In this edition of the JConcepts Friday5 we talk to Michigan team driver, Kyle Munson!
1. Let’s get a little background on your start to RC racing. Were you introduced to it by a friend, family member, or maybe read about or watched something on social media?
So, I actually started out racing karts as a kid when I was like eight years old. I did that for a few years, and at one of the races I got tangled up on track with another kart resulting in me going upside down and obviously wrecking the kart. It was pretty rough and some spendy repairs to fix it up. Around about the same time my birthday was coming up, so my parents took me to a hobby shop in our area. I got a used RC10 for my birthday, bashing it around the yard, the normal kid stuff, but I wanted to race something. I didn’t care what I was racing, I just wanted to race. We went to another shop in the area (R&L Hobbies) which had an indoor dirt track at the time. We went there for a practice day to go check out some RC racing, and I was immediately hooked. Soon after I was racing in the novice class with my RC10, and things just kind of progressed from there.
2. In your area you do a lot of outdoor 1:10 electric off-road racing which isn’t as common anymore. Why do you think this is and do you see it coming back more down the road? Do you prefer to race this way vs. an indoor, highly groomed and grippy track surface?
Yes, I absolutely love outdoor 1/10 racing. It was super common back in the day, and I grew up racing on loose loamy dirt with big pin tires in the summer, and high bite clay racing on slicks in the winter months. As far as 1/10 outdoor racing goes, yes it isn’t as common as it once was, but we still have some tracks in the area that do a really good job of preserving that type of racing which I’m very thankful for. It’s not for everyone, which I totally understand. You either love it or you hate it. The cars get dirty, there isn’t the seemingly infinite amount of grip we have on some of the indoor high bite clay tracks, or the carpet/astro tracks. With outdoors racing the track conditions are definitely less than optimal so you are often searching for the best line, racing the track itself in addition to the other racers. In addition to that there’s been a definite design shift in the way 1/10 cars are designed, which they are just more designed for the high bite clay and carpet tracks mostly these days. So I think that is why a lot of people just don’t really bother with it, even though they are missing out on some really good racing.
3. When it comes to racing for hardware, which format do you prefer? A three day event that takes up the entire weekend, or a smaller series race that might only be Friday and Saturday?
I don’t really have a preference on the type of event I race, but there has to be some balance with racing and just normal every day life with having a day job. So I try to balance that out as best as I can by trying to hit a few big races a year and do as much club racing as I can. The big races are important, but the most important thing is supporting your local tracks.
4. Name one JConcepts product that you feel is overlooked by many but you find it very useful.
A few JConcepts products really stand out for me. The first being the Satellite Tire Rubber Bands. They are by far the best tire bands I’ve ever used, and with the design it makes tire mounting and gluing a much more enjoyable experience, and they fit everything in the 1/10 and 1/8 tire range. The other is the Finish Line Shock Oil Bag, and I’ll also add in the Finish Line Charger Bag. Keeping your hauler bag organized is always a pain, and both of those products help keep your stuff organized and well protected.
5. Name one thing people might be surprised to learn about you.
Something a lot of people might be surprised to learn about me is when I’m not racing RC cars I’m racing slot cars or doing sim racing.