A small but enthusiastic group of slot-heads showed up at Electron Raceway for a McFarland Memorial warm-up and Early Modified race on 5/23/22. Track conditions were quite good resulting in a new record in Early Modifieds and several personal bests.
In the Trans-Am race it was Bob, Rich and Joe for first through third respectively. While in the Early Modified race it was Rich, Bob and Mark for first through third respectively.
The Trans-Am race was set up a bit different than usual. Although we ran only one time through, True Scale cars were run in the first two heats for each individual and OSCAR cars were run in the final two heats for each individual.
Rich and Bob battled for the top step of the podium in the Trans-Am contest. In each of their first three heats only a few feet separated the two. So it all came down to the final heat. For nearly the entire heat both racers were nearly even. Late in the heat, Rich made an unforced error while Bob ran clean. So it was Bob finishing first with 94 laps while Rich finished a single section behind.
Joe cruised to a third place finish with 87.6 laps, besting his nearest competitor by nearly three laps.
Observations
- Lap counts for True Scale v. OSCAR cars were very close. The OSCAR cars might be a bit easier to drive but True Scale are just as quick.
- Personal bests were achieved by Bob, Rich and Joe.
Cars finishing on the podium are shown below. For images of all of the cars in this class, see the links below
http://slotblog.net/...toric-trans-am/
STR Trans Am Class - STR classes - Slotblog
Bob and Rich fought for the top step of the podium in the Early Modified class. Both ran clean first heats with Rich edging out Bob by three sections. Going into the final heat Rich had logged 69.4 laps and was about a half lap ahead of Bob. It was clear that Bob was pushing the pace in the final heat. Unfortunately, this led to an off, ending Bob’s bid for the top spot. In the end it was Rich, finishing first with a new lap record of 92.4 with Bob finishing second nearly a lap behind.
Meanwhile, Mark and Joe were battling for the bottom step of the podium. Mark was first in the barn finishing with 88.4 laps and a personal best. Going into his final heat Joe had completed 64.9 laps and needed 23.6 laps to overtake Mark. Joe ran a good final heat but not nearly enough to beat Mark. So it was Mark in third and Joe in fourth place respectively. Note that Joe turned a personal best in terms of laps completed
Images below include the top three finishers. To see all Modifieds click on the link below
http://slotblog.net/...early-modified/
Observations
- The early Modified cars are fun and easy to drive. Even with Deathstar motors, performance is nearly equivalent to most other classes of cars sporting more powerful motors.
- Joe is looking to up his game with a new motor. Watch out guys!
- It looks like Scott has addressed his front axle problems. This time the car stayed together, well almost. A cracked solder joint in the chassis opened up. It did not seem to impact handling, however, because Scott turned a personal best. What is lacking is consistency. Fewer wrecks would have yielded a far better lap count.
Handicap Competition
In the handicap competition it was Mark, Scott an Rich for first through third respectively.
