MILWAUKEE — There is a March Madness tournament that is getting completely over shadowed, and it is even faster paced than the traditional NCAA basketball tournament.
It's the slot car Midwest Championship. The best slot car racers from across the Midwest have descended upon Milwaukee to compete in this regional championship at Lucky Bob's Raceway on 5822 W. Forest Home Ave.
“They say this is the fastest motor sport. I’d say were doing over 1,000 mph if you were to put it on a scale," Brian 'Big Moe' Mofield, a racer from Ohio said.
These cars are built to a 1/32 scale compared to a regular car. The speed is also measured at scale. So if you were to translate the relative speed of these slot cars to a regular car, you'd be watching cars hit around 1,000 miles per hour.
Big Moe was zeroed in on Friday afternoon getting in some practice laps before qualifying and subsequent championship races were held over the weekend.
“As I watch the car, I’m trying to figure out where can I get on it and where can I get on it more. You know driving it harder on different spots of the track.”
It's a game of milliseconds. At one point Big Moe, who has been racing for 31 years, was posting laps of 2.8 seconds. With a few modifications he was able to bring his new lap time to 2.5 seconds.
While these cars are fast, the sport isn't lucrative. The cars and remotes cost around $300, but the prize money is just $80 for first place. It's not about the money, though. It's about chasing after that faster and faster speed.
"We want the car down, but we don’t want it to drag. We want speed, but we want handling. So it's kind of like NASCAR, we want the car to go fast, but we want it to go around the curb," Big Moe said.
It’s a fast sport which is why this is a March Madness tournament that is worth paying attention too.
