07/08/2026
It's been 5 years to date that I got back into RC after a hiatus of 12 years away from it. During those 12 years I kept myself busy with completing a psychology internship and working in that industry, running a grime and hip hop radio show for a short time whilst in rural Australia (no one listed to grime back then, let alone the hip hop I played😬), applying for arts grants to try and get a rural Grafitti event to become a reality (I learnt the arts funding industry is filled with nepotism), music editing, video editing, photo editing, grafitti, even becoming a dedicated football ultra. But, RC was and continued to be a huge passion. I'd check Red RC, read forums etc.
As covid hit, I began watching content on YouTube by Ryan Stiles Harris and the RC bug hit! This time, due to Ryan's incredible content, I got wildly interested in offroad. And in 2021 I bought my first ever offroad kit. I hit the track with a goal to learn more about the art of setup and driving. The offroad scene felt fresh, exciting, highly competitive and there was a ton of new faces I never saw. RC felt alive! I learned quickly that offroad was just too dirty to prep in a small apartment, so I left it to one side wishing I had the space to prep cars and continue.
Soon after, I got back into nitro tourer racing, something I did for a long time prior to leaving RC. Unfortunately, I found this scene unwelcoming, stale, declining in numbers and frankly a bit depressive. Nitro tourer no longer was the fun class people travelled to tracks all over Sydney to race and became isolated at one nsw track with only a handful of people left racing it. Going back to something that felt like it was dying was not a nice feeling. I then bought an EP Onroad tourer and found a bustling scene that was highly competitive. Dan Dylen Garcia and Ray Zarb made me feel welcome and it was the perfect atmosphere to focus on learning about setup and driving. It didn't hurt that the year I reentered into EP, the PDNR - Penrith District Nitro Racing Inc. Held what can be called, one of THE BEST NSW State titles ever held in Australia with Scotty Ernst commentating (my psychology business funded his attendance😉) on an epic track layout. EP racing was fast, accurate, a deep field of competition, it was filled with excited Racers, people travelled and it felt lively and professional. So at that point, the offroad car sat to one side, the nitro car was forgotten and I was knee deep in EP!
Click over 5 years, and my knowledge had grown immeasurably. What seemed confusing and daunting about RC car setup now feels almost natural to guess and predict. Although there's way more to learn, I'm more confident now on how to setup a car. The lesson here is: 1) learn about setup away from a race day, go to your track and make changes and see what it feels like. Learn setup by understanding the feeling it gives the car as you drive it, then learn about the theory later. 2) trust your experience and gut feeling. If your practice days at the track taught you that that change equaled more grip while others tell you it doesn't, setup your way, then learn later if it's wrong. Sometimes setup opinions can be like a room filled with voices speaking another language, don't try to listen to every person all at once. 3) Your setup errors reenforce what you learnt wrong, so make those errors, be humble, learn and talk to others once you are confident
So now it's 5 years down the track, the knowledge has grown and the obsession has turned into www.superstockrc.com ...... And next year, SuperStock enters again into the offroad market with now, space to setup and clean an offroad car and this time not only racing and Learning, but selling offroad kits.
It's funny how passions and obsessions lead to some of the most enjoyable experiences when you let your heart lead your actions 🤔
