39 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

F1



1) Jay Guard, 300 laps, best time of 4.499 secs in orange
2) Raymond Gonzalez, 299, 4.391 in yellow
3) Chris Barnes, 279, 4.449 in green
4) Don Weaver, 262, 4.660 in green
5) Tommy Flythe, 262, 4.777 in white
6) Marc Waddle, 260, 4.942 in blue
7) Richard Houston, 245, 4.719 in yellow
8) Marty Stanley, 233, 5.047 in white
9) Lindsay Byron, 230, 4.829 in orange
10) Greg Wells, 203, 4.562 in orange
11) Richard Sylvester, 59, 4.609 in orange
12) Joe McIntosh, 50, 4.769 in red



L to R, Raymond Gonzalez, Jay Guard, and Chris Barnes



Concours: Most Realistic: Jay Guard, Best Appearing: Joe McIntosh


Can-Am



1) Chris Barnes, 304 laps, best time of 4.340 secs in orange
2) Marc Waddle, 301, 4.449 in green
3) Jay Guard, 300, 4.277 in white
4) Ralph Thorne, 294, 4.281 in green
5) Tommy Flythe, 294. 4.450 in blue
6) Richard Sylvester, 294, 4.449 in green
7) Joe McIntosh, 289, 4.340 in green
8) Lindsay Byron, 284, 4.500 in white
9) Marty Stanley, 283, 4.609 in black
10) Don Weaver, 280, 4.449 in white
11) Richard Houston, 273, 4.719 in yellow
12) Gary Shepard, 268, 4.398 in red
13) Ben Kernan, 264, 4.660 in green
14) Eli Nichols, 264, 4.609 in green
15) Dan Parker, 234, 4.449 in orange
16) Raymond Gonzalez, 97, 4.668 in blue



L to R, Marc Waddle, Jay Guard, Chris Barnes



Concours: L to R Best Appearing: Raymond "Speedy" Gonzalez, Most Realistic: Richard Sylvester


Flexi GT

1) Ralph Thorne, 334 laps, best time of 4.000 in orange
2) Jay Guard, 320, 4.124 in blue
3) Marty Stanley, 305, 4.280 in red
4) Dan Parker, 302, 4.328 in green
5) Richard Houston, 298, 4.391 in red
6) Sandy Houston, 262, 4.446 in blue



L to R, Marty Stanley, Ralph Thorne, Jay Guard



Concours: Best Appearing: Marty Stanley, Most Realistic: Jay Guard

[Ron Hershman]

Nice turn-out!!!

[Cheater]

Ron,

We're certainly not complaining but we had actually expected a few more.

A couple of guys who wanted to come had to work. And late in the day we learned the heavy rains that had moved through GA the day before generated some leaks on the track at Raceworld in LaGrange, GA. So the Harringtons (Steve, Chad, and maybe a couple of others) stayed home to get things dried out. We're hoping there's no track damage, as Raceworld is the site of next month's SERRA #9 on November 15.

It was a very good day of racing. The F1 race was the biggest crashfest we've had yet at a SERRA event, for some odd reason. Cars were flying everywhere! Lotsa broken cars, including mine. It was great to see Raymond "Speedy" Gonzalez pushing that Guard guy real hard, but he fell just a lap or so short.

The Can-Am races were fast, clean, and close (check out the results; in one of the two Mains the top three cars all ended on the same lap!). Marc Waddle grabbed a fine second place in his first appearance with the SERRA circus.

We really enjoyed having Marty Stanley, and Richard and Sandy Houston join us from FL. And one local racer, 12 year old Eli Nichols impressed all with his fast and mature driving. Ben Kernan joined us from the Charlotte area, too.

As always, Don and Karen Berni treated us like royalty and furnished a great BBQ lunch for the participants.

As always, we have top and bottom pics of all the cars, as well as podium shots, and will get them up as soon as time permits. However, since we leave for the Sano Wednesday afternoon, they may not get posted until after that event.

[Michael Rigsby]

Congrats to Marty Stanley and Richard Houston for a fine showing in their first major SERRA race attended. Nice job, guys

Michael Rigsby

[zforce]

Congrats to Marc Waddle on his second place finish in Can-Am. This was also his first retro race (and another Z-Force rent-a-ride).

[Don Weaver]

I checked back to the results of SERRA #4 last October at 'Slots of Fun' and found that all previous retro track records were broken at last Saturday's SERRA #8:

F1 - 4.391 by Raymond "Speedy" Gonzalez, previous was 4.501

Can-Am - 4.277 by Jay Guard, previous was 4.299

Flexi GT - 4.000 by Ralph Thorne, previous was 4.114

Don Weaver

[Marty Stanley]

Well I'm gonna say this about the race . . . . .

It was... "Slots of Fun"!!!

Don Berni has one of the best slot car racing facilities that I have ever had the pleasure to visit. Besides that, he really cares about each and every racer that stops in. His level of stock is outstanding and I have never seen so much stuff for Retro Racing in one location ever before!

One caution to everyone ever thinking of attending one of these . . . . it's diet time before and after one of the races! Don Weaver brought up some of the best, finger-licking good sausage biscuits that I have ever tasted! Don's wonderful wife Karen made some awesome Bar-b-que, 3 bean salad and coleslaw for lunch. So we ate, drank Cokes and were very merry all day on Saturday.

Matter of fact I had such a grand time that I will be back up in January. On Sunday - while on our ride to church, my wife and hopefully one day daughter-in-law started to talk about Selene Dion. Seems as though she is coming to Atlanta on January 17th for a concert. Being the wonderful husband and future father-in-law that I am, I suggested that my wife accompany my future daughter-in-law to this concert. My wife is happy, my future daughter-in-law is happy, my son is now indebted to me for getting him off the hook on this concert and I get to come to Marietta on the 17th to race in another of the SERRA races! It don't get much better!

Thanks to all the racers there. I met a whole bunch of great guys and am looking forward to coming back up.

BTW, is anyone interested in some Cox gears for their F1 cars? I'll even present them to you!

['Slots of Fun']

Hi All!

SERRA #8 was a great success. I thought the turnout was great with many racers driving long distances to enjoy the racing and fellowship. Yes we expected more of a turnout, but there was another race scheduled for the same day at Pickens, SC, and other things popped up as Greg said earlier. That said, nobody was disappointed, and we all made some new friends and gained a few pounds!

It was really nice to finally meet Marty. He's a great person and is just as I pictured he would be - a big teddy bear, not unlike his avatar, Barney the Purple Dinosaur!

I want to thank Don Weaver and his wife, Brenda. Don worked hard to advertise this race in the newspaper. It was in Saturday's Sports section and a few people showed up to see the races after they saw the article in the paper. Brenda, cooked the delicious breakfast sausage biscuits for everyone and helped my wife with the BBQ.

My wife, Karen, was wonderful, as usual, volunteering to cook the BBQ, make the cole slaw, etc. She did all this with an almost full house at the Bed-and-Breakfast. Karen won the SERRA #8 'Best Cook' plaque. She was so surprised and happy because I thought to get her a plaque (just between us guys - it was a lot cheaper than jewelery and worked just as well! ).

My thanks also go to all the volunteer Track Marshalls....as Greg pointed out earlier, we needed every one of them!

While we're waiting for Greg to post the "official" pics, here are some. Many were taken by young Mr. Eli Nichols while I was on Race Director duty. He's a pretty good photographer as well as a pretty good racer.


Warming up on the Grandstand.


Here's Marty sporting a smart SERRA hat.


Dan's wondering where Marty got that hat!


Richard and Sandy Houston getting in some practice.


The guys at the pits. There's Dave talking shop to a potential customer, Ben.


My good friends Dan and Raymond (aka, Speedy) in the background.


World Champion Retro Chassis Builder Don Weaver getting some advice from the Keebler cookie guy!


Action in the pits.


The Formula 1s lined up for Concourse.


The F1s up close.


The F1s up close.


The F1s at the Starting Line.


No time for joking during the F1 race.


This Track Marshall won't be sitting for long!


The F1s approaching the underpass.


The Top 3 F1 Racers: 2nd - Raymond 'Speedy' Gonzales, 1st - Jay Guard, 3rd - Chris Barnes


F1 Concours Winners: Most Realistic: Jay Guard, Best Appearing: Joe McIntosh


The Can-Ams lined up for Concours.


The Can-Ams close up.


The Can-Ams close up.


Negotiating the Can-Ams around the track.


A couple of Can-Ams entering the large banked turn.


The Track Marshals ready for action.


The Top 3 Can-Am Racers: 2nd - Marc Waddle, 1st - Chris Barnes, 3rd - Jay Guard


Can-Am Concours Winners: Best Appearing: Raymond "Speedy" Gonzalez, Most Realistic: Richard Sylvester


Close up of the Can-Am Concours Winners.

Well, it's getting late. I'll post more pics soon.

V/R,

Don

[Chris Barnes]

Man, did you notice the grey hair in the pictures? (Sometimes lack of hair!) Anyway, it shows that you don't have to be young to enjoy toy cars.

Had a great time. It is always fun getting to a race. The racing is fun, but the best part is seeing everyone again. For those with a stressful life, it is good to step out of reality and into the slot car racing world. (You can forget the headaches!)

Chris

[Marty Stanley]

Chris,

It was a pleasure to meet you, dude! You are a fine gentleman and an excellent racer! I'm looking forward to our next gathering in Marietta in January.

Many years ago I made a semi-conscious decision - that was to let my hair turn grey rather then loose!

While it might be grey, it's still there!

[Mike Steube]

Congrats to you podium guys. Great-looking cars. I'm looking forward to some pics of your chassis. You guys are doing a super job.

['Slots of Fun']

I didn't see any grey hair on Jay Guard's head!

V/R,

Don

[Pappy]

He dyes it flesh-colored.

[GotToRace]

Cool! Another Can-Am Concours win for an Eddie McDonald paint job. Hard to beat.

[macman]

This race was GREAT... Totally enjoyed my Don Weaver Warmack roller, even if I did severly tweak it... it's not like I can't solder it back to gether... So what are we running in Jan?? Are the flexis going away?? Are we saying hello to brick mid '60s NASCAR bodies???

Till next time...

[Cheater]

Ben,

No decision on revising the SERRA classes has been finalized. We will be making a decision fairly soon and will communicate it promptly.

Thanks for joining us in Abbeville, Ben!

['Slots of Fun']

OK all,

Here are a few more pics from the SERRA #8 races at 'Slots of Fun' in Abbeville, SC:



The Flexi GTs ready for concours.



Mrs. 'Slots of Fun' Karen (my lovely wife ) and Eli's Dad, Terry, smiling for the camera. (I had to put that mushy stuff in... My wife gets on the blog from time-to-time! )



David Liebenthal, proprietor of ProFormance, Inc, putting his 'good luck' spell on Marty's slot car.



The top three Flexi GT Racers: 3rd - Marty Stanley, 1st - Ralph Thorne, 2nd - Jay Guard
(David's 'good luck' spell on Marty's slot car worked! )



Flexi GT Concours Winners: Best Appearing: Marty Stanley, Most Realistic: Jay Guard
(David's spell worked again!! )

That's all the pics I have. Now we'll have to wait for Greg's pics. He's still playing with the boys up in Chicago.

V/R,

Don

['Slots of Fun']

OOOOhhhhhhh Ggrreeeeggg,

We're still waiting for your SERRA #8 pics!!!

V/R,

Don

[Cheater]

I know, Don.

I've been pretty busy this last week. The Sano coming right after SERRA #8 has been rough.

As I've said elsewhere, they'll be up by the end of the weekend.

Greg

['Slots of Fun']

Thanks, Greg. I know you're busy and very tired. I was just teasin' ya.
Take your time.

V/R,

Don

[Marty Stanley]

As I've said elsewhere, they'll be up by the end of the weekend.

That was week ending 11/02/08?

[Cheater]

Marty,

You surely know all about good intentions...

I swear to Cozine I spent roughly nine hours on Saturday tweaking and posting Sano pics and got up this morning at 3:00 AM and worked on Sano pics until 6:00 AM. That's all the time I could squeeze out of the weekend.

I'll get right back on them when I get home tonight.

[Marty Stanley]

Greg,

Sure does sound like you could use some help. You have a lot on your plate. I thank you for all you do.

I sure am glad you can be poked with a bit of fun from time to time. And you still keep your friendly attitude!

When they get up, then they'll be here.

Have a great day.

[Cheater]

Thanks, Marty.

Between the Sano and SERRA #8, I took over 1,000 pics and I way underestimated how long it would take me to process them.

Next year, we will not schedule a SERRA race the week before (or after) the Sano...

['Slots of Fun']

Greg,

Not scheduling a SERRA race the week before (or after) the Sano is not the answer. There are a lot of talented and dedicated people at your disposal who wouldn't mind helping out any way they can. I don't want SERRA to turn out like another organization where a couple of people feel they have to do everything. Letting others perform tasks makes them feel like part of the organization. Utilize your assets. Delegate.

V/R,

Don