17 replies to this topic

[MG Brown]

Being considered by The Raceway Cleveland TN

 

 JK Spec GT.pdf   789.11KB   214 downloads

[Richie]

I like the bodies for sure. Only thing I would say is front wheels mandated just like the JK boxstock was. Reason for that is I'm assuming a lot of people would want to run this and it would attract more if front wheels required, less modding to the car. Or use C43 chassis for this class since spec gtp isn't racing right now? Just a couple thoughts.

[MG Brown]

I like the bodies for sure. Only thing I would say is front wheels mandated just like the JK boxstock was. Reason for that is I'm assuming a lot of people would want to run this and it would attract more if front wheels required, less modding to the car. Or use C43 chassis for this class since spec gtp isn't racing right now? Just a couple thoughts.

 

Hi Richie, I suggested must have the standard front wheels but I was told by other racers that they break too easily. Hm, I've never had one break.

[Eddie Fleming]

IMO

 

Front wheels on slot cars have evolved to the point of being silly ugly and ridiculous. Use stickers or require something like a Retro front wheels that actually roll on the track and can hold up the front of the car.

 

Opinions may vary. 

[MG Brown]

Front wheels on slot cars have evolved to the point of being silly ugly and ridiculous. Use stickers or require something like a retro front wheels that actually roll on the track and can hold up the front of the car.

 

The proposal as posted requires either stock C21 front wheels/axle or front wheel stickers. The C21 has 1/16" front axles and would require modification to use Retro style wheels.

[Eddie Fleming]

The proposal as posted requires either stock C21 front wheels/axle or front wheel stickers. The C21 has 1/16 front axles and would require modification to use retro style wheels.

 

I am not suggesting the use of retro front wheels. I am just saying anything less is ridiculous so use stickers. 

[jimht]

Ho Hum...

To find out whether there would be any interest in such a class:

 

Build 8 cars, plus 2 backups. Race a 6 race series where the the cars are handed out randomly the first race.

After the first race, last place picks first, etc.

 

Entry fee should be the car cost divided by 6.

Give the winner a new car and the other cars go to the remaining racers or get sold cheap.

 

See if anyone shows up later to race the cars.

My experience is that participation to get a car will be good but after that most could care less.

 

But, hey, you'll get rid of some cars.   

[Richie]

Whatever is decided will be fine. The motor and gearing will be interesting to see the lap times produced.

[MG Brown]

Bill Pinch has been doing some testing with a car I provided him with. On their Reverse LTD he is getting times in the region of the 5.6's.

[blue&orange]

We have been running this class at Trains & Lanes for 2 years now -- popular, and close racing. 

 

Differences:  Retro Eagle, 11-37, full interior, and must use sticker sheet for realism, though any paint color is ok.  Wheel wells must be clear, and nobody has broken a front wheel in 2 years.

 

[MG Brown]

 

Differences:  Retro Eagle, 11-37, full interior, and must use sticker sheet for realism, though any paint color is ok.  Wheel wells must be clear, and nobody has broken a front wheel in 2 years.

 

The "test" car that I built was powered by a retro motor geared at 10/36, our raceway owner and champion for the class thought it was too quick and that the times were too similar to the Spec LMP class.

I would like to see interiors required but interiors (even paper) aren't popular in this area. Realistic paint and details are always welcome IMO.

[Shruska55]

MG,

Just a couple of thoughts on the use of the MA 611 30K Stomper motor. I suspect it would depend on the racers in your area as to whether they'd enjoy the JK spec class or not. If your racers want close, driver determined winner racing, the Tyler Slot Car Club can wholeheartedly endorse the MA 611 motor. To be clear, we are chassis agnostic at Tyler Slot Car Club. We currently use JK, Mossetti, MA, Champion (originals!) Flexi chassis as well as wing chassis, Parma FCR/MA GRC and a few other brands racers have found over the years. It's the motor that has made the cars very close and competitive

 

First a description of the TSC Track (Tyler SlotCars SlotBlog page has pictures). Our track is a tight,105' 4 lane Dadds build. Straights are about 20ft long and there are nice twisty curves in between those. We run at 13.50 volts on our 90A PS. Trackmate timing system. We just rebraided the track earlier this year and use glue sparingly. Times have been fast on this challenging short track.

 

 

The slowest Flexi class TSC runs is the 4.5 Dodge Charger Stocker. It's running 5.20+ sec laps. Everyone is close to that time so it makes for vary competitive racing. On the other end of the speed dial, our current crop of 30K Stomper Wing cars are running 4.1 sec laps. Same motor and in many cases the same comparable rollout number. End result is close racing. and for the Tyler Slot Car Club, that's our main objective. To have fun, close racing.

 

In the past, TSC had no standard motor for it’s classes aside from our ScaleAuto and BRM cars. In Flexi and Retro cars, the Club ran PS-4002FKs, Hawk 7 and Retro 7, MA Eagle and Retro Eagle. Many members also race in Dallas, so we tried to set our cars up to run competitively there. Those higher RPM motors were all fun and very quick, but a tad too fast, punchy or twichy in the case of the PS4002, for the Club track. What we've found is that the MA 611 can be massaged through different gearing to fit the Club track and racers driving styles better. We originally bought the motor in an MA GRC RTR 1/24 brass chassis for a GoKart class. On a lark, a member took the motor out and installed it in a JK C21 Cheetah. Ran like a, well, Cheetah! Fast and hugged the track. That led to more testing. Basic requirements were longevity and of course, cost.

 

The Club wanted to test motor performance across chassis types with a view towards developing body swapping classes to keep cost down. Thus, we’ve run the motors in actual G12 wing chassis, on MA Mercury or other flexi chassis as Wing cars on one end, Indycar chassis in the middle and 4.5 JK Cheetah chassis on the other end. In between we've also run 4” LMP, NASCAR, DTM, Wing, a Tanner 4.5 LMP from Caveman Bodies, JK Indycar and even the JK Go Kart B1B body mounted on the Indycar chassis. All have been quick, handled well and most importantly have been tons of fun to drive. Especially during the long heat wave in Texas this summer!

 

Through trial and error on our track, we've landed on a gear ratio of between 2.8-3.0 which produced a rollout that fits our track and the racer's styles. Using the (Tire OD*3.14)/(gear/Pinion)= formula our best rollout is between 0.825 and 0.875. Again, this fits OUR track. Your mileage definitely will vary. Our very first cars were geared at 13/38 with .790 OD tires. This was mainly because that's what the guy had on hand who put it together. It rocked. We've gone down to 10T 48P for out Retros with .820 tires. I've even build one with a 15/44 72P .740 tires to see what happened. The motor pulled the 15T with zero problems. They do heat up, but so far, out of the dozens of motors the Club has bought, we've only had 2-3 bad motors. 2 of those were bad break ins on a PS from what we've determined. We aren’t certain what happened to the 3rd one. It threw a comm leaf.

 

For our track and needs, this motor has been brilliant! Best of all, it is a tank! We have IROC cars that each have well over 3000 laps on the motors and they've only lost about 0.3 of a sec and are still a blast to race. We’ve definitely have gotten out money’s worth with these beasties.

 

As mentioned, all of the above is right for the TSC track and racers. I wrote this only as a reference for our experiences creating a set of classes that works for us.

 

Our FB page is Tyler SlotCars FB page.

 

 

Regards,
Scott

[Brian Czeiner]

 

Hi Richie, I suggested must have the standard front wheels but I was told by other racers that they break too easily. Hm, I've never had one break.

 

Maybe they shouldn't crash so often? Then the wheels wouldn't break?

[blue&orange]

I could clarify a bit.  At Trains & Lanes we run on the 220' Altech (all flat except the monster bank), so any motor slower than a retro motor is like driving a turtle.  Fast time is 7 seconds, compared to our Eagle/C25 P2 cars which run 6.5 and Phoenix/C43 P1 cars that run 5.8.  We went to an 11/37 because some drivers were having trouble getting 10-36 to mesh in the C-21 -- remember, it's entry level, so we want racers to have technical success.  Our GT and P2 cars both run front wheels, which really add to the realism look through the clear wheel well -- we allow the clear wheel well as opposed to cut outs to add some body strength. 

 

Personally, I think these are some of the most realistic looking lexan-bodied flexis out there with the decals, front wheels and interiors.  Actually, if we could get more tracks to run this series, maybe we could get Jim to do some newer GTD bodies (hint, hint!).

 

On the one hand, I understand paying attention to what the regular racers are thinking (interiors/front wheels); on the other hand, if the owner/race director says "Here are the rules and here is what we want the cars to be," then let the racers be challenged to build to the rules.

[MG Brown]

Race report by Bill Pinch @ The Raceway Cleveland TN

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

JK SPEC GT

 

We couldn't help ourselves! We got the new JK SPEC GT class on the Chris Dadds reverse LTD track a week early.

 

Incredibly close racing as the top three were all on the same lap through the first six segments, and ran race laps within 1/10 second and shared best segment at 20 laps.

 

Dal Taylor took the win and fast lap (5.523). Mike Stephenson and Courtney Smith finished inches apart in 2nd and 3rd.

 

 

[MG Brown]

RACE RESULTS from 10/3/2023:

 

First official JK Spec GT Race

 

Last week's winner, Dal Taylor, took another close one along with fast lap/new track record 5.515.

Courtney Smith was right on his heels and shared best segment (21) with Dal.

M.G. Brown made the trip from Fairfield Glade to complete the podium.

 

 

 

 

Next race November 10, 2023. Raceway doors open at 5PM EST.
Loaner cars will be available.

[MG Brown]

RACE RESULTS from The Raceway Cleveland TN Tuesday 10/10/2023:

Shane White - we hope you're feeling better soon!

Ray Cote messaged to let me know the Carolina Boys will not be able to make it to Cleveland this Friday. Big "doin's" in Murphy this weekend!

JK SPEC GT- Another super tight race as Courtney Smith and Dal Taylor finished 1-2 on the same lap. The duo also shared best segment (21) with Dal claiming fast lap (5.523) and establishing new single lap standards on two lanes. Mick Brown completed the podium.

 

 

4.5" GRC SPORTS CARS - Dal Taylor recorded fast lap (6.208) and best segment (19) on his way to a comfortable win. Courtney Smith had all manner of issues, but was able to hold off Mick Brown for the runner-up spot.

 

 

We'll see everyone Thursday night for JK SPEC RETRO, 4" PRO-TRACK DIRT LATE MODELS & LEXAN STOCK CARS. The Raceway - Cleveland TN will open at 5:00 with SPEC RETRO tech at 6:30.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

THIS SATURDAY (October 14th) - The Raceway - Cleveland TN will return to our "Winter" Saturday hours of 3:00p.m. to 6:00p.m.

THIS SATURDAY (October 14th) - The Raceway - Cleveland TN. "Warm up" race for GA/TN JK SPEC INDY/LMP - RACE #2. Doors will open at 1:00 with INDY tech at 2:00.

THIS SATURDAY (October 14th) - FLEXI CHALLENGE 2024 RACE #1. Fast Times Raceway, Fairview TN.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 28TH - The Raceway - Cleveland TN
GA/TN JK SPEC WIDE INDY/LMP - RACE #2. 4.5" GRC SPORTS CARS will be added to the program. The doors will open at 9:00a.m. with GRC tech at 10:00. Lunch will be provided!

MONDAY NOVEMBER 6TH - "1ST MONDAY" 4.5" PROTRACK HARD-BODY races. The Raceway - Cleveland TN will open at 5:00 with HARD-BODY tech at 6:30.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 25TH (Thanksgiving Weekend) - MILD BILL'S GO-SLO FALL-FEST for 4.5" GRC SPORTS CARS, JK SPEC RETRO and JK SPEC GT.

[MG Brown]

JK Spec GT has become one of the more popular classes at The Raceway Cleveland, TN.

 

 

There does not seem to be a consensus yet on the "best" body for the Reverse LTD Flat Track. Corvette C6R and Ferrari Maranello seem to be the most popular, but the Morgan Aero 8 seems to podium in every race that it enters.

 

 

JK Spec Retro Sports Car is just starting up so we will see how that class shapes up.