Horizon Hobby

How To Do What You Love And Still Love What You Do

Frank Root turned his love for racing into a career in radio control.

Words Sean McDevitt | Photos Provided

There’s a famous saying about jobs and work that probably everyone has read at one time or another.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” -Confucius

I would not often take it upon myself to go against a renowned philosopher such as Confucius, but he’s dead wrong. You may love what you do, but it’s always still work. A case in point is the career trajectory of Frank Root.

Root grew up in a radio control family. His father, also named Frank, was a hobbyist and loved racing. Some of his earliest memories included running around near the RC racetrack just outside of Ascot Raceway in Southern California.

Root said, “My grandfather was a foreman for Pacific Bell in Southern California in their garage for all the trucks for the telephone company. He grew up in Illinois driving John Deere tractors off the lot, so he’s like a tractor guy. My Dad grew up around that and got the same kind of itch. He had motorcycles. He built his own dune buggy before he was 18. He had a Jeep that he went off-roading with for a few years. He built a 2006 Roush Mustang as a track car and was track champion in this racing series in Arizona. So, my Dad’s always been like a gearhead.”

At nine, the family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and for that year’s Christmas, he received his first radio control car and fell in love with the hobby. He’d come home from school and run his car on his homemade backyard track until dinner, going through as many battery packs as possible.

Fast forward to 2004, and Root has moved back to Southern California after getting increasingly serious with racing.

“I had a regular job, but I was trying to race more and get better and racing at SoCal with the guys,” said Root. “I basically got to the point where I was making A-Mains at the Hot Rod Shootout, Cactus Classic, and Nationals. Also, by that point, you’re traveling a lot, and I was pretty dedicated…