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Video screenshot by Danny Gallagher/CNET
Radio-controlled cars were the ultimate toy when I was a kid. The commercials for cars like Tyco’s Scorcher and The Claw made them look like miniature models for some kind of military-grade assault or transport vehicle instead of an overpriced hunk of imported plastic.
Unfortunately, I didn’t live near a desert landscape or a rock quarry with naturally angled jumps and obstacles that could make the cars look as aesthetically eye-catching as they did in the commercials. In fact, they didn’t last very long, because I’d always drive them through the first puddle I came across to replicate their TV awesomeness. All that did was teach me a lesson about the limits of electricity.
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The dudes behind Dude Perfect, a Texas-based collective of trick-shot artists who do for sports what Epic Meal Time does for food and diabetes, recently got their mitts on a bunch of radio- controlled cars and boats from Traxxas, another Texas company that manufactures high-powered RC vehicles.
So, naturally, they decided to take them out for a spin and couldn’t resist turning their outing into a series of friendly competitions that I wish I thought of when I played with RC cars. They also released a video of their showdown that’s filled with more high fives and bro screams than a Hootie and the Blowfish concert from 1994.
The competition features three preliminary events, including an RC car-bowling tournament that replaces the bowling ball with an RC car, a fishing challenge in which competitors aim to catch the biggest fish by tying a trawling line to an RC boat, and a rally race on a figure-eight track. The three winners of those challenges will face off in a final round for the ultimate prize. The winner doesn’t get a big cash reward or a giant trophy to hoist above his head. All he gets is bragging rights that he can hold over his friends’ heads.
And if you’ve ever competed in a ridiculous, impromptu showdown with your friends such as a one-legged hop race in an office hallway or a game of Horse with Nerf guns, you know that’s worth a hell of a lot more than an oversize check and a photo op.
