Craig Gilbert ran in his first hardbody race (Jalopy) and did quite well for his first ever race on the BPR Flat track. He last raced in a TSRF race on the old BPR Hillclimb track in 2006.
It's been 45 years since he last raced in the Third Rod and Custom (F1) race at J&J's Raceway in Long Beach, CA. He qualified for the Semi-Main in that race and ran well until he encountered some trouble with others crashing all around him. He became a member of Team Rolling Hills (along with Roger Uusitalo, Gary Gilmore, and Keith Tanaka) later in '66. A low draft lottery number shortly thereafter resulted in his stint in the service soon after. After his military service ended, he returned home to find that slot car racing had disappeared (for the most part) in SoCal.
Welcome back to slot car racing Craig. Roger and I are pleasantly surprised to be racing with fellow Team Rolling Hills members again after more than 40 years!
Thanks to Jim and Debby Watterson for their continued support of D3 Hardbody racing at BPR.
Thanks to our race directors: Jim Watterson, Keith Tanaka, Paul Sterrett
Here's the complete race/photo report:
Hardbody race/photo report
Stock 36D inline NASCAR race
NASCAR racers, L-R, Ken Dylke, Marc Franco, Paul Sterrett, Keith Tanaka, Russell Van Wyck
NASCAR podium, L-R, Keith Tanaka 2nd, Paul Sterrett 1st, Ken Dylke 3rd
Jalopy race
Jalopy racers, L-R, Greg Carter, Craig Gilbert, Russell Van Wyck, Bill Marquette, Jim Watterson, John Hartman, Paul Sterrett
Jalopy podium, L-R, Paul Sterrett 2nd, Jim Watterson 1st, Greg Carter 3rd
3Cs (Corvettes, Cobras, Cheetahs) race
3Cs racers, L-R, John Hartman, Ken Dylke, Roger Uusitalo, Keith Tanaka
3Cs podium, L-R, Ken Dylke 2nd, Keith Tanaka 1st, John Hartman 3rd
The next D3 Hardbody races will be on Sunday, September 18. Track opens at 11 AM, first race 1:30 PM.
Join in the fun for our first D3 Hardbody Nats at Buena Park Raceway, Saturday Oct. 29. Details to follow soon.
Keith
