In this edition of the JConcepts Friday5 we talk to Ohio team driver, Aaron Pendleton!
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?
When I was 11 my dad and I went out and bought my first go kart to race on a blacktop road course. On the way home we stopped by my grandpa’s house to show him the kart, while we was there he showed me his new RC car he was going to race that weekend on dirt oval at Crazy Boyz in South Bloomfeild, OH. My dad and I bought two for us that weekend and I have been racing ever since.
2. Dirt Oval has really grown in popularity over the past few years. In your opinion what is the main cause of this increase of left turn drivers?
I feel that the coverage the Chili Bowl has gotten over the last few years has brought a lot of the people to dirt oval. More and more people from off-road seem to be getting interested in oval which is great, because they always make great oval drivers.
3. In your opinion, what needs to be done to make RC more “mainstream” and get more people involved?
Social media is huge in today’s racing world, so the live streams from big races help out a bunch. I think that if we could get introduced to a streaming service such as FloSports or even a TV network, we would get a lot of new eyes on RC racing.
4. Which JConcepts product, in your opinion, is a must-have on race day when going to the track and why?
Man this one is easy!!!! Whether I’m racing dirt oval, off-road, carpet or dirt you will not catch me without the best tires on the market by far. For dirt it is either Ellipses or Smoothie 2 tires, and on carpet you cant beat Pin Swag fronts and Fuzz Bite rears.
5. Besides RC racing, what other activities do you enjoy?
Besides racing RC cars I also race full size dirt oval. I just purchased a new Mod Lite for this season and will be racing in Ohio, Tennessee, Delaware, New York, Texas and Florida. I also have a Harley and I also golf.