181 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

Good morning, New Jersey!

I had to drag Jay out of the raceway about 10:30 pm last night so Swiss could get a few hours sleep (we were the last racers in the place). Jay was so tired when we got back to the motel, he fell asleep while I was talking to him!

We found Pappy and TRM124 in the restaurant next to our motel when we walked in for breakfast, and they invited us to join them. We all arrived at the raceway a little after ten to start the trash back up. Jay Kisling and Ray Price were already here, and Ray Carlisi and Swiss arrived while I was posting this.

Tony, we ALL wish you were here, too.

I'll get some more pics up here in a bit.

[Rob968323]

Is there a race scheduled for Friday?

[Cheater]

Yep. From Mike's schedule post:

"On Friday night we will have a celebrity/IROC race on the flat track. It will be open only to racers who haven't raced here before."

AFAIK, that's the only race scheduled for today. The real racing starts tomorrow...

[Cheater]

It's da pits, man...



Al Reeder, who says he officially homeless since he sold his house last year, but who can be found pan-handling for scratchbuilt chassis in the Denver, CO, area in recent weeks.



Foreground, Ron Van Wagnen of Lorain, OH, who drove in about an hour ago, and Reading, PA's Jay Kisling, who arrived early yesterday. Ron's hand covers Jay's D3 'cause "I don't want 'em to think this POS is mine!" When these two guys show up, you'd better be on your "A" game if you expect to make the podium!



Chicagoland's Girl Friday, Ray Price aka Kamencrazy on Slotblog. Dunno why he bothered with the "kamen" prefix...



No one knows who this derelict is... He was found sleeping along the tracks behind the raceway and wandered in seemingly just to clog up the plumbing. So far, Swiss has been unsuccessful in getting him to depart the premises.

[Cheater]

More racers arriving: Ron Hershman and Rande Marshall just walked in the door, as has chassis builder extraordinaire Dennis Samson.

The pit space is filling up fast!

[Hworth08]

Humm, tough race shapin' up! When the time is right how about a count of former nationals attendees?

Greg, thanks for the coverage and photos! Good job, nice clear pictures.

[Cheater]

Don,

Thanks for the comments. What I'll try to get is a count of the USRA Nats Champions here. That number is going to be in double-digits, I think!

Here's some more mug shots. Thinking of passing these along to the Cook County Police in the interest of the general public welfare...



Rande Marshall, from Indianapolis. Can anyone guess what team Rande used to race for?



Basil Michael of Des Plaines, IL. Dunno how long Basil's been racing, but check out that Nickey sticker on his vintage Hoffman slot box.



One of D3 racing's progenitors, via South Africa, Orange County, and now Denver, Dennis Samson, who looks pretty happy to be here.



I was worried about NJ's Ray Carlisi, because he was leaving every night with Swiss... until Ray told me he was STAYING at Swiss's house. Phew!



Mr. Fast Ones hisself, Ron Hershman. I don't remember what Ron was saying when I snapped this pic, but it was probably something controversial and opionated, though he also may have telling me to get the heck away from him with that camera...

[Cheater]

Most of Butch "Pappy" Dunaway's D3 Can-Am cars carry neat and creative self-produced decals. Here's a couple of shots:

[Cheater]

Da Noose has arrived! Just a few of the bodies he brought...

[Pablo]

Thanks for the photos and commentary, Greg!!!

[Cheater]

A couple of more inmates in the asylum...



One fast racer, Dave Fiedler, from Chicago, IL. Dave has been one of the scourges of the Northern Illinois Falcon series and is almost certain to be the chased more than the chaser here at Da Sano.



This guy spends far more time behind the camera than in front of it, as regular Slotblog readers will know. MG Brown, of Lake Forest, IL. He viewed this photo and said, "I look either drunk or asleep". I don't think he was either but there's still time today to make either condition a reality...

[Cheater]

I showed Noose's bodies earlier, but thought I should also post his mug shot. The master painter hisself:

[One_Track_Mind]

Cheater,

Are you sure? He doesn't look old enough to be painting for that many years.
From what I always been told, you never see an old body man.

Great coverage, now hand the camera to someone else and let's get a pic of YOU!

Have Fun Guys, Good Racin' to All.

Go PAPPY!!... the attention to detail you place on a car. "A, O, OH WAY TO GO OHIO"

[John Gorski]

Give use the lowdown on tonight's warm-up race!
Amount of racers, type of cars???

[Cheater]

John,

If you wanted to know those kind of details, you should have showed up yourself!!!

Well, the warm-up hasn't started yet, which makes it kinda tough to post pictures from it...

For now, here's a couple of more additions to the Chicagoland rogue's gallery:



While this dude looks like some cryogenically-frozen hippie from the '60s who has been recently thawed, it's actually Richard "Tex" Hofer of Denton, TX.



Here's Bob Oaks, an accomplished racer from Wauconda, IL. Doesn't he look like he's having fun? That's because he hasn't tried to drive on the flat track yet!

Pics and a report from the warm-up race in a bit.

[TSR]

Anyone there under 75?

[MantaRay]

Great coverage, now hand the camera to someone else and lets get a pic of YOU!

Cheater's pic is posted a ways back... He's the derelict that clogged up the plumbing.

[scooooter7]

AMAZING!

I don't get it though. Those pictures look nothing like I imagined. Really, who are those guys?

Oh yeah, good luck, Dennis!!

[Cheater]

Anyone there under 75?

 

Yeah, all of us. The average age here is 49.83. If you were here, it would be 78.9...

[Cheater]

The flat track warm-up race is done. Mike allowed racers to run any retro car, Can-Am or F1, and racers could swap cars between heats, since the whole purpose of this race was to allow people who hadn't raced on the flat track to get a little experience on it.

Eleven racers signed up, which led to a 11-man round robin. Here's the starting eight:



And their cars:



The final results:

1st - Dave Fielder - 240 laps - 30 laps/heat avg - 5.382 best lap on yellow
2nd - Allan Reeder - 224 - 28 - 5.765 on blue
3rd - Basil Michael - 216 - 27 - 5.593 on blue
4th - Dennis Samson - 216 - 27 - 5.820 on black
5th - MG Brown - 215 - 26.9 - 5.720 on blue
6th - Tex Hofer - 206 - 25.8 - 6.203 on orange
7th - Ron Van Wagnen - 204 - 25.5 - 5.828 on blue
8th - Joe Neumeister - 202 - 25.2 - 5.757 on green
9th - Ray Carlisi - 200 - 25 - 5.991 on yellow
10th - Butch Dunaway - 196 - 24.5 - 6.257 on green
11th - Ron Hershman - 166 - 20.8 - 5.929 on purple

No race report because of car swaps and the warm-up nature of the event. There was little car damage sustained, though Ron Hershman broke a rear axle and then put a second car on the track, which immediately shed a front wheel, resulting in his atypical last place finish.

[Cheater]

As mentioned before, Ray Carlisi had been staying with Mike Swiss but it looks like the romance is over.

Just why the change occurred is not clearly known, but the evidence below suggests Allan made Ray a better offer.



"Hey little boy, would you like a cookie?"

[John Gorski]

Cheater,

Don't rub it in I feel bad enough stuck out here. Congrates to Dave.

Still should have a shot of the winning car chassis and driver!

What time are the races?

[One_Track_Mind]

The cryogenically-frozen hippie from the '60s should get some kind of reward from traveling the farthest distance.

The best way to a man's heart is thru his stomach... and Allan must know that...

Hey, Hershman where's the driver?... another controversy...

Hi Bob Oaks, great paint scheme! the color combos!

Have fun all!!...

[MantaRay]

What time are the races?

John,

Qualifying should start at 10:00 am.