85 replies to this topic

[SlotCarsten]

Full-scale races are decided at the finish line. Why should slot car races be different?

 

Running by laps isn't the answer.

In real racing you do not have track calls. On every track call you would still have the potential for an unfair advantage to the guy that by chance was on a high speed part of the track.

Power off at finish is only one of many stops that we employ at slot-car racing. Even if you eliminated track call's we still race in "stints" on a number of lanes that needs to be added together in one fashion or another.

 

This also leeds to another can-of-worms. It was briefly touched upon in this thread.

When you change lanes, do you move the car to another track perpendicular to track (Straight over), or do you move to the same numbered segment on the track.

My take is, since we do not see cars spacing in and out when doing close racing, it is fair to say that we can move the cars perpendicular to the track. 

It is also the easiest procedure to handle.

[Zippity]

...................................When you change lanes, do you move the car to another track perpendicular to track (Straight over), or do you move to the same numbered segment on the track.

My take is, since we do not see cars spacing in and out when doing close racing, it is fair to say that we can move the cars perpendicular to the track. 

It is also the easiest procedure to handle.

 

It make be easier, but it is far from fair - especially in the case of racing near-equal falcon motors

 

Not that we can hold position side-by-side for 6 or 8 heats

[Tex]

I think it's fair in that everyone races every lane and does the same thing. You gain some here, you lose some there... same for your opposition. It all evens out more or less.

[Tom Eatherly]

I was always told it ain't over till the phat lady sings.

 

Or when the dust settles.

 

 

 

 

I guess which ever comes first?

That phat lady can raise a lot of dust!

[jimht]

Funny how we can just pretty much ignore this for decades and then there's a change (a motor) that brings it up as an issue...

 

Slotcarsten's auto-brake for all as the power goes off is an excellent workable solution.

 

Other "fixes" kinda fall under the category of "Don't make rules that can't be easily enforced".

[flyracing]

WHEN THE HOST RUNS OUT OF BEER !

[flyracing]

Running by laps isn't the answer.

In real racing you do not have track calls. On every track call you would still have the potential for an unfair advantage to the guy that by chance was on a high speed part of the track.

Power off at finish is only one of many stops that we employ at slot-car racing. Even if you eliminated track call's we still race in "stints" on a number of lanes that needs to be added together in one fashion or another.

 

This also leeds to another can-of-worms. It was briefly touched upon in this thread.

When you change lanes, do you move the car to another track perpendicular to track (Straight over), or do you move to the same numbered segment on the track.

My take is, since we do not see cars spacing in and out when doing close racing, it is fair to say that we can move the cars perpendicular to the track. 

It is also the easiest procedure to handle.

 

??? This is what Lane markers are for ?

[Tim Neja]

There's your answer!! THIS ISN"T REAL RACING!!! IT"S TOY CARS!!! Get over it and have FUN!!! It's NOT THAT IMPORTANT!!!

[Rick]

I guess this could be made into a good arguement for lap heats, instead of timed heats. Once the lead car hits the lap counter, power is shut off to the track and the counter. Problem solved?...........

[MSwiss]

I still put how far a car coasts, or doesn't coast, pretty far down on the list of problems with slot racing.

[Rick]

Yea, me too................

[Tex]

There's your answer!! THIS ISN"T REAL RACING!!! IT"S TOY CARS!!! Get over it and have FUN!!! It's NOT THAT IMPORTANT!!!

C'mon Tim, it's either this or reruns of "Survivor" and I don't watch "Survivor"!

[Joe Mig]

But I was going up the donut . ;-(

[NSwanberg]

It might be interesting to have a race directing computer programmed such that after the last heat times out you have to race to the start finish line for the win?

[Fast Freddie]

When does racing become real? Do you have to invest tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars and man hours to make it real? Is it the reward that makes it real, must you win large sums of money and get recognized by TV and major magazines? I think not. Racing is real when you devote your finances and time to compete against others who have done the same. Racing is real when all your hard work allows you to feel "the thrill of victory" or in some cases "the agony of defeat". I have "fun" with slot cars when I race against my sons or my grandson, or when I'm just playing around on the track. I "race" slot cars when I pay an entry fee and compete against other racers who have taken the time and made the effort to bring the best they have to the track, just like I have. Yes, they are toy cars, and yes we don't win huge amounts of money, at least nothing close to what we've invested, but what will distinguish you form all others is "winning" and when your winning your really having "FUN". Just ask the winners. The losers, the guys who ripped their controllers off the power poles and through their cars into their boxes or sometimes the trash can. Now how much "fun" did they have? After all it's only "Toy cars" right?

[Tex]

Not all us losers rip our controllers from the panel. People that rip their controllers from the panel 'cause they didn't win aren't there to have "fun", they are there to win and win ONLY. Personally, I think such people are missing out on a lot of fun. After all, no one is going to win ALL the races; so, do they just go home and mope and steam and pout the other 90% of the time? THOSE people really ARE losers. What a waste of time and energy. I've enjoyed some good battles where not only did I not win, but finished 6th... just 2 feet behind 5th. And when it's my competitor's coast that nips me at the end, it's cause for great trash-talking and laughter. To me, it didn't matter whether I was racing for the win(I think I've won 4 or 5 times in the 7 years since returning to slots) or for 7th... it was a GOOD BATTLE. Some days chicken, other days feathers. And when I don't win or even finish close to anyone, I try to figure out why. More often than not, my lack of control over my trigger finger is the culprit. After that, some race prep failure is my downfall(again, I'M the culprit). It's a small percentage that truly bad luck does me in. Rip my controller from the panel? Not me; I'm no loser.

[Tim Neja]

That's certainly the kind of guy  --I DON'T want to race with---in ANY kind of racing!  ! And yes--I suppose you can take ANYTHING TOO seriously!!   Even if they are just "toy cars"!! It's NOT LIFE---it's supposed to be FUN!!     If you can't understand that--go GET a life!!   

[Fast Freddie]

So when does it become "REAL". We human beings are competative animals. Throwing balls to running fast to shooting hoops to doing just about anything better than anyone else. To some it's just a game, but not to Packers coach Vince Lombardi:"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.". To some losing means nothing, but not to Gen. George Patton:"Show me a man who loses and laughs about it and I'll show you a man not worth a damn.". To some, in every walk of life, winning and losing mean something different. When my daughter played high school softball (right fielder) I noticed she wasn't running after the ball when it was hit in her direction. When I confronted her about not giving 100% and asked her why she wasn't doing her best. She said it didn't matter to her whether they won or lost. When I asked her if all the other girls on the team felt the same way she said she didn't know so I told her to ask them. The next day I asked her what the other girls said and she told me they wanted to win as many games as they could. My daughter became one of the best right fielders the school ever had with the highest batting average on the team and was voted team captain her junior and senior years. She also received a full scholarship to a local college ironically in another sport she excelled in, volleyball. Winning means different things to different people but losing means only one thing, you lost! If you can laugh about it more power to you I choose to think that everything we do in this life is "REAL" and I plan on doing my best to win at everything I do.

[Chris Barnes]

So when does it become "REAL". We human beings are competative animals. Throwing balls to running fast to shooting hoops to doing just about anything better than anyone else. To some it's just a game, but not to Packers coach Vince Lombardi:"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.". To some losing means nothing, but not to Gen. George Patton:"Show me a man who loses and laughs about it and I'll show you a man not worth a damn.". To some, in every walk of life, winning and losing mean something different. When my daughter played high school softball (right fielder) I noticed she wasn't running after the ball when it was hit in her direction. When I confronted her about not giving 100% and asked her why she wasn't doing her best. She said it didn't matter to her whether they won or lost. When I asked her if all the other girls on the team felt the same way she said she didn't know so I told her to ask them. The next day I asked her what the other girls said and she told me they wanted to win as many games as they could. My daughter became one of the best right fielders the school ever had with the highest batting average on the team and was voted team captain her junior and senior years. She also received a full scholarship to a local college ironically in another sport she excelled in, volleyball. Winning means different things to different people but losing means only one thing, you lost! If you can laugh about it more power to you I choose to think that everything we do in this life is "REAL" and I plan on doing my best to win at everything I do.

Well, live through a quadruple bypass and tell me is the race on a track so important as the race of life?  I used to want to win so much, I would get real irritated when I didn't.  Now, I am happy to just get to be a the track with my friends.  We are fortunate to get to have the fun or slot car racing.  The stress that you get from constant worry about not winning at every race IS NOT WORTH IT!

[Chris Dadds]

This also leeds to another can-of-worms. It was briefly touched upon in this thread.

When you change lanes, do you move the car to another track perpendicular to track (Straight over), or do you move to the same numbered segment on the track.

My take is, since we do not see cars spacing in and out when doing close racing, it is fair to say that we can move the cars perpendicular to the track. 

It is also the easiest procedure to handle.

 

   This always annoyed me a little bit so I started putting the section lines on tracks so each section line intersected each lane at a point equidistant from the lap counter.  If you measure the lane distance from the lap counter on a King, there's at least 5' difference in lane length to a line drawn perpendicular to the slots at the exit of the deadman.  Depending on the style of track and location of lap counter, this difference could be up to 16 feet.

  As to the coasting distance, that's just part of the car's setup and I think the racer should't whine about details he missed in the setup. But I do like Carsteins solution of breaking all the cars at power off.

 

Life just isn't fair. Getting comfortable with that goes a long way toward getting happy. 

 

Enjoy!

Chris

[A. J. Hoyt]

I have seen tracks with the segment lines "adjusted" to the distance back to the lap counter. I don't think it is a big deal when European rotation moves you over only 2 lanes of that "stagger".

 

I can see a scenario where you would "gain" a little bit (just moving over laterally in a lane change) based on where on the track you stopped and if you are moving "into" or "away" from that stagger but I have to believe that, statistically, it evens out.

 

This has to be true for a track where there is a cross-over or for a track that doesn't have one.

 

Keep it in the slot (but change that lane by hand between heats),

 

AJ

[Tex]

If you can laugh about it more power to you I choose to think that everything we do in this life is "REAL" and I plan on doing my best to win at everything I do.

 

 

Just because I can accept losing, not only in slot cars but as a general concept in all aspects of life, doesn't mean I don't try to win or do my best. It just means that I understand it's unrealistic to expect to win every time. If a person can't accept that premise, they are in for a very hard time in life.

[Tim Neja]

Just because I can accept losing, not only in slot cars but as a general concept in all aspects of life, doesn't mean I don't try to win or do my best. It just means that I understand it's unrealistic to expect to win every time. If a person can't accept that premise, they are in for a very hard time in life.

Ding ding ding---we have a "WINNER"!!  It isn't that we shouldn't try out BEST to win---it's that when we lose--it's VERY POOR SPORTMANSHIP to "rip your controller" off the track or "throw" your car down!!! That's just a BAD ATTITUDE and a RUDE person!! That's the person that needs to STAY HOME!! This IS for FUN---not for blood--and a gracious winner can also be a gracious loser!!  That's not what you have been describing 'fast freddie'!! It's all about how you deal with it---that makes it fun or not!  We've got TREMENDOUS winners here at BPR--Duran and Warmack are the first that come to mind--but when they make an occasional "C" main--and it happens--they are just as nice to race with and very gracious around everyone as when they win---not pouting bad acting idiots.  In my book--THAT'S a REAL winner!! Win or lose!!

[Chris Dadds]

I can see a scenario where you would "gain" a little bit (just moving over laterally in a lane change) based on where on the track you stopped and if you are moving "into" or "away" from that stagger but I have to believe that, statistically, it evens out.

 

       Yep!  I agree.  Over the course of one's career in slot racing it will most certainly even out.  And it doesn't mean a hill of beans to the amount of fun we can have racing them...

 

   But in the moment of the last seconds of the heat, right now as you've been reeling in that guy on blue for the last 12 laps and you take him by stuffing your car dangerously deep into the deadman and stay in,,,  you hear the relays drop out and see your cars roll to a stop with him half a car ahead...

 

  At that moment you don't want to remember how little track position means to your life's goals, your mortgage company, your friends respect and your children's future.   Because right now you're a RACER and you're RACING!!

 

(before someone misses it, that's the generic "you" not a personal one)

 

  That's the "inner competitor" that spurs me to build slot cars. And that's the aspect of all you other racers I think of as I design, build and finish tracks.  We can be an incredibly picky, judgemental bunch weather we get attached to our thoughts or not.

 

Enjoy!

Chris

[John Miller]

Life just isn't fair. Getting comfortable with that goes a long way toward getting happy. 

 

Enjoy!

Chris

 

Amen. . .