PTA Spring Carnival Fundraisers

It may still be Winter, but now is the time to start booking Races2U for your school’s PTA Spring Fundraiser carnivals.  March is fast approaching, and we have already booked with some of our usual hosts such as Caldwell Heights Elementary, who will be holding their carnival on March 29th, as well as some first timers like Old Town Elementary, who are having theirs on April 25th.  With only 2 trailers, if you want slot car racing at your school this Spring, book now to insure we are available for your event.  Please contact us for availability.

PTA Spring Carnival Fundraisers

Justin Bieber arrested for Drag Racing/DUI

If it wasn’t for the DUI, we might ALMOST think Justin Bieber is cool after all. He was caught drag racing in a yellow Lamborghini, racing his friend in a red Ferrari. Too bad he had to be under the influence, or it could have been a good story. Come on Bieber- racers don’t race under the influence. Straighten up!

See the full story here:

Justin Bieber arrested for Drag Racing/DUI

Anki Drive

Many people have been asking us about the new Anki Drive, and whether we will be adding it to our racing lineup. Anki is a new type of racing game that was released in December of 2013, in which you use an I-phone or I-pad to control robotic cars that run on a special roll up race track. The track consists of a roll up vinyl mat with a pre-printed oval, and contains digital information that the cars read with optical sensors. Up to 4 cars can race at a time. These cars not only race, but they battle as well, and shoot each other with beams of light. When a car is “hit” it goes into a spin. You can learn more about Anki here.

As to whether Anki will be added to Races2U: This is a great technology, and a lot of fun. However, the limitations for commercial use may keep this from being a practical product for us to race on a regular basis.  It requires the use of a newer generation I-Phone or I-Pad for each car, as well as the downloaded app.  Currently it is not compatible with Android or Windows operating systems. At the moment there is only one track, and it is a fairly simple oval, and there are only 4 cars available. Lastly, the cars run on batteries, which need to be recharged after about 20 minutes of use, and take 10 minutes to charge. We would certainly consider adding this to our retail products, and an in-store demo would not be out of the question, but as far as commercial racing applications, that remains to be seen. We will certainly keep our eyes on this as it evolves.

Anki Drive

Passing of a friend and colleague- RIP Dwayne Helbourg

Dwayne Helbourg,  devoted brother, loving uncle, baseball fan, karaoke singer, slot car racer, and big kid at heart, passed away at the age of 45.  Although I never had the pleasure of meeting him face to face, we spent many hours together on the phone, emails, and Facebook, and I considered him a kindred spirit.   He will be sorely missed by his family and his many friends, as well as all those he touched through Tracks on the Move.  His final actions of donating his eyes and other organs show the kind of character this kind man was made of.    Donations may be made in his honor to www.diabetes.org.  RIP Dwayne

Passing of a friend and colleague- RIP Dwayne Helbourg

RUSH movie coming out on video this month - Review

Rush- a film directed by Ron Howard- tells the story of F1 drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda and their famous rivalry. As many of you may be aware, Races2U, along with Ferrari of Austin, Driveway Austin, and Trinity Racing Concepts, sponsored the Austin premier of this great racing film when it was released in September.  Now the movie is due to be released on video January 28th.  Any serious racing fan should consider adding this to their collection.  The acting was first rate, although I have to admit it was hard to see Chris Hemsworth as anyone but his “Thor” character until well into the movie.  This has nothing to do with his acting ability, but more to do with the fact that he had already played Thor in 2 movies prior and had a third coming out shortly after this movie premiered.  However, I do believe he was the right actor for the part, as many women swoon over him as they did the real James Hunt back in his heyday.  Hemsworth played the part of the arrogant, jet-set playboy very well, and was quite believable in the role.  Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda was brilliant, and played the part of the calculating, performance driven, engineering Austrian so convincingly, even the real Niki Lauda was impressed.  The story, brought with very little embellishment from the actual events, was compelling and moving.  The cinematography, costumes, and dialogue were all as if this had actually been filmed in the 1970′s, and it was difficult to spot any anachronisms that may have crept into the film.  The attention to detail was superb.  If I have any criticism of the film, it would be that I would have preferred to see less of the graphic injuries, sex scenes, and frequent use of the “F” word. Had this film been able to obtain a “PG-13″ rating rather than an “R” rating, I think the life lessons in this film would have been wonderful to show to young teens.  As it is, I may create my own edited version to share with my family, as I believe this film teaches important values in a way that people can relate with, and it is nice to see such an uplifting positive story come out of real life from Hollywood once in a while.  I give the film an A-.

RUSH movie coming out on video this month - Review

Go-Kart racing

Austin is fast becoming an auto racing town, and more people in Central Texas are discovering the joy of the sport every day.  For those of us who are not professional racers, or don’t want to invest in a sports car for track days, Go-Kart racing can be a great way to get the adrenaline rush  of automotive competition without having to seriously commit to the sport.  There are now several places in and around Austin where you can go and get the thrill of driving fast, without raising your insurance bill.  The infographic below gives some details on two of the local options.

 

Go-Kart racing