On June 12, Steel City Hobbies owner Mike Rooney arranged for the store to introduce a complete R/C 4×4 1/10th Scale Monster Truck, Touring Car and 1/5th scale demonstration at the Pittsburgh Steelers Training Facility on the South Side of Pittsburgh.

“It was a nice break from the action and a nice conclusion to the players “Mini Camp”" one rookie said. The players are off until training camp starts July 24th. “Now we have something to race in our off-season,” another added. Jerome Bettis was horrified when he totaled a Traxxas SportMaxx into the curb. Jerome immediately offered to pay for damages, but luckily the damage turned out to be minimal. I only wish I had a camera to forever capture the look on Jerome’s face! Jerry, our store manager, was setting up as I was motioning for interested R/C hobbyist to walk over to see what we were up to. When Jerry fired up the 1/5″ scale truck, everyone’s interest was captivated! The sound of a Weed-Eater engine will do that to you. Even during a rain storm… boys will be boys.

It was also very interesting to see a black and gold mini truck go whizzing by you! I personally have not seen a 1/5″ scale run before this day, and all I could think about was that I hope nobody hits anyone’s REAL car! No worries though, because everyone’s attention turned to the Traxxas Monster Trucks and the Team Losi touring cars. Jerry had his SportMaxx and I had my T-Maxx running full tilt. As you’ll recall, the SportMaxx was wrecked early on by Jerome, but this provided for a priceless laugh! The T-Maxx held up well, but was a little shaky towards the end of the demonstration from the extreme driving the players were putting these models thru. We also broke out a new E-Maxx for Jason Gildon and he was content popping wheelies. I was surprised that the truck was able to pop wheelies even in the rain! Hines Ward was as partial to the Team Losi electric Touring Car as Deshea Townsend was to the Associated Nitro. Townsend was so excited he ran home to get a model he had purchased earlier, to have our shop tune it for peak performance.

Charlie Batch and Kendrell Bell tried their hand at Team Losi’s XXX Francis stadium truck with a tricked out R1 Radio. It was a funny sight to see these guys line up the cars for a mini drag race…. all in a parking lot full of expensive “real” cars! There were a lot of players there having fun – too many to list at the moment! Check out the pictures as it was a lot of fun! (both for Steel City Hobbies and the Steelers) Also, keep your eyes peeled as rumor has it that a new R/C video is coming out sometime late summer!