latest news
Jan 1 2023:
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The New Year is upon us and we are busy makign plans for the 2023 Straightline Showdown. Dates have been proposed to Great Lakes Dragaway of July 27-30 2023. As soon as we have confirmation from them, we will make these dates official. Please stay check back here and our FB page for all updates. We look forward to seeing everyone this summer in Wisconsin.
July 1 2022
We are drawing close to what is going to be a fantastic event. A full entry of cars to battle it out at the legendary Great Lakes Dragaway. Gates open Thrusday July 28 at 9am for load in and setup. We look forward to seeing everyone at the Showdown.
March 4 2022.
The interest in the evnet continues to grow and we are now taking waitlist entries. If you are wanting to join us, please make your entry and select Waitlist Outlaw. No payment is needed at this time. Selecting Waitlist will get you on the waitlist and we will fill the open spots with names from this list. There will be racers who have signed up for the race but for some reasons will have to drop out. These opening will be filled from the waitlist.
March 2 2022:
What an amazing night of registration, Thank you to everyone who is planning on joining us for the Showdown. It is going to be a fantastic weekend of racing. Keep an eye on this page and the FB page for updates. With the amazing interest in the Outlaw class, we have updated the schedule for the RTR classes. The RTR classes will have their competition on Saturday and Sunday only. RTR Racers are welcome to come and setup and practice on Thursday and Friday and Saturday during practice times but the RTR competion will be held only on Saturday and Sunday. Check the schedule page for full schedule.
February 8 2022:
It is time to make plans to join us for the Straightline Showdown July 28-31. Entries will go live on March 2nd at 7pm ct here on the website. A deposit of $20 will be due at registration paid via PayPal. Only 256 spots will be available and we are expecting the event to sell out. Make plans to be online at 7pm March 2nd to make your entry. You dont want to miss out on the exciting time you will have at the Straightline Showdown!
January 24 2022:
Big news for the Straightline Showdown. We are proud to announce that the RC Divas Queen of the Streets will be held in conjunction with the Straighline Showdown. QOS will be held on Thursday July 28th at the Showdown. We are looking forward to having the fastest lady racers in the nation joining us for this exciding addition to the Showdown.
September 16th 2021:
The inagural Straighline Showdown presented by Hobbywing is in the books and what an event it was. Amazing racing and great friendships made with racers from Coast To Coast. We wanted to waste no time in getting things set for 2022 so we are set now. Dates for the 2022 Showdown are July 28-31 2022 again at the legendary Great Lakes Dragaway. More info to come but all the great things we had this year will be back. Racer Goodie Bags, Awesome event T shirts and the best run event in the country is what you can plan on for the 2nd running of the Showdown in 2022. We hope you can make plans to join us.
August 20th 2021:
We are excited to continue bringing news of more great sponsor who will be joining the Straightline Showdown. We are proud to welcome Tekin Electronics to the family of sponsors. Tekin who has been in the racing game for many many years has taking that experience and brought it to the Drag Racing World. Tekin -is- high-performance racing. With over 30 years in the industry, Tekin pushes the boundaries of RC Racing innovation with world class products and customer service. Tekin is Smarter-Smaller-Faster. We thank them for their support of the Showdown. Make sure to check them out at www.teamtekin.com
August 19th 2021:
One of the biggest names in the World of RC is joining the Showdown and we are very excited to welcome Traxxas to the Straighline Showdown. Traxxas "the fastest name in Radio Control" Will be in attendance at the Showdown and displaying some of their latest and greatest products. Part of the Showdown is the Traxxas Drag Slash RTR class and they will there to support all the racrers in the class. Tech support and tunning advice will be available to ensure you get the most out of your Drag Slash. Make sure you stop by the Traxxas booth and check out all Traxxas has to offer. www.traxxas.com
August 18 2021:
August 17 2021:
Sponsor announcements continue as we build up to the Showdown. We welcome Team Losi and Proline as sponsors of the event. Losi came into the Drag Race world with thier fantastic scale looking 22s and will be in attendance supporting all their Losi Customers and showcasing the latest products from Losi. Racers who are running in the Losi 22S RTR class have lots to look forward to. Not only having the factory support from the Losi Team, Losi will be giving each 22S RTR class participants a specail goodie bag including a Limited edition number print of the 22S by artist Jeff Yonkers. Along with a cool Losi hat, and a pair of 22S Rims and Tires. www.teamlosi.com
Proline is also going to be a big part of the Showdown. We have talked a lot about the racer goodie bag each entrant will receive. Proline has really stepped it up and will be giving each entrant a Proline 1978 Malibu body. These are beautiful looking bodies that everyone will love and included with your entry. www.prolineracing.com
August 1 2021:
As things continue to roll for the inagural Straightline Showdown, We are proud to announce that Hobbywing will be our Title sponsor for the Showdown. Hobbywing has been a long time supporter of R/C Racing and continues
by joining the Straitline Showdown. Hobbywing will be attending the event to assist any and all racers with their needs for the weekend. Need a hot soldering Iron? Have some tuning questions? Swing by the Hobbywing Booth to chat with Hobbywing and their Team. From our friends at Hobbywing - We are extremely excited for the Straightline
Showdown and look forward to meeting many of the R/C Drag Racing worlds fastest racers. See you all there! www.hobbywingdirect.com
June 17 2021:
Entries for the Straightline Showdown will go live on July 6th at 7pm CT here on the site. Our entry maximum is 512 and we may sell out. To gurantee a spot in the event and to get the event T Shirt included with your entry a deposit of $25 will need to be paid via Pay Pal. ALL ENTRIES WITH A PAID DEPOSIT BY JULY 31 WILL INCLUDE AN EVENT T SHIRT.
June 16 2021:
What once was a secret underground community of RC racers is now the #1 growing segment of the hobby, RC Drag Racing! We have watched the growth of this exciting form of racing grow over the past year and we are ready to take RC Drag Racing to the next level and bring it to the masses and showcase it in front of die hard Drag Race fans.
Welcome to the home of the Straightline Showdown RC Drag Race. My name is Scotty Ernst and I will be the organizer and director of the Showdown. I have been organizing and commentating at RC Events around the World since 2001 and I will be bringing my decades of experience to this event to give everyone an event like they have never experience before. The Showdown will not be just a parking lot event. it will be an extremly well run event with daily time schedules and information to keep both participants and spectators well informed througout the course of the event.
The Showdown will be held at Great Lakes Dragaway, the longest running Drag Strip in the USA. The Showdown will be held on the drift pad located only a few hundred yards from the drag strip. The racing surface will be asphalt and we have ample room for pitting and everything will be laid out very organized to ensure a good experience for everyone. .
Your entry will gain you access to Great Lakes Dragaway to watch racing at this legendary Drag Strip. GLD is located in Union Grove Wisconsin 4 miles west of the I 94 Freeway. It is about 20 minutes north of the Wisconsin Illinois border and 30 min south of Milwaukee. Major hotel chains and resturants are only a short drive away so it makes for a perfect location to hold our event.
The Showdown will consist of a Double Elimination format meaning you will have to lose twice to be eliminated from the event. We will have a designated practice track to give racers a place to safely tune and ensure there is no driving in the pit area between tents. Your entry fee includes access to GLD and entry into the Showdown, Event T shirt, Goodie bag with items from our sponsors as well as Raffle tickets for giveaways.
The RC industry will be out in full force for the Showdown with many of the industries biggest companies like Traxxas, Team Losi and Team Associated planning on attending the event to give full support for their customers and showcase their latest products for everyone to see.
The Showdown will be run with state of the art timeing and scoring software that will keep everyone well informed during the entire event. Live scoring on your mobile device, instant results sent via text message to your phone immediatly after your run is finished, no more wondering how fast you went, what your reaction time was, it will all be there on your phone. In the past, spectators have watched the races but never knew what happend, who won, etc. We will have display screens that will display info about the run as well as informative announcing to let everyone know what is going on.
We will have payouts in all classes with the Outlaw Class being the premier class. Top 16 in Outlaw, Top 8 in Super Sport and Top 4 in all RTR Classes. Payouts will be determined at event based on entries. Full rules for all classes are located on the Rules page.
We are very excited to give RC Drag Racers this premier event and look forward to seeing racers from coast to coast join us in August for the 2021 Straightline Showdown. If you have any questions at all, please fee free to email me at scottyernst@gmail.com and I will be happy to help how ever we can.
Thank you,
Scotty