3 replies to this topic

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

Although Cindy and I haven't caught up on our sleep yet I thought I would jot down a few thoughts. We have already begun planning for next year. Our hope is to refine what we did this year to offer another great race to all you retro racers. Mark your calendars for March 11th through the 13th 2011 for the next running of the R4.

First I would like to thank again all the sponsors who generously donated money and product to the event. American Racing Products was the award sponsor for the GT Coupe class and also donated about 50 of his excellent pinions used almost exclusively by the racers. ProSlot was the award sponsor for F-1 and has been a contributor since day one. OutiSight Bodies sponsored the Can-Am awards as well as giving away dozens of retro bodies. And for the first time Parma/PSE FASCOLOR signed on for the Concours awards. Additional prizes were donated by Mid-America Raceway, Sprays by MAC, Ralph Thorne Racing, RGO, Craig Correa, Butch Dunaway, Team Zombie, Noose Custom Painting, Alpha Products, FastOnes, and TrueScale Racing.

Speaking of TrueScale Racing, not only did Victor donate over 2 dozen of his awesome bodies but he bought everyone lunch on Saturday and Sunday. WOW! And with Rande Marshall (RPM) supplying hotdogs and all the fixins on Friday everyone ate "on the cheap". I will have to say that we seriously under-estimated how much you all could eat. Must have been the price.

I need to thank the Tech crew ( Noose, Pappy, and Bill Fulmer) who did an incredible job all weekend, Bill Fulmer who also took all the great pictures, Chris Barnes who once again documented the event on video, my wife and great kids Jessica (it really killed her to get sick and miss the Can-Am race - she was VERY missed) and J.B., Eric Balicki, Rick Maynard, Pappy for helping race direct, and finally Jason Vicors, Mike Denney, and Skippy for helping out in the sales area.

Most of all I want to thank you, the racers, for helping make this the event that it is. From the first R4 I could tell there was something special about those who race retro and every year since you have proven me right. The competition is extremely close and fierce as shown by results this year. But no matter how intense you still come to have fun. And it shows. When Cindy and I hear comments like "best ever race" or "we can't wait till next year" we know how you feel because we feel the same.

From my point of view things went pretty well. I thought the flow through tech and Concour judging was MUCH smoother than last year. We managed to get final results faster which allowed more time to practice after wards. The "one class per day" format is a winner (almost unanimously) because it drastically dropped the stress level and allowed everyone more time to test, tune, and BS. Even though our entry total was slightly lower, which could be attributed to many things including dropping the 4th class, the level of competition and the "fun factor" was way up.

Let's talk about the "fun factor". After last years event (R4/2) Cindy and I discussed how the race was as much a social get-to-gether as it was a competition. We decided to offer a place where all the racers and family could kick back and relax and share stories about their slot experiences. So the "First Annual R4 Bench Racing Event" was born. It was a BLAST. Far beyond our expectations. If you missed it - Shame On YOU ! The meeting room was great, the pizza hit the spot, and the stories were fantastic (especially after a few "adult beverages"). Steve Dieters brought some very cool historic pictures of slotracing in the sixties and seventies and Brian McP was kind enough to display some of the late Roy Moody's hand built slot cars. And we were also treated to as special "Howie" presentation of Alice Coopers "No More Mister Nice Guy". Needless to say the "R4 Bench Race" is now an permanent fixture.

Final thoughts...we are going to work hard to make the R4/4 even better. If you couldn't make it this year try and make the R4/4. You won't regret it. I'm already working to make the web cast better (Greg, you BETTER make it next year) and I will have the full detailed results posted, hopefully, by the weekend. The R4/3 video should be available in about 3 weeks so look for the announcement here on SlotBlog. And YES, it does show Howie's solo performance from the Bench Race.

One Again......THANK YOU !!

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

After re-reading what I had posted above I realized that I left out several very important people.

Ray Carlisi was of major help during tech. Sorry, Ray.

And, of course, how could I forget the "Women of Retro Racing"? Returning members Sharon Bruce and Paula Young (who helped to run the kitchen over the three days) were joined this year by new member Gina who marshaled more than her fair share of cars.

And then Laura Schmitt who chose to spend her birthday with us. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks, ladies, for adding a little class to the whole event.

In addition I left out Team CORT as one of our sponsors. They gave us some of their new body mounting blocks as door prizes. If you weren't one of the lucky winners you should take a look. They're really nice.

[Pappy]

Here's my final thoughts on the R4.

Not quite the turn-out we had last year but it was a lot more fun, great people, great food, great racing, great prizes, and I can't wait till next year. The format of one race a day made it a lot less hectic.

Great show, Mike.

[Ron Hershman]

Well, we were only "down" 19 entries overall from the previous year's total number. I didn't include spec. That's only another six guys racing three classes... so not bad at all.

Just goes to show you don't have to have a huge turnout to have a GREAT race.

One class a day is better/easier than a monthly race when you have to race three or four classes in the same day.