34 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

It is just after 8:00 AM Thursday morning and we're finally here, after a long drive through the night from Atlanta. We left the Wells hovel in Norcross at 7:00 PM sharp and pulled into a parking place at the Blueberry Hill restaurant near Chicagoland for breakfast at 6:30 AM local. Not bad time at all, but it sure felt good to get out of the car for longer than just a gas stop or restroom break.

We had to call to wake Mike about 7:30 so we could get in to snag some decent pit spots. We've unloaded now, and I grabbed the premier pit in the whole place: right next to Mike's Girl Friday, Ray "Kamenkrazy" Price.

Now, a few hours on bench racing and BS with Mike and anyone else who shows up before we can check into the hotel to grab a few hours of pre-thrash sleep.

I haven't dug my camera out of the bag yet, so the pictures will start later.

But, after months of anticipation, it's finally time for Da Sano II!!!

[Windyracer]

Morning Greg,

Just jumped out of the shower (no pictures, thank God). I'll be leaving here in a few minutes. Probably be at the track in about 45 minutes. Looking forward to seeing you and so many others this weekend.

As you can see the Team BS (Beers/Swanson) condos are allready there. We spent yesterday at the track. I was thrashing (yeah, I know, hard to believe) while Jack was showing his concours entries to anyone that would it still for a minute. He kept the poor UPS delivery man there for almost half an hour. See you in a bit.

Cheers,

Ken

It's Sano Time!!!

[tonyp]

Don't any of you guys work for a living?

[Cheater]

Tony, I had to burn four vacation days, half of what I had accrued.

But it'll be worth it...

[Pablo]

Say Hi to Ray and Mike for me, Greg.

Thanks in advance for the coverage, guys like me who cannot attend REALLY appreciate it.

[Cheater]

[Merging a post Mike made yesterday into this thread...]

Mike wrote: Allan Reeder marshaling Sano Dave's car (proof he does come off!) while Howie Ursaner checks out his own time.

Jack Beers also looking on as Jay Kisling puts down some flat track laps.

Appropriately, Ken Swanson is out of the pic, back in the pits thrashing.

[Mike Steube]

Hey, Sano Dave, good luck and good traffic in your races.

Best wishes for everything to run smoothly at the Sano II.

Keep it punched, boys! When in doubt, go for it!

[John Gorski]

A shout from the East! Good luck Ray, Tony, Matt, and the rest of you Jersey, NY, and PA jets.

Get Stoked - Have a Sano race - Don't cough, wallblast, or launch - avoid bogus Geeks and nerfers- Jet at all costs - Handle on rails-
Punch the donut, go deep in the deadman - don't come off.

May you have all the horsepower, bite you need and...

Come Home Victorious!

Time to Rock & Roll!

[tonyp]

Mark, I asked Mike to put a big drawing on the wall in front of Ray's pit so he stares at the controller hook-up all weekend long.

[NJ Racer]

I forgot... is the hook-up order the same on both the King and flat track?

[tonyp]

Blue, green, orange on the flat and brown, black, black on the King.

[tonyp]

We need to get Ray a little trained controller monkey who can hook it up between heats correctly each time.

[NJ Racer]

Red - White - Black Red - White - Black Red - White - Black Red - White - Black Red - White - Black Red - White - Black Red - White - Black Red - White - Black Red - White - Black Red - White - Black

[Pappy]

Now you got it.

[Noose]

What ya don't know is Ray is color blind.

[tonyp]

OK, gray, white, black, gray, white, black.

[Cheater]

A couple of us Georgia folks had to hit the hotel for a few hours shut-eye after driving all night, but we're back to Chicagoland where the level of thrash has risen considerably. I'll start taking racer pics and posting them tomorrow, but here's a few shots to tempt ya.



The cupboard looked a little bare early Thursday but then the UPS and USPS fairies came a-visiting. Here's Swiss stocking it back up.



Don't think we're gonna have a tire supply proble here at Da Sano.



Early Sano thrashers at work: experience in the forground, youth in the distance. Jay Guard and Ralph "Ralphy" Thorne Jr. Davis Lienbethnal practices pensive supervision.

[Pablo]

Go Ralph! Go Jay!

cheater, do NOT be distracted with the locals' track banter/humor (i.e. tater tots, fishsticks is Wednesday, etc.)

Also, watch out for that guy Kamenkrazy, he's got more cars than Carters has pills.

[Windyracer]

"I like tater tots... green jello, too... fish sticks on Wednesday... TRACK!!!... I dropped some green jello on red".

Yeah, thanks to Ray K&S and has had one of their best years ever. I think the current population of "Raytown" is around twenty five give or take a car or two.

Hey, Pablo, I thought you were coming up for this shindig. Big fun, race cars, food, and dancing girls. Well, not exactly dancing girls. Fiedler, Swiss, Tony P, and I are going to do a little dancing between races.

Cheers,

Ken

[Pablo]

Hi Ken,

cheater, I warned you, those Chicago guys are a rare breed, watch yourself!!!
Eating lots of beef in the evenings, and bananas in the pits, may help.

[Cheater]

OK, it's time to start up with the mug shots.



Eddy "Mac" MacDonald, another one of the master painters, in the foreground and Jay Howard, co-owner of Dallas Slot Cars, both from Texas.



Hannah Howard, Jay and Shontel's daughter, is clearly the apple of Jay's eye. Good thing Hannah got good looks from her mom! LOL!!!



Kirk Galasso from Lake Zurich, IL.



Andy Kimbrough from Evansville, IN, CaptnAndy on Slotblog. Another one of those crazy raceway owners.



Mark Johnson from Indy.



David Chamberlain, also from IN, Evansville to be exact.



Rob Hanson from IL.



The cherubic Ken Swanson. (How can a guy that big look cherubic?)



Richard "Tex" Hofer from, where else?, Texas. The Sano's token hippie... LOL!



Guillermo Suar from Mt. Vernon, IL.



Jim Bostrom, a local Chicagoland racer.



Jay Guard seemingly is STILL asleep. Unfortunately for the rest of the competitors, he's good enough to work on slot cars in his sleep.



Ralph "Ralphy" Thorne, Jr of Stone Mountain, GA. One of the young guns, for sure.

[Pablo]

No competition in the sideburns contest whatsoever, Tex wins !

[Cheater]

More of the inmates in the asylum...



Jay Kisling from PA, always a tough competitor.



"Liquid Lou" Cicconi, also from PA and the scourge of tech inspectors everywhere...



Matt Bruce, who is often the guy to beat in Retro East™ racing.



Mr. Proformance himself, David Liebenthal of Alpharetta, GA.



Ray "Kamenkrazy" Price, Swiss's RH man. Unsubstantiated rumor says Ray actually smiled in 2005.