On The Track: Live Young Die-Cast

by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom

There seems to be something in the air this fall. Multiple channels are hosting television and movie cars tournaments. Chaos Canyon had one last week. 3DBotMaker will be starting one soon. But, if we’re living in the present, we must look at Live Young Die-Cast. They are hosting a Batman “Race to the Cave” tournament.

In week one of the event, host Ron Silverly guided viewers through four laps of intense Batmobile action.

The drivers in Group 1 are well known to almost everyone. They are the classic Batmans (Batmen?): Adam West in the 1966 Batmobile, Michael Keaton in the 1989 Batmobile, Val Kilmer in a Batmobile inspired by the Batman Forever (1995) car, and Christian Bale in the Tumbler from Batman Begins (2005).

This race is point based, and has a couple of bonuses for the drivers to earn points beyond just finishing position. There is a bonus point available for taking the final jump on the course. Another bonus is available to the drivers if they make it past a second finish line located inside the Bat Cave,

For the first lap, the pole position was a case of age before beauty. The front row saw West and Keaton toeing the line.

In lap 1, Adam West was the rabbit. He controlled the race until he sputtered to a dead stop about 8 inches from the finish line. The early-modern era movie Batmans came in first and second: Kilmer then Keaton. Bale got The Tumbler stuck on the peak of the jump and joined West in the DNF category.

Lap two was a completely clean lap in which all four cars finished. Keaton took the win. He and West got all the way into the cave. Bale and Kilmer came in 3 rd and 4 th , respectively, but remained outside

For fans of the 1966-68 television classic, the sight of Adam West being beaten up before he later triumphs is a standard trope. In lap three of Group 1, West had to hope that the trope was in play in racing as well as tv plots. He went Fight Club on himself, and gave himself a drubbing that left him the only car not to finish the lap. Kilmer, on the other hand, got the maximum number of points for the lap, not only getting into the cave first, but also clearing the marker coming of the jump.

On the final regular lap, West got his act together and did, in fact, come out victorious after his previous adversities. Kilmer and Keaton came in behind him and all three got into the cave. The Tumbler was left outside.

After points were totaled, Kilmer and Keaton had to have a head-tohead face off. Luckily Keaton took the day. Let’s be honest, nobody wanted Kilmer to be the winner here. Keaton was the best Batman.