Slot car racing from one racer and track owners point of view.
Question for me? Drop me a line at 'eAddict at yahoo.com' (had to change the e-mail format due to a large increase in SPAM)
Wanna dress like me?
Order cool T-shirts!
December 10
We had 11 folks show up at Gils for racing on the road course. Tom G showed up thinking we were on the oval but
decided to hang around and run the road course. He did great! Hope we
can get him to come out more often. He marshalled near the start line
for a few races. Guess he wanted to see how to make right turns and
actually use brakes. If it wasn't for my backup EuroPlastic car Tom
would have had a great overall showing. He gave me some suggestions
for speed improvements for the next road race with it. Only have 1
more to go so we will have to see how his suggestions improve performance.
Speaking
of close racing, we had the podium finishers running in the last heat at the
same time! Make for a good spectator sport and put no pressure on the
drivers! It was close down to the wire and no one could afford to come
out. Someday I'll be in that elite company. I find myself a bit
gun shy in turns - much more than the guys who constantly finish on the
podium. Maybe more practice, who knows.Also, here is a good example of why I like to keep score or record the scores in
pencil. See any problems in the sheet?December 3
I am at the point where I can start putting my track back up. I'll post photos of the room Saturday after Mark P and I start putting down the flooring. The issue I have is track layout. I have come up with 4 designs and I'd like some input/feedback. You can either talk about it on the discussion group or e-mail me at 'vincel at mgpmrc dot org'. Here are the current design options:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 57 feet | 57 feet | 51-61 feet | 52 feet | 53-58 feet |
Here are some photos I found of the old layout. I don't have the Tracker200 layout for it anymore so this is the best I can do for now. It looks really close to layout #2 above.
November 28,2008
Hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did. I even got in a little racing this week. A little thing call the Turkey Trot run by the GSRA.
There were a lot of guys there to race,
10 if I recall correctly. There was some wonderful treats - all 0 calories
of course and great company. Testing the cars and eating sweets - what
more can you ask for?
Jim S and Mark P were nice enough to loan me 2 cars for the evenings
events. Jim loaned me one of his many Flexi Porsches for the high
powered race, Mark P trusted me enough to run his EuroPlastic Porsche even
after what I did to his midget.
The high powered cars are always a handful for me. I just don't have
that magic touch. My goal for the night was two-fold: not to come in
last and to keep out of everyone else's way! I managed both only
because another racer had major issues with his car. I stayed out of
last by 5'. I did finish over 27 laps behind 1st. Ken Ws car was
lightning. He beat 2nd place by 13 or so laps. Kudos to Ken for
such a great driving show! I did OK in the EP class. I couldn't
keep up with the winners but didn't cause any wrecks nor did I manage to
disassemble the car. In the IROC I got 4th by a coin toss. There
were 3 of us on the same lap and the same foot marker. Mark P had just
crossed the 15' line so it was between John E and I. I won (tails).
Sad that my best showing was do to a coin! Oh well. It was still
a very fun evening. Steve L was a great host. I came away broke
as always - paid Bill S for the bodies he bought for me as well as buying a
set of tires from Mark P.
|
 |
 |
 |
| 1/32 EuroPlastic Porsche | 1/24 Flexi Porsche | (L->R) Brian, Ken, Mark, John | (L->R) Brian, John, Mark, Jim, Ken marshalling in the hole. |
November 20, 2008
I was looking forward to a good night of racing at Ballwin Speedway. Mark P had loaned me his midget as well as his stocker. I decided to work on my stocker before the racing to see if I could make it turn left better than it did last time. As it turns out, it was a good thing.
Mark made a rather awesome car, check out the intact car in the line up for
concourse. It is a great running car and when I practiced it was
smooth and fast. I was looking forward to running it. I decided
to run my stocker instead of his. Mine was doing OK during practice
and I did well during the race. Not as fast as Marks was and not fast
enough for a podium position. But it is Marks midget that was involved
in interesting racing.I was in blue for the first heat which meant I was going to be the first one off too. It was a good thing I didn't have to go longer! Being in blue I had a few midgets appear right in front of me and we ended up with exploding parts everywhere. When I moved to green, the outside lane, I was not immune either. One of the guys came up out of blue and took me out. Another one I must have touched wheels with caused me to go up and over the wall. I think out of the 4 heats I was involved in every track call due to a collision.
Every heat the car lost more and more pieces. I was depressed! Here I was running a nice, fast car and beating the heck out of it! It survived and I managed to still finish 2nd. I think if I didn't have a target painted on the car I might have actually finished higher. Hopefully Mark knows that the damage was not intentional and won't be afraid to loan me a car again in the future. I did well - the car didn't.
IROC was another issue all together! I was on green first and the truck did not want to run. Turns out I was the guinea pig and everyone learned from my back experience how to better drive the truck. Ken W took all the IROC vehicles home to give them his magic touch. The road cars seem OK, I just hope the oval vehicles are repairable. We still have 2 or 3 races to go.
On a final note, my door in the basement almost went in the other day. Seems the sales person didn't mention that I needed to install a header board and more boards on the side. The installer tried to get it to fit but could not. He will be back Monday. I hope to have photos by then of a completed garage door.
November 14, 2008
I have missed 2 of the last three weeks of racing. One work related and the other was a funeral visitation. It was good to get back out even if it was on Jim's track. I am getting better BUT those darn flat turns toss me for a loop every time. Someday...
Thunder Road is coming up soon. November 30th. Mark P and I have somehow become the point for the race. Oh well, it ought to be a good time. I hope to be able to build at least one car for the race otherwise I'll just have to go to keep score. The entries haven't started coming in - only 2 so far. Would make for a short race. The show also happened during this dry spell of writing. I got a cool toy to mess with when I get my work bench up and running. I'll post more about it later. Once I get it out of the plastic bag that I brought it home in!
I haven't been working on cars but instead working on the basement. I really should take photos the next time I work on it to post here. I have almost all of the painting done. I am looking at either snap-lock pergo floor or inexpensive tile. I got one quote for good tile and it was nearly $3000! Ouch! only 440 sq feet too! The snap-lock flooring with the under layer would be under $500. The inexpensive tile would be nearer to $250. I want it to look good but not look cheap.
Scheduling will be interesting for the next season. We are losing 2 tracks, well, really 4 and adding 1. PMS was recently sold and we haven't heard from the new purchaser if they would like to join in the club rotation. SIS will be unavailable as the owner is moving. I think it will come back on line once he gets moved. The portable oval is in storage right now as the member who was hosting it just became a Dad this morning to child #2. Would be nice to find a more permanent home for it. A member, Jake S, just bought an interesting road course and is working on getting ready to add it to the club rotation. And then there is me with my plastic track... Anyone want to take over scheduling?
October 13, 2008
What a good night of racing. Yes, I am saying that even though I didn't walk away with too many podium positions (1 of 9 possible I guess). In the Fly racing, Gordon was back in form as his white rocket GT40 took 1st. Paul H had a good run going but a less than stellar run in white left him of the podium. Gil's Porsche was fast but he was having issues with tight tunrs. Turns out he grabbed and incorrect controller for a heat and was basically running with an one/off switch. I think the only reason my dog of a car got on the podium is because the folks who were faster did stay in. That didn't happen in the FunCup races though. Ken W was uncatchable. Paul H managed to keep him at bay for 1 heat but it wasn't enough. Bill's VW was faster but the driver was less experienced. Scott VA had major controller issues and ended up using a borrowed controller that was a tad off of what he was used too. Steve T was running Paul;'s backup FunCup car and seems to do OK. Once he gets a controller that he can learn instead of running a borrowed one week to week. I have offered my SideX for the rest of the season. I think if he stays with one controller for a bit he will get better fast. IROC was a mess as it was like racing on ice. The club HAS TO BUY NEW TIRES for the B-Production ASAP or let folks clean tires in between heats. Cars were going all over. Getting 6 laps in Blue was 'normal' since the car spent most of the time sideways. The green car took a sides wing that broke a lead wire. The cars AND the controllers need some TLC. If I only had my work bench ready to go...
September 26, 2008
Wow, a month to the day. There has been a lot going on - so much that doing this has taken a back seat. As the year goes and maybe by next season I will get more regular here.
First,
a big thanks to Bill S to trust me with his EJ Midget. I didn't
do too bad with the headless driver - 4th. I didn't even expect to be
near the top. Tom G tuned it very nicely. If I had more time
with it I might have done better. All in all it was a rather fun car to run
and race. In hindsight, had I had my workbench up and running I might
have actually enjoyed putting one of these together. I don't know what
the odds of running them again are since EJ only makes limited runs of his
cars. Next time there is a 'kit' car I promise I will build and run
it.
My stocker ran like crap and I think it was mainly because of a new controller I have. I need to get more track time with it to get the touch for the car(s) that I race. It worked great with the EJs but was a bit too twitchy (for me) for the Cheetah II powered car. It is a Difalco like Marks but was no where as smooth. Operator error I am guessing. Paul H was one fire with his stocker. He came out of nowhere and took top spot. Kudos to him! He has been working more on his cars and his driving and it really shows. Something I need to take to heart. I hope to to better on the road course this weekend. I got WOMP tires for the FunCup car. The ones I had were a tad wide. Maybe someday I can talk Ken R into selling one of this tire tools to me.
Speaking of building, I have been busy in the new part of the basement. The walls have been primed and I bought the paint for the final coat. I decided last night to paint high-gloss black backboards for my display area vs buying mirrored. More the reason that I can't find any locally and the size I would need would cost an arm and a leg to ship. I would still like to do thinner glass/pexiglass shelves but I think I can leave that for a later upgrade. So after helping Mark P in his yard this Saturday it is back to the basement for me. Maybe photos by the next time I get back to this.
August 26, 2008
I feel right now like I am running down hill. The club activity is in full swing, the kids are back to school, and my wife is back to school as well - both teaching and working on her PhD. I am also trying to get more of my basement done. I dragged the drywall down a few nights ago and now await assistance to install it. I am so anxious to get my track up and running again!
Work on BIR was complete in time to have the Wednesday night club race (GSRA). They ran Slot-It Porsches as well as 1/24 Flexi on high-power. The track was so smooth and fast. It was fun racing on it again. Mark P, again, stepped up and loaned me a car for the Porsche series and a body for the Flexi. Yes, even I enjoyed running on high power on Gil's track. I think it is one of the few tracks in the club where high-power racing is enjoyable - at least to me. Others enjoy this type of racing on all the tracks in the area. I think once or twice a year is enough for me!
Racing was again up on the oval. I think everyone made sure the power was set properly. It made for some good racing! This time we had but one issue with the PC - many more with the cars. A few of the guys had pieces falling all over the place either at random or do to an assist from another racer. There were a few long track calls to allow for repairs. Nothing a few moments with tape and a screw driver couldn't fix. I wish I would have had a camera on the race too. We could have shown when Bills' driver fell out or Pauls body did a over-the-front-handlebars flip completely off the chassis.
The 1/24 Stockers were good. No major disasters there. I needed a better controller. Once I borrowed Marks DiFalco my car was on fire! I would have been in the running but I missed out on almost 1/2 a heat messing with my controller. I have decided to thin the herd. Look for sales on all of my controllers so I can buy an NEW and NOT USED one for once. Also, we ran the new trucks that Scott VA painted and Gil built for IROC. Squirrelly but very easy to marshal.
We had a new guy come out too, Steve T. I loaned him a controller and Mark loaned him a stocker. He did rather well for his first night out. I think it helped that we made/forced/suggested he practice on all the lanes for the entire warm-up time before the races. Hopefully we will see him out again.
August 13th
What
was supposed to be a few quick races turned into a rather long but enjoyable
evening. The club ran the last leg of the 2008 Forums Cup Proxy Race
before the evenings race. We ran the race at the new home of the club's
portable oval. Bill S was kind enough to move it into his basement. It
was a bit tight but good enough to race His wife's cookies helped us
deal with all the pressure. Well, it was supposed to be done before
the race. We had hardware and software issues that delayed the start
for about 90 minutes. Only 2 cars DNF'd. So after 22 heats and 3
pizzas we got on to the main event.Trust but verify should be the new club motto. I was told the track power was 12volts but it didn't sink in that in our case that was HIGH power. It made for some rough racing. During practice Bill S lost the nose of his stocker when it ran into a EJ Midget. All the cars ran a bit hot. The only other major causality was Bill S motor on his stocker. !2v was too much for the Cheetah II. My car did well until the gear went south. I need to replace it with a new pink gear and I think it will be competitive. I'll know in 2 weeks.
 |
 |
 |
The other MAJOR piece of news is that Ballwin International Speedway is nearing completion! Gill F put the first coat of paint after Mark P, Gil F, and I taped all the lanes. All 88 feet of them. I took some photos with my cell phone of some of the improvements. The joints are more or less seamless and the long straights go into and come out of the curve very nicely. We also fixed the bridge area where the MDF of the track had no support before. In fact, the inside lane had dipped down nearly 2". Now, with a steel L support, we hope to have cured that. We hope to have the walls up this weekend ready for racing next.
August 5th
|
I'd like to say I had a good night of racing but I can't. I ran a first good heat with my Fly car. Then later in the race the rear tire came off. In the FunCup car, I had a fast car until the interior came loose and got caught up in the gearing. The tape didn't hold. I thought I had cleaned it up well enough after widening the wheel wells but I guess not. Without the interior it was fast but I was already too far down. |
 |
 |
And my Fun Cup isn't the only car that is having issues.
One of the better racers kindly took my Stocker after my last
disaster of an evening and gave it a once over. Here is what
he did:
"I narrowed you interior a tad, it was too wide and wasn't
seating properly, so that was part of the problem. I remounted
it and it sits a little higher in the body now so
clearance should not be a problem.
I also tightened your guide, it was really loose and I think
that was the majority of your de-slotting problem. I also added
a small piece of lead just behind the guide (these cars are too
light in the front now) so that should help too. Your braids
were also kinda bad so I picked them out, brushed them and
trimmed them.
I also added a piece of strapping tape in the front where
your body tore a little, it may help. And added a couple strips
of strapping tape on the rear fenders so if the tire does rub,
it's slicker on the strapping tape AND won't wear your paint
through either.
Added a couple drops of oil to everything for good measure."
It is attention to detail that makes good drivers great. Though we give Gordon grief about his rocket Fly car he deserves credit for getting his car and tuning it over the weeks and weeks we had to prep. There are folks who have stockers that are screamers that did the same. More than just slap a paint job on and put in on an untested chassis. I keep telling myself I need to do more in this area. And until I do I will have to live with being a back marker. |
July 25
OK. Let's see how this goes. I really guess I miss writing though I didn't know too many people read it. I didn't want to do what bloggers call 'navel gazing'. I wanted to reflect my experiences with slot cars and with the St Louis club scene. That being said, let's get rolling... 6 months late.
 |
My track is still down. Mark P helped me frame the basement recently but then the worked slowed. I finally got the wiring done all the way to the box. I need to call my electrician friend to do the sub-panel work. I get the heeby-jeebies working with electricity as it is. I also got the sump pump working well enough to feel safe to put up dry-wall. Maybe this month or next. |
| My work bench has been set up in the other half of the basement. The half that my kids want back. I am still very disorganized and it takes me forever to work on cars and find all the parts that I know I have. I did get my Fun Cup car done. I still have to paint my stocker for this weekend. |
 |
 |
This is one of the 2 Fun Cup cars I did. This was also the first car I painted using my new airbrush. Nothing fancy - one color. Got the hang of it AFTER I almost hosed the airbrush. Luckily our club has an air brush guru - Scott VA - who helped me clean it and repair it. Now I want to paint everything in site. |
| This was the first Fun Cup field of the season. My #10 is in the front row. These cars aren't that fast but they fit what I think MGPMRC stands for: easy to build, equal performance, but you HAVE to learn how to drive. My car was fast but I didn't handle the turns too well. I hope to get the hang of it sooner vs later and get this car where I think it can be in the standing. I didn't come out mush, just took the turns wrong and spent a lot of time hopping and fish tailing. |  |
 |
The 2008 Forums Cup is happening in St Louis this year again. The first race is Saturday morning. Check out the link off of the front page for series information. Out to be a good race again this year. |