BARLING, Ark. — Radio-controlled racing is taking off in Arkansas and right now Barling based shop GS Hobby is at the center of it.
On Saturday, Feb. 17, the radio-controlled racing company held an event trying to grow the game. Bryan Shumate, the owner of GS Hobby, says he tries to keep prices affordable for racers to participate.
"Fees are $20 and then like a startup car to get you going starts at about $250. But yeah, you can go unlimited there, you can spend as much as you want to spend," Shumate said.
While these events don't have prize money, these racers are competing for the love of the game.
"Like most everybody is kind of their hobby here. So, it's just what they do like they've done for years. Most of them there's some new people here as well," racer and GS Hobby employee Creed Nally said.
"If you get money involved, it could cause, you know, incidents on the track to where they hit you or take you out from a job so it's a little tough, but we'll do it just for fun," participant AJ Marasco said.
While there's no cash prizes involved, that doesn't stop people from traveling across the country to compete at the highest level.
"From here we have Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Michigan, Florida," Shumate said.
Marasco, a racer from Florida, who's traveled to over 10 states to compete in RC racing, says this race is one of his favorites.
"Just the environment like it's such an awesome place, you know, tracks awesome hobby shops, awesome. People Are Awesome here. Great. Customer Support racers are awesome here. Nobody's a bad person. Everyone's just such a good guy," Marasco said.
The event had almost 100 competitors from across the country.
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