The Backyard – Losi NASCAR and more Niches they should go after!

Hello everyone and happy Friday!

One of the big r/c stories in the second half of 2024 has been the release and success of the Losi NASCAR. These licensed vehicles are solid runners, look fantastic, and have a sub-$200 price point. As such, it should be no surprise the initial batch of them sold out quick. They hit the sweet spot with general hobbyists, hobby shops, racers, and even some modelers as something that works great for a general basher, spec racing class vehicle, and/or something that looks awesome on the bench.

There is a really cool Facebook group where people are replicating many classic NASCAR schemes, and I’d recommend you check it out. (P.S. I SOOOOO hope we get some classic stock car bodies eventually!)

Over the past few years, the Losi brand has been experimenting with various niche type of vehicles and helping to grow those segments of the hobby. The Losi Mini LMT and Promoto-MX are two other recent examples. The brand went on record last month in saying that they are going to continue to go after some of these smaller areas of the hobby to expand them, all the while keeping up with updated releases of trucks/buggies used in traditional r/c racing.

This is great news, and it also got me thinkin’….what are some other cool competition niches we could see them do over the next year or so? I put on my thinking cap and came up with a few ideas. The one throughline with all of these are that I tried to keep the price point below $300, as to me this makes the most sense if you are trying to get folks to adopt a vehicle (or style of vehicle) that they probably wouldn’t otherwise if the price was higher. As such, these are also all 1/12 or smaller. Ok, let’s get to it.

1/12 Scale Late Model Dirt Oval Racer

To me, this seems like a probable prediction. For one, Losi has done dirt oval in the past, with their 1/18 Losi Mini-Late Model and Sprint Cars (1/18 and 1/10, respectively). I was a hardcore dirt oval racer back in the day with my Losi Mini Late Model and they were so much fun, however I think they were a bit before their time. I think the scale was also off-putting- they were just too small and you had to run on a super groomed track to make it fun. In the case of the 1/10 scale sprint car, despite looking great, it didn’t fare well against the 1/10 race kits from Custom Works etc at the time, so it was never really adopted by sprint car racers. 1/12 would be perfect though!

And hey, wouldn’t you know it but Losi has a fresh 1/12 oval platform by way of the NASCAR?! Get a World of Outlaws license, configure it with a couple good looking licensed late model bodies and Hoosier slicks, and BOOM. I would LOVE to see a 1/12 Late Model.

Ok, that was a realistic prediction. Now let’s get into some “out there” ideas!

1/12 or smaller Mud Dragster

Oh yeah, now we’re talking. Losi has done both drag racing vehicles as well as mega mud trucks….so marry the two and create some kind of out of the box mud rail, complete with big ol’ paddle tires on the back.

I’d imagine the Mini-LMT platform could be reconfigured somewhat to accomplish this, but it would be fun to see a new, longer chassis built to accommodate the stretched look that many of these rigs use, complete with chopped truck/car bodies.

I understand this is a very niche thing, but hey, this is my column so I’m callin’ the shots! Having a small, fast, and scale looking mud dragster would be really cool and if the price was right, I think you’d see a lot of hobbyists want one to go blast through the sand or muck!

Not “out there” enough for you? Let’s get really crazy!

1/12 Swamp Buggy Racer

Man, if you don’t know what swamp buggy racing is, you are missing out. Here’s a quick YouTube video to educate you.

As the great Stone Cold Steve Austin once said, “OH HELL YEAH!”

This type of racing has been going on a long time down in Florida, and back in the late 80’s/early 90’s they started televising the races on TV. I used to LOVE watching the swamp buggy races when I’d be lucky enough to find them on TNN or SPEED, and I still check them out every once in awhile when a video hits my YouTube recs.

Look- I understand this is a ludicrous, hyper-niche thing to go after in the form of a mainstream r/c release, but hey- it would surely draw attention. You can bet your ass I’d be digging a small track in my backyard if my buddies and I had access to affordable r/c re-creations of these half-boat, half-offroad monstrosities!

That was a fun list to put together! Kudos to Losi for continuing to go after more niche r/c competition areas, I hope they keep it up!

Until next time, keep it on all 4’s!