Hooter Chassis Outlaw Tour

08/14/2026

TAG THOSE DRIVERS WHO STILL NEED TO SIGN UP!
https://ovalwerks.com/kickoff-classic-entry/

07/17/2026

We'd like to take a minute to send out a huge THANK YOU and WELCOME to Mr. Eric Hudnell who has agreed to join us as race director/announcer for the 2026 Kickoff Classic at NORCAR R/C Raceway! Not only is Eric a racer, he's also the man behind the mic of the Ho**er Chassis Outlaw Tour. We are looking forward to having him lead this event!

06/09/2026

Here is all of the information for the upcoming season. Rules are posted on the web link at the bottom and will also be posted in the Group Page. Rules will be slightly tweaked once the Official TOUR Rules are released.

2026-2027 Classes:
17.5 Pro Stock Car
21.5 Stock Car
25.5 Truck
17.5 Pro Stock RTT
21.5 Stock RTT
Breakout
Legend
Losi NASCAR

Part Time Classes:
HackFab Late Model (TR Speedway and Gem City Gun Club)
17.5 12th Scale (NORCAR Races Only)
13.5 Super Stock (NORCAR Races Only)

Change Highlights:
• Bump ups for all mains.
• 17.5 RTT Addition.
• Redefined eligibility for Legends and 25.5 Truck.
• Stricter Losi NASCAR Rules.
• BSR Rubber Tires Only in Losi NASCAR.

HCOT Committee
HCOT Lead – Frank Mertz
Race Day Coordinator – Ryan Szary
Race Director – Eric Hudnell
Tech Lead – Yoshi Ingersol
Treasurer/Sponsor Coordinator – Jeremy Gullo
General Help – Dave Ward
General Help – Scott Fuller
General Help – Nate Ward

https://www.mertzracing.com/hcot

06/08/2026

17.5 Pro Stock RTT Motors

We have decided we are going to start the season using last year's Tekin Gen 4 r2 17.5 motor for the 17.5 Pro Stock RTT Class. This will be for the first 3 races of the season. In December, we will make a decision with the participants of the class on whether to follow TOUR with the open motor or use the Turn One Spec Motor to start 2027.

Here is how we have come to this conclusion. We posted a poll about which motor to use this season. Open motor had more votes. If you look at the people who voted, the majority of the people who ran two or more races with us, voted to use the Turn One Motor.

Next I did some quick searching for Non-Epoxy 17.5 Motors. R1 and Exalt are currently out of stock. Hobbywing is back in stock after not being available and Tekin doesn't have an approved motor on the ROAR list yet. There currently seems to be an availability issue with these motors. Will it get better or worse as we get closer to the start of the season?

Then the Turn One motor is not available yet. When they are released, the supply may disappear quick considering a lot of people will purchase 4 or 5 to pick the best.

With concerns of motor availability to start the season, we feel it is best to re-evaluate the motor situation in December and move forward from there with the 17.5 Pro Stock Truck Class. There is a heavy burden on most of the classes using new motors this season. I know this may be unpopular with some people but we need to do what is best for our racers. There are lots of good used Tekin Motors out there cheap. I (Frank) can loan a motor or two in anyone needs one.

On a side note, rules and information for the 2026-2027 season will be posted tonight.

06/03/2026

I just wanted to make a quick post to address a few things.

I had a few people reach out recently. HCOT will not be switching the CRC Rubber Tires in the 25.5 truck class. Nor will we be adding the 25.5 RTT Class.

I was hoping to have the rules and schedule finalized by now but my surgery a few weeks ago put me behind with a few things. I was also hoping TOUR would have had their rules released by now so it would help us finalize a few things, not sure what the hold up is. I am hoping to have everything released within the next two weeks.

We hope to see everyone at the Firecracker Race.

Frank

Send a message to learn more

05/12/2026

Let's talk about classes for next season. First off, we want to thank everyone who came out to race with us last season. We had 1122 entries through 9 races. 163 different people competed with us in 2025-2026.

Classes definitely returning for the 2026-2027 season are the following:
17.5 Pro Stock
21.5 Stock
25.5 Truck
21.5 RTT
Breakout
Legend
Losi NASCAR

New next season, will be 17.5 RTT. SK will not return due to lack of participation. 13.5 Super Stock only pulled car counts at the NORCAR races, so we will only offer 13.5 Super Stock at the 2 NORCAR races with no points.

17.5 12th scale had seen a steady decline throughout the season. Outside of the NORCAR races, 12th scale participation wasn't good the second half of the season. We only had one racer run 6 of the races. So the question is, do we run 12th scale weekly, at the NORCAR races only or just drop the class? With that being said, how many people are committing to racing 12th scale for points?

HackFab Late Model is the other class in question. We had good car counts throughout the season, but we had zero entries the last two races. How many people are committed to running HackFab next season for points? Do we race the class or just drop it?

I personally don't like running 3 & 4 car classes. It just makes a long day even longer. We hate to ask sponsors to spend money on a class with questionable support. It's not fair to them. So we need to make a decision on the above 2 classes.

As far as Sponsors, if you are interested in supporting our series for the 2026-2027 Season, reach out to Jeremy Gullo. He will be coordinating all sponsorships.

05/06/2026

We want to thank everyone who took time to fill out the poll. We had 64 responses. We had lots of constructive feedback. We really appreciate that. We will take some time to digest everything. We will be posting another poll to narrow down and finalize some classes and rules. Here are some of the highlights.

Quick Poll Summary:
• Bricklane, Iron City and 997 Received the most votes to be added.
• 24-4 Vote in Favor of BSR Tires in Losi NASCAR.
• 23-14 Vote in Favor of Keeping Truck Bodies in 25.5.
• 21-19 Vote in Favor of keeping the current speed control package in 25.5.
• The only non-current class with more than 4 votes was 17.5 RTT (18 votes)

Suggested Rule Change Highlights:
• Make Legends Entry Level.
• Rubber Tires on Legends.
• Add Bump Ups for all Mains.
• Get a Blinky Buster for Speed Control Games.
• Move Losi NASCAR to first to get the locals home earlier.
• Less Classes.
• Start the Race Day Earlier.
• Better Losi NASCAR tech.
• Shorter Season.
• Track Name on Plaques.
• Open Doors earlier than 8am.

05/05/2026

This is a dirt related cause but I know we have a lot of dirt racers on this page. I have known the Flurer family since the beginning of my race days.

Frank

We crushed it! Go Fundme or another type of funding will be setup. This one is closed!!!

Thank you all!!!!

Per my video yesterday we are going to help out the Flurer family as they're still looking for answers in the Hospital with their little guy Mason.

Massive outreach of people yesterday which shows just how great our community is.

We are going to be waffling off a few cars here.

1st pull will be your choice of 2 cars from GFRP or CW.

You can get 1 of each or both the same brand. Rob at CW reached out yesterday and said let's make it so people can get 2 and not just 1. Both of these cars will come with a free wrap option from Rick Putnam at P3 designs.

2nd pull will get a GFRP car of your choice.

3rd pull will get a CW car of your choice. These were donated by Greg Cooper from the famed Racers Haven track in Bakersfield CA.

4th pull will get 2 Hot Passes to any remaining Craftsman Truck Series event courtesy of Justin Haley.

5th pull will get you a $250 Ecard for Hobby Action in Chandler AZ, courtesy of Larry Tom.

6th pull will be $250 gift card to BBM courtesy of Broke Dad's RC.

7th pull will be $200 card to CRD-RC courtesy of Francois Couillard.

8th pull is for a Velocity VS2 sprint car kit with McAllister Racing body wrapped by P3 designs.

05/05/2026

Congratulations to 2025-2026 Award Winners!

13.5 Super Stock by Tsunami Race Components
- Terry Zinser

17.5 FTC by Mertz R/C Race Components
- Frank Mertz

17.5 12th Scale by Williams Motorsports R/C
- Frank Mertz

21.5 RTT by Impact R/C
- David Kress

21.5 FTT by TCR
- David Ward

Breakout by Good's Raceway
- Larry Weiser

Legend by Empty Pockets Motorsports
- Matt Richmond

SK by C&C Motorsports
- Matt Zaccardo

Hackfab Late Models by HackFab
- Matt Zaccardo

25.5 Truck by Power Push Batteries
- Josh Gallaway

Losi NASCAR by Hot Bottom Designs
- Rob Richmond Jr.

Ascending Star - Oliver Belzile

Most Improved - Gene Johnston

Good Sportsmanship Award - Larry Weiser & Michael Pahanish

05/05/2026

We would like to thank everyone who came out to race Austintown Hobby for Race number 9 of the season. We had 120 Entries. Thanks to Kevin and Bobby for the hospitality. Thanks to Eric Hudnell for keeping the show running smoothly and getting finshed up early with the added activities. Thanks to all of the HCOT Committee Members for the help.

Please give a like and/or share to all of our sponsors below. We are going to try and get the Rules and Schedule Posted by June 1st for the 2026-2027 Season. We hope to see everyone at the Firecracker Classic in July. Enjoy your Summer!

360 Graphics
AMain Hobbies
Boca Bearing Company
C&C Motorsports
Donathen RC
Elite Speed Components
Empty Pockets Motorsports
Foolish Mortal Podcast
Good's Raceway
Gullo53 Racing
HackFab
Hobbywing
Hot Bottom Designs
Impact R/C
IMRC Racing n Repair
Lefthander-RC.com
Mertz R/C Race Components
Mostly Legal Speed Shop
M.O.B Motorworx
Muddslide Motorsports
Nick Bell Racing
Ovalwerks
Paint by Ponce
Power Push Batteries
Pemberton Raceworks
R1 Wurks
SMC Racing
Sortafast
TCR
Tsunami Race Components
Williams Motorsports R/C
XCEL Motorsports