This month’s theme is easy. The ORCCC suffers from LOL, which in layman’s terms is Lack of Logo disease! We are looking for a logo that depicts the club, the area, the track and of course, R/C cars and fun. We will include this logo on all club-related stuff, so you could be famous and now is your chance! The logo contest is still on-going, so make your submissions pronto or next month’s newsletter will be just as lame as this one is, graphically that is (you know I always smoke in content and witty banter!!!) The contest has been extended until May 19^th so get to work.

The latest and greatest meeting of the best little R/C car club in Ocala was held on April 21^st at A 2 Z Pest Control. Those in attendance were Bill Hamilton, Carl Ross, Danny Mayer, Jim Pfeiffer, Randy Bost and myself. We are considering changing the meeting schedule to the third Saturday of the month, to be held prior to the race, at 9 AM. Let me know if this would be something you would like to see initiated. Until further notice though, the schedule will remain the 3^rd Wednesday of each month at 7 PM at A 2 Z Pest Control. The next meeting will be held on May 19^th. Plan to attend.

COMING SOON!!! A new section to the ORCCC web-site will soon be under construction. The site will get its very own "Jack’s" button. This button will take you to the Jack’s Hobbies page. We are still discussing the format & contents of this upcoming addition, which will probably include specials, new products and advanced info on soon to be released products. Until then, the best we can do is to tell you that JACK’S HOBBIES is located at 131 NE 17^th Place in Ocala. The store is open 10 AM to 6 PM Mon-Fri and from 9 AM to 4 PM on Saturdays or call Jack’s at 352-351-2224. Take it from me, he accepts all major credit cards!

We lost the bid for the Region IV Oval race. Maybe we will have better luck next year.

We’ve gotten only one bid for resurfacing the oval track to eliminate the crack problem (not that kind of crack, the bumpy road kind of crack, silly). Jim Pfeiffer and Randy Bost are talking with the vendors to work out some kind of solution. Jim Pfeiffer and Pro Hobby Speedway are offering lots of support and we received a cash donation from new member Russ Burns for the resurfacing expense. Thank these folks the next time you see them and the next time you race on our smooth oval surface!

Nominations are coming up, so let me know if there is a position at the track you would be interested in holding. So far, Randy Bost and Billy Newhouse have put their names in the ring for the position of Oval Director. We’ll keep you posted when the voting process begins, so stay tuned.

The ORCCC is located, mentioned and written up in many R/C affiliated media. Many of these folks have erroneous information! We are trying to get all of them up to speed with current information, but we don’t know exactly who to contact. So far we’ve been in contact with Rev-Up magazine, the ROAR web-site and R/C Car Action magazine and web-site. Let us know who else needs to be notified and I’ll get to work. I NEED YOUR HELP, SO HELP!! Thank you and have a nice day.

As you probably know, we’ve purchased a new laptop computer. The other computer is being spiffed up for resale. We are not sure how the selling process will be handled, but let me know if you or someone you know would be interested in a hardly ever used IBM ThinkPad at a reasonable price. We are trying to recoup some of our expense, yet will offer a heck of a deal to an interested party.

Oval heats and mains will run for 5 minutes. There was some confusion, but no longer!

The last race of the Region IV off-road series will be held at the ORCCC race facility on July 10^th. Plan to race and/or help run the race. I’m sure we will be as successful in this race as we have been in the past.

We are looking into having a parking lot race in front of the deserted store on State Road 200 adjacent to Rob’s Hobby World. I’m trying to contact the owner to ask permission. We think this would be a good move for the club, as it would get us great exposure on the SR 200 side of town. There are so many residents situated there that might be interested in our sport, yet we’ve never seemed to attract any to the racetrack. NOW’S OUR CHANCE TO GRAB ‘EM! We’ll let you know when and where if this should materialize.

We’re looking for a mentor for a young (about 9 years of age and holding), beautiful R/C racer wannabe. Megan Danvers, who just won the pinewood derby championship at OCA, has a half-finished RC10T truck that she is dying to race. Anyone who would like to offer assistance getting her up and running please come forward now. Pinewood derbies today, ORCCC off-road champ tomorrow. The mentor can say……."I remember when she first got into R/C racing….."!

I’ve got one thing to say about turnmarshalling at the ORCCC…don’t wreck and you won’t need their services. If you must wreck, and the turnmarshall doesn’t fix you right away, it’s okay to ask the turnmarshall for assistance. It is NOT okay to sprinkle this request with foul and/or hateful language. The new rule at the track is, if you badmouth a turnmarshall, that turnmarshall has the right to let your car sit wrecked on the track until the cows come home. Keep it clean guys. The race director will try to assist in keeping the turnmarshalls attuned to their area and not on the entire race.

Lastly and maybe most importantly, the ORCCC, with the ample assistance of our primary sponsor Jack’s Hobbies, is going to host the "Ocala Ironman Off-Road Series" race beginning May 15^th. The series will be for 12 weeks, with no throw outs, hence the name "Ironman". The classes will be limited to 2wd Stock and Stock Truck. Race fees for the series will be $10 per class. Positions 1-3 will be awarded gift certificates. 1^st place is $100, 2^nd place is $75 and 3^rd place is $50. The race will begin before the summer break in July and August and pick back up in September. The break will give you time to re-group, save up money for more parts, take a vacation and do those things around the house the family has been bugging you about! It should be loads of fun, so plan to be at the track May 15^th.