30 replies to this topic

[Rick Davis]

Hey, this is a first... I've never started a thread before, but on behalf of all the racers I'd like to thank the extended McMasters family for putting up with the craziness for six days (or is it 40 something years but who's counting )

Joe Neumeister for tirelessly teching cars with an even hand and being a leader in the hobby.

Bill Fulmer for taking his time to attend to document the event with his outstanding photo work.

All the sponsors: Precision Slot Cars, Fast Ones/Outisight, R-Geo, Pro Slot (I'm sure I missed a sponsor somebody jump in and help).

And on a personal note I'd like to thank Rich Attee and Dave Mountz for the pit and marshaling help.

Rick Davis

OK figured out all by myself over lunch that I forgot Noose Bodies (DOH!! I won one of the drawings ) and Scale Auto Racing New magazine.

[TG Racing]

I'll second that for sure!  This was my first R4 and while I only did the Coupe FK race, I had a blast. I watched the rest of it on the web and it was awesome TV. 

It was nice to to put faces with names that you see here on Slotblog. 

Again, a big thanks to Mike and his staff for all their hard work!

[MantaRay]

My thanks to the McMasters family for a great event.

Cindy... We missed you... Hope your knee gets better...

Special thanks to Rick Davis... for putting up with me next to him... LOL!

Great to see some new faces... Will Custer, Nick and Pops Brantley, Brian and Dustin... You guys got this... LOL...
Gina and Sharon for all you did...

To whoever made all of that tasty bakery...
 
I think a great time was had by all...
 
And last but not least... Thanks to John Austin... for a great road trip.

[Joe Mig]

Thank you for the live stream.

[Andy Watkins]

Yes, the streaming was great. The live scoring system is phenomenal.

[Pop's boys]

Thanks to the McMasters Family for making us welcome and putting on such a great race.

We met some super fine racers and pitted next to two of the nicest and most helpful guys in any sport, Manta Ray and John Austin.

Thanks Steve Koepp for loaning us a fast F1 (sorry it was a bent a bit after the race)...

Noose for tirelessly teching us all fairly...

Rick B. and Ricky B. as well as Chris Radisich (Go Team R-Geo) for the set-up help they gave us.

Was good to finally meet Ron H. and see many of the guys from Retro East who we raced with at the Fall Brawl.
 
Congrats to all the drivers who atttended and we hope to see you all at the R4/7!

[Cap Henry]

What another great event put on by the McMasters!
 
It was fun having my "team" of guys racing with me, even when they wanted to make me pull my hair out! LOL I gotta thank Parma, Mike Muir, Precision Slot Cars, JDR, and Fast Ones for another killer combo that I was able to capture the Can-Am win with. When Ron told me afterwards I was the first person other then himself or Matt Bruce to win CanAam I was very honored!
 
I couldn't be happier for my teammate Brad! He really struggled with the changing track conditions in GTC-FK and Can-Am, and looked to be in trouble during F1. But he got it figured out and put in a great run to run third in F1! Very happy with his first R4 outing!
 
And Dave was our never-quitting pit guy, and a great time as always. If he could put more time in at the track I know he'd be right there with us at the end! He even loaned me a motor for the F1 main cause I had used all mine up!
 
It's so cool getting to see everyone, this time it meant even more as I hadn't seen most of the local guys in months. The Bennardos, Steve Koepp, Team Fast Ones, Tom Lauterbach, and Bud Bartos are always great people to make an event reallly enjoyable. And the out of towners of Matt Bruce, Ed Sohl, Noose, Chris Radisch, Russ Upton, James Merriman, and Sano Dave are incredible people. Matt, Ed, and Sano Dave are three of the nicest guys I've ever met. Truely great people.
 
Bravo to Nick Brantley, Ron H, and Tom L on the wins... nothing comes easy at R4!

[Don Weaver]

Many, many thanks for the outstanding video feed this weekend. Watching it the past couple of years really makes me want to make the effort to get up there one year soon.

Don Weaver

[Chris Barnes]

MIke, CIndy, and the rest of the family,
 
Thanks for another great week of fun. Cindy, I hope you will get well soon. We really missed you Saturday and Sunday.
 
Mike, thanks for the additional TV monitor you put up on the wall. It was so beneficial to see the updates all through the races. It was another first in the media display of the race coverage. Each year, you add additional items that make the race a one of a kind event.
 
There is nothing like the R4.

[Rick]

Every year it's still the must do event. Ditto on all the above and I agree Cindy you were missed greatly on Sat and Sun, you are the anchor on the ship girl! Jessica worked her butt double duty, WTG Jess.
 
It was great to finally meet Don Berni face to face. And seeing Raisin on the drivers station again was a sign of good things to come. Always great to talk with all the other racers, break balls, and just have fun. The racing was awesome all across the heats, to the Mains. Thanks to Ray Price for the great Speed Wagon build (Rick II got third with it in PD Coupe) and GVP for his hard work. Thanks to Pops Brantley for building great cars for Nick and to Nick that set the place on fire with his WIN in FK Coupe! Then coming back with a Podium spot in PD Coupe, WOW! To Willy for a hell of a run in F1 and a great weekend overall. Thanks to Mike Muir for a great F1 car and Steve Koepp for all his help.
 
Special thanks to my Son, Rick Jr, for all his hard work, painting and mounting bodies, getting all the cars set up and ready to race. Thanks to Chris Radisich for traveling all night again to be able to make it, all while still under the weather.
 
Nice to race with Edsel again after many years. Thanks to Noose to his hard work and only bouncing me twice in tech line. Bill Fulmer to come and do the pictures all weekend; thank you Bill for all you do for Retro Racing.
 
Had a great time and tired as hell. Iike the Toby Keith tune, "Good As I Once Was", my body says you can't do that boy, but my brain says, oh yes you can... LOL.

[Bud Bartos]

Thanks to all that put on the event!! Was great FUN.

[Krummy]

A big thanks to the whole crew at Tom Thumb for making it a great race. 

And a huge thanks to Cap for always helping out with slot racing and pushing me to never quit. 

Plus to Steve Koepp for helping me pit my car.

[JohnnySlotcar]

Congratulations to Mike, Cindy, and Jessica for hosting a super event! Shout out to Noose for his help, Manta Ray for a great partner, and Gary and Nick Brantley for showing everyone how a family can work together like clockwork! Kudos to Ron Hershman for the great awards. New pit setup was a vast improvement for seating.

Had a "Gangnam Style" week!

[Dave Fiedler]

Dudes, I had a fantastic time! Great, close racing all weekend. Original Tom Thumb American blue King, what could be better?

Thanks to Mike and the entire McMasters clan for all their had work and generosity. Thanks to Laura and Roger Schmitt, they made my trip possible as well. Thanks to all the great racers that show up every year. It's always so much fun goofin' around with everyone.

Special thanks to my buddy Matt, for keeping me laughing all weekend (you don't know how good this is for me).

Thanks to Ron for his generosity to all. Can't forget Laura and Rick Stagen, thanks for pitting me!

Unexpected pleasure, seeing Pappy this weekend. Ralph and Cheater, thanks again.

The young guns are emerging! Nick Brantley, great job. Willy Custer, great job as well. Cap Henry, just nuts good, what, one deslot in the can-am race? These guys are Jet City!

Great having Brian and Dustin show up to their first R4, our Chicago young guns.

And as always, racing with my heroes and my buddies... the best of times!

[Cheater]

Hey, this is a first... I've never started a thread before

 

That wasn't too painful, was it, Rick? No reason you can't do it again sometime... LOL!

 

I'm sure I missed a sponsor somebody jump in and help)...

 

I think there was a slot car forum that kicked in a C-note to sponsor lunch for the racers, but I can't come up with the name right now. Maybe after another cup of coffee it'll come to me...

 

I hated having to miss the R4 this year due to a scheduling screw-up and this thread isn't making me feel any better about it...

[brnursebmt]

It was my first R4 and I'm already planning for next year. Jay and I had to dodge tornados all the way back home but other than that, it was a race I'll never forget. 
 
Great to meet all the people I've been emailing for so long. Dave Fiedler is one of the nicest guys in slot racing, for sure. Thanks, Matt, for all your advice. Really enjoyed hanging out with Noose and Ed Sohl Sunday night. I think we closed down the steak house!
 
Thanks to Mike and his family for making me feel at home, so far away from home. What a great place to race.

[Dave Fiedler]

Don't know how, but I forgot to mention Brad Feuerstein as part of the young guns (he gave me a butt whooppin' in F1).

And adding to priceless memories: Getting to race side by side, in at least three races with my friend Steve Koepp, one of slot racing's great guys.

[zootmaster]

This was my first R4 but it won't be my last.

Had a great time with my friend Larry and all the guys that were there. Thanks to Cap, Dave and Brian for all the help and the laughs. A special thanks goes out to the whole crew at Tom Thumb for making it a great event.

It was great seeing a lot of people that I haven't seen in some time and race along side those that I've read about. 

Thanks to Bud Bartos for building an awesome car and to Dave Mountz and Rich Attee for all the info.

Awesome time and can't wait until next year.

[Noose]

I want to thank the McMasters family and the whole Tom Thumb staff for making this a super smooth weekend of fun for everyone. I had a great time and it is always a pleasure to see old friends again at the R4.

Thanks to the guys from Retro East who came to represent us to include of course myself, Matt Bruce, Ed Sohl, Russ Upton, Chris Radisich, and my wheel man Larry Cyr. We already told those Mason-Dixon guys that Nick Brantley is an "adopted" member of RE.

Glad to see so many new faces this year and especially younger ones as we all know we we need to have some new blood.  Of course they didn't have to be so fast already. LOL.
 
The racing was terrific and very close, as it should be.
 
Thanks to to all the racers that came and who made my life easy in tech. It went very smoothly and there were not many tech rejections. 
 
Thanks too to all of the folks that used my painted bodies and a special congrats to John Austin for winning the Can-Am concours with the Gangnam Style one and the O/S Award for the best-painted GT Coupe in the PD Class with one I did for him.
 
Ed and I dealt with some horrible weather coming home but we made it safe and sound. We too will be back and hope some of the guys that were here get a chance to make it to RetroPalooza and the Fall Brawl out here in the East.

[willy wonka]

I would also like to thank the McMasters family for hosting a awesome event...

What can I say... the competion was fierce and the atomosphere was friendly.

Thanx to Ross Sharfe and Tiffany for toteting me around to my first R4. We had a blast and I can't wait to do it all again next year.

Also would like to thank Outisight for the generous Outisight bucks and a big thank you to all the sponsors for making this race happen.

I really love putting faces with the names here on the blog. And racing side by side with some awesome guys and racers from around the country.

[Matt Bruce]

Thanks to the McMasters family and staff for another great R4 experience yet again.

Everybody is getting so fast. Congrats to some great runs by Nick B, Ron H, Tom L, and of course Cap. All well-deserved wins against some very tough customers.

Sharon and I are very fortunate to have attended all the R4 races and witness first hand the Retro landscape since the start. The young guns are here to stay, and push us all a little harder.

I gotta thank everyone for keeping my son occupied and trying to figure out his Algebra homework. It's funny, he thought he was gonna sneak off to a race, ditch school, and spend all weekend in an R/C candy store, but SURPRISE, in walks teacher Laura Schmidt and retired math teacher and smartest guy on the planet Don Berni from Abbeville Slots to ruin his master plan. LOL.

As always, it's great to see my hero Sano Dave along with Tom Lauderbach, the Bennardos, Ed Sohl, with old and new friends also. It truly is a reunion race every year.

This year I had the pleasure of pitting next to Gary and Jason Echelbarger and Steve Deiters. All great guys. One of the highlights of the weekend for me was watching Jason wheel one of my Can-Am cars. He did great, and a new friendship was made. It's part of what the R4 is about, and has always been about.

[Mike Patterson]

I had a great time. Not so much from a racing standpoint, but from a personal standpoint. I enjoy the racing (usually), but talking with everybody, admiring all the beautiful chassis and paint jobs, and scarfing down as many of the Denny family's baked goods as I can, is what makes the R4 special to me.

[The Number of]

As always with the R4 events the people make it as good as it is. The whole crew at Tom Thumb was great.
 
So very sorry that Cindy was taken out after the first day with injury. We all missed her and hope she is recovering well.
 
Another missing person that his absence was felt by all was Rande Marshall; health problems kept him away this year. Hope you get to feeling better soon. Old timers at the R4 always knew they could rely on Rande"s Garage if they needed help with anything. The newbies missed out on that and all were poorer for that.
 
Computer problems and work are keeping me from posting the pics quickly, will probably take all week to get them all up, but first ones are up at:
 
http://www.flickr.co...tos/billfulmer/

[Steve Deiters]

Many thanks to Mike and Cindy McMasters and their immediate and extended family for the hosting of the R4 this year... and every year. This annual gathering of the clans is looked forward to by first timers and those that have been to every one of them. It was great to see a lot of new faces and well as some younger racers. 

Nick Brantley driving and his Dad wrenching had to be the story of the weekend. Awesome combo. Hope they come back for more midwestern style Retro racing.  

Ed Sohl, a big name in racing in the early '70s, was back racing in Ohio and in great form.
 
Congratulations to all the winners in all the groups and all the mains. If ever there was ever an example of Retro racing growing and maturing, this race was it. The technology continues to evolve step by step and it is getting more and more crowded at the top. Also many thanks to all the sponsors and their prizes and the lunch sponsors as well as Bill Fulmer documenting the whole thing with photos. All were much appreciated by all the racers. 
 
Looking forward to next year already.

[Cheater]

If ever there was ever an example of Retro racing growing and maturing, this race was it.

 

Spot on, sir.