Red Racer Factory

The Red Racer Factory is an abandoned Red Racer tricycle factory in the Capital Wasteland.

Information
The various ghouls encountered in the initial levels exhibit the curiousity of suffering from exploding heads after death, accompanying an electronic "chirp", the sound made by a mine prior to exploding (which can be confusing if the player tends to aim for the head, as the sound will be played after the enemy's death anyway, even if there is no head to explode anymore). Further exploration, particularly into the CEO Offices, reveals super mutants, also with a penchant for bursting heads after death. Eventually, a mad scientist known as "The Surgeon", armed with a missile launcher, will accost the player. Reading the various computers reveals that The Surgeon was apparently experimenting with enthralling various mutant creatures with a brain implant. It is revealed that the reason for their heads exploding was a means of cover-up, and also as a failsafe in the event that he loses control. The player can activate the failsafe if they have the Science skill needed to hack the computer terminals with the option, thus killing most of the creatures in the factory.

There is also a Glowing One named Stefan, who is revealed from the notes of the Surgeon to be a particularly prized thrall. On The Surgeon's body is a key that will open up two safes nearby and the cage holding Stefan, as well as a Missile Launcher and the Surgeon's Lab Coat.

Location
The Red Racer Factory is northeast of the Nuka-Cola Plant (west of Hubris Comics). To get there, you have to travel north from the Nuka-Cola Plant until you reach Dot's Diner. From there, travel east to the factory.

Notable Loot

 * A copy of Dean's Electronics is well hidden near a toolbox above the machinery in the first assembly room straight forward from the main entrance. Jump up onto some barrels to get onto one of the machines and find it.
 * Goalie Ledoux wears a unique mask named Ledoux's Hockey Mask that gives the wearer +25 Action Points and has a damage resistance of 4.
 * D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine under a bucket, on top of a large machine, next to a tool box, turpentine, ammo box and hammer at the eastern side of the factory floor - just northwest of the easternmost room. Must drop down from a catwalk onto a covered catwalk. This area is difficult to find, and you'll need to run all the way around the upstairs areas in order to reach this room. Once on the covered catwalk, it's located between two generators up a small step ladder. (One way to identify the correct room is that on the floor level there is a conveyor belt with two red lights on either side where it enters the walls.) It should be underneath a bucket.
 * You can find Nikola Tesla and You In the CEO Offices behind an easy locked door, as soon as you enter the Offices you turn the corner, first door to your left. It's on a shelf.
 * Door is probably leveled, as it was locked Average for me
 * You can acquire The Surgeon's Lab Coat in the factory. The Surgeon is located in the CEO offices. The lab coat grants +10 Medicine and +5 Science.
 * There is a bottle of Nuka-Cola Quantum in the factory. It can be found in the CEO Offices inside Stefan's cage (The Surgeon's prized ghoul).
 * All the components for the Nuka Grenade can be found here, near Stefan's Cage is a store room that contains Abraxo Cleaner and Turpentine, and there is a large abundance of Tin Can's everywhere in the Factory. And the Nuka-Cola Quantum in Stefan's Cage.
 * There are 2 frag grenades under the work bench on the factory floor.

Bugs
When using an energy weapon such as the Plasma Rifle or Laser Pistol, if a critical hit is made thus turning the creature to goo/ash, the script that calls for the head explosion (i.e., the failsafe put in by The Surgeon) will still occur, and the head will explode in chunks as though it were still there (it will explode out of the remains a few moments later). These chunks will identify as the creature you'd just killed, does not enable double looting from the same corpse. If you shoot in the heads in VATS mode, the game may freeze probably because of those built-in chips (confirmed on PS3 version, didn't happen on 360). You can get in stefan's cage without using the key, get out a melee weapon,(proven with jack) and target him in VATS and you will attack him in the cage. be warned though this is quite useless beacause if you did not get the key you will be stuck in the cage with no way out, unless the console is used.

Found in PC (v1.5) the radio in The Surgeon's room is playing snippets of Three Dog speaking about main quest completion. (Eg, speaking from 'the future'). He is talking about the water purifier being activated with clean water, while not even having visited GNR for the first time, let alone activating the purifier.

Related Quests

 * Just for the Taste of It