Remote controlled car track coming to Water Tower Park

NOVI — Several years ago, Jeremia Pilarski saw someone playing with a remote controlled car in a parking lot. 

It looked like fun, so he decided to give it a try. After he bought a car, his wife did too.

“We started playing around with them in our garden, and before you know it, I started building some jumps in our yard,” he said. “Before you know it, I had a pretty decent track in our yard.”

During the winter, Pilarski and his wife started looking for indoor racing, and his interest in the hobby “just spiraled from there,” he said.

Recently, Pilarski, a parks maintenance employee with Novi’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department, brought the idea of an RC car track to the city of Novi. He proposed constructing a track at the city’s Water Tower Park, at the foot of the recently repainted water tower, which is decorated with the Novi Special race car. 

“That’s where they used to build the engines for the Novi Special race car,” he said. “And they’ve got that water tower out there that they just redid with the Novi Special on it. I thought it just kind of tied together.”

Novi Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Muck said the city had no plans for the property. Constructing the course will be relatively inexpensive — Pilarski gave him a budget of around $10,000, he said — and it will be considered temporary.

“If it doesn’t go over well, it can be reverted to something else,” Muck said.

The track is being constructed using existing materials, and most of the work is being done by volunteers, Muck said.

Pilarski said it will be an outdoor off-road course designed for 1/8-scale RC cars. But the jumps won’t be so big that a smaller 1/10-scale car can’t do them, he said. When the track first opens it will be open practice daily; however, he’s been working with a race organizer to start doing organized races later in the summer. Renderings of the park also show a natural stone drivers stand.

Construction on the track began in March. Muck said he expects the track to be open for racing by the end of May.

When Pilarski’s proposal was brought before the city administration, the economic impact and positive family experience helped garner support for the idea, Muck said.

“It was great to see him take leadership on this project,” Muck said. “He’s gotten full support from city administration, the parks commission. It should be something very unique.”

Pilarski said people will travel to race on the track, which will help to bring in money for local restaurants and hotels.

“When we host a race, it won’t necessarily be people just from Novi. You’ll have people from all over,” he said.

Pilarski also said he sees a lot of parents bring their kids out to RC races.

“The kids seem to take to it quick, and a lot of times the kids might actually be better at it than the parent,” he said.

“It’s a great family thing,” he added.

Contact Staff Writer Brian Wells at (248) 291-7637 or bwells@candgnews.com.