Slotblog

First off I want to thank the family of Tom Thumb for making this all possible. Loads of work and long hours. Thanks for the great times and memories you are making for us all.

Thanks to all the sponsors who gave prizes.

Thanks to Bill Fulmer for being the official camera man and Congratulations for the induction into the Retro Hall of Fame!

You had to be there to appreciate the intensity of all the races, from Coupes through Can-Am, WOW! is a good way to describe it. The racing was incredible! So tight.

I want to give a big THANK YOU to Chris Radisich for his Coupe win using a Samurai II chassis, second in F1 using a Victory prototype and a stellar showing with a 4th place finish in Can-Am, just two laps away from the top spot.

Thanks to Josh Crutchfield for helping with the development of the Samurai and Victory chassis program and his big win in F1 with his own prototype design. Josh and Chris finished about 15 inches apart for a 1-2 finale.

Congratulations to Ron Hershman for his superb performance today in Can-Am and a new lap record finish at 285! Thanks to him and Rande Marshall for pushing me so hard to develop our own race program. That pair raises the bar pretty high.

The Holiday Inn party session was nice to mingle with all the racers and trade old war stories. Can't wait until next year to do it all over again...

PS: If you were not there, shame on you. I can't wait to see the pictures and Sano Dave Dude was busy all weekend with his camera, LOL.

I had "fun"!

This could be a long reply to this post so bear with me as I am still a bit fried and frazzled this morning.

This was by far the most competitive R4 race to date. The racing all weekend in all of the classes was the closest and cleanest I have ever seen or had to race in. So many guys are getting it figured out, getting faster and making more laps than ever. Last year there was only two guys to run 280 + laps in the Can-Am race and this year there was six racers running 280 +. Randy Korh's total of 278 in this years main would have been a 3rd or 4th place finish last year. That goes to show all of us how much better have got in the past year. F-1 was the same. Last year only three drivers ran 270 + laps and this year ALL 10 drivers ran 271 + laps.

Every race was close racing and very clean compared to previous years. Again, driving is getting better and guys are figuring out their equipment.

There was a lot of "heart breakers" in regards to drivers racing their butts off and just coming up inches or a foot or so short of making a "A" main. Poor Ralph Thorne sweated out for hours hoping his lap total would be enough to make the Can-Am "A" main. He made it...barely...but he made it! Congrats to Ralph.

Dave Simerka.... where did this guy come from??? Dave made both "A" mains in F-1 and Can-Am in his first R4 appearance. Awesome run Dave!!! The glove lives.

Terry Watson..... hardest and loudest wall "shot" of the weekend and his car continued to run after that.

Howie.... the shortest wall "shot" of the weekend and probably the most damaging taking him out of a certain "A" main move up.

For this years "MAC" award, we added Greg Wells, Tony P, Bill Fulmer for their contributions to the growth and promotion of IRRA racing and we also added the late and great Chris Gallegos for his contribution to retro racing overall.

The Can-Am main...... a great race and a great group of drivers getting along with one another on and off the track, letting each other go cleanly when the time to do so came and it made for a very fast main event. I recall one heat of the main where there was only one guy who deslotted the entire heat. Someone mentioned there was one heat where no one deslotted. That is awesome.

Of course the entire weekend was a blast...win or lose.

The "party"....was it a party at the Holiday Inn?? Whatever you want to call it, was a blast and minute by minute surprises and fun. Thanks to Steve Dieters, Brian Mc Pherson and Howie for bringing old cars, magazines, photos, memories, etc for our enjoyment.

Now while some of might think my victory in Can-Am was my highlight of my weekend...MY highlight and Victory of the weekend was getting Howie to sing us " No More Mr. Nice Guy" by Alice Cooper and a ever bigger accomplishment was to get Howie to sing a encore...singing us a Rolling Stones number. But I missed his singing of Happy Birthday to Laura Schmitt while I was out getting him some wine as a bribe to do his encore. Thanks for sharing your birthday with us Laura.

Of course we have to thank the Mc Masters family.... Mike, Cindy, Jessica, Skippy, and the others who help them behind the counter and around the building. Jessica fell ill over the weekend and we all missed her on Sat and Sunday. She missed some good racing and would have been right in the mix had she been there.

Big thanks to Bill Fulmer and Chris Barnes who with their camera lens recorded lots of history in the making.

The biggest thanks has to go to Noose and Butch for doing the teching as well as Mike Mc, Rick Maynard, Butch and Eric Balicki for doing the race directing. We couldn't have done any racing without you guys.

Also a big thanks to Cindy, Sharon Bruce, Paula Young and whoever else manned the "kitchen" keeping our tummies full of food and bodies liquidfied.

Thanks to all of the sponsors who donated products and money for the event. Everybody got something every race.

While the R4-3 maybe have been down on overall entries compared to the R4-2 ( down about 15 or so over the R4-2 total ) it just goes to prove that bigger isn't always better.

The R4-3, was by far the BEST R4 race yet!!!!

I had a great time this weekend. This was my first REAL BIG event. I went to the warmup race and about crapped myself. This one I was alittle more prepared thanks to Mike Mac, Jessie, Rick Maynard, Eric Balicki and Earl Graybill. I had put in a lot of practice laps, and I knew if I could keep it in the slot, I would do ok(for me anyway). I turned 230 laps at the warmup race in Can-am. Not good, very nervous. So GTC came up on friday, I was happy with my motor and my chassis(thanks to Josh Crutchfield) was VERY good. I turned 246, not to bad considering how awful I did on orange. I was also pretty nervous the first 3 heats, but I hung in there. Practicing for F1 showed good/bad my car was. My car was crap a couple weeks ago, and Rick M. took it home and did some work on it. It was much better, but he still didnt think it was right. I took it over to Ron and Rande, and Rande fixed it. WOW! what a huge difference the fronts made. My car was HOOKED up. I wasnt pushing it to hard during the race and was able to turn 253.8 and that was taking it off the track to fix the body. I was very happy with this results. Team Goober had a very good weekend, even though Jess and I fell ill on sunday and werent able to race in the Can-am. Not that I could have run anywhere near 270 to even get a chance of making the top 20, let alone the top 10. I wont forget the comment Shadow made at the end of the can-am race, "I didnt think running 282, almost 283 laps would get you 5th.

Many thanks to the McMasters family for hosting such an outstanding event at Tom Thumb Raceways. The fact that the races were run in such a seamless manner is a testament to how much work was put in before, during, and now after the event. Also thanks to the many people who volunteered at a variety of capacities from tech, to race directing, to food services and especially the wives and girlfriends who marshalled during all the testing sessions. Also a special thanks to all the racers who travelled extra long distances-Pa, Maryland, NJ, IL, WI, Texas, Florida (can we stretch it a bit Chris R. and add New Zealand?!) and others for making the extra effort to come. All of the things totaled up made for a fun weekend of racing the entire weekend for all the participants.

This is my favorite time of year. When everyone gets together. Though i got to spend only one day with you guys i still had a blast and i cant wait until next year. It will come quick. So be ready

oh and BTW....howie could be the next AMERICAN IDOL!

oh and BTW....howie could be the next AMERICAN IDOL!

NOT!

I'd like to say Thanks to the McMasters family & friends for putting on a Great event. My first time to the R/4 and what an experience!!! Its also nice to be able to put faces with names & meet new people. I will be there from here on out!!!!

This is no doubt an "Event". The racing was something that I've never seen or experienced before. I hope do better next year. Congrats to all winners & to the guys that made the Mains!!! I wish I could have stayed to see the Can-am & F-1 mains but my duties here at the shop called.

I hope to see some of the attendees of the R/4 at the "All-Ohio" here in April/May.

What a GREAT time it was,

Amigos,

All I Can say is WOW!!! First I like thank thank Mike and Cindy and Crew at Tom Thumb Hobbies for everything.
Also I would like to thank Howie for the tips on my F1 with out it I would have been a large pain for the rest of the drivers in my main. The Main Events in F1 and Can Am were intense. I was hoping for a better finish in Can Am but a nasty wall shot took me out for 2 heats. I could have park it. But thanks to Brian Cox for the repairs I was able to finish my main. It was a great expierence. It open my eyes on how some of the big dawgs run. Hopefully next year I will be there again.

Adios Amigos

Mad Mexican Racin'

Wow, this looked to be another fantastic event. Definitely something I would like to attend next year. Such close racing, and having fun doing it. Great job, guys.

Anyone have anything on the Jail Door race? Great photos, but nobody has made any comments...

The Jail Door race, OMG they ended up with a full field of them. It's no wonder the old timers can drive, if that is what they learned, raced in the '60s. LMAO They are brutal! I always regretted that I was not exposed to racing "in the day" but I am happy I missed that part of it.

Thanks for remembering Chris Gallegos in your MAC awards. This last weekend we honored Chris at Buena Park Raceway for his contributions to slot racing and for the friendships he built amongst racers. I don't know what the total car count will be between the G7 race, and the D3 F1 & Can-Am races. I believe the final car count for the Drag Race part of his memorial race was 384 cars.

It takes a special person to run a successful raceway, thanks to all of you that try to give us racers a place to play.

Ron summed it up perfectly, thanks to everyone involved in putting together such a great event.

Having put together so many events during my time in the USRA, SoCAl USRA and IMCA I know how much effort everyone goes to to make it all happen. Well done everyone! It's nice to be just a racer these days and not to have all the headaches that come with putting on such great events.

I totally agree with Shadow's comments, as I thought when I sat out the last heat of the Can-Am race 283 might just be good enough for second.... not 4th. Running 36 lap heats and not actually passing anyone on the track in the whole heat was something else, just amazing.

The 7 lap spread from 1st to 10th in the F1 main has to be some sort of record, and that race should send all the historians lurking around here back to their record books to do some checking. I would be amazed if anyone could find a 10 car main field as close anywhere in history, or even a traditional 8 racer main as close as that. Being in the F1 and Can-Am mains where so many people raced so hard, with so few deslots, and no major breakages and track calls was incredible.

Of course I have to thank R-Geo Rick and Josh Crutchfield. Josh is one hell of a chassis builder, and his building combined with the R-Geo Samurai, I had an awesome Coupe and Can_Am car. The F1 prototype built by Rick was also an awesome F1 car, in fact so good that at the last minute I decided to use it over the Victory chassis I ran second with at the warmup, leaving Rick to find himself another ride for the F1 race.

Chris:
I for one am looking forward to pictures of those chassis. Us backmarkers need inspiration....

Rick:
I would have been happy to lend you my Jaildoor car...
BTW: the sports cars handle much better than the GP cars.

The 7 lap spread from 1st to 10th in the F1 main has to be some sort of record, and that race should send all the historians lurking around here back to their record books to do some checking. I would be amazed if anyone could find a 10 car main field as close anywhere in history, or even a traditional 8 racer main as close as that.

Chris,

You're probably right.
I thought the same thing when I saw the results.
Some races start out that tight but eventually the guys with the cars that are a tick slower start pushing too hard to keep up and fall back.

Super job by you and the other 9 racers in the Main.

All the thanks goes to you and Josh, Chris. Also a shoutout to Jeff Lauterbach for running his Samurai into third! Jeff started out rough, but strung together 6-36's to grab the podium. Nice drive..............

Some races start out that tight but eventually the guys with the cars that are a tick slower start pushing too hard to keep up and fall back.
Super job by you and the other 9 racers in the Main.

I think most realized in the heats that the racing/cars was so close that you had to keep your car on to stay in the hunt.

A one lap win is only a five second lead. One deslot and that goes away quickly.

The biggest thanks I can give is to the TURN MARSHALLS who marshalled the Can-Am main so good. They were on it and got the cars back in quickly and cleanly.

Well..where do I start? OK. The case of Blue Moon awaiting me on the Tech table set the tone for the whole weekend. It did not sway me though and reported for tech duty as ordered. This was an extremely good one with some very good laughs as I made some comments on some particular paint jobs. I though that overall though, the looks of the cars were much better this year and least guys are trying.

No real tech issues to speak of but clearance was numero uno as guys just plain wore out their tires to the bare limit in diameter but not good enough to make their car pass clearance.

I second everything Ron said. This was the BEST slot racing I have ever seen. I couldn't believe the lap totals for the each of the classes. Congrats to the Retro East guys for making a good showing. It only took 3 years but I finally figured something out about the chassis that really work on the track.

I have to say that watching Ron drive red lane in the Can-Am as I marshaled the lead on was unbelievable. Most guys that ran it did well but were cautious of course. Ron made it look like he was on Orange lane he was soooooo fast.

Congrats to the winners of the Noose Custom Painted Bodies too! Winners were chosen by raffle and they were:

R-Geo Rick
Bob Young
Mike Iles

To Ray Carlisi - my traveling buddy - thanks for keeping me awake!

And finally, to the McMasters. My heartfelt thanks for one hell of a weekend.

You guys are killing me...

That'll learn ya, you should have quit your job and come on up like any real slot car racer would have done.

You guys are killing me...

 

How are we killing you??? LOL...

Making me jealous, duh!

I wanted to be there pretty badly and it just couldn't be this year.

Amelia was not that good?

Now that's strange, David Hobbs said something about missing the Amelia show but didn't mention the Columbus race.

Someone needs to invite him to Columbus next time.