DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — The 2026 Midwest Classic RC races were this weekend at Progress City, drawing competitors from as far as Wisconsin and Connecticut to compete in a growing national event.

Jason Pickerill, one of the event organizers, said the race has expanded significantly since it began four years ago.

"Each year it's grown exponentially into what is now a national event that the pro series comes out here and helps us sit this up," Jason said. "It's something we want to grow for the community every year."

The RC cars competing at the Midwest Classic are built to mirror real drag cars, complete with suspension systems, pistons, and adjustable shock spring rates.

Todd Filter traveled from Wisconsin to compete. He said his car took about a week to build.

"It mimics a real car. You have the suspension, shock in the oil, you have pistons, different shock spring rates," Filter said. "It took me roughly about a week to build. I take my time on cars. Don't want to rush it. Want it to be a precise build."

Big Mike Bernardi drove from Connecticut to take part in the event. He said competitors use laptops to analyze performance data between runs.

"At those speeds in the short distance, there's very little margin for error, so we want to make sure it goes straight," Bernardi said. "When we come back from a run, we can hook it up to the laptop and download data logs and watch voltage drops, RPMs, things like that, and then tune accordingly."

While most of the cars racing cost around $1,500 to build, organizers said newcomers can get started for a few hundred dollars. Jason encouraged anyone curious about the hobby to come out.

"We will help you. It is an intimidating thing to walk into sometimes," Jason said. "It is really inexpensive to get started. You can come out here for a few hundred dollars and be on the track competing against people from around the world. Then the sky's the limit."

Jason says a group is out at Progress City every weekend racing cars. He hopes more people continue to show up with an interest in RC racing.

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