IHSR Looking for New Racers and New Venues

[4380r]

The Interstate Home Slot Racers (IHSR), a home racing club in the mid/Southern PA; Maryland; WVA; and Virginia region, is laying out its 2022/2023 season, and is looking for new members and racing venues.

IHSR has been an active, vibrant club racing 1/32 scale cars non-stop since 1994. Over the years, well over 300 people have been active members.

If you’re in the Harrisburg, York, Chambersburg, Baltimore, Annapolis, DC, Rockville/Gaithersburg, NOVA, Richmond, Tidewater Virginia, Charles Town, Frederick, Harpers’s Ferry areas, and would like to connect with a great bunch of slot racers for whom the fun of racing, not necessarily always winning is important, you should get in touch.

We all know the demographics of our hobby, age wise. We’ve had some outstanding layouts, plastic and wood, over the years, second to none. This past year life has reduced a few of our favorite venues, although we still have world class slot car tracks on which to race.

If you’re in the region, have a three+ lane wood or plastic layout, with a computerized race management system, and would like to host club races, we’d like to hear from you. We’re good people.

If you’d like to race, and/or maybe host IHSR events, please reach out to me.

Todd

[email protected]

[Bal r 14]

I tried a number of ways to find slot car racers with no luck... a lot of them don't come here. So I contacted the major slot car web sites, like SCC, and asked if they had customers in my area and if they would mind sending an email to them for me. It worked! Found a nice group with 6 tracks.

[modelersc]

This is the best idea ever. If the dealers would participate I know it would be a boost for all clubs and the dealers themselves. There's nothing like getting together with other racers to raise everyone's enthusiasm--- and then sales !

Seriously... we need to make this happen.

[HO RacePro]

Okay, this got me thinking...

How about the club printing up business cards -- standard size or maybe 3 x 5 -- and sending packs of them to retailers. The idea is the retailer tosses a card in with every shipment.

Now the question is how to motivate the retailers to do that. Would they see the self-interest angle here -- that promoting clubs should help generate business? Or is there some other way to get them to cooperate?

Might those cards be coupons for a day of free racing? Or maybe just a free lunch? Some other freebie to entice a newbie to attend a race?

At the moment a bunch 'o half-baked ideas.

Folks have tried posting directories of clubs since forever -- originally in slot car magazines. Never been all that successful since clubs tend to spring up and die off like mayflies.

There are clubs with staying power. Those aren't all that hard to find if one spends some time online searching. But the newbie needs to put in the time searching.