395 replies to this topic

[Uncle Fred]

I used to go up to Scarsdale to race on Friday nights with a whole bunch of guys. Howie Ursaner, Henry Stephen, and George Blaha to name a few... They actually had a serious cash payout.

[Cheater]

And two of the three you name are still racing slot cars!

[Gator Bob]

And two of the three you name are still racing slot cars!

And one of the tracks...

[Greg VanPeenen]

Gene's cycle shop, Lansing, Michigan.
 
They had a homemade track in the back room it had tape instead of braid and was like a roller coaster. But it was just a short bike ride.

Next was a joint called Race-a-Rama owner by a local hobby shop; two road courses and a drag strip. I worked there while in Jr. High. One of the guys would pick me up in his '66 427 Comet and drive me to work. Those were the days.

[Phil Nyland]

Not the name I remember nor the shape of track (the shop was very narrow but long, two or three skinny tracks in a row against the east wall with the glass sales counters and display shelving on the west wall), but I bow to your details!

The shop I remember was located east of East (!), facing but set far back from Lincoln on the north side of the street. This was at the east end of a south-facing strip of shops just before the 90-degree turn where west-facing shops continued south toward Lincoln. There was a Jack in the Box right at the front facing Lincoln, with a big parking lot and the "strip mall" behind. Was that the place?

Yes, there was a Jack in the box on the east corner. The name when I raced there was Daytona Raceway around '68-'69. The track was on the east wall as was the parts counter, the other track was on the other side, a type of hillclimb as I remember.

Bryan Warmack lived a stones throw away, just off East St. Stan Betz sold his business to Sherwin Williams and was asked to stay on as a consultant because of his vast knowledge of paint. A few years ago he invited us upstairs to see his Von Dutch memorabilia, some of which he sold at a Peterson auction.

[sub006]

So Daytona Raceway it is! 
 
In those days, Orange County was the boonies compared to L.A. in many respects.  From pictures, the O.C. commercial tracks seem really small-time compared to what you'd find in Inglewood or West L.A. And private club layouts like MESAC? Fuhgeddaboudit!!!

[George Blaha]

Hey Fred and Bob,
 
We ran Jail Door sport cars at Hudson Valley Raceway on the new flat track this past Saturday... shades of Polk's and that place on Parsons near Buddies Bike Shop. Retro East also had IRRA® events with Stock Cars and Formula 1 on the King.

I miss the old gang of youngsters hanging with the oldsters (23-35 year olds) and getting rides to all of the tracks within two-three hours of Queens. Without knowing it, we had the best of slot car racing.
 
Shakey George Blaha

[Uncle Fred]

George, remember Jessie Wilkenson who used to drive us around? Roy Knickman with his 442?

 

Fred

[George Blaha]

Hey Roger,
 
Under the el on Roosevelt Ave was lots of high speed slot cars but you needed to watch your equipment or it ran out the door. The shelves and the walls were full of car parts and the raceway was part of a store league. I believe two of the league stores were Flushing Autorama (near the Flushing Botanical Gardens) and Indianapolis Raceway (Northern Blvd in Great Neck near Peter Lugers) and both were equipped with high speed tracks and coverage of the events by Charlie Harris. Sebring on Union Turnpike was in this series but I believe we raced there only once rather than twice like the other stores.

Cox and Towerstat controllers dominated these races and Tigers Milk, glycerine and rosewater, oil of wintergreen, Marvel Mystery Oil, and Lubriplate were the preferred tire treatments for our Graupner model airplane sourced tires. Great times!
 
Shakey George Blaha

[Uncle Fred]

... Lew Kanarek?

[George Blaha]

Hey Fred,

 

YesS and Lou Kanarak, Charlie Harris, Eddie Hochdorf's father (terrible throttle and brake control), and Mr. Schwartz. And sometimes Bradley Simon. And IND, BMT, IRT, Queens Transit, Steinway Transit, Schwinn,Columbia, and et al to Shangri-La tracks. Lots of bike trips to Big Daddy's.

 

Shakey George Blaha

[Uncle Fred]

Mark Levy?

[Uncle Fred]

Truck bikes in the back of your mother Hemi stationwagon?

[drrufo]

I started racing at a track on Long Beach Blvd. in Compton when I was twelve or thirteen. Raced at tracks in Wilmington and Carson when I was in high school and brought my kids to Eagle raceway in Lakewood (thanks, Vic). So I have been racing on and off for 50 years.

 

John Andersen

[Superbird]

Hi Folks,

 

This isn't literally where I raced as a kid but when I moved to the Huntsville, AL, area I decided to do some research into the heyday of slot car racing there. I illustrated with vintage cars I bought in the area.

 

Enjoy,

 

Pete

 

 Slot Car Huntsville Article 7-08.doc   1.69MB   81 downloads

 

 

[mickd]

I raced at four places in Milwaukee back in 1967-1969 but I can only recall the name of Bluemound Raceway(?) while the other three have disappeared from my memory. One was located somewhere east of Mayfair shopping center and had two or three tracks. It closed in 1968 which was a shame because it was by far rhe nicest facility in the area. Another track was located somewhere in the downtown area and only raced there a few times. The third track was somewhere near the northeast area of the metro area and had a roadcourse and a pretty much unused dragstrip. Three of us formed a team called The Roadrunners with our arch rivals being The Highwinders. If anyone can fill in some of the holes in my memory I would certainly be appreciative.

Milwaukee Area Tracks...

 

Hi dan49,

 

I raced one time at Bluemound Raceway and the track was in horrible condition; I was the only person in the place. I don't even think some lanes had electrical continuity all around the track. Never went back again.

 

When I had my first home sets (Eldon, Revell) I raced at Garman's in West Allis on around 80th and Lincoln. My best friend in grade school lived on the east end of State Fair Park in West Allis on 76th St. and he introduced me to that track. Small track, but being so young, eleven years old in '66, we had lots of fun racing and going to champ (Indy) car races at State Fair park, now known as the Milwaukee Mile.

 

The one track you couldn't remember east of Mayfair Shopping Center was Family Hobby Center on North Avenue around 70th-80th Street on the north side of the street. My Mom would browse at The Grand clothing store across the street sometimes while I raced. I loved that place. Raced there the whole time it existed. Bought my first Mura motor there, a metallic green case Russkit 23 style rewound and balanced. It blew after only a few laps. Still have the armature. They had all American Raceway tracks, a King 155, a Queen 66 (figure 8), and a road course I can't remember much 'cause I never raced on it.

 

I hope I don't bore any of you with this story, but it is one of my best childhood memories. I ran into a kid that went to my grade school who was a few years older at this track, he was real cocky. He challenged me to a race, he had a La Cucaracha with a Mad (Green?) Hornet Motor. My favorite car was a Cox Cheetah with the adjustable Cox magnesium chassis. I had the thin Nylatron spur gear that threaded on the axle, a Cox NASCAR motor, and the Ackerman steering. It had big AJ's (Twinn K?) silicone slicks on the back.

 

The King track was filled, he probably would have beat me on that track, so we raced on the figure 8. We had several short races, probably ten laps or so, and I beat him every time! Still hoping to run into him at the church he and I go to (part of my elementary school) so I can remind him of that. Still have that Cheetah and bought a lot of three on eBay, all needed work but otherwise in great cosmetic condition.

 

The last track I raced at was Beloit Raceway on 68th and Beloit. I think that King track from Family Hobby Center might have been the one at Beloit Raceway, otherwise known as "Hank's", Hank Kleist being the owner. They also had  another road course and an HO track.

 

I was champ for two seasons in '75 with the Tuesday night Late Model Stocker series. Required to run current hard plastic late model bodies and Champion 603 motors with scratchbuilt anglewinder chassis. We all used 3/32" axles with spring piano wire fronts and Faas gears. No goop, used lighter fluid on the foam tires to clean them and make the car slide in the turns. Fastest cars would slide real nice through the carousel; we would offset the balance of the car with lead for that.

 

I had a Donnie Allison Chevelle, a Lennie Pond Chevelle, and a Penske Matador raced by Donnie Allison.The Matador was the car I was champ with, this was the most popular (and best handling) body. We raced on the blue King, had about 30 guys in the series. I later got a Champion 617 for that car, unused and mint today, and built a beautiful '72 Roy Wood's Trans-Am Javelin raced by George Follmer, who was champ that year. This was also red, white, and blue like the Penske Matador.

 

Sad day when Hank's closed in the '80s, haven't raced at a commercial track since. Plan on going to Lucky Bob's on 53rd and Forest Home soon. Never quit racing on my banked Revell home track on a plywood table with a 35 amp Pyramid supply.

[hiline2]

Seems that Jeff Bechtel and I raced at the same track and may have crossed paths!

[dan49]

Your response was very welcomed and a great read.
 
I moved to Wauwatosa in early 1966 but did not get involved in 1/24 commercial racing until June of 1967. Started racing at Bluemound until I found Family Hobby Center. I was 18 at the time and spent every free minute at FHC learning to race and build cars. It was at this time the anglewinder came into vogue and blew the Jail Door inline off the track.
 
It was at this time the Roadrunners, our three-person racing team was formed. We became very proficient at building the anglewinder chassis. As I mentioned, our nemesis was the Highwinders who may have raced out of Garman's. Our two teams had many duels to determine who would be top dog.
 
I went into the army in 1969 and sold most all of my slot car goodies prior to serving a tour in Vietnam. The only things I kept were my Dremel and Weller dual heat gun. I moved from WS to IN in Jan. of 1971 and at that time I lost contact with my racing buddies.
 
Five years ago I was reintroduced to 1/32 home racing with plastic chassis cars. I belong to a very active club in west/central IN. We race every week on one of our nine club tracks and will have a field of 10-16 participants. I also host the club website www.slotcaraddiction.com.

I want to thank you again for the great response to my question and please don't hesitate to add more at any time.

Take care,
Dan

[mickd]

Thanks so much, Dan.

 

You know, I had many hobbies as a kid, control line gas planes, model rockets, model cars, and WWII bomber models, but slot racing reached my soul. I think my first home set I got in '62 or '63.

 

I think racing brought me to my profession of an electronic technician/service engineer. Worked at GE medical 31 years; 20 on mobile MRI, and 4 years as a CT/MRI service engineer, and other various jobs earlier at GE.

 

So sad you had to sell your stuff because of Vietnam. My brother is 63 and he got out because of college. I was 1H (holding) when I registered in '73, the war ended that Senior year of HS.

 

I still have most my old cars, and some newer vintage acquisitions from eBay, 47 cars at last count. I am presently bringing all the cars back to original since I swapped some parts car to car in my youth.

 

I always liked 1/24 F1/Indy cars and my favorite is a brass rod inline I put together around '67, with a Russkit 23, Riggen tires/wheels, and a Lancer Eagle body. I later put the stock one-hole chrome plated case/dual shaft Champion 5001 "Thumper" motor in it. Later put the bulletproof endbell on that motor but that motor was split up over time. It now is complete and I have the Lancer Huffaker Offy Indy car body on that.

 

I'm using the Eagle body on a Dynamic chassis with a great condition Champion 507 I just got from eBay for 20 bucks. After a thorough cleaning the motor looks like new. I had to re-attach what are probably the original shunted brushes.

 

I owe my skill at soldering and the Dremel tool to slot racing, these skills really came in handy at my job and working on real cars and motorcycles, as well as the mechanical ability you get working on slot cars. Kids nowadays are really missing the "hands on" aspect of a hobby with all the computer games and such.

 

I also have an original Champion '66 Ferrari 3 liter F1 car with the piano wire frame and a 601 in it, and another Champion piano wire frame with the small brass plate outrigger in a wide Brabham F1 car with that stock chrome (nickel?) plated can ball bearing Mura motor, pretty sure it has the same 30 gauge red windings as the Champion 5001. I always loved these motors, plenty of power for an F1/Indy car and so reliable.

 

I'm working on another Champion piano wire frame with outriggers and a Champion 612 motor, I was using these motors on my stock cars when I started racing them recreationally.

 

My favorite sports cars are a Group 15 car that I think Hank put together around '69 and sold with that beautiful Riggen nickel-plated anglewinder chassis and a D can two-hole Mura motor with a full size 26 size arm. Not the "Mini-Brute" motor. The magnets deteriorated, they were a special size for the 26 size arm, I think they were iron impregnated in some kind of rubber compound. That motor now has a Mura Group 7 arm and Performance Racing zapped and matched magnets. It has the original beautiful Dynamic low and wide Lola GT body in dark metallic green.

 

My fastest car is around '75 vintage, the much sought-after Champion Group 27 car with the Champion Group 20 C-can with Champion heatsinks. It has the Champion Group 7 nickel-plated can drive anglewinder chassis. This car originally had a Champion Shadow body (I still have it and it's mint); I put on a Outisiight Ferrari 312 body on it. This is the only non-original part along with the Faas gears. Hard to believe this was a RTR for $32.95 in 1975.

 

I'm collecting three Mura II Green C-cans, a Group 20, a balanced and epoxied Group 12, and a regular Group 12. Also a '70 vintage Champion Group 15 motor with the "orange picker" endbell. Along with the Cox Cheetahs I have a mint Cox Lotus 40 and a mint Ford GT40.

 

I always loved the K&B cars with the Challenger/Super Challenger motor for home track use. I have two Shelby Daytona Coupes, one with a Super Challenger, and one '64 Ferrari GTO.

 

I still have one of the first cars I owned, It is a '64/'65 Barracuda made by K&B, also with the Challenger sidewinder motor. I used the swing arm front chassis from an Eldon Concours series BRM on this car. The spring tension on the swing arm was just right and the car would wheelie when accelerating hard. The kids at Garmin's loved that car. That was my own version of the real "Hemi Under Glass" wheelie funny car. Saw that car at Great Lakes Dragaway several times. The Eldon cast aluminum front chassis broke, it has had the original non-swingarm 1/32 chassis since probably '66 with a cool Willy's gas dragster body on it in red, has a blower and all.

 

It has been so much fun working on all the cars now that I am retired, getting them back as close as possible to how they were originally.

[dan49]

Mike, n
 
Not only do I race with an adult club but I also sponsor a school slot car club for my fifth grade students. The club has a custom-built six-lane non-mag MDF track with lane length of approximately 97 feet. Cost of membership is nothing but members must maintain a grade of "C" in every subject and have no behavior or attitude issues. Should they fall off the wagon they are welcomed back once they resolve the issue.
 
We do not race for trophies or other awards. I will not allow any "I'm number one" attitude. I am quick to explain how you can be the hero this week and the zero next week but the reward is the fact you are here with your friends having a good time.
 
Some of the members have built Popsicle cars. The focus of the club is multi-faceted and has grown beyond my wildest dreams. My goal is to promote slot car racing with a younger crowd, get kids away from video games, interact with others and not a monitor, get off your butt, learn to be a gracious winner or loser, and be responsible for your actions (grades, attitude). I host the club site www.racingtosuccess.com and have conversed with racers/educators from the US all the way to Beijing.

I am 65 and will retire at the end of this school year but as of now I can't get a faculty member to take over the club. I keep hoping someone will step to the plate and continue the club, time will tell.

[mickd]

Hi Dan,

 

I checked out your website. Wow, does your club have some nice tracks! You guys don't need a commercial track.

 

I had thought about building a larger permanent track, those tracks have given me some inspiration to do it. You guys must have a blast. I watched some videos on YouTube with some Carrera cars and they seemed pretty fast. I'm with you on the scale aspect. After seeing those wing cars do 1.1 seconds on the blue King, I'm not impressed, especially with all the glue they need on the track. So far from any realism.

 

My vintage Champion Group 20 car looks slow compared to those,  but at least the car really looks good. Fast doesn't necessarily mean fun, the late models I raced were pretty fast but slow compared to a Group 15 or 20. A controlled slide through the carousel was so cool. The competition was great with 30 guys, that's what made it so fun.

 

I'm with you on the no-mag track. Great thing you are doing for the kids.

[joekb2yhs]

I started on a track in a hobby shop in Howard Beach, NY, in the '70s. I cannot remember the name of it.  

 

I still have the Trinity motors, Tony P. chassis, and bodies painted by "Buster".  

 

Anyone remember the name of the shop?  

[Wayne Thomas]

Holly Hill, FL... The Race Place.

[Pat Skeggs]

S .Ozone Park, Lefferts Blvd. across from PS 100. Eight-lane HO track.

 

We use to race for pinks sometimes. I lost my Porsche #2 car in a race and cried for a week until my brother won it back the next week; that's what big bros are for. 

 

That was the last time I raced for pinks. If my dad found out I lost that car he would have killed me. 

[Chewy]

Joe Grant,

 

That would be Wilson's Hobby. The owner's nickname was Tiny. He had everything in that store.