19 replies to this topic

[Shruska55]

Hi all,

 

I've looked through Slogblog and other sites trying to find the physical footprint of the American Regal 90. The picture attached is the one I'm thinking about, but I do realize that there were many options such as elongated doughnut et al.

 

Does anyone have the footprint or can you point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

 

[old & gray]

Rick at Modelville hobby is on vacation until Aug 7 but this may be a starting point

 

Track Information : Modelville Hobby

 

His track is a 1962 Royal model 95.

[Jay Guard]

The Royal and the Regal have virtually the same footprint so its very close to 18' x 30'.

[Shruska55]

Good deal! The rough estimate is good for my purposes, but I'll touch base with Rick when he returns as well.

 

It's the track my second local I raced on in Milwaukee WI growing up. I still think it's the best short flat track I've ever run on.

 

Thanks!

 

Scott

[Bill Seitz]

I've had opportunities to run on both the all flat Regal and the low banked Royal, and both are fun tracks. I find the tracks have a nice flow that makes them reasonably easy to drive.

 

The only Regal/Royal with elongated donut I've seen was in Odessa, TX. In that case, the guys that had that track also had a Sovereign (Purple Mile) that I believe is now the track at Modelville. They took the elongated donut from the Sovereign and used it in place of the standard donut on the smaller track. I don't believe that was a factory option. I'm told there have been some other tracks that have been assembled by the owners from more than one American Raceway layout. It appears that sections from the different designs were interchangeable, so different custom layouts could be created.

[Shruska55]

Bill,

 

My dearly depart friend and Host of the Tyler Slot Car Club, Chris Tanner, was encyclopedic in his knowledge of the slot car world. Before he passed, he sent me pictures of the tracks in Odessa. They had the purple and it is indeed the one now at Modelville. They also raced a red along with the Royal/Black you recall. See attached.

 

The fella that owns them has them in good storage and is waiting to retire to set up a raceway, from the information I've been able to dig up. Even for Texas, Tyler to Odessa is a bit more than a day trip, but it would be nice to see those tracks back in service. I'd head over with my pit box. My first major event was run on a Red. The Milwaukee 1,000 at the old Teutonia Raceway in northwest Milwaukee. Did OK from what I remember too! Those three humps on the straight were a real challenge!!

 

 

 

[Bill Seitz]

Hi Scott,

 

In 1985, I had an opportunity to stop in Odessa and run on that American Imperial (red) with the small 'D' donut. I didn't master that donut in the relatively short time I was there, and I've not had another opportunity in all these years since. I don't remember if the Odessa track had the straight "debumped" as happened with some. Continental Hobbies in Lynchburg, VA had an Imperial, but theirs had the optional round donut like the King, and an attempt was made to flatten the bumps before I ran there.

 

The photo of the Regal above with purple walls is the one I know about with the elongated donut from the Sovereign. If these tracks reopen as a raceway in the Odessa/Midland area, I'd be sure to visit on one of my road trips east. For sure Odessa is more than a day trip from Tucson. I think the farthest east I've driven in a day from Tucson in the past 20 years is Monahans, and it's still some distance over to Odessa from there.

 

Happy racing,

 

Bill

[Bill from NH]

Scott, in the late '70s and early '80s, the 'Y' in Lowell. MA ran Grp 20 wing cars on a Royal every other week, alternating with a modified Orange.

 

When my son was stationed at Ft. Hood, he monthly drove from Ft. Hood to Sierra Vista, AZ, and back for 2-1/2 years.

 

I always thought Odessa had more rattlesnakes than people.

[Shruska55]

Bill,

 

Ft Hood is a bit of a hump to AZ! Odessa Midland area has come a long way since the '70s. The oil industry has really expanded the area as you probably know from traveling through. A fella from Odessa just moved out to the Tyler area and joined our Tyler Slot Car Club. He knows the gent who owns those tracks and himself raced on them quite a bit growing up out there. He believes that there is a Hillclimb hiding in a storage unit as well, but that it has some water damage and may not be salvageable. That's four tracks at current count in a place where one wouldn't figure there'd be one!

 

The red I ran on in Milwaukee had the round doughnut and the three bumps on the straight. The main bank was a little more vertical too, but the rest was pretty flat. I could punch it coming out of the doughnut and hold it down the straight until the hairpin on red. Try to do the same thing on black and I'd deslot at the end of the straight and my car would climb the wall! But what did I know at 14. I kept trying to punch it and my car kept climbing the wall... go figure... LOL.

 

I do hope the Odessa tracks open up. My brother in law still lives out in the Mojave at Palmdale, CA, and before all the Covid, we'd drive out from Tyler three-four times a year. It'd make a nice stop before that long lonesome stretch where IH20 fades to IH10 and that long emptiness until you hit El Paso...

 

Stay healthy!

[Bill from NH]

I don't recall how long ago it was, but I recall reading Odessa race reports either on here or on OWH. This was the days before the Sovereign was discovered and may have been a flexi truck class. Does the name "Doc" ring a bell as being associated with Odessa slot car racing?

[Steve T]

Yes, his name was Doc Gibbs. He was the original owner when I raced there in the '70s. These were indeed the days before the Sovereign. His primary track at the time was a challenging flat track of his own design and construction I believe. He had all the other tracks in storage at the time. I believe he was a dentist in Odessa and his establishment was called Grand Prix Raceway (still have a sticker on my current pit box). Extremely nice guy. We would travel to races in San Antonio (Jim Honeycutt's Engleman) and to Austin (A.M.C.R. - An American red where I won firstst place on 8/21/76 in Group 7 Open - Amateur - still have the trophy). I had just completed college and was working in the oil industry in the Midland/Odessa area. I thoroughly enjoyed my racing there. A lot of fond memories. A couple of us even with to Joel's Bicentennial race in 1976.

[Steve T]

Whoops! Got to thinking during my morning coffee that Doc was a chiropractor instead of a dentist. Hence, Doc. He was a great guy. I think I have a picture of his track somewhere. Probably in one of me "Aardvarks" from Mr. Honeycutt. Those were some of the great days in slot car racing.

[Bill from NH]

Steve,

 

Thanks for refreshing my mind regarding Doc Gibbs and Odessa slot racing. I never raced there, nor ever met Doc Gibbs, but for some reason, that name stuck with me. The old Odessa race reports I read must have been published on OWH.

[Bill Seitz]

My recollection was Doc Gibbs was a dentist, but whatever, Grand Prix Raceway was a nice venue in the middle of that great expanse of West Texas. I've been to Fort Hood a few times for my former employer, too. In times past, I've lived in Bristol, TN, and Saginaw, TX, with a family living in Mesa, AZ, so I've made a few road trips back and forth and look for raceways along the way. My wife's family is in Virginia, so we're still taking road trips back and forth.

 

I read somewhere, probably one of the blogs/forums, that Doc Gibbs died some time ago, and when he did, he left the slot car stuff to a group of Odessa/Midland slot racers. They had to move a few times chasing affordable space, and selling the Sovereign enabled them to keep going for a while longer. However, my understanding is there's no active raceway or club in this area now.

[Paul Menkens]

The only Regal/Royal with elongated donut I've seen was in Odessa, TX.

 

There was one with the straight sections in the loop at Rapid Transit Raceway in Schenectady, NY, about 30 years ago. The track was in immaculate condition (no glue allowed!) and I still wonder what happened to it, a very friendly shop.

The owner told me it was made by Engleman and I have always wondered about that, it did have drivers stations that said 'Engleman Designs' but maybe it was an American track that for some reason had to have its stations replaced.

[Bill from NH]

Paul, how's your Vermont raceway doing?

 

About 15 years ago, Lou Pirro who owned Grand Prix Raceway in Schenectady had Ogilvie build a UK Black that had a slightly different donut and layout than a Regal. It's since been sold three or four times. The last I knew it was setup in a Windham, ME, shed or barn. 

 

Schenectady had a raceway with a MTT on the first floor and a glued King on the second for wing racing. I never heard what happened to those tracks either.

[Paul Menkens]

How's your Vermont raceway doing?

Not as far along as I'd like, I've done some braiding but have a lot more to do.

 

I have also picked up a second track, a 140' Hillclimb, not in as great shape as the Engleman, but very much restorable, the price was right, free. This one can also be set up as a smaller layout.

[Bill from NH]

This 140' hillclimb didn't come from ME, did it? The commercial raceway that was in Windham for a couple years had the old Hillclimb from Rochester, NH. I saw it set up when I was there once, but I don't know if they held races on it.  A man named Jeff Martel owned it when I saw it.

[Paul Menkens]

No, it came from down south and a guy brought it up with plans to open a raceway in central Vermont that didn't pan out. His name was deff not Jeff Martel.

[Paul Menkens]

I don't know the age, but it's not an AMCR, looks homemade to me, but well done, has 4-1/2" lane spacing, I have all of it here except for the big bank turn and will be getting that soon.