Professional Racing League

I am pretty sure it's a long way from starting a league to any kind of dollar signs. But as they say you have to start somewhere.
One of the first things that would have to happen is someway to track builder race participation. They would need to be a points based system. that not only tracks wins, but also participation in any race.

then once a year or so, the racer would tally their points to see if they were eligible to move up a level. And we would once again need to have some kind of a way to rate tracks, not only for racers, but also for any audience members.

But a good start on any of this is indeed the current notion of having A group B group type racing.

They have a Robot wars show or whatever you call it in the States,so why not diecast wars.Maybe a one off but realistically it would probably be limited to where it is held.

First off, my gratitude to LobotomyScam for his vote of confidence. Make the old man blush, that was the mission of the day? 

Tons of great input here already for what is at this point decidedly a lofty goal. Hot Wheels themselves are undeniably mainstream, so much that really, when is the last time you saw television adverts for basics or premiums? Racing little cars, and the intensity of competition surrounding that, despite our collective enthusiasms shining brightly, is still pretty niche. There's a long road ahead before big investment will allow for something broadcast/streaming to take off. We really got lucky with Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge, and that, to my disappointment, was focused on building actual cars. Perhaps a breakout on ESPN8? If they'll show grown folks playing wiffle ball, of all things. . .we don't lack for talented genius wizards behind the camera and at the computer who can produce quality of the level to make that happen

In the current state of affairs across the hobby, big channels and more modest ones, the deliniation between Pro and Am racers is in good hands where hosts undertake running separate events based on qualifying times. Accomplished competitors get to shine among their peers while those who didn't make the top cut aren't deprived of seeing their builds also compete, gleaning needed information to speed up their own improvement. Hats humbly doffed to those hosts, unexpectedly awash in a deluge of hopeful entries, for taking on double shifts in video production!! 

Equal gratitude that a fine site like this exists in the first place, maintained with dedication, where both expert and novice builders have evidence of their reputations displayed for all. I have no doubt that whatever notice the wider world gives to our hobby eventually--it all began here. 

I think it's a great idea! Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I really don't see it as feasible. We've some great hosts and racers in this hobby, but the proportion of those that have the time to regularly host and race are relatively slim. How many racers enter every race? How many hosts can stick with a set schedule given that almost all have lives outside of the hobby? Life happens. What happens to the guys that only host once or twice a year that aren't a part of the league? Would their enthusiasm be hampered by not being a part of the "professional league" and they lose interest altogether? I thought the idea was to get more people hosting, especially in drag racing, not make it more difficult to even begin hosting in the first place. Too, what happens to the more competitive racers that only have the time to enter a few races in the series? Their low point totals wouldn't allow for them to participate at the high level in which they deserve to run and be left running with cars that are slower? For instance, if say... BlueLine, R-Lo, Flip, JAC or any number of the fastest guys could only have the ability to run ten races a year. Their points totals wouldn't have them ranked high enough to even participate in the "pro" category. Would that be fair to have them compete against "amateurs?" Some guys enter dozens of races per year whereas some, like myself, only enter ten or so each year resulting in a much lower ranking. I know I'm not the fastest guy out there, but it certainly would put a damper on my enthusiasm for spending the time, energy, and money to try and build at the best of my ability if I were limited to racing in the lower league because I can't race in 90% of races that are posted like some people do. Again, in theory it sounds fun and inspiring, but I can't see it being feasible except for a limited few and not the vast majority of those that love and appreciate being a part of this great hobby.

Bare with me I am long winded tonight and my spelling sucks lol

1st off this is why I love this hobby/sport. The support is awesome!  

2nd I love this idea. But the only way to get it main stream and to get it big enough to be talked about is by US getting the word out more. That's the builders and the host and those that do both. We need to be spreading the word though all avenues. Such as Social Media.  Word of Mouth. Ect. Believe it or not I have spoken to some Adults that say they are embarrassed to admit they play with little toy cars. I ask them to think about HOW MUCH goes into making the perfect car or the best video possible and tell me that's kids stuff!! So if you know someone to embarrassed to spread the word out side of the community have them look at it that way.  The people we get to join in the more likely we could get bigger deals like corporate sponsors. And that is what we need. If you are like me and don't think your channel may attract new people to the sport share other channels that you feel are good enough to bring in new fans. 

Now for my last part my idea of a balance race and A competitive field. I know this may not work but I will throw it out there we need like a Superbowl or world series what ever!! If we could get enough host to join in. 

1 Normal racing just like it is now all tracks Jan -say July if you win a event you in group A fight for the Championship in a 3 or 4 track event or even 1 track but it would need to be someone huge like ....3D or EP maybe Funk or GTR the tracks that gets the most views. 

2. Finish second or 3rd in any event would be in group B hosted by 1 to 4 channels with lesser views but still gets a decent amount. Maybe as a community or a panel can vote those tracks in that group

3. A top 5 finish gets you into C group. Same host or different host could again be voted on and host that group. 

Group D is for anyone that has entered a race in regular season that wishes to challenge for that championship but did not meet the above requirements. This could be hosted by lesser known tracks giving them a chance to shine along with the new builders or ones not quite able to make a top 5. 

This would give builders and host something to work towards every year!! Redline already tracks results for us..THANK YOU REDLINE.  I know this may take some planning between host or not if only one host was to do each group. I believe this could be done and be fun. 

That's it!! Now tell me I am a Dumbass!!! I hear it a lot

I need to reference a word that Chris Hood used and that word is niche. And even with all the passion and interest of all the people here on redline, this hobby is still small, obscure and relatively unknown. That's a niche so that is one problem to overcome the other one is toy car. Yes, that's right toy car that is another obstacle to get interest from a potential adult audience. Granted, if you can get most people to watch a well run road race, they may see some interest. But getting them to see that first race is the challenge.

I faced similar issues in another niche, hobby, and that was building three string cigar box guitars. And while there was much interest amongst builders, and those players who had tried and played one of these instruments, but getting the un-initiated to even look at one of these was difficult. Because of niche and the whole three string thing. So I just wanna emphasize that these are real problems trying to get any kind of appeal or a mass appeal.

I do believe that some kind of amateur/pro am/pro designations or something similar need to be constructed. This would help hosts arrange the races and potential audience members to choose what they want to watch. And looking at Rick from comet trails post, I also think that there needs to be bigger events and or events coordinated across multiple tracks is also a path forward. 

And as they say, be careful what you ask for I would hate this hobby and the races to become something like the deadliest catch series or like the cooking show my wife is watching. Everything has to be overdramatized and drawn out. Drama and tension has to be created. Not sure I could actually handle a scene where Numbskull agonizes over adding or taking half a gram off of some build.

I would like to consider doing a 4 track tournament, but keep it small, like 16 entries. Track 1 could do the time trials that divides the racrers up to the top 8 and bottom 8 (group A and B) Then that track would race them and points awarded for the top 3 or 4 in each group. 

Then the host mails them to the next track, but no time trilas needed. Just racing the 2 groups, then on to the next and then do the final point tallies at the last track. Winners get trophies and non winners get to see where they stand against others and start "training" for the next tournament.

Everyone gets their cars back :)

Once money gets involved along with outside influence everything gets ruined. It's a nice little hobby that doesn't bring fame or fortune but has a little bit of innocence to it that I'd hate to see lost. That being said if you want to make a movie or series out of it I'll gladly be the villian.

Thanks to all who have voiced an opinion on this matter. There is always some great ideas talked about. Valid points for the idea and against the idea.  An open discussion is always the best way forward on any proposal made. 

I love hosting races and making videos of the cars racing. Yes it takes some time and dedication to getting things in order but I truly enjoy the process.

I will gladly try and put together a fair and competitive series style tournament.  I will lay out rules and regulations and hopefully everyone will agree to follow. I would love for RedLineDerby to be a part of this series to keep everyone connected and in one place. 

I will need volunteers for race hosting.. I will need volunteers for builders to be a part of this series. I would also like to put together a group to discuss rules and some tracks that would be able to handle a series race. How many races? How many tracks in the series. A ranking system for the builders. And so on... you can message me directly on here or we can setup a group on Facebook or something to discuss details more in depth. 

Anyone interested or know someone that would be interested please reach out to me. Send a message on RedLineDerby  or email jsnrchrdsn@gmail.com  I'm sure this will take some time to hammer out all details but looking forward to this adventure.  

As to ranking drivers you only need to look at Formula 1. To get to Formula 1 the typical path is Formula 3 then Formula 2 then Formula 1. But then this is not Formula 1. But the idea of A-group / B-group seems to be working at a couple tracks. Next for that to work across the board is for Redline to start tracking A-group and B-group wins. All existing recorded wins would go to A-group. But really I believe its up to each track host to look at the fastest recorded times and the slowest and then decide on where the A / B cut line is for their track. This of course would be updated over time and perhaps the host posts those timing numbers on their track description 

Interesting but not sure how you make it work.  Also you will have to define "professional" vs "amateur".   Road track, off road, or drag...very different characteristics in building, chance vs pure speed too.  I will sit back watch and listen.  

If you’re going to emulate a ranking system why not boxing, reputation seems to hold the most weight. Also you could rank the car not the builder, builder would get a mention. A car could win 10 races someone might say “ya, but who did it beat?”

Scandal and controversy ensues