American Hot Rod Racer

General topics of interest to racers and race coordinators alike.
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gpraceman
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American Hot Rod Racer

Post by gpraceman »

I saw mention of this place on another board.
Burnin’ rubber all the way, American Hot Rod Racer has cruised into Detroit so kids of all ages can Build It! Race It!™ An exciting new retail concept, American Hot Rod Racer has just opened it first store in Michigan at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights. It is the first and only store to offer customers an opportunity to personally create a custom remote-controlled vehicle or pinewood derby car and race it on a state-of-the-art speedway in the store.
Press release: http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=32882
Website: http://www.americanhotrodracer.com

That's an interesting retail concept. :thumbup:

In a couple of photos you can see a Micro Wizard track and timer. Hopefully, they are using some good software along with it. :wink:

I can imagine someone building a car for their Pinewood Derby, going to this store and racing it on this store's track to get feedback on times and to do tuning. Paying for 15 minutes of track time is definitely less expensive than buying a test track.
Randy Lisano
Romans 5:8

Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
blcrow33
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Re: American Hot Rod Racer

Post by blcrow33 »

We have one of these stores in our area. Things in there are very expensive. They have a PWD track but it is old and beat up. I called one time to get a price on hosting a PWD race just to see how much it was and they would only do the race in their small store and it was a lot of money from what I can remember. It was a while ago so I do not remember the exact amount. They hosted our Council race at a fair ground a couple of years ago and when the race was over, the guy took some of the cars with him and displayed them in his store and never asked the scouts if he could. When the Council tried to get a hold of him to get the cars back and get the data from the race so everyone could see their times, it took 9 months before he would return their calls or be in the store so someone could talk to him. He finally gave the cars back but never did give the final data from the race so the council could post all the times. My son came in first and I was interest in seeing how close all the times where. After this owner did this, I want nothing to do with this store. They look to do more remote controlled racing in the store rather than PWD stuff.
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Re: American Hot Rod Racer

Post by gpraceman »

blcrow33 wrote:We have one of these stores in our area. Things in there are very expensive.
I can imagine it would be. Not cheap to run a store front and all the stuff involved. Especially with all of the RC stuff that gets beat up.
blcrow33 wrote:They have a PWD track but it is old and beat up.
From what I've read, the OH store has a Best Track. I assume then that the Micro Wizard track is in their MI store.
blcrow33 wrote:They hosted our Council race at a fair ground a couple of years ago and when the race was over, the guy took some of the cars with him and displayed them in his store and never asked the scouts if he could. When the Council tried to get a hold of him to get the cars back and get the data from the race so everyone could see their times, it took 9 months before he would return their calls or be in the store so someone could talk to him. He finally gave the cars back but never did give the final data from the race so the council could post all the times.
Are you sure it was these guys? It sounds like they just opened in June '07.
Randy Lisano
Romans 5:8

Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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Re: American Hot Rod Racer

Post by gpraceman »

Here's an interview with the owners.

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/ ... 39660/1107

From this footage, it looks like the OH store has a Micro Wizard track, not a BestTrack. Certainly doesn't look old and beat up. It looks like a newer anodized one.
Randy Lisano
Romans 5:8

Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
TAL
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Re: American Hot Rod Racer

Post by TAL »

gpraceman wrote:

That's an interesting retail concept. :thumbup:

In a couple of photos you can see a Micro Wizard track and timer. Hopefully, they are using some good software along with it. :wink:

I can imagine someone building a car for their Pinewood Derby, going to this store and racing it on this store's track to get feedback on times and to do tuning. Paying for 15 minutes of track time is definitely less expensive than buying a test track.
That's an idea I have been working on for 3 or 4 years now , Man they have stole my idea.

I believe it will work.

It looks like they have a photo image type software for the there racing.

My concept includes PWD, R/C and also a few other of secret weapons.

They have'nt yet got the corner of the market figured out.
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Re: American Hot Rod Racer

Post by blcrow33 »

The track at the Ohio store was the one they used at the Council race. The video only shows it for a second. It is not a Best track. I have seen the track up close and at the Council race there must have been about 15 cars that jumped the track. Plus the stop section is an open pit so the cars could crash into each other. I do not believe it was anodized. There was also a Best Track there that day that a Pack let them use and they had no problems with it. The store is only about 15 minutes from where I live. The Council race was in May of 2007 and I was in the store right after that. I do not know when it was opened. I can only tell you what myself and the Cleveland Council had to deal with. Rick was the guy the Council could not get any answers from for months. I talked to a lot of people at the Council who were trying to get answers from him so they could get the cars back. It may be a grat business and he might be a good guy but in the Greater Cleveland Council's experience, the store did not leave a good taste in their mouth.
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Re: American Hot Rod Racer

Post by gpraceman »

blcrow33 wrote:The track at the Ohio store was the one they used at the Council race. The video only shows it for a second. It is not a Best track. I have seen the track up close and at the Council race there must have been about 15 cars that jumped the track. Plus the stop section is an open pit so the cars could crash into each other.
From the video and photos on their site, it is a Piantedosi (now Micro Wizard) track. One of the photos does make it look like they have a custom stop section, like what you describe. Maybe it was before Piantedosi came out with their new stop section design, which would also be before they came out with an anodized track.

If they had problems with cars jumping the track, then they likely did not do a good job of setting up the track. I always double check the joint sections prior to racing and rarely ever see a car jump out of its lane on this brand of track.
blcrow33 wrote:The Council race was in May of 2007 and I was in the store right after that. I do not know when it was opened. I can only tell you what myself and the Cleveland Council had to deal with. Rick was the guy the Council could not get any answers from for months. I talked to a lot of people at the Council who were trying to get answers from him so they could get the cars back. It may be a grat business and he might be a good guy but in the Greater Cleveland Council's experience, the store did not leave a good taste in their mouth.
I'm sorry to hear about that. It is definitely not a good way to endear themselves to the local Cub Scout community, since part of their business model is a Pinewood Derby type build and race experience. That could turn off potential customers, which it seems to have done.
Randy Lisano
Romans 5:8

Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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