekends during some parts of the year, I definitely know how it feels for life to interfere. Here of late, I’ve been showing my oldest some things about wrenching on his nitro car, which takes time, so helping him during some of our down time helps. Also keeping up with events live online that I can’t attend or talking to/texting racers who are there or afterwards helps to not lose touch and stay engaged.
4. To date what is your favorite JConcepts product of all time and why?
My favorite product that JConcepts has produced to date were the “Sevens” tire. Unfortunately, they have been discontinued, but that was a tire that for my area it always worked great. If there was a qualifier I knew I had to go fast, I always bolted on a set of Sevens, whether it was Buggy or Truggy.
5. Besides RC cars, what other hobbies are you into?
Other than RC cars, my sons and I enjoy hunting and recreational shooting together. We have several different types of firearms and enjoy honing our skills at that and just like RC, practice makes perfect, or as close to it as we can get for our natural ability. Although different than RC, it is similar in that there are a lot of technicalities of doing it correctly and making sure your equipment doesn’t fail, and I enjoy watching them become safe/responsible users, whether at the range or in the field/woods on a hunt.