A YouTube channel run by a California-based man named Adriel Johnson that features downhill races between various 1:64 scale diecast toy cars. Johnson got into the diecast racing business in 2014, when, while doing races with his two sons on tracks he built himself, realized that determining winners of their races was difficult. He purchased a 3-D printer and used it to construct an electronic finish line designed specifically for Hot Wheels four-lane tracks. The result was a product where the number of the lane of the winning car would light up upon passing the finish line.
Johnson then decided to build and sell a four-lane magnetic start gate; the product got its first order within 24 hours of an eBay listing. He then began creating and selling other products, such as a two-lane version of the start gate and finish line. His products began to be noticed by websites and other YouTube channels devoted to diecast racing, and soon, his business was booming.
In February 2018, Johnson showcased his first video of cars racing against one another: a one-on-one race between a Mercedes AMG GT3 and a Ford GT, both made by Hot Wheels, on a track that featured three straightaways and two turns, which also showed off the two-lane start gate and finish line. The video was filmed in his garage, which is where all of his videos are filmed now.
However, it was when Johnson constructed a track made from the Sizzlers Fat Track first sold by Mattel in the 1970s that his channel took off. The Fat Track allows the cars to move freely during the race, meaning they can go from lane to lane. The track took shape for what would eventually be named Race Mountain Speedway: a long drop down to a banked left-hand turn leading to a straightaway that led to a banked right-hand turn which led to the finish line straight. The first event was a tournament between him and his sons, but, as his subscriber count began to grow, he wanted his subscribers to get involved.
The channel's first themed tournament was the 100-Sub Tournament. Subscribers entered a contest to be chosen to be a "driver" of a car in the tournament sponsored by other YouTube diecast racing channels. The tournament's success led to the creation of the 3DBotMaker Diecast Racing League, and further themed tournaments, such as the Tournament of Lamborghini, which saw all but one video get views in the six figures.
The DRL videos are known for their high-quality production values, with graphics, close-up shots of cars, having multiple GoPro cameras stationed throughout to provide different angles, and Johnson providing play-by-play commentary (though he goes by "3D" instead of using his real name). Much like Greg Woods does for events on Jelle's Marble Runs, Johnson creates personalities and backgrounds for each competitor with his commentary. Starting in 2019, he added a second commentary line from a man named "2D" (Johnson's voice put through a pitch distorter to make his voice sound deeper).
In August 2018, the channel reached 1,000 subscribers. The following month, Johnson created the 3DBotMaker Underground Racing League, overseeing its new "king of the hill"-style drag racing competition, King of the Mountain.
At the end of the 2018 season, Johnson tore down Race Mountain to make it bigger, expanding it to 35 feet in length. But for 2020, he tore down the track again, this time making it much bigger, making it look more like a mountain with a traditional American road complete with double-yellow lines and white stop lines. He also added a banked right-hand turn at the top of the track, meaning that races would now start on the left-hand side of the viewer's screen instead of the right-hand side. In the summer of 2022, the channel moved out of Johnson's garage, and into a bigger place. Neither Race Mountain 2.0 nor the new DRC track that was introduced in late 2021 were moved, meaning all three series will have a new track. Race Mountain 3.0 was introduced in October of 2022 in time for the Pontiac Fiero Tournament. It is, essentially, the original Race Mountain doubled in size, with five hairpin banked turns, and six straightaways, whereas the original version had two such turns and three straightaways. On Race Mountain 3.0, the lane divider extends to the exit of the second turn. Also, like the original, races once again start on the right-hand side of the viewer's screen. Finally, beginning with its 2023 season, King of the Mountain now takes place on a new track called Race City, a fictional Japanese city that's the channel's most elaborate track yet.
In 2020, a third series was added to the channel: the 3DBotMaker Diecast Rally Championship, where diecast rally cars compete on a separate course from the other two series. In August 2021, a fourth series debuted the channel's first team-based series: the 3DBotMaker Diecast Demolition Derby.
Race Mountain also once played host to an event for the Adult Diecast Racing Cup Series, run by another YouTube channel, sub4ra. For this event, 3D was joined on commentary by sub4ra's runner, Rhyno.
As of January 31, 2024, the channel
has 826,000 subscribers. It has a Facebook page and a Facebook group.
For explanations of each series, see the Recap page.
This YouTube channel provides examples of:
- The Ace:
- Terry Hill during the first King of the Mountain season. Driving The Heavy, he won the crown a whopping 10 times, then won the overall season title.
- He then won the first King of the Mountain tournament for 2020-21 without losing a race.
- Lightning McQueen Reviews, who won the Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary Tournament without losing a race (meaning he went 9-0 during the event), then won his first two races in the 2018 DRL Playoffs, going on to win that tournament while only losing three races.
- Steven King won the first three Diecast Rally Championship events.
- Author Avatar: A computer-animated version of 3D appears in various early videos, and a computer-animated version of 2D appears in some early King of the Mountain episodes. These were later replaced by little toy miniature figures of them. In the When Cars Go Wrong pilot, stop-motion models with CGI faces for both 3D and 2D were used.
- The Big Race: The season-ending DRL Championship and King of the Mountain events can be considered this.
- Bigger Is Better: Describes the annual changes to Race Mountain.
- Celebrity Edition: Sort of what the 2020 Fast & Famous Car Tournament was, except instead of celebrities, it was characters competing against each other. James Bond ended up winning the tournament in a 1:64 scale version of the 1963 Aston Martin DB5 from Skyfall, claiming the last spot in the 2020 championship race.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- 502Imcomingthrough won the British Car Invasion Tournament by leading every lap of the final, thanks to starting from the pole.
- Lightning McQueen Reviews's win in the Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary Tournament can be considered this.
- In the qualifiers of the 3rd King of the Mountain Tournament in 2021, Bryson from Vannover Racing, took a Hummer H2 called Pistol Pete ... and proceeded to get a clean sweep of 20 points in 4 races.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: During the 2019 King of the Mountain season, the Food Truck Wars was introduced. In this, different food trucks battled it out for an exclusive contract to sell their food at Race Mountain during events. The FryBurgers truck won the initial race, and saw off three different challengers. Then, along came China Palace, a 264-gram beast. China Palace defeated FryBurgers, then saw off six challengers for the remainder of the regular season. Then, came the 2019 championship match at the KotM finals, where FryBurgers pulled off a Miracle Rally by coming back from a 2-1 deficit to claim the season crown. This was a true David vs. Goliath battle, as China Palace's weight stemmed from the fact that it was long, not just heavy. It was impossible to pass clean at any point on the track, and the only way to beat it was to be out front at the first turn.
- Didn't Think This Through: This can be applied to the DNF rule added to the DRL for the 2019 season, which stated that any car that ended up on its roof before the finish line would be out of the race. Sliding across the finish line on the roof was OK, and so was flipping after crossing it. This rule was mostly due to all the crashes that took place during the 2018 Mopar Madness Tournament. However, the 2019 Japanese Car Tournament showed why this rule didn't work. The first two heats in round one saw a total of seven cars drop out because of this rule (only two cars finished the second heat), which meant that the semifinal on the left side of the bracket only had five cars instead of six. However, that was only the start of the chaos. The five-car semi saw three cars drop out on the same lap, leaving only two cars, who managed to complete said semi and move on to the final. The second semifinal saw three of the six cars also drop out. In each semifinal, a car ended up in the parking lot at the bottom of the track; the second driver was covered up with a white sheet upon being removed from his car. The final only had five cars, but three cars dropped out in the first two laps, leaving just two to battle it out. The DNF rule was eventually repealed for the next tournament; a car would only be pulled out if its wreck was considered catastrophic.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: King of the Mountain videos often end with 2D rapping or even singing about the series, sometimes in relation to what just occurred.
- Double Knockout: Or in this case, a Double DNF (did not finish). The ninth qualifying race for the first tournament of the 2020-21-22 King of the Mountain season was abandoned after the cars couldn't get through the second turn without flipping over.note This is odd because if a car meets the length and weight requirements, the car then must complete a solo run in order to be able to race. This meant that the two cars completed a solo run to get to this point. This rare occurrence forced a 17th qualifying race to be run in order to have 16 competitors in the tournament.3D (after the fourth race attempt ends in failure and The Price Is Right's Losing Horns sound effect plays): And that is it. Stick a fork in it, this race is over and done. I guess there's a first time for everything; there's our first double DNF. They say it's "MOPAR or no car"; in this case, it's "no car". This tofu is delicious.
- Down to the Last Play:
- The 2019 Diecast Racing League format plays to this, as a car could start the final lap in last place and still win the tournament, or, in the case of the early rounds, get a Top 3 finish to advance to the next round.
- This can also apply to when a King of the Mountain matchup needs the sudden death race.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first tournament on the channel, the Fat Track Tournament, saw only the starting straight elevated, with the rest of the track on the floor. Because of this, the middle straight was very short, in order for the cars to have enough momentum to cross the finish line out of the last turn. The next event the 100 Sub Tournament, saw Race Mountain begin to take its original shape, with the middle straight now lengthened and placed on its own tier. Over time, Race Mountain began to look more and more like a race track, with a parking lot and garage added on. Johnson's commentary also sounded more scripted and less loose early on. But the most awkward part of the channel through the end of 2019 was the timing of the cars. In qualifying sessions, cars would trip the timer, and the display would post a very fast time that could not have been accurate. Sometimes a car would do a sub-3-second lap time, even though a viewer's assessment - whether through counting or using their own stopwatch - would come up with a slower time. According to Johnson, he would slow down the footage to half-speed in editing, because at real speed, the cars would be too fast for the viewers. Even then, a lap time below three seconds on 20 feet of track doesn't seem possible. The 35-foot version of the track used in 2019 would see lap time below five seconds, also seemingly improbable. The 2020 version of Race Mountain saw an improved timing system that was much more accurate, with lap times that looked far more realistic.
- The Faceless: We know what 3D looks like; it's just Johnson using basically a stage name. 2D wears cooler-looking clothes than 3D, as well as sunglasses. This trope applies to the voice that interacts with 2D (which is basically just a more evil-sounding version of 2D) during his King of the Mountain competitor introductions.
- Foreign Language Title: The Lamborghini Tournament was officially marketed as the Torneo di Lamborghini.note
- Flawless Victory:
- There have been a few races where the same car/driver won all four laps in a row for a clean sweep.
- Inverted with the "Dirty Sweep"; beginning with KotM 4, Tournament 2, any car/driver who DNFs all four laps is said to have accomplished a "Dirty Sweep". 2D even made a special title card and music riff to play for one of these that first plays in qualifying group 11.3DBotMaker: You prepared that whole thing for a Dirty Sweep?
2D: A Dirty Sweep is something to celebrate, 3D.
- Given Name Reveal: In the finals of the 2022 Ford Mustang Tournament, 3DBotMaker revealed that 2D's real name is Devon Davis.
- Golden Snitch: Since the final lap of each 2019 Diecast Racing League event determined the winner, said final lap could be determined to be this, since the first car to cross the finish line won the tournament.
- The Heavy: Terry Hill in King of the Mountain, brought in by 2D as a "fixer". In fact, one of the cars he drives is named "The Heavy" (making a Double Pun as the car itself had a lot more weight than most of the other cars).
- It Runs in the Family: The first two tournaments of the 2020 DRL season were won by brothers: Crazy Jimmy, driving a Pontiac Fiero in the Ferrari Tournament, and older brother Crazy James winning the Nero 62 Classic Stock Car Tournament.
- Makes Just as Much Sense in Context: Before the start of the 2018 DRL Playoffs Final, a moment of silence was had for Gab Formoso following his terrible crash during the Lamborghini Tournament. As footage of the accident was shown in slow motion with a sepia tone filter, John F. Kennedy's quote about going to the Moon during his 1961 inaugural address could be heard.
- Meaningful Name: The channel's name stems from the brand of 3-D printer Johnson used to make his diecast racing accessories: MakerBot.
- Mediation Backfire: During the first race of the second round of the all-truck event for the 2021 DRC season, Travis Wheeler crashes into the 3DBotMaker merchandise stand at trackside after getting launched off the finish line jump at an awkward angle, causing him to land on the first person in line. 3D forces the director to cut to a commercial. 2D, however, believes that 3D is disrespecting Wheeler's opponent, Truck Norris, whom 2D believes is actually Chuck Norris. During the break, various clips of different ads for 3DBotMaker merchandise are interspersed with continuous cut-ins to replay footage, and 2D's hot mic can be heard, ripping 3D for his perceived disrespect. 3D, busy with the situation at the merch stand, asks Susan to step in:Susan: OK, 2D, I'm gonna need you to try using "I" statements...2D: OK.Susan: ...like, "I feel...because...when," "What I need is..."2D: What I need...is for 3D...to keep Truck Norris's name out of his mouth!3D: I'm a commentator! How is that even possible?[cut to another quick clip of a merch ad, then right back to the live feed]2D: And that's why your mom won't buy any of your merch!Susan: You're not helping the situation.3D: That's not true. She bought a decal and a coffee mug from the link in the description.
- Miracle Rally:
- Nero 62 won the 2019 DRL Championship race despite not only starting the final lap in fifth place but spending the entire race in the back half of the field thanks to a poor qualifying run, which saw him flip over but manage to continue after landing on all four wheels.
- Likewise, Yo! Momma! won the 2019 King of the Mountain season championship in the MMJ Caddy, making up a 2-0 deficit in the final against Red Pill Racing in the Mad Catter to win 3-2.
- Mocking Music: The song that played following the 16th qualifying race for the first tournament of ''KotM'' season three, where Zoe C.'s Say Cheese won to advance to the tournament, but her fastest time was 19.48 seconds in Race 1, putting her last among all qualifiers. She would end up being the 16 seed for the first tournament, and promptly got ushered out by the Dollar General Leevo in the opening round. Among the lyrics were, "Your car's too slow", "All I'm sayin' is you're gonna lose", "You ain't got a chance", and "Get off the track".
- No One Could Survive That!: What one would think when seeing a car fall into the parking lot at the bottom of the old Race Mountain, particularly one that would land on its roof.
- No OSHA Compliance: The old Race Mountain would never be allowed to operate in real life as it appeared in the videos. The only place there was any fencing was on the inside of the first turn; a guardrail protected the inside of the second turn, but that didn't prevent cars from ending up in the parking lot. There was no fencing protecting the grandstands at the finish line, nor was there any fencing at the entrance of the first turn, as demonstrated during the 2018 Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary Tournament, when a car struck the end of the outside wall at said first turn entrance, and ended up landing right behind the stand inside the first turn, and there was nothing covering the top of the finish line stands either, in case a car took a drop from the exit of the first turn.note There was also no fencing on either side of the second straight to keep cars from hitting the trees, light posts, or billboards. Of course, these are toy cars that aren't being operated by anyone except gravity; real cars with actual humans at the wheel would be less likely to have such terrible crashes.
- After multiple cars fell off the middle straight during King of the Mountain qualifying races, guardrails were finally installed before the third tournament of the 2020-21 season.
- Only a Flesh Wound:
- On the old Race Mountain, cars would have terrifying crashes that in real life would gravely injure or kill someone, but somehow the cars would be able to continue. Very rarely was a driver injured in a crash.
- Subverted after Race 5 of the first semifinal heat for the 2018 Lamborghini Tournament, when the Veneno of Gab Formoso had an awful crash rounding the turn past the finish line too quickly, flipping out of the track, and even hitting part of the grandstands. A miniature Gab was shown in the stands at the finals wrapped in bandages, and Johnson actually took a hammer and smashed the top part of the car, which was put on display as a memorial (even though Gab Formoso isn't dead). The 2020 version of Race Mountain has a Gab Formoso Memorial Fountain past the finish line.
- Also subverted during the second semifinal of the 2019 Japanese Car Tournament, when the miniature figure representing Lil bread was being covered up with a white sheet upon being removed from his wrecked car.
- And during the first round of the first 2020 King of the Mountain Tournament, when McClyde died after his van fell off the side of the mountain just past the second turn. Cue the channel adding an RIP McClyde T-shirt to its merchandise line.
- Hey, he signed the waiver...
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Anyone with a good ear can hear that some of 2D's vocal inflections are the exact same as 3D's only pitched lower. Justified since they are both voiced by Johnson.
- Post-Victory Collapse: In the most famous event yet, the 2020 Ferrari Tournament was won by Crazy Jimmy, driving a Fiero, which is, of course, a Pontiac, but 2D was allowed to select Crazy Jimmy's car. Having had a good relationship with a previous boyfriend of his mother's, 2D selected the Fiero, which said boyfriend drove, much to 3D's chagrin. Unfortunately, just after winning the tournament, and even getting 3D to come around, the Fiero caught fire as Jimmy celebrated. 2D then finally decided to do proper research, where he learned that the Fiero was not a Ferrari and that the early models were often at risk of catching fire.
- Product Placement:
- One tournament was actually sponsored by South Korean tire company Hankook, and their logo was plastered throughout Race Mountain.
- Subverted with McDonald's; the Race City set originally had a McDonald's restaurant set within the second hairpin turn, but in the first race of the second tournament of King of the Mountain season four, it's shown to now have been "demolished". Dialogue between 3D and 2D has the former give an In-Universe explanation that it was taken down because it "violated a zoning law" causing "spectator view obstruction". However, as some YouTube comments believe, it's likely that the real McDonald's Corporation's lawyers caught wind of the channel and sent 3DBotMaker a cease and desist order to take down the prop for unauthorized use of their brand, especially considering that the restaurant is only referred to as "Mickey D's" (a Real Life nickname for the chain) in dialogue.
- Punny Name: For the 2020 KotM season, Terry Hill entered the competition in a Mistubishi Lancer Evolution with a General Lee paint scheme, calling the car the General Leevo. By the time the first tournament came around, the car had been painted yellow, with the logo of the United States-based discount retailer Dollar General on the roof covering the Confederate flag, changing the name to the Dollar General Leevo. It is unsure if this was done in the wake of the death of George Floyd, as the tournament started nearly two weeks after that happened, and during the ongoing protests, both the United States Marine Corps and NASCAR have banned the Confederate flag from being displayed, although both of these banishments took place after the tournament began, in addition to many Confederate statues and monuments either being removed by local governments or pulled down by protesters.
- The FGC Family won the second 2020 KotM tournament in a VW Golf named Kong. They then defeated Terry Hill in a best-of-5 match to take the crown, meaning their car can now be called King Kong.
- Running Gag: In 2020, a lot of the commentary banter focused around a few things, like 3D desperately wanting to know if the drivers of wrecked cars signed waivers (which would also allow 3D to sell merch, which is how we got RIP McClyde t-shirts), and both 3D and 2D berating an intern named Susan (who, as Mad4Robots, would win the Camaro Summer Tournament after the guys fired her; she was re-hired shortly afterward).
- Shout-Out: There are numerous pop culture references thrown around, particularly by 2D.
- Signing-Off Catchphrase: "I'm 3DBotMaker." "And I'm 2D." "And we'll see you...ON THE TRACK!"
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: 2D is not a fan of Ford Mustangs due to their frequent tendency to crash a lot. If a Mustang is in a race, you can be sure he'll mock it before the crashes even happen.
- Starts with Their Funeral: The video for the second group of the second round of the 2020 King of the Mountain tournament begins with the funeral—or, the procession following said funeral—for a photographer who was crushed by the FGC Family's VW Golf car named Kong after it landed on him following an accident at the finish line.
- Starving Artist: 2D apparently didn't get paid for hosting King of the Mountain during its early years. Turns out he was considered an intern then. Now every time 2D brings up the subject of pay, 3D quickly changes it.
- There Can Be Only One: The format of the 2019 Halloween Elimination Tournament. After the second lap, the car that crossed the line last (or, in the instance that not all the cars crossed the line, the one that was the furthest behind) was eliminated until there was only one car remaining at the end of each heat and the final. Since the 24 cars were placed into groups of six after qualifying, this essentially made each first round heat into a semifinal. To get to a six-car final, the last two spots were filled out by the two previously-eliminated cars that had the fastest track times during the tournament. To aid elimination, the DNF rule that had been repealed following the Japanese Car Tournament was brought back on a one-time-only basis.
- Underdogs Never Lose: In the 2020 Ferrari Tournament, Crazy Jimmy drove a Pontiac Fiero (an underpowered two-seat "commuter car") to victory over a field of exotic high performance sports cars.
- The Voice: Again, the deep voice that follows 2D during his King of the Mountain competitor introductions. This voice also had a prominent role in the 2019 Halloween Elimination Tournament, when he voiced over the "DNF" screen during qualifying and the "Eliminated" screen during the heats and final, complete with an Evil Laugh.
- Walk It Off: The medical advice given to a spectator by paramedics during the third event of the 2020 DRC season, when during a second round heat, he took the front bumper of a BMW 3.0 CSL to the face as it flew into a spectator area. 2D was understandably miffed that the man wasn't removed from the venue and allowed to remain in the same place, as well as being miffed at 3D's dismissive attitude towards the whole ordeal. Just minutes later, a car had a rough landing after flying past the finish line, and the driver was also told to just "walk it off".
- Watch Out for That Tree!: On the original Race Mountain, cars often hit a tree in the middle of the second straightaway. Sometimes it would keep the car from going over the side and into the parking lot below. A light post and a billboard also took the occasional smack.
- We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties: Every time there's a bad incident - especially one that involves an innocent bystander - the broadcast will cut to a commercial on the orders of 3D.
- Who Needs Overtime?: Subverted in the second event of the 2020 Diecast Rally Championship, when the final round between Steven King and Kid DuKnott required two extra heats (four extra runs total) to determine the event winner.
- Willing Suspension of Disbelief:
- You gotta have this when you see a car allowed to continue after having a nasty crash.
- For the first 2020 King of the Mountain tournament, a replica of Sterling Marlin's Kodak-sponsored Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo from the mid-'90s, won its qualifying race, setting the slowest time of any qualifiernote , then getting destroyed by Terry Hill's Dollar General Leevo in the first round of the tournament itself. In real life, a NASCAR car would whip any souped-up street car.
"This has been the TV Tropes page for the 3DBotMaker Diecast Racing League. I'm 3DBotMaker."
"And I'm 2D."
"And we'll see you..."
"ON THE TRACK!"
"And I'm 2D."
"And we'll see you..."
"ON THE TRACK!"
