15 replies to this topic

[Jay Guard]

Here we go again, the 2nd annual 

Petite Sebring Four-Hour Enduro

'BATTLE OF THE RACEWAYS'

 Sunday Oct. 22, 2023, at Orange Crush Raceway, DeLand, FL

 

 

 

The race will be held on Sunday, Oct. 22, at my home raceway in DeLand, FL. Doors will open at 8 AM and the race will start no later than 12 noon and should last about five hours. We will have a three-man team from each of the Gator Region "Retro" Raceways (Vero Beach, Daytona, Winter Garden, Pinellas Park) and it should be a lot of fun!!!

 

TEAM CAPTAINS:

PLEASE ADD TEAM DRIVER NAMES TO THIS THREAD BELOW (OR TEXT ME) AND I WILL UPDATE THE DRIVERS LIST.

 
The cars will be IRRA-legal GT Coupes with hand-out CR102 motors, a spec 11 tooth pinion (racer provided), and hand-out Mid America Soft Wonder (Mid 34WS) tires in order to lessen the thrash time and to maximize the practice driving time for the guys that have never run on this track, which is an easy-to-learn 88' four-lane track very similar to a reverse "orange" (see pics above).

 

You will have to run the same body (i.e. the one with lights) for the entire race, hey, this is an enduro!

 

There will be a mandatory power-on motor change at the halfway point so that should equalize motors to some extent.

 

One cool race feature (as at Sebring) will be that the last hour of the race will be with the raceway completely blacked-out and only the lights of the cars to run with.  You will need to start with at least two working headlights and two taillight to start the night racing.  During the night racing you will need to maintain at least one working headlight and one taillight.

 

There is a good bit of pit space but I would like each team to bring no more than two pit boxes. I have everything any race team could possibly need (including an awesome body mounting jig) and my main pit space will be set up as a kind of 'hot pit' for all teams to use.

 

Note: Braid depth varies a bit but generally it is right around .025" deep and is in excellent condition.

 

There is now a nice "perpetual" winners trophy that the winning team and members names will be added to.

 

                                       

                       

                                                        The team captains & drivers are..

                                                 Vero Beach: Terry Tawney, Dennis Demole, Josh White

                                                       Daytona: Jay Guard, Grant Goerner, Dave Davies

                                             Winter Garden: Ralph Josey, Dale King, Jeremy Moorman

                                                Pinellas Park: Ed Hoffman, Rick Moore, Donny Caron

                                                        

                                                      Race Director: Bob Rondinone

 
As you can see from the list of drivers signed up this is going to be a very competitive race but I think just plain fun at the same time, hey, isn't that what slot car racing should be about?

 

Entry fee per team is $80 and that includes two CR102 hand-out motors (teams can buy one extra), two pair of tires (Mid-America #MID 34WS), and a Slot it SP16c lighting kit.

 

The entry fee also includes an awesome seven-layer dip 'n chips appetizer, a lunch of croissant sandwiches, dessert, and all types of beverages.

 

 

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

Just a suggestion for the future. At TomThumb Hobbies we used run six-hour Enduros using primarily flexis. Pre-Retro or we would have run them as well.

 

Anyway, we required two working white headlights to start and had to finish with at least one. Also pre-LED so that was a challenge in itself. First two hours with “daylight,” next three with “darkness,” and the final hour was “daylight” again. That final hour with daylight really spiced things up after the mayhem of the previous three in the dark. Everyone agreed it made it more fun. Just my .02.

Regardless I really want to come down sometime for this event if I can get an invite.

[Jay Guard]

Mike:

 

As I'm sure you remember I have run at least four of your six-hour enduros for Retro cars. I always wanted to run them with lights for a few hours but for some reason you never did that. Putting the night running in the middle of the race would be like what happens at Le Mans and having attended several Le Mans races, I know exactly what you mean about the mayhem during the night racing. In the morning it was always cool to see the "walking wounded" cars sometimes limping around the track with chunks of bodywork missing.

 

In my case I'm trying to simulate the Sebring 12-hour race to a certain extent. It starts in the daytime and ends at night just as my race will. I will require at least one working headlight and one taillight during the night.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Racer36]

Very cool track and race format, Jay.

 

Back in the '70s we used to run a six-hour enduro, with three hours in the dark. The track was a thing of beauty with elevation changes and scale streetlights. The cars had headlights and taillights, and one of each had to be on at a minimum during power on, similar to your plan. Interestingly enough, lap times were usually faster in the dark.

 

Best of luck with the event!

[Richie]

Looks like an awesome time!

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

I was planning to host a Retro enduro using headlights but...

 

Back when I ran the three lights on, three lights off, LEDs weren’t a thing. Getting bulbs to last six hours was a huge problem. And with my security doors rolled down, dark was dark.

[Racer36]

Getting bulbs to last 6 hours was a huge problem.

 

We kept quite an inventory of bulbs back in the '70s to get it done.

[Eddie Fleming]

I can see that by your photo. 

[Jay Guard]

I remember back in the '60s I ran in several 24-hour enduros and keeping those "grain of wheat" bulbs working was a real chore.

[Mr. M]

Would packing in the contents of a Cylume stick into small bag containers be within the rules? I did this in a night race back in the '80s at Bill Pinch’s orange track in Cocoa Beach. Lights stayed on when out of the slot. Won the thing, too!

[Jay Guard]

No, the lighting systems are being handed out as part of the entry fee.

[bronxcomet]

I think some of the funniest moments in slots were when the lights went off, some guys drove better.

 

But the best one was not knowingly driving someone else's car by mistake. At Grand Prix Raceway, it was dark, dark; at Elmsford there was always a light on. Had to have four corners lit, lots of cyclops grain of wheats...

 

Marty P... surfs up

[Jay Guard]

Here is some additional information for the race...

 

Basically it will be like last year.  Doors open at 8:00am and the two CR102 motors and the two pairs of Mid America #34WS tires will be handed out upon request. One addition motor may be purchased before the start of the race.

 

Once everyone is happy with their cars, but not later than 12 noon, I will tech the cars per IRRA GT Coupe specs (except for a required 11T pinion) and lane choice will be by hand drawing.  At that time each team will have to submit a list that shows when each driver will drive which lanes.  The point is to ensure that each driver has the same amount of driving time.  Immediately afterwards the race will start.

 

We will go through the 4-lane rotation 6 times with 10 minutes on each lane (240 minutes) and 1.5 minutes between heats. During the lane change body pins can be pushed and braid can be straightened, nothing else.  Expect very minimal track calls, probably “Riders” and on the straight and not much else.  At the half way point there is a mandatory power-on motor change.  After three hours there will be an extended (10+ minutes?) break between heats to black out the raceway for night driving.  During this period teams will be allowed to hook-up their lights and submit them for inspection which will require two working (white) headlights and two working (red) taillights to start. Note that there is only ONE body allowed for the duration of the race.  During the nighttime portion of the race there will be a requirement for at least one working headlight and one working taillight at all times.

 

Each 3 man team will be required to provide a turn marshal for each heat.  There may be a rear chassis clearance check at some point in the race that will probably be .025” but this will be annoucned pre-race. If you have any other questions please ask but hopefully this and Post #1 has covered everything.

[Jim Difalco]

I think some of the funniest moments in slots were when the lights went off, some guys drove better.

 

But the best one was not knowingly driving someone else's car by mistake. At Grand Prix Raceway, it was dark, dark; at Elmsford there was always a light on. Had to have four corners lit, lots of cyclops grain of wheats...

 

Marty P... surfs up

 

Hi Marty, how are you?

 

Elmsford would leave one counter light on which was located at one end of the track. Your pits were generally a card table with a very large box taped to it to conceal your pit light so it would not shine on the track. All four corners of the car had to be lit or you would be blackflagged and had to install a new light harness. To have a quick change light system you would take some mylar, shape it to the inside of the front and rear of you body and staple it in place. You would bend the mylar to create little pockets that would hold the lights and trap the bulb in each corner. A small two-prong plug would connect to its mate that was soldered to the motor.

 

Lou would simulate rain on the course by spraying Windex on the main straight. You would slip around for a number of laps until it evaporated. Foam blocks would also be dumped on the straight to simulate a rock slide, maybe?

 

I do not know about driving better but I did a 40 minute segment in the dark on black without one de-slot. Of course in the dark, with only the lights to follow, it looks like you are going much faster around the track then you really are.

 

Later on everyone switched to LED lights so blowing out those grain of wheats was not a nightmare anymore. We would also use a small watch battery and LED to add a marker light to our car for identification.

[Jay Guard]

The teams and race director (see post #1) are finally all set for the 2nd Annual Petite Sebring "Battle of the Raceways" four-hour enduro race. I have the CR102 motors and the Mid-America tires all ready to go. This is going to be a lot of fun!!

[Jay Guard]

Here are the results of the 2nd annual Petite Sebring "Battle of the Raceways"four-hour enduro race held yesterday at my home track.

 

I'll try to get a bit more info about the race posted soon.

 

The starting line-up (L to R)...

 

Vero Beach - Slot Car Raceway and Hobby Shop (Lola GT) - Drivers: Terry Tawney, Dennis Demole, Josh White

So. Daytona - Slot Car City (Ford GT MKIV) - Drivers: Jay Guard, Grant Goerner, Dave Davies

Winter Garden - P1 Raceway (Ferrrari P4) - Drivers: Ralph Josey, Dale King, Jeremy Moorman

Pinellas Park - Fast Eddie's Raceway (Lola GT) - Drivers: Eddie Hoffman, Rick Moore, Donny Caron

 

 

This video is the first few minutes of the first 10 minute heat (#19 of 24) of the night driving segment. It took a minute of "twilight driving" to get the light systems fully charged up, but after that it was with the raceway lights totally out for the rest of race. At the one minute mark in this video you'll see what night driving is all about, everyone agreed it was a lot of fun. Video courtesy of Ralph Josey.

 

The results of the last night driving heat. It's amazing that the laps times are only a tenth or two slower than the fastest times achieved during the daylight driving.

 

 

Here are the final results after four hours, Vero Beach (last year's Melbourne team) was the class of the field again this year.

 

 

Here are the winners representing the Vero Beach track: Dennis Demole, Terry Tawney, Josh White.

 

 

Here are all 12 of the racers and our awesome race director (Bob Rondinone far right) after the race, tired for sure but everyone had a great time.