9 replies to this topic

[Cap Henry]

Hats off to Mike Swiss on hosting a successful event! No dramas, lots of clean, close races. The food he and his lovely wife Jackie provided was terrific!

 

Congrats to all the winners - Ralph, Matt, Sano Dave, Bernie, Tracy, and of course David K. Pretty cool to see so many get their first wins, and Matt was the only one to pick up more than one win!

 

It was awesome meeting the IRRL regulars of KVP, the Thazer guys, and of course seeing Sano Dave is always a great time! It was also so cool to meet Tracy Chin! He is a badass dude, and made me laugh A LOT!

 

I enjoyed my first Sano very much. David K as always was my trusty pit guy and sidekick. To pick up the Sano F1 win with one of the cars I built myself was way cool. I also have to thank Greg VanPeenen for an awesome Can-Am car, his design took first through fifth! Wow!

[Greg VanPeenen]

I also would like to thank Mike Swiss and his lovely wife Jackie for putting on this great event. The people, the racing, and the food were all great.

 

I also need to give a big thank you to the top notch racers who ran the new chassis. I am lucky to have guys like Matt Bruce, Ralph Thorne, Cap Henry, Sano Dave, Howie, John Miller, and Rich Attee who raced them. Some of the very best there are. Six out of the eight A Main cars and first through fifth in the final results. You guys are all winners in my book.

 

Matt Bruce, you are a class act. A Main win two years in a row and a new lap record this year, and then there were your flat track finishes. Number one in F1 and second to Sano Dave in Can-Am. Ralph Thorne also a class act, A Main win in the Coupe class and in the top three in all the King classes. Cap Henry, what a great young man. This guy is fast in anything from World of outlaw Sprint cars, karts, and slot cars. Cap owned the F-1 race. His buddy Dave is also very quick .Running second in F1-FK1 and winning FK Can-Am running an older style GVP Chassis. Way to go, Dave.

 

I also wish to thank Dan and the people at Pro Slot for the great motors they build. The Can-Am win and lap record were done with a Pro Slot bag motor. Thanks again, Pro Slot. Oh yeah. can't forget to thank Kelly for making great tires.

 

Hope to see every one next year, God willing.

 

Greg VanPeenen   

[John Miller]

I made it to the track on Friday just in time for GTC PD A Main. Mike welcomed me back and mentioned that it had been eleven months since I last raced and everyone in the building exploded with a round of applause and said that it was good to see me! 

 

That’s how my whole weekend went. Hanging out with good friends that treat me like family. Good food, good friends, and great racing.

 

Thank you all for being my friends.

 

John Miller

[The Groove]

Swiss and Jackie did a great job of putting on a great event. It was good to see a bunch of my racing friends and good to see John Miller come out of hibernation and get the 1/4 inch of dust off of those boxes!

 

I did put up some pictures on Facebook and will try to move them over here for the Facebook impared.

[Dave Fiedler]

Thanks to all the usual suspects as well as everyone that attended. All of you make this a 'Happenin'.
 
Thanks to Mike and Jackie for putting on this great event SEVEN times now.
 
My friend, my sponsor, Kevin Van Pelt for covering my entry fees and gasoline costs.
 
Greg VanPeenen, for giving me the frame I placed second in coupe and fourth in Can-Am with.
 
David Krumnow, a classy young man, he marshaled for me when I didn't feel well. Congrats on your Can-Am FK win!
 
Matt Bruce, not everyone knows, you keep me laughin' and watch my back at the same time! Thanks. You are the Champ!
 
Ralph Thorne, for all you continue to do, I will always thank you. Great win in Coupe!
 
Howie, for always brightening up my days, you make the weekend much better. Thanks for bein my best bud.
 
Cap, thanks for making me laugh and voting for my paint jobs, Great racing with you. Congrats on yourF1 win!
 
Tracy Chin, what a huge treat to have you at the Sano, and to pit next to you. We've had good times together in Chi-town, in Cali, and Brussels! Wow. A big congrats on your first King track win in F1-FK!!!
 
All my friends from Thazer. You guys always make my weekend much better (lotsa laughter is very good for me!). Thanks so much!
 
Joe Noose, thanks for working so hard (as always) and thanks for the Noose Juice, it works great!
 
Bernie, great job all weekend, you're movin on up, dude. Congrats on makin da List!
 
Larry Kelley, glad you could make it! Good seeing you.
 
I had a fabulous time!
 
Sano Dave

[Noose]

To think that seven years ago we had the first Sano along with the birth of the IRRA™ is amazing. This was IMO the best one ever. The test format for the splits of FK and PD worked well and guys sure got a chance to shine in all the classes.
 
As always a SUPER THANKS to Mike and Jackie for their hospitality. The lunches were fantastic!
 
It was great to see so many of my slot car friends once again and to enjoy participating in and seeing some terrific competition in the hobby we love. 
 
Thanks of course to all the sponsors. Their support is greatly appreciated.
 
For Jerry of JK, you have a winner with these new motors. A real winner in my book and I look forward to using them in the FK classes out here.
 
To Matt, Cap, Ralph, Sano Dave, David, Bernie, and Tracy: Well done, guys. Fantastic wins! They made it look easy but they drove their hearts out for these. Welcome to the "list", Bernie!
 
Better watch out for that Rick Stagen guy. He is on a roll and is one tough competitor!! Rich Attee and I had some real fun in the Can-Am race.
 
It was great to see John Miller again. Truly super nice guy and heck of a racer. 
 
For me it was really special as I had my best Sano ever so thanks, Tony P, for the great stuff!  Thanks to Kevin VanPelt for his fantastic flat track tips and the use of his controller for it. Finally had a good race on this one!
 
Tracy is a new bud for sure. And of course Howie is Howie. LOL. We go back many years.
 
And of course to Manta Ray Price for his transportation from the airport and the use of some of the stuff the TSA folks would not let me carry on the plane.  LOL.
 
Thanks to guys who tried Noose Juice, too!

[kvanpelt]

Wow! What a way to spend a long weekend. Great friends, great racing, and great food.

 

Thanks, Mike and Jackie, for all the hard work and a well-run event. We racers are very lucky to have such great hosts and a great place to get together and play. You took a chance and some heat on the class split, but from my view, everyone sure looked to be having a great time whether they wanted to run PDs or Hawk 7Rs. Thanks to JK Jerry for making the investment and insuring that we had plenty of really good motors to run with.

 

Thanks to everyone that attended to make this, IMO, the best Sano yet. I really appreciate all the travelers that made the effort to make this the special event that it was. The young guns are so fast, what a pleasure it is to witness what they can do with a slot car. Matt, Cap, and Ralph are so incredibly fast, hard working, and the nicest guys you could ever meet. The intensity they approach the weekend is just amazing to watch. I would pay money just to see those three, along with Duran, Willie C., Danny Z., Biscuit, and a half dozen other young guns going at it on a King track somewhere. Maybe some day!

 

Glad to see back racing again, one of the best chassis builders in the business. GVP chassis were second to none this weekend. Was there anything they didn't win? Congratulations, Greg. I can't wait to race mine. 

 

It wouldn't have been a premier event without Noose, the best tech man and Lexan artist in the country, by far! Thanks for making the trip, Joe. I had a blast talking and racing with you, especially in that F1 race. Looking forward to one of your great reports.

 

Congratulations to all the racers for making this a great event and to Matt, Cap, Ralph, Tracy, Bernie, David K., and Sano Dave for your hard-earned victories!

 

Can't wait until Sano VIII!

[Krummy]

Thanks to the Swiss's for putting on the race. 

 

Of course thank you, Cap, for all the help you have given me. 

 

Greg VanPeenen built an amazing car that I ran in Coupe and Can-Am. 

 

Awesome to see Sano Dave as always he's an inspiration that I think most slot racers would say they look up to.

 

Steve Koepp painted me some awesome lookin' bodies for the race. 

 

And to all old and new friends, it was good to see everyone.

[911GT3]

Well, I came into the weekend expecting to have fun.

 

Mike Swiss held a great event.

 

Noose may be the hardest-working man in Retro but Mike was the hardest-working man at the Sano. Thanks for all the hard work.

 

I want to thank Noose for the hard work at Tech and for loaning me an F1 car for the PD race. Sorry I couldn't do it justice.

 

It was great to meet Tracy Chin and to pit by him, Howie, and the Sano "Dude". 

 

Thank you, Greg VanPeenen, for letting me try one of your chassis; it was jet.

 

By the way, this was the most fun I've had at a Retro race (at least since March).

[Matt Bruce]

First off, thanks always to Mike and Jackie for being great hosts for this race every year.

 

This was my fifth Sano I think, and it's one of my favorites. I love the challenge of both a unique King and a one-off flat track. It's a great test of ability to do well on both tracks vs some great racers.

 

Thanks to Greg VanPeenen for all his dedication and support, not only to myself but to so many other racers in Retro. He never ceases to amaze me with the consistent speed he wrings out from these cars. Since we hooked up a few years ago, he has elevated my driving in every form of slot racing singlehandedly. I dedicate all my success to him. He keeps me focused and let's me run his cars however I want. He is a good friend and deserves every bit of success all his cars and drivers bring him.

 

Great runs by Cap, Ralph, Tracy, Bernie, Dave K, and of course my hero and one of the biggest reasons I love coming to Chicago, Sano Dave. There is no other person in slot racing that I respect more than Dave. He is the racer's racer. Great on and off the track. He gets what its all about. I try my best to follow his footsteps but I fail more times than not. I made a deal with him, that I wanted to share the next 20 years of podiums with him. You can't help being inspired by Sano Dave and his on-track performance this past weekend. Knowing what he deals with just to race, it's one of the greatest and grittiest performances I've ever seen.

 

I had a great time at the Sano again this year. The racers make it great.