16 replies to this topic

[Noose]

Round 4 of the Brawl. Whew. Thanks first to all that came. To those that didn't we missed you!
 
As the newcomers found out this is one tough crew out here and the Heavyweight Champ Matt Bruce showed them what I mean.
 
Mike Iles and the whole SpeedZone staff of Frank and Mark and especially Brandon Millinghausen have to be thanked for putting on a super event. Everything ran smoothly and how Brandon managed to race direct all weekend and still have a voice and a sense of humor is awesome.
 
It was great to meet new people once again and to see the "younguns" Ryan and Colin put on a great showing. Watching Howie and Ryan go at it was priceless. I had the opportunity to go at it with Colin and this kid is good; really good.
 
All of the racing all weekend was soooooo close in every main. You constantly heard Brandon saying there are four guys on the lead lap only feet apart!
 
For me the highlight was having the opportunity to race against Duran in a couple of mains in GTC and F1.   Yes, he is a machine. I'm too old to stay with him. LOL.

I had a heck of a F1 race and thanks to Tony P for all his help! This car is just good everywhere. 
 
The hand out Hawk Retros were excellent. None blew and a number of guys ran them in the Can-Am event with success. Most notably of course was Ryan Bruce!
 
The new hotel, while a bit further, was outstanding and especially for the price. When was the last time you saw a welcome sign at a hotel for slot racers? LOL.
 
Congrats to all the winners of the mains. To Rube, welcome to the "list". For Matt, he maintains the Heavyweight Crown for the fourth year in a row. Congrats to my buddy Edsel for capturing the Lightweight Crown by finishing second overall. And of course, congrats to ole Team Nutley teammate John Gorski for his Can-Am win!
 
Do not plan to miss this event next year!

[Tim Neja]

Sounds like a great time!!! Good that some came from the west to race with the "beasts of the east"!!   I hope to make it back there for next year's Brawl. Congrats on a great race!!

[blkdout76]

And of course none of this goes smoothly without you, Noose So a big THANK YOU for all you do for RE and all the other premier events that you go to. This was yet again another great event that I will back to again next year.

[JerseyJohn]

This was just simply an awesome, amazing weekend. Slot car racing at its best. It was great socializing with everyone and seeing old friends and meeting new ones, especially Rich from Connecticut and of course the Clinton twins Sr and Jr.. 
 
Some special moments for me were four days of pitting with Brucie, the Clintons, Rich Goucher, Adam and Sr Chiaya, Noose, Gorski, Demott, Blondie, Troy Johnny Vw, John Miller, and Duffy.

Getting my shoulders rubbed by Howie.

Qualifying third in the B main GTC-FK and a third place podium finish in Can-Am F Main.

Watching Blondie take a podium finish.

Seeing my friend Troy from FL.

Seeing Chad Brown.

How hard Noose and the Zone crew Mike, Frank, Mark, and the master race director Brandon worked over the weekend.

Watching Cheater Wells run three mains with my loaner F1 and kicked my ***.

Seeing the Cali crew, from Buena Park raceway.

Having eight mains in F1 and Can-Am.
 
I can't wait until next year!!!

[Cap Henry]

I wish SpeedZone wasn't so far, everyone there is so great I'd love to be able to race there more. Mike, Jay, Wes, and Mark are all so great.

I convinced Brad into going, and he didn't regret it. Wes has become a great friend and man the three of us never stopped laughing. Pitting next to Hip was also great! He let me use anything I forgot! It was awesome to meet Duran, Jason, and Mike; what a great group of guys! Oh and of course Gil, awesome painter! Ed Sohl helped Brad out by loaning us a motor, I can't say enough about him, truly a great guy. Matt Bruce as always was bad fast, and a great friend.

The party Saturday night was great, staying at SpeedZone til closing talking about racing couldn't be any better!

Thank you, Iles and crew; they talked me into it last minute. It's on the schedule for me already next year!

[George Blaha]

Hey, ya all,
 
Thanks... this weekend is special for me...
 
Shakey George Blaha
 
PS: Special thanks to Rube Brantley and all the family!

[Gator Bob]

Some of the greatest retro racing ever !

 

Matt has lap total consistency that is amazing. Congrats on the overall! 

 

Congrats to J. Gorski for Can-Am, beating 49 out racers.

 

Thanks to the SpeedZone crew for the live broadcast and Greg for the reporting.

[Matt Bruce]

Thanks to Mike Isles for organizing and putting on this event yet again. He loves this hobby and has sacrificed both his time, and more importantly his money in trying to bring us the premier slot race in the East.

Thanks to Frank and Mark for taking the reigns of managing SpeedZone and helping make the Brawl run smooth.

Brandon was outstanding in the directors chair and deserves a huge thanks from every racer in attendance. He is a great kid, willing to help with anything.

It was great to have Cap and Brad back to the Brawl along with Tom Hansen, Mike Kravitz, and of course Howie.

John Miller was in the house again, along with the Conn and New York contingent led by the Clinton's and Preston Meyer.

The Brantley family was back and strong.

I got a new friend in Jason Holmes and getting to race with Duran again after all these years was just awesome. I was so happy to get a podium shot with him this weekend. He is the real deal, and did an outstanding job. I told Ryan to watch him and learn, cause that's the racer you wanna be like. Smooth, calculating, and respectful on and off the track.

Thanks to Greg Wells and Jay Guard for making the trip up and experience the Fall Brawl atmosphere.

Thanks to Noose for his never-ending commitment to Retro.

Personally I wanna thank my good friend Ed Sohl. It was Ed that kept me pumped about racing slots when I wanted to step away. He and Sano Dave are my heroes. Great men who do all their talkin with the controller.

Thanks to Greg Van Peenen for his endless work building cars so I can run up front.

To R-Geo, Rick Davis, Steve L, Fast Ones, Pro Slot, and Parma for all their products and help this weekend.

Mostly I need to thank my wife Sharon and my son Ryan. All the late nights and time away dedicated to this hobby especially on big race weekends is their time, too.

Thanks again everyone for coming and supporting SpeedZone.

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

I sure wish I could be there for events like this. A great bunch of people many of which I've met at the R4. From reading and watching over the weekend it sure looks like it was a stellar race with great racing. While you are thanking others Matt, don't forget to pat yourself on the back for what you add to retro racing. You are a class act, a great racer, and a major addition to any retro event. Congrats on your wins.

[slotracer43]

What a great weekend of racing it was. Starting on Thursday night with Retro Pro which was super fast, and so much fun to race. I was happy to keep my car in one piece and running for all 8 lanes.

Friday was great in the FK coupe class. Making the A main and getting to race against my Enduro teammates Gary and Mark was awesome. Gary did an awesome job making the podium.

Can Am on Sunday was probably the highlight of the weekend for me. I was glad to have both my Dad and Luke there racing. I was fortunate to be able to run two very clean mains, first moving up to the C, and just coming up short to move up to the B. The racing was super competitive and a lot of fun.

Congrats to all the class winners, and the overall winner Matt Bruce. Matt works super hard to get his cars as fast as they are, but always has time to help a fellow racer out.

  Thanks to Mike, Frank, Mark, and especially Brandon, who did an awesome job running the races and keeping things moving all weekend. Thanks also to Noose for always doing a great job taking on the task of teching in all the cars.

I'm already looking forward to next year! See you all at the races,

 

                                                                                Adam

[Preston M]

Wow. What a weekend. There are so many people to thank for making my experience so great, but I first need to thank Rick, and Ricky from RGEO. These guys took me on as a team racer this year and their help and kindness has really aided me.

Ed, my man.. you are the best. I appreciate everything you do, and every word of wisdom you give me. Many people tell me how quickly I have progressed as a slot racer and builder... This progress is because I have the chance to learn from some of the best slot car racers in the world, and that includes you. Thanks dude.

 

 

Thank you to the speedzone crew for always putting on a great race, I always seem to have a good time, even when I'm not racing well. Wes proved to be an awesome cutman this weekend when things went wrong for me in F1, and i wouldn't have made even one move up if it wasn't for him. 

 

Matt, you have established yourself as a dominating figure in the world of Slot cars. Not just retro. I have learned so much from just watching you drive, and I appreciate all the little things that you have taught me... even if you don't know you taught me them. And Ryan is the man... the kids hysterical. 

 

Eric, the Clintons, The Brantley's, Hip, Derek, Thanks for all the help.

 

It was really nice seeing faces like Howie, who always makes me laugh, John Miller, Cap and Brad, Tom Hansen, Duran, and everyone else.

 

I hope to see, and race with you all soon.  

[Howie Ursaner]

  I had a fantastic time. Every single person there made it so much fun.and made me thankful that i could be there. Old friends and new ones all blended together.Thank you everyone that helped put on this event.You guys know of only one way to do things, the right way. Thank you SpeedZone.

 

Congratulations to all  that had good finishes , but everyone who was racing is a winner.

 

Mike Iles, you are a great friend and one of the most amazing people i have ever met. 

 

 Everyone that was at the F1 race on Saturday i want to thank you for the moment you guys gave me.  Priceless

 

 Hope i get to see everyone and more next year at Fall Brawl 5. I have a feeling it will be BIG.

[John Miller]

I am one of the lucky ones who could travel to this year’s Fawl Brawl.  My wife made the trip with me and while I raced with my good friends, she enjoyed the area and quiet time (no kids) at the hotel. 

 

I want to thank all the people that kept the operations at SpeedZone running smoothly.  They coordinated a terrific hotel, kept us fed with hot food, threw a great party on Saturday night and always had a smile while taking care of us.

 

Noose was a machine with tech and was fair and even handed with everyone.  Nice job Noose.

 

Brandon is an awesome race director and kept everything on track all weekend.  He is an outstanding young man and an impressive person to chat with.  It’s nice to see how everyone at the raceway takes care of their own, and Brandon is a product of his surroundings.

 

Another outstanding young man is Ryan Bruce.  While everyone was thrashing on the King getting ready for F1, we were getting a few Can-Am laps in.  We ran about 300 laps together chatting and having fun.  He mentioned that the only way we are going to get better is to practice. . .  His practice paid off with a rocking qualifying time and he drove a great race in the B-Main!  Nice job Ryan, you are a great role model for all racers.  And a big thanks to Matt for all his help getting me dialed in too.

 

I don’t want to forget Colin Martin as an up and coming racer.  He did an impressive job considering it was his first time on that track.

 

As with most races, I spent a ton of time in the pits and I had a great group of guys and gal to hang out with.  I’m sure I’ll forget a few, but here it goes: Duffy, Blondie, John, Eric, Gary, Gary Sr., Johnny VW, Rich, Dave D., Edsel, Steve and Tony.  You guys made all the thrashing more fun!

 

It was finally nice to meet Duran and Jason too.  I hope to make the CheckPoint Cup in January and it will be a real treat to race with the West Coast Racers.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this one.

 

I want to thank Mike Isles for making this trip special for my wife and I.  Not only did Mike give me a Retro Pro car to race on Thursday, but when he discovered that my wife had never seen the ocean he insisted that we stay another day for a boat ride and lunch at his new summer home.  It was really something special for my wife (and me).  We had a ton of fun racing the boat to the last buoy before the ocean and then lunch at Mott’s Creek.  When we were done, we hung out at the new pad with Tom, Howie, Cheater, Wes and a couple of Mike’s good friends.  Mike, your new home is beautiful and we had the best day ever!

 

Mike, Wes and Jay, you treated us like family and I cannot thank you enough for an awesome race week!

 

Sincerely,

John Miller

[usadar]

"It was finally nice to meet Duran and Jason too.  I hope to make the CheckPoint Cup in January and it will be a real treat to race with the West Coast Racers.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this one.

John Miller"

 

 

John,

I wish I could have attended the Brawl to race with you and other great racers.

Looking forward to seeing & racing with you and those who raced at the Brawl at the coming Checkpoint Cup.

I have already booked flights for Team Retro Tokyo.

Good Racing,

Haruki

[Brian Davis]

It is such a privilege to be involved in a community where the organizers are all extremely professional and their years of experience show in how smoothly things ran all weekend. Thanks to Noose, Frank, Mike Iles, and all the Speedzone crew; Im happy to call it my home track. I had a great time this weekend and it was a pleasure watching every single main be just as competitive as all the others. whether it was the H main or the A main. You dont see this kind of competition by so many racers anywhere. I'm glad i was a part of it.
 
And just as a side note... I started slot racing at ten and I know exactly how Ryan Bruce feels being in a somewhat daunting atmosphere. Running fast with the fastest guys around is a great feeling. And its apparent he learned some good lessons this weekend (as i'm reading through the lines here). I hope he does stick with it. He's got a great coach and mentor in Matt.

[NJ SpeedZone]

Well what a week it was. Just getting back to normal operations, if there is such a thing at the SpeedZone NJ. We wanted to thank all of you, the participants for making this such a great event.
 
We also want to thank all the sponsors: Noose, JK Products, Sampson Classics. Pro Slot, Eagle Distributing, Kelly Racing for all the swag that we gave out at the bench party. Can't say enough about how the support us and the sport that we love.
 

[S.O. Watt]

Wow! Wadda week!

I would like to extend my thank you to all the great people that made this such a memorable event. From the great turn-out of super racers that the east has (anybody east of the Rockies to me ), to the people that ran the event in such a polished, professional way.

Traveling in and racing against the stiffest competition I know of in Retro racing to finish on the podium in Can-Am with my fellow racers from over 40 years ago is a quite special to me. And to Cap a I'll do better next year in Coupe, honest!

My deepest gratitude goes out to Mike Iles for inviting me out and then having this really great party for Howie and me on the prior Saturday after our arrival (actually the housewarming for his new river house ). All the best to a truly great host and racer.

Having to wait another 50 weeks for the next Fall Brawl, that is just not fair!