81 replies to this topic

[ingram]

Well, we are in the process of bringing slot cars back to Cleveland, TN.

I have purchased a project 135' Hillclimb originally from TX by way of NC. Our store is located in historic downtown Cleveland, TN, only a few blocks from Bart Merriman's old location.

The store was a jewelry store for years wirh a "remodel" in the '70s. Very solid cabinets to remove. The walls are now stripped awaiting their new coverings. The floor will need epoxy, pit benches built, party room finished, lighting updated, Hillclimb restored (and improved), drag strip built, display cases, and of course inventory.

With the economy of the last few years, funds are limited but doing all of the remodel ourselves will help. We are talking to several local, regional, and national corporation about sponsorship/advertising and have a couple firm prospects. We have also started a GoFundMe campaign to help speed up the process

Alan Ingram

Our info:
Cleveland Hot Slots Raceway and Hobby
263 N Ocoee St
Cleveland, TN 37311
(423) 308-9924

More info soon

[Pappy]

That's great news, Alan. Cleveland, TN, is a great town. I spent about six months altogether working there at the Duracell Battery plant on Paul Huff Highway about five years ago.
 
Good luck and if you see Bart Merriman tell him I said hi.
 
Butch

[ingram]

Thanks.

Bart and others have graciously offered their help in getting this thing off the ground. I will be taking them up on the offers once track assembly starts. Especially when it comes to the drag strip.

[Dennis David]

Yes, we all wish you luck!

[Brinkley47]

This sounds awesome. Look forward to racing there.

[John C Martin]

Great news, Alan. Just keep us informed. We have slotboxes and will travel...

[Cheater]

Here's a link to Alan's GoFundMe entry:

 

Family Entertainment Center

 

If you've got a few bucks to spare, how about chipping in to help open a new raceway?

[ingram]

Great news, Alan. Just keep us informed. We have slotboxes and will travel...

Thanks, JC.

The plan is to host a variety of races. Look forward to seeing you at the track.

[macman]

So I guess this is the old Alice, TX, hillclimb... Good luck with it. John Ford says it is a fast one.

[ingram]

It looks like it should be... Not much banking though and the switchback is a pretty tight radius.

I think GT12 will actually work on it and I don't see .025" Cheetah 11s bottoming out.

[ingram]

Tomorrow we will be picking out epoxy for the floors and paint for the walls. Once that's done the track will come in and the real work starts.

 

I am thinking about doing what PSCR did with theirs... upgrade it to tongue and grove and sectional braid. We will see.

[ingram]

For those that haven't seen pics here are a couple of it in NC as they were setting it up.

[ingram]

Here are a few more pics of track, storefront, proximity to center of town, and our intro posters.

[ingram]

Things are moving slowly, but we should have some very visible results by the end of the week.

The goal is to have the hillclimb in the building by next weekend. The drag strip will go up first and should allow us to "soft" open sooner than later.

We had a nice visit from Cheater last night on his way back home. Hope you made it home safely!

[Cheater]

Alan,

I rolled in to Slotblog world headquarters about 1:15 AM, after a long day. Pretty tired but no problem.

It was great finally to meet you and to see your location in Cleveland, but the highlight of my entire four-day trip was your off-the-chart cute three year old son!

[ingram]

He wasn't as cute at 1 AM when he was still awake.

[Dennis David]

Looks like a nice location with some foot traffic I would suspect.

[ingram]

Looks like a nice location with some foot traffic I would suspect.

We will get some foot traffic, but mostly the location makes it easy to drive business to it.

[Cheater]

He wasn't as cute at 1 AM when he was still awake.

LOL! No, I suspect not...

[ingram]

It's amazing how much longer it takes to get things done than you plan for... The store needed/needs alot more work than we originally had hoped/planned. One wall was solid cabinets built in the '70s. That took a bit of work. The previous tenant was putting up pallet wood for siding and had an elaborate framework behind it. Once all that was off we had to make a decision on what our walls would look like. At the back of the store were a couple of pegboard panels, but they had a nice custom pattern. We decided to replicate it. They are finally up!

Picked up an old display case and just about have it refurbished. Painted another cabinet and have to get a glass top for another. After the walls get their final color we will be finishing the floor this week. Then we can bring the track in to start all the work. 

We still have lots of work to do so we have a new timetable. 

Hopefully we will have the dragstrip done by July 26/27 and Hillclimb Aug 23.

Pictures tonight.

[Cheater]

Glad to hear you're making progress, Alan. When I stopped by last weekend, I could see you had a lot of work still to do...

[ingram]

You got to see it completely torn apart and visibly probably the worst. Amazing how different it looks with the walls up and painted.

[ingram]

Here's the little guy Cheater was talking about helping paint.

[ingram]

Next step in the "journey" this weekend. Picked up a Dadds pinched King from VA. Don't have room for the track, but it has all the pieces I need to get the Hillclimb running - drivers panels, power, boards, wiring harness, timing system. These will be "borrowed" from the King for now.

Wish I had the room, the King is in great shape.

[John C Martin]

You can with a little cutting... take the finger out of the King and reconnect just at the bridge, basically making it a long orange configuration or Windsor style...

Pinched kings are harder to turn marshal at the 90 under the bridge... bodies don't fit there...