There are hints of “Greased Lighting” racing around the Borough of Fountain Hill these days, as a new drag racing club revs up in town.

Brian Ferencin is owner, founder and president of Grimm Reapers R/C Drag Racing. His wife. Diana Nuzzolo, is co-owner and treasurer, and Mark Morales is vice president and serves as technical inspector of each car at every race to ensure a fair game.

Radio controlled drag racing became a fad just two years ago with all the popular drag racing shows on TV, said Ferencin at the Dodson Street ballfield, where he had a drag track set up.

“This sport has gained a lot of interest and clubs have formed in South Jersey, Delaware and the Carolinas,” he said, “so I started and formed by own club, but I’ve been into R/C since 1989.”

Races are on a 132-foot asphalt track, the equivalent of eight parking spaces. There is three feet of lane, a start and finish line and a loop around. Cars are electronically controlled via a hand-held remote. When the car begins the race, the wheelie bar on the back puts the car up on its rear wheels, then the front wheels come down.

Ferencin has permission to use the parking lot and other facilities at the ballfield, which will eventually be home of Grimm Reapers R/C Drag Racing. Races, last eight hours and will run on Saturdays from mid-June until the beginning of August. He plans to speak with officials in Salisbury Township and Bethlehem with the hope of hosting events in those vicinities next year as well.

As the club gears up, Ferencin says he will work out the details with Fountain Hill Borough Council during winter and spring meetings. He has received approval from the Fountain Hill Recreation Board. He is working on sign placement at Broadway and Dodson Street and Dollar General at 1529 Broadway has already granted permission for him to place a yard sign on its property on race days.

Ferencin said he’s been getting a lot of interest from people who want to drag race, so in November he secured a bigger venue for races, the Chrin Community Center at 4100 Green Pond Road, Palmer Township, for eight Saturdays from mid-June until the end of August. Chrin has a 250-foot drag area, including slowdown and return lanes, parking for up to 150 cars and room for pit setups.

“We’ll have two race locations for the first year, so we can run smaller races in Fountain Hill,” Ferencin said.

“I’m going to run this with families in mind,” he said. “It’s fun for the whole family.”

“In two years this sport has really come along,” Morales said. “There are lots of apps for it and racers can get their time on their phone.

“And it gives kids a chance to get off the computer and get out to do something with everyone,” said Morales, who was introduced to the sport by Ferencin.

The R/C Drag Racing Club currently has three members: Ferencin, who drives a 1969 Chevy Nova Street Stock replica car; Morales, who drives a 1970 Chevy C-10 Truck Street Stock replica car; and Nuzzolo, who will drive a 1970 Chevy Monte Carlo Street Stock replica car currently under construction.

Ferencin said two other members recently joined and are working on obtaining drag cars.

The club welcomes members 12 through adulthood. A minimal $12 fee per racer goes to support the club and the upkeep of the timing system, which will eventually need to be updated. In time a purse and plaques will be awarded at the races.

Ferencin said radio controlled cars start at about $200, but with a battery and accessories the total climbs to about a $250 cost for a driver.

“That’s the industry standard for an entry level car,” he said, “and they go up from there to intermediate and expert.”

Ferencin said R/C 4x4 trucks, rock crawler trucks and R/C cars are a multimillion dollar industry with advanced technology.

“Some of these 4x4 cars and trucks can rocket to speeds over 75 miles per hour for their scale over various off-road conditions. These cars and trucks use the same brushless motor technology as your common homeowner drill or vacuum cleaner motors.”

Ferencin said there are three R/C companies: Traxxas, Team Associated and Losi. Traxxas, founded in 1986, is the most popular brand on the market and has many R/C’s in its lineup, including 4x4 monster trucks weighing from a few pounds up to the 30-35 pound 1/5 scale monster trucks to on road cars – meaning just used in parking lots – cars that go anywhere from 30 to 100 miles per hour.

“The 100 miles per hour Traxxas is the first R/C company to reach that feat with its car called the XO-1,” Ferencin said.

He explained these same R/C’s are powered by lithium batteries, the same batteries that run cordless drills and many other tools. “In our hobby we call these batteries “LIPOS” for short.”

Ferencin explained how the races are set up. First, there are preheats – when all cars start together – then qualifications and finals. A one-hour break between heats allows drivers to change tires with changing conditions, such as when the asphalt warms from the morning to the afternoon. There are two brands of tires, which are called drag slicks – Hoosier and Mickey Thompson. Drivers can make changes to car setups and charge the battery.

Ferencin said it’s no prep racing, meaning that there is no type of traction compound on the blacktop. “That makes it more competitive.” Cars must have a rear wing and be drag racing certified.

When it rains on race day, a rain date is announced or the race is a “wash” for the week.

He noted there are different classes of car bodies: funny car, street stock and pro stock. “Each car class has its own set of rules, but the racing concept itself is a game. The cars are evenly matched up. It’s all about the driver’s reaction time (RT).”

Ferencin said R/C trucks are popular with off road racing with a local hobby shop off Route 33 in Lower Nazareth Township. The Saturday races are usually a big draw with 30 to 40 trucks racing across three different class platorms.

He has also been a part of a few local R/C clubs that gather at local public parks and “have what’s called in our hobby ‘Bashing’ and portable ramps and different objects set up to go over and jump over.”

This fall, Ferencin was busy getting the Hobby Shop Track in Honesdale ready for the indoor winter season opener. He runs a truck class on Saturday nights all winter and is a driver in this series.

For more information visit Ferencin’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/brian.ferencin.7.