Its the racing day! are you ready? is the car ready? tips on how to prepare for the big day

Make sure you're ready for a long day, since there are usually long practice sessions before the racing begins.

During this time you should sign up for the race and prepare your car, When you register, the race official will give you the frequency on which your car will run, and a frequency clip, pin or flag for your cars antenna. This will make sure you don't accidentally run on someone else's frequency and prevents people from using your frequency.

When you are practicing, use the first run to get used to the track layout and slowly work your way to full speed as you get used to the track. Using the rest of your practice time to improve your time from there is one of the best ways to learn the track and your car. On race day

Also try and be aware of the other racers keeping up to someone faster than you can be a great learning experience. Often the pre-race tack will be crowded and unorganized, so take care while practicing not to run into others and risk wrecking your or someone else's car before the race even begins. Improve your racing skills

When its time, the race director will announce that the qualifying heats are available for racers to see their car numbers and race numbers. These are very important! Get your car number decals and with a pen or marker mark your race number on one of the car numbers. This will make sure you remember when your race is coming up, you wont miss one of your races. Running & racing cars

A 'round' of races is one complete set of races, from race number one to the last race. Each round of races can last 30-45 minutes for a small track with just a few races, to an hour and a half or more at busy tracks. Most tracks will have at least two and sometimes three rounds of qualifying.

Qualifying is your chance to make your best run on the track, in preparation for the 'mains,' or the final races. Usually the top ten fastest racers in each class will be grouped in what is called the A Main or A Final, and the next ten fastest racers are in the B Main, and so on. Sometimes a class will have ten or less racers in it, so there is only an A Main and no B Main. Racing car rules

The novice class is usually the first class to race, so if this is your first race, make sure your batteries are charged up. If the track uses transponders, ensure you have the correct one installed. There will usually be a track employee at the transponder area with whom you should register. Watch the race numbers coming up and select the right transponder with the correct colour. Nitro engines

When you get ready for racing, be as relaxed as possible and just try to make it to the end of the race without hitting any barriers or other cars - that is what will slow you down the most. Don't worry about winning, going faster than other cars or making any passes simply run your car as consistently and quickly as you can. After the race is over, make sure you follow any directions the race director gave everyone before the racing started. Sometimes your car and radio must be left on a table, sometimes you are able to take your car back to your pit area.

Either way, make sure you get back out to the track to do your turn marshalling duties. Every racer has to turn marshal the race immediately after theirs, this is the best way to make sure everyone does their marshal duty and everyone has an equal chance to get going the right way if they crash or make a mistake during their race. Turn marshalling is basically watching a specific part of the track and turning over any cars that crash in that area. Failure to complete your marshalling duties could result in penalties to your score or disqualification from the round.