The man. The Myth. The Legend. We talked to Frank Calandra Jr. himself at the RC Pro Series. Frank is the man behind CRC (Calandra Racing Concepts). He’s a hobby shop/racetrack owner, as well as the President of CRC on the manufacturing side. CRC is known for their ultra competitive 1/12 and 1/10 carpet on-road cars. For more on CRC and their beginnings, check out the About page on their website.

Name: Frank Calandra Jr.

Hometown: Rome, NY

Sponsors: CRC, Losi, Horizon Hobby, Spektrum, AKA, FB F/X, Hobbywing

Day Job: President of CRC (Calandra Racing Concepts)

How many years have you been racing? Since around 1984.

Most memorable moment in R/C? Making the IFMAR World Champs A Main and winning the ’92 ROAR National Championships for 1/12 Modified On-Road.

How did you get involved in RC Racing?  Well, same story as my brother Mark, I started out with a Tamiya Rough Rider, but never really did anything with it.. It wasn’t until Mark and his friends (who were probably 9 at the time), started getting cars to play with in the pits of the Motocross races did I really get more into R/C. When I got injured doing Motocross, I started to do a lot more r/c and a lot less Motocross and picked it up as my new hobby.

Do you prefer Electric or Nitro? I’d say Nitro, but I wouldn’t be anywhere in my R/C career without 1/12 scale electric (Which I still love). Nitro feels more like the Motocross days and what I loved about racing to begin with though.

Any tips for new RC racers? Only one. Practice. Perfect practice at that, meaning no slouching on the stand, taking your time, etc. It has to be a real, mentally focused, race environment type of practice to be really beneficial.

What is your favorite racing class? 1/12 On Road.

Do you do any R/C besides Off-Road Racing? 1/12 scale on-road. Also occasional oval racing.

What is your favorite type of soup? Broccoli and Cheese