By Steve Kaminski | The Grand Rapids Press

Link to Grand Rapids Press Article can be found here: GR Press

Dakotah Phend’s sweatshirt looked like something he could have ripped off the back of a NASCAR driver.

The 12-year old Clarkston youth made the trip to Proving Grounds Raceway, the brand new indoor remote control race track that opened in Jenison this fall, and the list of sponsors covering the front of his shirt would have made Jimmie Johnson proud.

“This one gives him his chassis,” said Nancy Phend, pointing at her son’s shirt.

She continued to rattle off the sponsors, who provide her son with everything from motors and batteries to car bodies and even the apparel Phend wears to the races.

There is sponsorship to be found in remote control car racing, just like in NASCAR, and Phend is hot. He has won about 20 national championships in the past seven years, and he has qualified for an international competition in Thailand in November 2010.

For some, remote control racing is only a hobby. Buy a car off the supermarket shelf and have at it in the driveway.

But for others, it’s serious business.

• Indoor and outdoor tracks are sprinkled throughout the state and Midwest. Proving Grounds has joined the list of statewide tracks that includes Battle Front Gaming and R/C in Grandville and Rapid Competition Raceway in Wyoming.

• Sanctioning bodies are available for diehard racers, such as the Midwest Offroad Racing League. MORL hosts five races each year statewide, and league director Dave Hering of Zeeland said up to 200 participants entered races last summer. Points are kept and trophies are awarded at the season-ending banquet.

• Blogs and chat rooms are helping blow up the sport even more, giving participants a chance to bench race and share tips.

• The best of drivers even make a comfortable living off of it.

“I have a buddy out in California, Ryan Cavalieri, and he makes about $100,000 a year racing,” said Jason Jakubczyk, 30. “There are people who get paid to race. It’s pretty mind-boggling.”

Jakubczyk, of Grandville, said he moved out to California on a whim when he was 24 and dreamed of a career in remote control racing. He returned to West Michigan when it didn’t pan out and now works for Sharp BMW.

Jakubczyk still does plenty of racing, though, and he competes for Team Associated of Lake Forest, Calif. The team provides him with parts and equipment, and in return, he keeps its name out in the public by winning races.

He has won big races at Battle Front, and he took first place in the first Nitro race at Proving Grounds this fall, shortly after Chad Stoub opened Proving Grounds in October.

Stoub’s 13,000-square-foot facility includes a heated pit area where racers can prep their cars for races, and, one room over, a track equipped with jumps and turns is spread out over an 80-by-100 foot dirt surface. He plans to open an outdoor track in the spring.

Stoub said a niche hobby such as remote control racing can succeed during tough economic times because people are staying closer to home.

Besides, he called Michigan a hotbed for this type of activity. Racing is available Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday, and drivers are grouped by skill level.

“Back in the 80s, there were a lot of good racers and talent in the area,” said Stoub, who began playing with cars as a child. “A lot of that talent moved to California because that’s where the manufacturers are located.

“You can get into this for $200, $300. Of course, you can spend thousands of dollars on it, but you don’t have to spend a lot to have fun and be competitive. You can get your kids involved, and you don’t have to worry about them getting hurt.”

Glenn Remington of Jackson said Stoub is right about Michigan being a racing hotbed. Just check out his Web site, handyracing.com. Remington’s son races, and he travels the Midwest and captures the action with video coverage and photographs.

Remington added that this type of racing can be traced back as early as the mid-1970s in Michigan, with RC cars first being introduced in the 1960s.

“More than anything, our workforce is highly technical because of our industry ties,” Remington said. “There are a lot of people here who work in a high tech environment, and this is a geek high-tech hobby.”

The technical part is one reason why the Siwecki brothers of Gaylord -- Tanner, 11, and Hunter, 13 -- race. They enjoy the racing, but agree that races often are won in the pits.

“It’s not always the fastest guy who wins,” Tanner said. “You can change the gears, the shocks, you can upgrade the engine. The setup is very important.”

Allen Horne, who recently visited Proving Grounds, operates Factory Tracks Raceway in Highland, and he said Stoub is off to a good start. He added that Stoub’s passion should help him avoid mistakes others have made.

“I have been involved with different tracks for at least 15 years now,” Horne said. “A lot of people get into these thinking they are a gold mine, that they are going to get rich quick. And then they realize, wait a minute, this is a lot of work. That’s when they go away.

“It’s more of a passion and a deep rooted desire to be involved in the industry. The facility is run more on passion and desire than actual money.”

Those owners who do make the right decisions are finding that they really do come if you build it.

“I was trying to find my husband a present,” Nancy Phend said. “I saw one of these cars and bought it. Dakotah was in kindergarten and wanted to try it. He has probably raced every weekend for the past seven years."Remote control racing more than a hobby."