James Moe, left, gets an extra push from Josh Elliot as the pair’s RC trucks work up an embankment.

Even with their vehicles scaled down to one-tenth the size, about 75 off-roaders who spent Saturday at Tumalo State Park gave no indication their enthusiasm was undersized.

Drivers from across the western states spent the day racing 1:10-scale radio-controlled vehicles, grinding over rocks and roots, and splashing through puddles at the edge of Tumalo Creek during the Recon G6 Challenge.

Anthony Rivas, one of the nationwide race series organizers, said he prefers the competition to be friendly and not cutthroat.

Racers aren’t allowed to turn over a vehicle that’s been flipped or otherwise gotten stuck. Instead, competitors use tiny electric winches or a well-placed bump or shoelace-scale tow strap provided by another racer.

The event’s name, Rivas said, is a nod to the now-defunct Land Rover G4 Challenge; a competition that involved off-road driving and other physical challenges in stages held across multiple continents.

Like its namesake, the G6 Challenge is not solely about driving skills — competitors pick up time bonuses by spotting and photographing items like a rubber snake hidden along the route; or by competing in carnival-style challenges like a washer toss.

“We don’t have winners per se. Finishing a Recon G6 is the same as winning a Recon G6,” Rivas said.

He said many RC racers have crossed over from “1:1” — competing in actual, full-size vehicles — and carry with them an interest in fixing and otherwise modifying their vehicles.

Rivas said when he used to race off-road, he’d break an axle in maybe every fifth race — about an $1,800 setback. At 1:10 scale, a broken axel is an $8 part from the hobby shop.

Not that it’s difficult to put a lot of money into an RC vehicle.

Josh Elliott, of Bend, said he moved into RC vehicles after his full-sized off-road habit became too expensive. A few years in, he’s got a home studio packed with at least a dozen vehicles and hosts an online show about RC racing.

Saturday, he brought out the star of his collection; a yellow Jeep that he’s artificially weathered to look as though it’s been driven thousands of miles through impossible conditions.

“That’s about 3,500 bucks sitting in there; that looks like it’s worth about $5,” Elliott said.

James Moe said he got into RC racing when he moved back to Bend after the breakup of a long-term relationship and found himself looking for a distraction. He started by attempting to repair an older, gas-powered RC vehicle; then discovered the electric variety, and spent the next six months absorbed in building his own from a kit.

Like many racers, Moe has developed an obsessive attention to detail when it comes to his vehicle. The coffee cup holder in the backseat of his scaled-down Jeep has spare change in it — something he crafted from LEGO pieces. An action figure rides shotgun in the Jeep, an item he found in a friend’s daughter’s toybox that he said bears a passing resemblance to his new girlfriend.

Robert Johnson, of Cottage Grove, stumbled into RC racing while watching videos on YouTube. Flipping through videos of off-road trucks, he realized that some of the trucks he was seeing were actually models. Intrigued, he bought his first RC vehicle.

Handling the ’70s-era Toyota Land Cruiser he raced Saturday, Johnson showed off the interior roll cage he’d built out of black plastic clothes hangers. Flipping the vehicle over, he pointed to the interior fenders — plastic lunchmeat tubs, carefully cut to fit and painted to match the body.

“A lot of this stuff we can’t get, so we have to fabricate it ourselves,” Johnson said.

Rivas said while there’s no end to how far enthusiasts can go in customizing their vehicles, a driver with a vehicle fresh out of the box will find the RC world a supportive one.

“We encourage a lot of people to come out. If they don’t have the exact scale or the exact rig, come out anyway,” Rivas said. “It’s an adventure, we’re in the business of having fun.”