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There is no doubt that Retro has become a kit-based form of racing. It is what it is. The variations of frames that have come from said kits is just astonishing.

You will never please everyone 100% of the time. Having scratchbuilders talk smack on kit frames is all good. Without that, racing in any form never pushes forward. Pride or ego, whichever you prefer, keep things fresh and keep those engineering minds searching endlessly for the better mousetrap.

In reality we are talking about a guide hole, a piece to hold a front axle, a bracket to hold a rear axle, and something to pin the body too. That's it. However you come up with those things it's all good.

Nobody invented any of this stuff. Guys just arrange them differently. If a kit helps a guy do that quicker and cheaper so be it. Racing is close and that's the key. They all look the same on the line from the top. Retro is such a photocopy hobby anyway. People see a chassis win on Sunday and Monday morning there are 100 copies. And that is from scratch or a kit.

Just realize the big picture, in that there are 100 guys who care enough to spend the time to copy it. That's why it's popular and why you always have plenty of marshals in Retro. LOL.

Route 93 Raceways is going to the sky to advertise!!!

 

A turd is a turd, but it may not be at another venue. The problem with most of you guys is that you think that because of your advanced knowledge and years of experience that you put in what you think is your best motor, that it will be. And if someone is god forbid faster than you, that guy is doin something he shouldn't be. 2 years ago at Retropalooza Port Jeff CanAm, I was practicing and changing motors. I had, believe me, cycled thru some of my best engines from past races, some with multiple wins. I had a engine which was one of the first I'd bought 5 years ago, never ran anywhere. Refurbed it twice over the years, still a turd and never put a race on it. But that day, that track, that power it was a missile. Dominated the race. Fast Ones seal, still had an oilite bearing in the can. Do not confuse the fact that a motor is a turd cause it isn't fast at a specific racetrack. Matching the motor to the conditions is. That's why most of us have lots of engines. These motors are great out of the bag. They are great after getting refurbed. Are they all great at every track, no. So when most of you guys whining on here about guys blue printing motors, how do you explain someone like myself, who has never blueprinted a PD but still wins races? Obviously due to the amount of races I've run I'm sure I've ran against a few blueprinted engines in my time by now. Result has been the same. As with most BS on this blog, the majority of guys should start listening more to what guys who travel alot, race alot, and win alot are saying. But you won't, and the same thing will come up again and again and the same hard headed guys who never seem to walk thru the doors of any racetrack will dictate to the rest of us what a bunch of idiots we all are. Sorry, but if you are gonna talk the talk you better walk the walk. Funny how most who do, never seem to post much on these subjects. Maybe that would be a better topic to waste time on.

From my crib in Jersey, like I see it.
 
This blog is a great source of information regarding all forms of scale racing. It has connected us from around the world to share and discuss  almost every aspect of our hobby-sport. We should count ourselves fortunate we have such a forum.
 
That being said, I also find it damn entertaining. All the bickering and squabbling sounds like an Italian holiday dinner LMAO. 
 
There is something to be learned from everything, even the squabbling. So on the interpersonal relationship, human front I have learned that:
 
Some bloggers just don't like other people or organizations, and no matter how right they might be, they will argue against whatever that person/group says. Sound familiar, right?
 
Some just want to be heard, start trouble, are jealous, or are just plain miserable. 
 
NOBODY LIKES THE BOSS
 
An old friend of mine told me this when I became a supervisor.
 
Like it or not, this is Greg's sandbox, like it or not, his rules, his say. Disagree? Don't go away mad, just go away.
 
Retro East, both IRRAs, SCRRA, etc., all have people that run it. In the end if you are unhappy with the rules or you dislike the people running them voice your opinion, and if still unhappy don't go away mad, just go away. Don't try and ruin it for the rest. Nothing is perfect guys...
 
What I've found as a boss is those that support you will tell you one-on-one but usually not in a group. 
The ones that disagree usually do it in a group setting and some will go behind your back. They like the attention and it makes them feel relevant. Understanding their motivation in what and when they say things is as important as the content of their words. 
 
What's it all mean? Well, for starters admit there are people you just never will like or agree with. We all know it, so just stop it. Be relevant or be quiet... there comes a point when enough is enough.
 
There are many of you that are having a hard time in health, finances, or life in general. Lets remember what's really important and have fun racing.
 
Regards,
 
JJ

To our Oscar..
 
To my friend Oscar:

"A Retro racer; all wheels turning
An endless race; the motor spinning 
A friend to share the quiet times
A handshake and  a new friend of mine
Say it loud and lets all cheer
We are all a part of the big everything
The future, present, and the past
Move on Retro Man.
You're free at last."

 

jj

Thanks to Mike Isles for organizing and putting on this event yet again. He loves this hobby and has sacrificed both his time, and more importantly his money in trying to bring us the premier slot race in the East.

Thanks to Frank and Mark for taking the reigns of managing SpeedZone and helping make the Brawl run smooth.

Brandon was outstanding in the directors chair and deserves a huge thanks from every racer in attendance. He is a great kid, willing to help with anything.

It was great to have Cap and Brad back to the Brawl along with Tom Hansen, Mike Kravitz, and of course Howie.

John Miller was in the house again, along with the Conn and New York contingent led by the Clinton's and Preston Meyer.

The Brantley family was back and strong.

I got a new friend in Jason Holmes and getting to race with Duran again after all these years was just awesome. I was so happy to get a podium shot with him this weekend. He is the real deal, and did an outstanding job. I told Ryan to watch him and learn, cause that's the racer you wanna be like. Smooth, calculating, and respectful on and off the track.

Thanks to Greg Wells and Jay Guard for making the trip up and experience the Fall Brawl atmosphere.

Thanks to Noose for his never-ending commitment to Retro.

Personally I wanna thank my good friend Ed Sohl. It was Ed that kept me pumped about racing slots when I wanted to step away. He and Sano Dave are my heroes. Great men who do all their talkin with the controller.

Thanks to Greg Van Peenen for his endless work building cars so I can run up front.

To R-Geo, Rick Davis, Steve L, Fast Ones, Pro Slot, and Parma for all their products and help this weekend.

Mostly I need to thank my wife Sharon and my son Ryan. All the late nights and time away dedicated to this hobby especially on big race weekends is their time, too.

Thanks again everyone for coming and supporting SpeedZone.

In spite of a few different opinions by some, the vast majority of Retro racers just want to race, have fun, and be somewhat competitive. Those that want to build can, and those that can't or don't want to build have a whole lot of options in kits or buying RTR. 

 

Retro racing is enjoying large turn-outs all over the country, Japan, and the UK. 

 

While I do enjoy the bantering, most racers really dont give two sh*ts about this stuff.

 

WE JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN!!!

 

Regards,

 

JJ

Noose is the heart and soul of Retro East. I would have never thought we would be entering the 7th season back when we started. It's all because of Noose and his dedication. The retro east racers are a strong bunch that all get along. We are all friends, and always willing to help one another. It's one of the reasons I have stayed racing so long. The raceway owners are all great people as well, along with some of the absolute best racetracks anywhere in the country. We are spoiled for sure.

Retro East regulars are familiar with Nicole "Blondie" Walters from Slot Racing Revival. She has really gotten the slot racing bug, venturing out to OCR and Port Jeff this year after our home track SRR closed. She had mentioned that she would like to learn how to build a car from scratch, so I volunteered to walk her through building a chassis kit. 

Thanks to Joe "Noose" Neumeister, who donated a JK X25R kit (plus a bunch of other parts!) to the cause, last night we sat down and got to work.

The first thing was the basics of soldering. After some pointers and a trial on some scrap, we were ready to get to it.
 
Her first solder joints; bracket, axle, tube, and rear brass section:


 
Moving on through the build:







As you can see, by the time the front axle was going in, she could actually smile!  :-)
 
The finished product:


 
The happy builder:


 
The next step is showing her how to build it into a complete car. We have six weeks until the finale at SpeedZone, where hopefully she will debut her new ride.

The IRRA™ has completed its testing and concludes that:

1) Kelly Retro tires are not detrimental to the track or other racers.
2) While cost is a concern, this is a choice left up to the racer as to whether they wish to buy them.
3) Availability is not something we can control or dictate.
4) Speed rubber, as stated in the rules, has been and will continue to be that which contains silicone which has been found to be detrimental and the tests used to test for it will continue as they can be done at tech.
5) The IRRA™ BoD will implement periodic unannounced testing of tires at least once per year to ensure the various tires used are still in compliance. The same will be done with motors to ensure no changes have been made that were not announced.

(Posted for the IRRA™ BoD by Greg Wells)

If more and more Retro racers race away from their home-grounds, like John Gorski races at the Checkpoint Cup, mutual respect and understanding between Retro racers of different racing organizations will improve a lot.

 

Faceless internet is apt to make a small difference a great antagonism.

 

Let us enjoy racing instead of punching keyboards.

 

I prefer building and racing to vocal racing.

 

Good Racing,

 

Haruki

What innovations have been added?

In my opinion, we have the best of all worlds here - a place where you can build and "innovate" (maybe "evolution" is a better word), you are allowed to exactly copy what works (to the best of your ability to do that), you can buy a kit (a pretty good bet it will be fast right off the bat if you have decent building skills) or you are permitted to place your money and race a top builder's already sorted out car.
 
I like to "innovate" and I can only do that if I start from scratch. I recently bought two strips of .031" inch wide brass, a piece of pin tubing and a piece of .055" steel piano wire at the hobby store next to our Longmont track. Someone asked me, "What's in the bag?" and I answered, "My latest F1 chassis kit". (I cheated, however, and used a Chicagoland steel guide tongue.)
 
I got a lot of satisfaction with what I thought was my own "innovative" take on existing chassis designs. The car went 1/10th quicker than the Can Am car I raced at the RMRRA on the King track at 108 grams (about 15 lighter than what is typically competitive here). It was a pretty good feeling that I just don't get by driving a top builder's already sorted out chassis.

I built a Can-Am version of it and it is a quarter second faster than I have ever run at our local King track. I hope it stands up to the rigors of a real race. That is part of the development!
 
What's best for Retro is to allow everyone a way in with cars that meet a common rules set that permits a little bit of "innovation". I know where I stand on a national level (a "D" main racer on my best day) but I am getting a real kick out Retros for over the past four years now because I like to race what I build.
 
I don't fully understand the contentiousness that seems to be in this thread because I don't know the full back-story of the agendas of the people who are bickering. I don't believe that any of the bickering will change anyone's Retro rules at this point - it's been accomodating the "needs" of a very large group of people for many years now.
 
It's about meeting the "fun" quotient for the largest number of people. I wouldn't change a thing!
 
Keep it in the slot,
 
AJ

I thought I would post here as well. This is my new track. It was designed in Solidworks and has been under construction since the first week or so of May 2013. Working on the relay boards now. I will have a switch to reverse the direction of the track keeping the polarity correct. It uses a bunch of relays so hoping to have those board done early this week. Later this week the drivers station panels will be completed and hooked up. This will put me on schedule to power up and test Thanksgiving weekend.

 

The track is 106ft long. The banked turn (T1) is at 28deg. T2 is at about 4deg. T3 is uphill at around 5deg (no banking). The doughnut is at 8deg and the lead on turn starts at zero and goes on to the main straight at 2deg.

 

Round 4 of the Brawl. Whew. Thanks first to all that came. To those that didn't we missed you!
 
As the newcomers found out this is one tough crew out here and the Heavyweight Champ Matt Bruce showed them what I mean.
 
Mike Iles and the whole SpeedZone staff of Frank and Mark and especially Brandon Millinghausen have to be thanked for putting on a super event. Everything ran smoothly and how Brandon managed to race direct all weekend and still have a voice and a sense of humor is awesome.
 
It was great to meet new people once again and to see the "younguns" Ryan and Colin put on a great showing. Watching Howie and Ryan go at it was priceless. I had the opportunity to go at it with Colin and this kid is good; really good.
 
All of the racing all weekend was soooooo close in every main. You constantly heard Brandon saying there are four guys on the lead lap only feet apart!
 
For me the highlight was having the opportunity to race against Duran in a couple of mains in GTC and F1.   Yes, he is a machine. I'm too old to stay with him. LOL.

I had a heck of a F1 race and thanks to Tony P for all his help! This car is just good everywhere. 
 
The hand out Hawk Retros were excellent. None blew and a number of guys ran them in the Can-Am event with success. Most notably of course was Ryan Bruce!
 
The new hotel, while a bit further, was outstanding and especially for the price. When was the last time you saw a welcome sign at a hotel for slot racers? LOL.
 
Congrats to all the winners of the mains. To Rube, welcome to the "list". For Matt, he maintains the Heavyweight Crown for the fourth year in a row. Congrats to my buddy Edsel for capturing the Lightweight Crown by finishing second overall. And of course, congrats to ole Team Nutley teammate John Gorski for his Can-Am win!
 
Do not plan to miss this event next year!

LOL. Look, the same people complain about the same thing almost all the time. Most are just chit starters from Cali who could care less, and the others never come to race anyway. And some need to open their eyes when they come to the races and stop running home to their computers to print stuff like "All PD motors are turds". C'mon. Shut the F up.

God, it's like a broken record with these guys. Let them run their mouths all they want, cause they sure don't have much to say when they come to races and their cars are spraying all over the place with those so-called slow turd motors.

Keep thinking it's all motor, not setup or driving that gives the edge. I beg to differ. While a good motor helps, I won way more races by driving around guys stuck in the fence. If you didn't watch the Sano A Main or the A Main recently at Port Jeff this past weekend you will never understand.

I've been pretty successful in retro. Records, TQ's, Retro East wins, R4, Sano, Retropalooza, Fall Brawl, Mason Dixon what have you. I have used both Fast Ones and ProSlot for refurbs and I have never sent a motor in that didn't have a seal. Most times, I would hand Ron a box of 10 or so motors after a Big Race for him to take home. Dan has done many for me as well. If guys are blue printing them then getting sealed, I don't think it's really the end all edge you need to be successful. It certainly hasn't been to the races I've been to, and that's the majority of them. The single biggest thing I have found is matching the motor to the track power. They all run different, just like chassis, or tires, and bodies. I have motors that are dog slow one place and rockets somewhere else. I keep track of how they run and where they run, not just engines, but every major component on the car, or class of car. I have motors that run great in F1 cars and terrible in CanAm cars and vise versa. Retro is a exercise in changing everything but the number on the car sometimes. To think it boils down to just the engine is laughable to me. I've said this before and I will say it again, if you think it's all about motor you are beat before the power even goes on.

Nicole needed to add an F1 to her fleet, so with that class being on the schedule for our next race at Orange County Raceway, it was time to once again sit down at my bench and give her some instruction.  This was not quite as easy as the JK X25R, but she did quite well and I'm looking forward to seeing how it works.

We started with an FSF kit with a 1" motor bracket.  These kits are basic but that also leaves the door open to a wide variety of configurations.  Since the classis Dennis Samson design works so well, we went a combination of one 063 steel rail and 2 063 brass rails.  To fit three rails, we notched the bracket and the filler piece to accommodate the rail on the inside of the bracket.  Wheelbase 4-1/16", guide lead 1-1/16".  This should make for a good handling car that's easy to drive on a variety of tracks.

Some pics:

The fun begins...

The scary part...using the dremel cut-off

 

The finished product...

 

Using the engraver to make it personal

 

She can finally smile!

To all Retro racers,

 

For the last six months, there has been so much talk going on about how Retro racing is going down, because of multiple organizations. I personally haven’t seen it. I have heard comments about organizations trying to get tracks to pick a side. Why??? Are some afraid that their way will not be the “one” that will survive?

 

First of all, I haven’t seen any instances where the different organizations have tried to split attendance by having races on the same date. If fact, the only instance of that came out of a regional organization having a race at the same time as a national event.

 

If I look at the comments mentioned on blogs and Facebook, I don’t see  issues with the rules as being a reason to split the participation, I only see personal assaults. Yes, Ron Hershman was removed from the IRRA™ BoD, and yet he has still participated in their events, even teching the Music City Shootout. He also provided race prizes. Sound to you like a division of racing? 

 

I am sure there are those who feel that the changes in the IRRA™ BoD were warranted, as well as those who disagree. That is going to happen – regardless of 1 or 100 organizations. There are differences of opinion. That is why there is an odd number of BoD members.

So much for politics.  Retro racing is fun and I enjoy racing, regardless of whose rules are used. I feel that most racers will race, regardless of whose rules are used. If the set of rules is their determining factor, then personal issues are the real reason they aren’t racing. Personal issues happen everywhere and will not go away. And guess what - there are personal issues in every organization, in every “BoD”, and that too will not go away.

 

I think we ought to be happy that there are people who want to organize racing and have races. That is what will keep Retro racing going, not fighting over whose side you are on.

 

There were years in my past that there were not races to attend. I am happy that there are now places that want racing all year round. 

 

Multiple organizations can work well, as long as they don’t try to create many conflicts on purpose.

 

Let’s just be happy we have to opportunity to enjoy it while we are physically able.

 

Chris Barnes

Hi there,

Chassis complete, just final motorisationing assembly required.  Test pull successful. just needs a few tweaks and I'm ready for a run of bodies. Paint at the weekend (something simple) then in the mail for Steve to put it through its paces.











ATB
Al.

Fastraxxx
2201 Commerce Dr
New Vision Building
Fremont, OH 43420
419-937-4108

Tracks:
95' American Royal


90' Gerding oval


Hours:
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Thursday-Friday: 5:30 PM to 10 PM
Saturday: Noon to 6 PM

Owner:
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