By Jeremy Carroll
C & G Staff Writer

ROYAL OAK — Professional drivers of quarter-scale, radio-controlled NASCAR-type cars will be returning to Royal Oak, as the Royal Oak Grand National will celebrate its 20th year during the Aug. 16 Woodward Dream Cruise.

“There are drivers that come from all over the country for this,” said Jean Chamberlain, a race committee member. “In their world of radio-controlled racing, this is the big one.”

The event is a fundraiser for the Give-A-Christmas Year Around Program, which distributes the money to various local programs. In the past 19 years, the race has raised a total of $2.1 million, Chamberlain said.

“We’re really excited to do it,” she said.

When it started, the race was held at the Royal Oak campus of Oakland Community College, but was later moved to the area of the Dream Cruise route after OCC built a parking structure at their former staging area. The race now takes place on a 120-foot track at the Northwood Shopping Center at the southwest corner of 13 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue.

Chamberlain said the setting for race, with the Dream Cruise happening right there in front of them, is perfect.

“The (RC) drivers have a following where they race, but nothing like this,” she said.

The drivers bring their own chassis for the cars, and businesses sponsor the body — which gets painted like a NASCAR car — for $420. Additionally, businesses can bid on certain drivers in an auction-style event 10 days before the race.

This year there will also be sprint cars made specifically for service clubs. To sponsor those, it is $375.

The drivers will be doing testing on Aug. 15, and the race runs all day Aug. 16. There is no fee for admission.

“We just pass around cans for people to put money in because we are trying to raise money,” Chamberlain said.

To help commemorate the 20th anniversary of the race, the United States Postal Service will honor the event with a special postage cancellation mark. The mark is made on pieces of mail, and will be available at the event, said Jim Horton, coordinator of special events for USPS.

“They approached us saying they wanted to do something special for their 20th anniversary,” Horton said. “It’s a charitable event, and we wanted to lend a hand with it.”

The mark will be available at the event and at the Royal Oak Post Office for only a short time following the event. Horton said the mark can be made on a commemorative poster designed by Premier Communications, which has made posters for all of the past races.

For more information on the posters and the race, visit www.premiercg.com/GrandNational.

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1110.