The Backyard – Vegas Goes Vintage
Greetings all and Happy Friday!
Las Vegas isn’t just about neon lights and blackjack tables this week — it’s also home to one of the coolest RC events of the year. The Team Associated Vintage Championships are happening right now at The Orleans Hotel & Casino, bringing together racers, collectors, and die-hard fans to celebrate the machines that built the hobby. From classic RC10s to early Yokomos and Losis, it’s a festival of suspension arms, gold tubs, and dirt — real dirt, no less — all wrapped in a heavy dose of nostalgia.
This isn’t your average race weekend. The Vintage Championships break down classes by era, with divisions for 2WD, 4WD, and trucks spanning from the late ’70s through the early 2000s. It’s an RC time machine — one moment you’re watching an ’85 RC10 bounding through a berm, the next it’s a ’94 Losi XXT chasing it down. And while Team Associated might have its name on the banner, this isn’t a one-brand show; all makes are welcome to take the line.
Those lucky enough to participate are getting the full experience — a swag bag, access to an exclusive $100-off deal on the special-edition RC10 Classic re-release, and a chance to race in an environment that feels more celebration than competition. But don’t be fooled — the competition is fierce. Watching seasoned veterans pilot these vintage machines like it’s 1993 again is a thing of beauty.
If you’ve been following along on social media, it’s been a blast to watch. Photos and videos have been rolling in since the race began (the track photo above is from the Team Associated Facebook page and you should definitely check out some of the other photos and videos they’ve been posting) — gold pans in flight, old-school paint jobs gleaming under the Vegas lights, and plenty of grins from racers clearly having the time of their lives. You can feel the fun through the screen.
Shout out to my friend and fellow racer Kris Hackenson who drove from Chicago to Vegas and is racing EIGHT different classes. Side-note, I need to eventually spotlight his amazing collection of vintage racers. He is the best kind of hobby nut!
Ok so let’s talk about that era appropriate REAL DIRT track? Absolutely glorious! It’s been hilarious seeing some young pups complain on-line about the track’s simplicity. Bro- that is how it was back in the day. Tracks weren’t the CAD-laid out blue-groove technical masterpieces of today. In many cases they were just kind of built by way of trial and error and the result was what it was, but that was the fun of it.
I’m telling you, man. Loose dirt is where it’s at. You have to ADJUST your car/truck throughout a race day, and that may mean changing your pin spikes, messing with your slipper, etc. Anyways, enough about the track, haha.
What I love most about events like this is what they say about where the hobby is at right now. Crawling might be the growth segment, but vintage racing still contains a lot of the soul. Team Associated is smart to invest in honoring its past like this. They’re not just racing nostalgia — they’re preserving it. And yeah, there is also big business involved with it, and that certainly helps!
At its heart, the Vintage Championships are more than a look back; they’re a reminder of why so many of us fell in love with this hobby in the first place. The energy around the event proves that there’s still room for heritage in a tech-heavy RC world, and that’s a wonderful thing to see.
Until next time, keep it on all 4’s — even if they’re wearing pin spikes from 1989.
