Meet an Arlington Heights coach and race car enthusiast
About twice each month, usually on Friday nights, Eric Kirschner transforms the gym at Westgate Elementary School in Arlington Heights into a racetrack for 1/10-scale radio control cars.
The school's physical education teacher, Kirschner — or “Coach K” as he is best known — has been an avid RC car enthusiast since he was in seventh grade. After seeing an RC car featured in an advertisement, he decided he had to own one, so as a youth he worked hard cutting lawns and managed to save enough money to buy his first car.
“As soon as I got it, I stayed up for like three straight days and put the whole thing together,” Kirschner said. “And I raced it all the time.”
At the end of the school day on race nights, Kirschner begins the process of setting up the track. He first cleans the gym floor with a dust mop, then pulls out the floor cleaning machine.
The clean surface helps the cars maintain traction at high speed, said Kirschner, whose group rents the gym from the school district.
He then lays down the thick, black plastic pieces which provide the outline for the track.
Members of the group begin to arrive around 6 p.m. and they gather around tables which serve as pit areas to ready their cars for racing. The cars, some of which cost $1,000, are four-wheel drive “touring cars” which are low to the ground.
Kirschner shares his knowledge, like advising other racers on different tires and gear ratios, which comes from years of racing RC cars.
“One of the things I like about racing here at Westgate is that I try to help everybody out,” Kirschner said. “Most of the time, if you go to a racetrack, they will not give you that information.”
Kirschner is well liked by his students at the K-5 school, and he stresses the importance of exercise and good nutrition during P.E. class. He has been known to use RC cars and two different types of batteries as examples of the choice between healthy food and junk food — with the better-quality battery delivering a higher level of performance.
“My philosophy with elementary (aged) kids is if you had fun, you won,” Kirschner said. “It's not always about winning or getting first place.”
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