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Excerpt from Jim Macartney’s MARC: The Tracks (1992):

The History of MARC

(Abbreviated Edition)

And so it began, one dark and dreary winter night, that the competitors took another swig from their Bud cans and began the first of many, many slot car battles in the annals of MARC.  MARC got its start in the basement of one Dave Haskell of Salem, MA in 1980 as Orchard Park Racing Club, with Dave winning the first Orchard Park 600 race.  Why is the track called Orchard Park, you ask?  Well, it seems that along the way Dave managed to buy out a hobby shop that was going out of business of all their H.O. scale TREES.  Makes for lively corner marshaling.  So do the 1:1-scale boulders in the esses.  Races were held at Dave’s for two years, when in 1982 OPRC joined up with Donnybrook Motor Sport Park to form Miniature Auto Racing Club (MARC).  Along the way the MARC Challenge Series began.  This series of races, conducted on rival club tracks, was the beginning of the MARC traveling circus.  Tracks in Beverly, Lowell, Metheun MA, Manchester, and Plaistow NH all joined in the fray.  Sadly today these tracks are but a pleasant (?) memory for those of us who have been involved with MARC for some time.  Today theMARC courses span New England.  From Hampden, ME to Hull, MA to Agawam, MA and in between the competitors of MARC travel from race to race, in search of those elusive series points.  In 1990, MARC was proud to host the HOPRA Nationals in Agawam, MA.  Along the way MARC has hosted many guest racers from around the US and Canada.  The annual East Coast Championship Race held every spring in Agawam, becomes a mecca for racers near and far.  As a tribute to the owners of these tracks and a valuable reference for racers everywhere I present this first edition of THE TRACKS OF MARC.

Jim Macartney

PJ Designs

2011 Update:

The tracks have changed but we still have plenty to race on across New England with tracks in MA, CT, and NY.  If you are in New England, there is good chance we’ll be at track not too far from you.  Check out the schedule and join us for a race.

 

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