16 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

Larry Black had Flashbacks open right on time for SERRA #14, where retro racers vied with F1 and Can-Am cars on Saturday, May 16, 2009.

Our turn-out was a little disappointing until we thought about it. May 16 was bracketed by the Mother's Day and Memorial Day weekends, plus several consistently-attending groups of SERRA racers couldn't make it for various good reasons. The weather was quite nice, too. And dare we mention the current economic conditions?

The small numbers certainly helped soften the blow on the SERRA treasury, as the organization funded an after-race get-together at the tavern above Flashbacks. It was great to finish early to share the SERRA-supplied food and whatever beverage one cared to buy. Just goes to show how weird slot racers are: you can't bribe them even with the lure of free food. Jay's lovely Marilynn even baked us a SERRA cake. LOL!!!

Despite the sparse attendance, we had some pretty good racing. The F1 race was a bit of a crashfest, but the Can-Am race was a heckuva run. Ralph Thorne dominated for the top spot, but three others held a real dogfight for the next three spots.

F1





Qualifying

1) Ralph Thorne - 5.5157 secs
2) Jay Guard - 5.5593
3) James Merriman - 5.6425
4) Joe McIntosh - 5.6479
5) Hugh Dudley - 5.9809
6) Don Weaver - 6.0077
7) Guy Clarkson - 8.1755

F1 Main

1) James Merriman - 322 laps, best lap of 5.488 secs in orange
2) Jay Guard - 317, 5.4888 in green
3) Joe McIntosh - 315, 5.652 in orange
4) Guy Clarkson - 255, 6.102 in blue
5) Hugh Dudley - 243, 5.929 in green
6) Ralph Thorne - 165, 5.597 in orange
7) Don Weaver - 35, 6.152 in yellow



L to R, Jay Guard, James Merriman, and Joe McIntosh: the F1 J-crew!

F1 Concours

Best Appearing: Joe McIntosh

Most Realistic: A three-way tie between Hugh Dudley, Bobby Robinson, and Don Weaver!

I forgot to take separate pics of the Concours winners, but if you'll scroll back to the first F1 car pic, Jobiwan's BA winner is car no. 7 at RF, and the MR cars are on the back row: Hugh's no. 1, Bobby's no. 4, and Don's #8 (I think!, correction requested if I am off).


Can-Am





Qualifying

1) Ralph Thorne - 5.2237 secs
2) Jay Guard - 5.2597
3) James Merriman - 5.2829
4) Joe McIntosh - 5.3078
5) Bobby Robinson - 5.5013
6) Hugh Dudley - 5.5061
7) Tommy Flythe - 5.5679
8) Bill Gore - 5.9654
9) Guy Clarkson - 6.4237
10) Steve Saunders - N/T

Can-Am Main

1) Ralph Thorne - 339 laps, best lap of 5.378 secs in green
2) James Merriman - 336, 5.429 in blue
3) Tommy Flythe - 330, 14 sections, 5.488 in blue
4) Joe McIntosh - 330, 7 sections, 5.437 in green
5) Jay Guard - 328, 5.270 in purple
6) Bobby Robinson - 323, 5.597 in yellow
7) Hugh Dudley - 293, 5.438 in blue
8) Guy Clarkson - 279, 5.819 in white
9) Bill Gore - 263, 5.930 in yellow
10) Steve Saunders - 257, 5.930 in red



L to R, James Merriman, Ralph Thorne, and Tommy Flythe.



Can-Am Concours:

Best Appearing: Joe McIntosh

Most Realistic: Guy Clarkson

For pics of the Concours winners, see the first Can-Am group shot. Joe's BA car is no. 7, second from the right in the front row and Guy's is no. 17 on the far right of the back row.

[Pappy]

Where did you finish, Greg? Good job guys, I'll see you all in August in Cleveland, TN.

[Rusty Pinion]

Greg elected not to race. I'm sure a few of the guys wished I hadn't...

[Pappy]

Hugh, it looks like you're a middle-of-the-packer like me. Isn't it fun getting in the way of those young fast guys like Ralph? Just like being on the road in a real car.

[MSwiss]

but the Can-Am race was a heckuva run. Ralph Thorne dominated
Can-Am Main

1) Ralph Thorne - 3339 laps, best lap of 5.378 secs in green
2) James Merriman - 336, 5.429 in blue
3) Tommy Flythe - 330, 14 sections, 5.488 in blue

Wow, you can say that again.
A 3003 lap win is total domination in my book.

[Pappy]

That Ralph's come a long way since the R4.

[Cheater]

Dang... and I thought I was perfect.

Typo fixed, Mr. Eagle-Eye... LOL!!!

[Cheater]

Greg elected not to race.

We were a little tight on turn marshals, so not racing was a better choice for me. I mean, how many backmarkers did we really need?

[Ralph Thorne]

Hugh, it looks like you're a middle-of-the-packer like me.

We enjoyed having Hugh with us for his first retro race. Maybe he will join us again next season.

[Noose]

Congrats, guys!

['Slots of Fun']

Wow, you can say that again.
A 3003 lap win is total domination in my book.

If that's the case then I think Ralph's Best Lap Time should be 5.378 millisecs!

V/R,

Don

[Richie]

Congrats to James and Ralph!!! Both are very, very good racers!!!

[Rusty Pinion]

OK, Greg... Where's 'da pics???

[Cheater]

Rusty,

That's a reasonable question. It's been a rough couple of weeks at work since the race. I'll try my best to get 'em uploaded tomorrow evening.

[Rusty Pinion]

Thank you, sir.

[MantaRay]

Way to go, Ralph...

[Cheater]

OK, guys, I finally got off my fat rear and posted the pictures from Flashbacks. See the first post for the car and podium shots.

Here are some other pictures from SERRA #14.



The parts wall at Flashbacks along with the owner (Tina Black) and her erstwhile assistant (Larry Black)... LOL!!!



Flashbacks has one of the most successful drag racing programs in the nation; it's really their bread and butter. The drag strip features a textured Formica surface and a new LED tree. This pic should prove it's as straight as an arrow. The weekend after the SERRA event, Flashbacks was hosting a National drag race and were expecting on the order of 300 entries. Note: they always dismantle the Kingleman temporarily for these big drag races in order to have enough pit space!



Is there a better sited race director's stand than this one? Not in my experience...



A little Can-Am practice before the race. Alabama's Bill Gore in the foreground, Georgia's Tommy Flythe behind.



Local racer Guy Clarkson paints and numbers his slot cars in memory of his father, Jim Clarkson, who raced (and obviously won!) on the bullrings around Milwaukee in the '50s and '60s (IIRC). This framed pic graces a wall at Flashbacks.



Here's a couple of shots from the Racer Appreciation Party held after the racing was over. Directly above Flashbacks is Summitts Wayside Tavern, featuring terrific bar food and something like 180 different beers on tap! Summitts kindly let us take over their separate dart room for our little soiree and the SERRA treasury bought everyone's meal.



Yes, Hugh. I am taking a picture... Don't tell anyone, but adult beverages were consumed, if that's what the racer purchased to drink.

One of the sneaky reasons for the party was to have our racers give us some feedback by filling out a questionnaire to give Jay and me some guidance for SERRA procedures and policies in the future. We really do put on these races for the racers' enjoyment and the questionnaire was our way of trying to determine what they would like to see done and to find out what we're doing wrong.

Since the turn-out for SERRA #14 was a little weak, we'll be emailing the questionnaire to every racer who has participated in a SERRA event. This should happen in the next week or so, as soon as we get our long-planned SERRA email database completed. Based on the small sample collated so far, it does seem like there is a consensus for a SERRA points championship and we will almost certainly be adding that to the SERRA procedures. More changes are likely to come once all the SERRA racers have a chance to convey their views and preferences.



If you didn't pick up on the clue in the icing (who always races a yellow car in SERRA?), you might have to be informed that Jay's lovely Marilynn baked us a cake for our party. There was a lot more than we could eat, and Jay ended up sharing some of it with patrons at Summitts, though I'll bet the guys at his workplace ended up with substantial servings, too.