Kong RC Road Trip

Kong RC is a new track that opened its doors to the public last week, and is located just south of the border in Lynnwood, Washington. Our friend and local Kong RC runner Ryan put their track owner, Jay, in contact with Afro, and they have been talking to one another for a little while now. Prior to Kong RC's grand opening, Afro and a few other members from our club went down to lend a hand in setting up and testing out layouts for the track prior to their grand opening. When they came back, they had nothing but good things about the place, as well as the owner. Since then, I have been itching to make my way down there and check the place out, so this past Saturday, me and a few club members did just that.

When you pull up to the track, it's got a nice vibe going on before you even step inside... outside you are greeted with a pair of 86's parked in front of the entrance, the FRS belonging to Ryan, and the Hachiroku belonging to Jay. This was my first time seeing Ryan's FRS in person since he converted to the Rocket Bunny V1 over fenders, so I took a few shots of the cars before heading back inside.

Once you step inside, you get your first look at the huge polished concrete track. Kong RC did an awesome job on the surface! Jay said he wanted to go for that still wet look since we get a lot of rain in our areas, so he wanted his to capture that element with his track, and I think he nailed it. The surface really does feel like you're running in the rain, it's very slick and icey, and was an absolute blast to drive on. It's not far off of what we are used to at Afro's RC, but it's definitely a little more slick. The slightest taps can send your car into a slow motion spin, so proximity during tandems and trains is key. Overall, I loved this surface.

The track layout is also very well thought out. It's very dynamic, you can run a lot of lines, and the track changes considerably depending on what direction you run. There are also a lot of cool small elements and danger zones that add to the overall enjoyment of running on this track. The back straight is almost 50-60ft long too, allowing for some really fun high speed manjis, into full e-brake entries. Unfortunately I spent most of my time driving, and almost none of it taking pictures, so I'll do my best to get some better pics of the small details that make this track so fun to run on a future visit.

The pit area is also big, and spacious. You can comfortably set up your gear with plenty of room to work on your car. There is also an outlet available for almost every table, which adds to the convenience. I recommend bringing your own charger and power bars to run multiple connections. I'm not sure if down the road Kong RC will provide power bars, as the owner is still working on the track and surrounding area, but upon our visit, there weren't any power bars. There is probably enough space to seat 10-15 people, so there is a ton of space in the pits (the pic cuts off a lot of the pit area to the left).

Kong RC is also an official dealer of Yokomo, as well as Tetsujin and MST. They have a large inventory, which is great for locals running Yokomo or MST. It's always a bonus to have parts readily available at the track, so if you break down or need to run some maintenance, all it takes is a quick trip to the counter, and you're back up and running. It's also great for those who don't like to pay for shipping on multiple order from overseas to buy parts, and would rather buy something locally... no more waiting a week or two for parts. Kong can basically bring in anything you need when it comes to Yokomo, Tetsujin, and MST.

They also have a large selection of bodies from Yokomo and Tetsujin, carrying basically the full line of both, and they are very reasonably priced. Their bodies come out cheaper than buying from overseas, and paying for shipping, so it's great value for anyone in the area looking for top quality bodies.

Afro spent most of the day working on a new video series, so keep an eye out for that. Jay asked Afro to build his MST XXX-D VIP HT into a fully optioned RWD machine, so most of the day was spent getting this beast up and running. I'll get some more pictures of this thing on my next visit, since it wasn't finished until we were getting ready to leave. Once it's fully tuned, it's going to be an absolute beast though. I'd highly recommend one of these to anyone getting into RWD, this is a very well balance chassis, and just had so much grip when we were playing around with it after Afro gave it a quick base tune.

I didn't spend very much time taking pictures during this visit, as most of the time was just spent driving, so here are a couple pics that Ryan took of our tandems, and a few hard parked pics I took while everyone was taking a break... sorry for the lack of coverage, but driving was so much fun I all but forgot about taking pictures!

Overall I had a blast at the track, and highly recommend this place to anyone in or around the area looking for a spot to drift. I assure you it's worth the drive. The owner is very passionate about his track, as well as the hobby, and is overall just a super rad dude, with a great sense of humor. I totally get why him and Afro get along so well. The environment is super chill and laid back as well. I can't say enough good things about Jay and Ryan, and what they are doing for the hobby in their area. I hope the locals keep hitting up the track and showing their support for Kong RC, they put a lot of time and effort into making this place an enjoyable spot to hang out, make new friends, and just drift. I know I'll be trying to make a visit or two a month to show my support from north of the border! Thank you for all your hospitality during our day trip Kong RC! Hope to see you guys again around FD!