Most children will know the joy of taking control of their very own remote control car. It’s often their first taste of what it’s like to be in full control of a moving vehicle… watching it zip about at full speed for hours until the battery runs flat is about as exhilarating as it gets at that young age.
And across the globe, there’s somewhat of a “secret society” of those who never really grew out of seeking that thrill… and – unbeknown to those beyond the track – the sport of RC car racing offers a host of incredible opportunities for those with the drive to visit all four corners of the world.
Among them, is Scarva native, tyre centre owner and father-of-two, Bradley Baird.
Since the tender age of 11, Bradley has been heavily engaged in racing and building remote control cars after “falling in love” with the sport during a demonstration at Nutts Corner.
Speaking to Armagh I, Bradley explained: “When we were kids we raced quads all over the UK and Ireland. I think my brother came off and got badly hurt and we did no quad racing then for about six months.
“But our dad wanted us to get back into sports and I wanted to do go kart racing so he took me to Nutts Corner to figure the whole thing out and there was an RC club that’s still going to this day in Aghalee – but they were based in Banbridge at the time – and they were doing a demonstration and I just fell in love with it and that was in 2006.”
When he began racing the miniature cars he quickly realised he had a natural flair, winning his first race in 2007 and in 2008 heading to England where he picked up sponsorship from a Slovakian manufacturer.
He started racing locally at first then branched out and started attending British Nationals ran by the BRCA all over England and Irish Nationals ran by the RCCAOI.
“It just kind of snowballed from there and I was racing more and more,” continued Bradley. “It was nearly a career when I was 21 but I’m going to say that driving on the road and girlfriends and not really taking anything seriously just kind of got in the way!
“I never stopped but up until I was 18/19 it was all I did. Probably out of 52 weekends I travelled for 30 of them racing here, there and everywhere and when I was 21 life got real and slowed it down and when I was 23, Shelley and I had our first child.”
Bradley’s wife and business partner, Shelley has also become a key figure in RC racing taking up the responsibility of “pit crew” for her husband.
The self-taught pair also built their own car using a kit that Bradley says comes in “a million bits” where they then added in their engine, radio gear and electronics.
In a mini ‘F1 meets Nascar’ type scene, the cars run on nitro fuel with a full tank can lasting between seven to ten minutes. It’s then Shelley’s job to top the tank during the 45 minute final.
According to Bradley, nitro fuel is “pure alcohol and oil” allowing the cards to reach 50 to 60 mph.
Of racing, Shelley said: “It is crazy, cool and real racing with highs and lows. Our sport has both paid drivers and drivers who pay a lot to be there.
“Each car is like a mini real car. It has diffs with special oils inside with different weights as do the shocks. This all makes a difference to how the car moves on the track, that’s not including all the different tyres and electrical parts like servo’s or receivers which connect your remote radio and car up.”
Bradley with his wife and business partner, Shelley
Once he successfully won the Irish nationals he was able to compete at World and European level and he attended the 2014 Worlds in Italy, 2016 Worlds in Las Vegas and the 2024 Worlds in Spain.
Most recently, Bradley has become the first person from Ireland in 40 years to make it through to European Finals… and he said he’s “over the moon”.
Competing from September 12 – 14, in the European Championships B in Gussago, Italy Bradley put up a brilliant fight against 152 competitors for 45 minutes and was sitting comfortably in 8th place until engine problems made him drop to 11th in the last two minutes of the race, leaving him to cross the line in 11th place overall.
And despite his incredible achievement, Bradley recognises that the sport is generally not that well known locally.
He said: “We joke about it in our sport that it’s like Fight Club – you just don’t talk about it. It’s like a private gentleman’s club for playing with toy cars! It’s just not very well advertised.”
But one of the areas that he said he would love to see better advertised is the “family” aspect which he regards as the “beauty of our sport”.
Said Bradley: “My own eight-year-old child does the racing now too. In Italy we brought everybody along.”
Now their race year is finished, the family are preparing for a 2026 race in Portugal, six races in the UK and then the Worlds in Texas.
The sport has taken Bradley all over the world in the last decade, and allowed him to “see things others would never see”.
He added: “Some of the stuff is just class and it’s why I am so hell-bent on getting my own kids into it because I have seen things people would never get to see just playing with toy cars!”
