17 replies to this topic

[Keith Tanaka]

So many people contributed in making the fourth Checkpoint Cup a success.

Thanks to Jim and Debby Watterson for their support of D3 Retro racing at Buena Park Raceway.
Also, thanks for the lunch on Saturday! Thanks also to Greg and Jeff.

Thanks to our race directors, tech inspectors and helpers. The race days were run smoothly and timely.

Thanks to our race sponsors: Boola Racing, Bill Fulmer, Dan DeBella, SpeedZone, Stand 21, Bryan Warmack, Oscar Morales, and Philippe de Lespinay.

Thanks to our race prize donors: Eagle Distributing, Haruki Kan, Craig Correia (IRD), Brian Cox (FSF), Joe "Noose" Neumeister, Dale Yamashita, Rick Bennardo (RGeo), Mill Conroy, Gary Donahoe, and Gus Kelley.

Thanks to the D3 Board for their collective support and hard work prior to and during the event: Paul Sterrett, Philippe de Lespinay, Bryan Warmack, Barney Poynor, Marc Franco, and Ken Dylke.

Thanks to all of the out of town, out of state, and out of country racers who traveled a long distance to participate in this event.

Hope to see everyone at the D3 Western States on July 13-15, 2012, at BPR.

Keith

[Phil Nyland]

I would like to thank everyone Keith mentioned above also! Including Keith of course! The D3 board, with the help from many others worked tirelessly to make this the best Checkpoint Cup ever. Racing these cars is lots of fun, but in the end it's the people that make it special. Let's keep Sano Dave in our thoughts and prayers. And special thanks to Paul Sterrett for having a vision to bring back the 60's. again.

[redbackspyder]

Thank you Debbie and Jim Watterson for hosting the Checkpoint Cup for D3 . Thank you to all the race directors, volunteer turn marshalls, race prize sponsors and to the D3 board. Thank you to Greg and Jeff for their help to make the raceway nice for all the racers. Thank you to everyone that participated to make last weekend a positive one for all who attended. A special thanks to Philippe for the great job he did teching the classes so that most of the cheating was held to an absolute minimum. A great event, and hopefully it will stay at BPR.

[TSR]

Mill,
Thanks for your good words, we DID try. Bryan Warmack was a good part of finding out what to look for. The good news are, I don't think that there was ANY cheating at this event. All the cars I have had through my hands (over 150) were all legal unless I am missing something...
The motor handout went well, no one switched tires on us, and no funny rubber.

[Jonathan Forsyth]

This was an exceptional event, and as many have said maybe the best Checkpoint yet.
Thanks to everyone who made this great event possible. Keith, Paul, PDL, and the rest of the D3 board, Buena Park Raceway, and everyone who participated.
It was great to come racing again, after too long of a layoff, there was great competition all weekend in every main.
Congrats on an awesome Can-Am win for Bryan Warmack, he was definitely on another level then everyone else, and nobody deserved it more then Bryan, with all the hard-work he puts in, thanks for the stockcar again this year, great car as always.
Thanks to everyone who helped me, my dad, Bryan Warmack, Jimi Bling (great Jaildoor ride from Samson), Jason Holmes for a great Retro Pro motor and coupe car, Parma for all of their help, and Richie Austin, who's chassis I'm still using and working great.
It was great seeing and racing with friends from all over the country, Jay we had an awesome battles in the Retro Pro race(damn tire!!!) and can-am c-main. Howie always a blast racing and hanging out, we can't separate from each other, lol, but it's always a blast(I think you owe me a few quarters from the can-am race, lol) Great racing with everyone else as well Duran, Doug, Gorski, Team Cort, Mill, Phil, Alex, Gary Donahoe(awesome drive in can-am making the podium, great job) and all the other fast guys.

I can't wait until next year.
Jonathan

[Howie Ursaner]

There is magic in the air in Southern California in January when the sun is shining and it is near 80 out.When i got to BP the place looked good and the tracks were fast and people started arriving for practice.The Jersey guys had superfast Tony P retro pro cars right out of the box and team CORT was working hard. John Gorski was looking for some TQs and a win or two.Tom Hansen showed up from Seattle for his first try at retro and was incredibly fast immediatly.Tracy Chin came from San Franscisco to try retro for the first time and was setting the pace in practice.He almost won the 1/32 inline after a battle with Bryan. Congrats,. Haruki Kan arrived from Japan and was showing a lot of new speed this year.All of the ususal tons of fast guys were showing up incuding of course Duran and Jonathan,Legends were there too John Cukras and Terry Schmid.,John "Tore" Anderson and Sano Dave came in from Chicago and was on DUDE E all weekend, and the race was on.

Thanks to Bryan for all of his support and Congratulations on his wins and Can Am record run, crushing the competition

Haruki and Gary Donahue both made the Can Am A main

Thanks Team CORT Bob and Barney for the absolute missile retro pro.Wow, that was fun.

Bryan, that Jail door race was a classic

Tracy Chin , congratulations on your 2nd place 1/32 inline finish in your first retro race

Tom Hansen, Podium in 1/32 anglewinder You had a superfast retro pro first ever retro race, Thanks for the 1/32 loaner

Mike Iles always great to see you

Jonathan, i can't believe this A main bumping s--t you are a thorn in my side

Duran- the man to beat in any race at BP

Jim and Debbie,and Greg Nice job food on sat was great

D3 Nice job

Keith you did an awesome job

Banquet at Mimi's was fun

PDL was as sick as a dog but there anyway

Jay great win in retro pro, I hope next time you will call track

Bryan was way out in the lead in the coupe race and then disaster struck

I ran in all 8 races and they were all hard fought,.

I finished Jail Door 2nd Retro pro 3rd 1/32 inline 4th 1/32 sidewinder 5th Nascar 5th sidewinder coupe flat 6th my handout motors both went flat early in the Can Am and F1 races. Thanks for the hammer Greg

There were so many people working hard preparing for and then making sure it happened i want to thank you .You succeeded in creating an event that was fun for everyone there. You had to be there and if you weren't maybe next year. What made this such a special event were the people .It was everyone together that made it work so well. Dave, i am so glad you were able to make it out for the race.

[Dave Fiedler]

Thanks to Jim and Debby and the entire board of D3. A better event than ever. Once again everything was fabulous includeding the weather.
Keith picked a great restuarant for dinner saturday night. Gary Donahoe, stellar preformance in can-am. Great fun runnin side by side with terry S. in F1.
Same with Mill C. Several of us had an extra treat on monday, we went down to San Diego to play on the USS Midway all afternoon.
A very special thanks go out to Pam and Mike Kravitz, for without their generosity, the trip would not have been possible. I had a great time.
I'd like to thank Dennis Sampson for inviting me over to play toy cars. Mucho fun.

[TSR]

DDDDDDDDude! It was so great to spend quality time with you.

[redbackspyder]

No Funny Rubber and No Cheating Motors = PRICELESS. Now if only the same stays true for the next SCRRA RACE, maybe those that cheated in the past are a little more wary now. CHEATING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!!! Funny how when the motors are legal that the results reflect the changes ........ Congratulations to everyone who attended and to the D3 Board for making things more level playing field worthy. Much rather have the luck of the draw decide who gets the best motor, rather than who twisted the comm and crushed the can best that day ! Sano Dave, as always a pleasure racing so tightly with you my friend.

[John Gorski]

4th Checkpoint Cup an awesome weekend!!!
Bryan Warmack what can I say one of of the most talented, kind & giving people
in Retro racing the worthy opponent . Awesome 1st place CanAm Victory so happy for you I know how much you
wanted that win and worked hard for it an honor to finish 2nd to you (Birthday Boy!)
Great showing for Gary Donahoe & Haruki in CanAm. Great TQ for Bob Crane in Retro Pro
& win for Jay Kisiling with Tony P chassis. Jonathan Retro Pro race was yours ruff break Damn tire!
Howie you were in the hunt you snagged some podiums.
Thanks to Jim and Debby Watterson Greg and Jeff E. at Buena Park Raceway
and for lunch on Saturday!
Thanks to the hard work Keith Tanaka great photos & report your a work horse,
Paul Sterrett, Philippe de Lespinay, Bryan Warmack, Barney Poynor, Marc Franco, Ken Dylke
and for your Friendship. Probably the most successful hand out motor Retro race ever.
Congrates to Duran Awesome F1 win, Jay, Alex, & Jonathan, on there Victory's.
Great to see Howie, Terry Schmid, John Cukras, Sano Dave, Jay Henry, Speedzone Mike, Tore Anderson, Jonathan, Steve, Tracy Chin, Tom Hansen,
Jeff E, Barney, Craig, Mill, Phil, Oscar, Mike K., Gus, Nest (FlyMan)
and all my West Coast Friends!!! We forgot to get the group picture this year ...next time.

[S.O. Watt]

My thanks go out to all the participants that made it the Checkpoint, all the peeps that worked hard for assuring equality for all, to the track owners for enabling this great event. I know from past lives that putting on events of this magnitude takes many people and many hours behind the scenes, kudos to the unknown!

It was great seeing all the 'old' familiar faces, making my round three in slots even more fun. New friendships, re-kindled old ones, and ones I don't even know about yet. Retro is Good!

It was especially busy time for me, starting with nothing but "the cigar box" (Howie gets this one) last November. All the input from those that helped guide me- Thanks a Bunch! It was pretty cool having the Checkpoint as my event horizon. The retro pro cars on that track must be one of the biggest thrills available in retro racing!

Now comes the time to buckle down and build!

Thanks All! Until we meet again.......

[usadar]

It was two years ago when I saw D3 Retro Racing for the first time at the second Check Point Cup at Buena Park Raceway.
I had sent an e-mail to Keith, asking to send me a copy of the DVD by Mike Steube on how to build retro chassis.
Keith suggested to me to come down to BPR to see the Great Race.
I cannot remember why I decided to fly all the way to LA just to see the Cup for a couple of days, but I did.
My last experience of slot car racing was USRA Div. 1&2 cars(wing-cars & euro-sports) over 20 years before, so I did not expect much from D3 cars with inexpensive sealed motors mounted in-line with plastic crowns.
However, I was overwhelmed not only by the quality of racing but by the racers racing there.
I had had a chance to see Philippe a couple of years before about his book, but I really got excited to see the legendary racers such as Bryan, Howie, John and Terry racing.
Keith found me the builders for my first D3 cars, Craig and Dennis.
Coming to race Can-Am & F-1 in April and July at BPR in 2010, I tried to find a place to practice in Tokyo but no raceway allowed me to run D3 cars, so I decided to have my own track.
For building the track, Keith recommended me Gary Gerding, who installed his 13th King at my place in Tokyo in September, 2010.
At first, I was afraid it would be very difficult to find enough racers to start our own retro racing programs in Tokyo.
I called the ex-raceway owner, Tamo Furuhashi and my old friends like Hanada, Akitani, Yoshi Hirose for help, although I had not seen them for almost 20 years.
This is how our Tokyo D3 started in February, 2011.
Coming back from the Check Point Cup of 2012, I really feel great and happy to race D3 racing on the both coast of the Pacific.
Thanks a lot, Keith, D3 Board members, Buena Park Raceway, great racers & friends.
Looking forward to seeing and racing with you at the Western States.
Good Racing,

Haruki

[Gary Donahoe]

The Checkpoint Cup is a great annual event. It is fantastic to be able to race against some of the best slot racers from across the country and around the world. It is a great pleasure to see friends that you don’t see often and to make new acquaintances.

I’m not certain who was responsible for the original idea to establish this event but I suspect Keith Tanaka was in at the ground level. Thank you Keith for all that you do and also thank you to Paul, PDL, and the Buena Park staff for your efforts to make this an extra special event for 2012.

Thanks to all who were so kind and offered complements to me after my Can-Am result. I can’t begin to explain how much this has meant to me.

A very special thank you to Kamoshita for building such a beautifully turned-out and fast Can-Am car. Your ability and generosity is truly amazing.

Gary Donahoe

[TSR]

Gary,

You were the true hero of this Checkpoint Cup as far as I am concerned. You deserved one more spot up, bad luck is what kept it from happening and it was none of your fault.

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Gary I bet ya had to go to you're doctor to get that smile taken off you're face! WTG!

[Bryan Warmack]

Congratulations to all the usual front runners and podium hogs but a special nod to all the new faces who made their way onto the Checkpoint Cup top 3 finishers. Congrats Alex Freund, Jay Kisling, Gary Donahoe, Tracy Chin and Tom Hansen!
Great job Al Thurman, Oscar Morales, Tim Neja, Marc Franco, Anthony Varner, ***** and Super Job Haruki!! Congrats to Kamoshita and Akitani and their absolutely superb chassis.
Great to see all my old friends from EVERYWHERE and a special thanks to Dave Fielder for his chassis for my collection! THANKS SANO!!
Thanks again to everyone who helped out, to all the race sponsors and race prize donors and all the out of towners who always make this race special.....the Speedzone Crew was a hoot!

[Keith Tanaka]

I’m not certain who was responsible for the original idea to establish this event but I suspect Keith Tanaka was in at the ground level. Thank you Keith for all that you do and also thank you to Paul, PDL, and the Buena Park staff for your efforts to make this an extra special event for 2012.

Gary, the Checkpoint Cup was Paul Sterrett's idea. Thanks for the compliment.
You had an excellent Can Am race and were unfortunate to not get 2nd. You've come a long way in a very short period of time. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Thanks for your support and see you soon,

Keith

[Keith Tanaka]

Haruki, it's always a pleasure to see you at BPR for our big events. You've done an outstanding job in establishing D3 retro racing in Tokyo.
The Tokyo D3 racers are very fortunate to have such a generous and well organized person to help lead the way in Japan.

I look forward to seeing you at the D3 Western States and want to thank you for your support and friendship.

D3 salutes Haruki on his ongoing support of retro racing in Japan.


Keith
p.s. - Congrats on an excellent 2012 Checkpoint Cup performance.