537 replies to this topic

[Rick]

I think everyone gets it, slot car people ,for the most part, want to race their cars. Reguardless of what genre they like, when two or more get on the track, they are racing each other, informally or formally. The problem is also addressed many time, the cream comes to the top, like any other hobby and it doesn't take long for the less accomplished to lose interest and move to another hobby. After all, who wants to go and compete, every week and nver score a win or even have a chance at a win? No many. We missed the boat when we did not establish some type of handicap system, like bowling. DO you think bowling would be as popular as it still remains if every bowler was scored as scratch? I don't think so. Go to any bowling center and they have leagues 5 day sometimes 6 days a week, and there are no open lanes during league nights. Why is this? Because everyone has a chance to win that night. The 80% system works well in slot cars too. Problem being we have no way of keeping data on every track and racer.

Everyone gets to the level of accomplishment that they reach and most stay at that level forever. The top 5% reach a level of expertise that the other 95% never will. If these 95% thought they would have a chance to score a win some night, they would stay for a much longer time, if not forever.

Slotcars saw the boom and it was racing that caused the boom, but just as quickly died out. It didn't take a hammer on the head of the masses to see they could never compete and win against the elite. I know its heads up racing and that's how its been forever, but how well has that worked out? LOL

Make a handicap system for slot car racing and watch it grow again. It's really easy to do and establish and it works. Every track in existance takes X amount of laps to win a race, every track owner knows what that number is for his track, that class. After just a few weeks, a handicap can be established and then racing gets much more interesting and players are more enthused to return and COMPETE week after week, they have a chance now. DOn't forget there is a 20% fudge factor built in and avgs change as one improves.

Of course you will have the elite tell you, that isn't racing, but it is and every entrant is racing to the best of his ability. The elite would hate it beause they might get beat, from time to time. Just as qualifyng is so important to many, they don't want to have to race with "them". But remember one thing, without "them" you will soon be racing by yourself.

Just as professional bowling there are always the Pro only events and no handicap is in place, everyone races scratch. But the Pro/Am events could and would be much bigger.

That's why it died so quickly, the masses aren't experts and never will be. They saw it and accepted it and moved on to Plan B..............

[Larry Mattingly]

Ahh my friend, you have nailed the problem AND the possible solution...

Rick was a track owner for years, and watched the people come... and then leave.

All the naysayers will be those who WIN... Only the die-hards, who have no chance to win, keep coming back.

Cheater has said many times that far too much effort and attention is aimed at car rules, and equipment in an effort to make things equal. Doesn't work. The better drivers will win in any class that features 'equal' rules.

More, MUCH more attention needs to be focused on the human aspect of the hobby. Like it, or not, it has to be FUN for the majority. The bowling and golf models are poo-poohed by the elitists, but the last time I checked they keep 'score' in both. And, both are thriving.

Will things ever change. Nah...

I have Roman's attitude. I'll putter around in the middle of the pack in retro for, maybe, another year or so. After that, I'll look for something else to do.

LM

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

When I race, I don't just crack off hare lap after hare lap. No one does.

That used to be called "driving ten tenths" Most drivers only have a minute or two of 10/10, some like me, only seconds. The way one normally wins races in a class and in the one to one world is by pacing. You don't stress the car that hard, you protect that couple minutes of 10/10 for a heroic pass or two.

Which is the long way of saying that handicapping means that you are just out there driving alone treating everyone else like random interference. If handicapping the driver works, one can handicap the cars.

With modern computer software, it is easy to structure the winner based on average lap versus standard for the class.

Think of this from the racer and owner standpoint. You don't even need to race at the same time. Just sometime, say, during the week, you come in, cycle the lanes and at the end of the week, the computer declares a winner!

Then we can handicap every track in the country. And every week, declare Mike Steube the best racer in the country by the system.

Love this handicapping thing, door handle to door handle dicing is so, well, old school.

Fate

[marc]

guys your all right the current format doesn;t alow for the beginer before he get the chance to learn he's broke and mad
yes these to are toy cars at the comerical level the same as the plastic ones theres no diference .speed is cheap here compared to a 1 to 1 real car . it is entertainment
yep i've seen those seasoned pro's [ by the way if there pro's who on earth is paying them ??? ] they stop comeing to at shop because some one else can now beat him there or he don't like racing against the new guys because they deslot to much [even thought he's the guy pileing into them.] he's the one yelling at the turn marshals , running tricked out motors in a sealed class.. the poor guy is missing all the fun becaus ehe dreams of himself as being a pro ..

if way back in the sixtys there was a handicap system or a class for the beginer would slot cars have died and withered away or would it still be going strong ???? now thinking that way why is the 1/32 plastic car market so strong worldwide ??
and comerical racing in the dumper all the time ...?????

[marc]

guys your all right the current format doesn;t alow for the beginer before he get the chance to learn he's broke and mad
yes these to are toy cars at the comerical level the same as the plastic ones theres no diference .speed is cheap here compared to a 1 to 1 real car . it is entertainment
yep i've seen those seasoned pro's [ by the way if there pro's who on earth is paying them ??? ] they stop comeing to at shop because some one else can now beat him there or he don't like racing against the new guys because they deslot to much [even thought he's the guy pileing into them.] he's the one yelling at the turn marshals , running tricked out motors in a sealed class.. the poor guy is missing all the fun becaus ehe dreams of himself as being a pro ..

if way back in the sixtys there was a handicap system or a class for the beginer would slot cars have died and withered away or would it still be going strong ???? now thinking that way why is the 1/32 plastic car market so strong worldwide ??
and comerical racing in the dumper all the time ...?????

[SlowToyCars]

There are multiple approaches and solutions towards the problem, but the first step is to recognize that the problem is that it is (at least at the commercial level) a competitive sport.
Softball is a competitive sport - Even when dealing in various Parks/Recs leagues within a city. For instance, some noobs will show up for a game with Wal-Mart equipment. Others, will show up with fully loaded bats, some of which aren't legal in sanctioned games because you could knock the ball from here to Mars with them with nothing more than a gentle tap! I've seen guys carry equipment like that to a charity game before.... So there's always those who are willing to outspend. Then, there's those teams who will get together and practice 3-4 times a week, in addition to the 2 games they play.... while those noobs will just show up to play on game days... Then there are those who put in that time and effort, and bring that level of equipment, and honestly, you have many of the same problems as you do in a slot car track. Large turnover, people not willing to fork over the $$ to play, when they find they have to have more $$ in equipment.

Only when the track owners can realize that's the nature of the sport, can something be done about it:

In Bowling, and Golf, you have a handicapping system. In many other sports, participant levels make the division, such as pro, semi-pro, amatuer, beginner, etc. There's options for restricting equipment levels, but the overall limited participation means that some ace is probably going to want to play with the low-level stuff and ruin that method quickly.

It's all about making everyone feel like they have a chance. People like Greg Wells (and almost anyone who's ever been at a track local to me) can tell you that I spend more time helping the new people than I do on my own program. I find it actually makes my program better though, because I learn how to make a car suit multiple people, and multiple skill levels. I take the time to try and teach them my methods, my style of driving, and I set the cars such that they can work with them, show them how to keep them that way, and I rarely race at a local level. This is because there are a lot of people who'd be massively discouraged if I did, and they won't be back the following week(s) if I raced every week. That is to the detriment of my own program, but I do like having a place only 2 hours away to go and play!

I started racing when I was 11. I mostly got to run regional events. And aside from a local Kid's race early on, I didn't win for over 5 years. I had great equipment, often the fastest on the track, and felt that should I have a good race, I'd have a chance to win. Once I learned how to win, I've been pretty competitive, and won my share since. The thing I learned, it doesn't even matter that I DQ myself at local races so as not to be included in the results, pay my entry fee to support the track, refuse to accept track bucks, plaques, etc., in order to promote the locals, the locals still don't much care to have to race against me for some reason. (Probably because I prep at the 20 year veteran level, and I race at the 20 year veteran level, and I am at the 20 year veteran level!)

This is directed toward some of you hot shoes out there, next time, think about what's best for your local track owner....
If the racers want you to race, they'll ask you to race with them. And if you win, sit out until they ask again... IF YOUR EGO ALLOWS!

For the track owners, a Handicap system may help. If you are competent (and have enough participation) you might be able to divide the advanced level racers and the newer people. You may even be able to effectively set a JK Falcon LMP class for beginners, and the more advanced racers may very well leave the class to the beginners. There's many ways to go about trying to make everyone feel like they have a chance, but that's what's required to keep people coming back.

The other thing about a Handicap system - If you base it similar to bowling - you will have a class - i.e. - Falcon LMP - You establish a Handicap after 3 weeks of running - you average every race, and adjust from there. A racer who comes in, and puts in some extra time during the week may find himself able to run 5-6 extra laps, and if he was only off by 20 laps, he will have a legitimate shot to win one week, and then someone else will do the same, seeing what happened, and you will have more parity.

Not to say I want to race in a Handicap system, but I know from my experience Bowling for many years, it helps. The high level people will still win a lot, but others will have a chance from time to time, and if they even so much as just get close, that will many times drive their determination to do even better the next time.

[jockefors]

I think the biggest problem is ... kidds or new bee drivers dont like to service and keep the car going..or mixter with set up 3 or four nights too make the car go 3.4 insted of 3.7 per lap
they just whant too drive ....and all of them wants to hawe the best car...
with oute tuching a thing

problem is the drivers who fix ant trix with ther cars probably will hawe the fastest and best cars to drive
they will ofen win races and the other laysy drivers is pisst why the other driver allways go faster and are better

i like too fix with my engins and boddyds i hoppfully some time get the hang of this "sport" and can be a bit better then the layzy drivers that dont give the cars some love

and ther is also computer ..in a game you loose but you can allvays restart it that dont work on the track ...the lost feels more
in real life ....i dont know howe manny kidds i hawe seen with tears in ther face when they loose some race ...
i dont know if its the parens who dril ther kidds to be worldcamp at the age of 9 or if its the kidds that hawe to hi expectations of life ....

and noo its nott fun too loose but it happens and eaven i hate when the car go in pices in a final ..but i think i hawe too live with it some more years..

i think the best way is too hawe a class with seald engins ...and a good chassi and body ...the dream would be a seald c-can engine contender arm and no ballbearings and a light chassi in spring steel...
a cheep car but with possabilitys to build on ..like to a box 12 after some year of driving
problem is anny howe like in box 12 top drivers by 10 engins and test drive an take oute the ones that runns best,,,same thing will probably happends with the seald engins...so i dont know

easyest would be to force drives in final to sell ther cars for a pre set price after final ..like 100 dollar so a newbee can by a super car for 100 dollar
this will probably result in better set up skills on all drivers

[marc]

well theres one thing about blogs like this diffrent ideas ..yea right !!! right now i'm sitting here sorting through my tires i've got 4 big plastic bags full of diffrent types, sizes and componds .....lets spell it out simple car is not a flexi its a slow car if in the sixtys we stayed with the basics may be things would be diffrent .. let look at slot racing today by far and large the most popular in the united states ???? hands down drag racing ...why ?? simple set up and simple car ...
i can buy a ready to race parma drag car take it outta the box put in on the track and bracket race it right now no special fix it procedures race it now !!

best solution to get people interested box stock run as is no tricks every bodys on the same page with the same parts and special set up skill doesen't enter into the picture the cars ready to race as is . like a parma fcr aka big womp keep it stock tires gears motor guide weight stock outta the box run any body that fits and leave it alone...now any body can buy the car its cheap to run and cheap to fix it >> the onlt diffrence between mine and yours is who's the best driver ...

second choice 1/32 production hard bodies scx scalelectric carrara box stock cars no mods .... so again what killed slot racing in the sixtys no fun to many complicated rules and high tech cars .... and large areas needed with expenceive
rents ,,,,,,,,,,,,,......

[Rickard Five]

If I may Make a Guess as to what killed Slot Car Racing in the 1960's was the Escalation in Vietnam by President Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara all the young kids going in to combat as Children Playing with Toys and coming back, as messed up Men who hav e seen the World, Death and $5 "Women of Nonnegotiable Affections". and when they came home they had no time for Models or to pass the hobby on to the next generation.

OR it could be those Dang Hippies and their Long Hair. Their minds too drug addled to make it around a single turn much less a full race. then that long hair was a hazard in the dremel and in gears

I Rather like the like the second thought all bad things can be traced back to hippies

[Tim Neja]

I know this subject has been beat to death--but one major point along with the "Scale Looking" aspect that has been overlooked is the COST of going fast!! D-3 with it's simple motor--and keeping to "building" as it's core--keeps the COST of racing in line!! I dropped out of racing in 1966 simply because the COST of racing a slot car went from an easy $20 to spending $100's of dollars for the best motors--etc.!! Too many people focused on trying to go faster every day out--and the track owners and manufacturer's went along with it for simple greed.
Any form of racing costs money--but slot racing had NO limits!! Instead of entertainment--it became an all out stop at nothing to go faster hobby. And that attitude drove the newbie and hobbyist away. Lot's of factors--but that's one I say happen over and over--again in RC racing. RC is only now coming back with more RULES to keep expenses down--and racing FUN.
FWIW
T

[Rick Davis]

If I may Make a Guess as to what killed Slot Car Racing in the 1960's was the Escalation in Vietnam by President Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara all the young kids going in to combat as Children Playing with Toys and coming back, as messed up Men who hav e seen the World, Death and $5 "Women of Nonnegotiable Affections". and when they came home they had no time for Models or to pass the hobby on to the next generation.

OR it could be those Dang Hippies and their Long Hair. Their minds too drug addled to make it around a single turn much less a full race. then that long hair was a hazard in the dremel and in gears

I Rather like the like the second thought all bad things can be traced back to hippies

Ha Blaming it on the Hippies - have you looked at the hair and dress of the racers in the photos from that era

[redbackspyder]

I believe that you have hit a great point Tim. The cost really became prohibitive to compete on a weekly basis, and for the most part you were talking about guys who were between 15 to 35 years old. The teenagers did not have enough money to spend every week , and to go fast, you needed the most exotic motors and the latest chassis. And, you could never get the same Steube motor that Mike or Terry got, no matter what. That is why we went to Zimmerman, Lenz, Thorp , Mura or Champion. I had many Steube motors, and they were good, just not that 5% kind. I had great chassis, as Terry Schmid built some for me, and I also built some with Steve Bogut.

The advent of the simple D3 or IRRA motors has been a boon to bring racing back. At Buena Park, the $100 car pioneered a whole racing program. This past Saturday, we raced Flexi LMP Cars that cost about $75 to put together and they were faster than any D3 car, and ANYONE could race one and feel competitive. With guys like Dennis Samson, Mike Kravitz and Duran to give you pointers on how to set up the car, basically anybody could get into racing. Today, too many kids that spend more time with Video games, rather than learn how to use their hands on something other than a joy stick.

Kids still like cars, and going to car shows. Parents still by HO sets for Christmas. The transition to a raceway is the difficult step. This is one place that I commend Paul Sterrett for. When he is at the track, he goes out of his way to help people to make sure that their cars are running ok, and I have seen him countless times pickup a rental car, adjust it, and back on the track - watching the newbie see how much more fun to drive a good handling car. Jeff Easterly is the same way. So is Greg. These guys are trying to rebuild what is left of the marketplace.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

I still race with some old pros from the era that were famous locally, but you guys don't know. One is a guy who helps at the local track for our Saturday racing.

Back in 1971, we were building "A-main" cars retail for between $150 to 170 each. Minimum wage was 1.25. Jim likes to tell the story of a family waking in at "Competition Raceway" renting a car, being hooked and handing Jim a thou for a fleet of cars for the family. Remarkable because it was unique.

But I was selling a couple cars a month back then. Imagine what that would be in today's dollars!

"Group 12" came about in an ad hoc basis in 66 or so. That is it was common for tracks that I raced at to have races with the rule that the car had to be a 12.95 RTR or the equivalent(usually dynamic) parts. By 71, at least locally, open racing was perhaps one race a month somewhere in the area (12 centers), but group 12s, 15s and 20s were all over the place. Even then, those cars were relatively expensive compared to D3 today.

Fate

[Guy Spaulding]

I thought slot racing was on the come-back trail when I raced in the early 80's. There seemed to be a racing class affordable to anyone. Newbies and youngsters raced Womps on Sunday afternoon. Intermediates raced box-stock Mura 20 motors in Int 15 chassis on Friday nights. Those who could afford it, raced the USRA trail.

I remember, back in the 60's, if you wanna go really fast, you needed $100+ for a motor AND you had to know "somebody" (you couldn't buy one over the counter). In the early 80's, you still needed a $100+. But inflation made that $100 less painful, and all you had to do was choose your favorite brand from your local raceway.

But, clearly, things didnt stay that way. USRA did us no favors by allowing steel noses in Int 15. And the maximum $35 chassis price was overcome by builders adding oilites axles, and wheels then selling their "rolling chassis" for $100. To compete in a cobalt class required you become a member of the "motor of the month club" You needed a fleet of motors to be competitive, and you needed to upgrade that fleet once a year or better.

Technology and rule changes to accommodate technology gets my vote as a primary reason for slot car racing's repeated downturns

[Rick]

The simple truth is, it was a fad and fads fade as quickly as they peek. What was left was the hard core and they escalated it to its first death.

Another example of a fad: The Hula hoop gained international popularity in the late 1950s when a plastic version was successfully marketed by California's Wham-O toy company. In 1957, Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, starting with the idea of Australian bamboo "exercise hoops", manufactured 1.06 metre (42 in) hoops with Marlex plastic. With give-aways and national marketing and retailing, a fad was started in July, 1958;[5][6] twenty-five million plastic hoops were sold in less than four months, and in two years sales reached more than 100 million units.[1] Carlon Products Corporation was one of the first manufacturers of the hula hoop. During 1950s when the hula hoop craze swept the country, Carlon was producing more than 50,000 hula hoops per day.

[68Caddy]

I like the Hippie theory and I wonder how many on the blog used to be a long hair guy smoking some thing?
Have to say myself I blame it on the good looking girls back then.
I thought this tread was dead at this time, it feels old like dirt!
ops did I say that!



Nesta

[DocSlotCar]

Pretty much says it all. The industry went for the "Steak and Lobster" crowd. Forgetting like most do even today that the backbone of ANY industry. business or hobby is the masses. The people who will spend their discretionary income on a hobby like Slot Cars. Better to be McDonald's than Ruth's Chris Steak House. Slot Cars needs new blood and mass appeal, not 12 speed freaks with money. Can't support an industry on a few dozen "Fast in their mind guys".

I thought slot racing was on the come-back trail when I raced in the early 80's. There seemed to be a racing class affordable to anyone. Newbies and youngsters raced Womps on Sunday afternoon. Intermediates raced box-stock Mura 20 motors in Int 15 chassis on Friday nights. Those who could afford it, raced the USRA trail.

I remember, back in the 60's, if you wanna go really fast, you needed $100+ for a motor AND you had to know "somebody" (you couldn't buy one over the counter). In the early 80's, you still needed a $100+. But inflation made that $100 less painful, and all you had to do was choose your favorite brand from your local raceway.

But, clearly, things didnt stay that way. USRA did us no favors by allowing steel noses in Int 15. And the maximum $35 chassis price was overcome by builders adding oilites axles, and wheels then selling their "rolling chassis" for $100. To compete in a cobalt class required you become a member of the "motor of the month club" You needed a fleet of motors to be competitive, and you needed to upgrade that fleet once a year or better.

Technology and rule changes to accommodate technology gets my vote as a primary reason for slot car racing's repeated downturns

[tonyp]

When I started racing back in the 60's, racing took a back seat to running your slot cars. Everyone had a box of cars and you would build a car simply to have something to put a body on that you liked. All the cars handled like junk and you could win a weekly 100 lap open race with just about anything from a cox kit to dynamic chassis with a globe in it if you could drive the car with out coming off. It was a fun time, no real rules and everything was competetive. As the cars became more advanced and parts got better, the cars became faster. Now you no longer ran your race car for hours at a time for fun. It was saved for Saturday nights. Your box of fun cars dwindled down to your racer and that was it as people become more focused on the racing side of the hobby.

Right at this time, maybe 68/69 in the east all the thousands of shops that were opened in buildings too big to ever make enough money to pay for started closing. This discouraged people from buying slot cars for fun. It is the same as if there was one bowling alley in a 50 mile radius vs one every 10 miles. If people do not have a choice of places to race they don't feel comfortable spending the money on something that may not be around tomorrow. When the boom hit out here there were tracks in every town, no shortage of customers and everyone knew about model racing cars, they never were called slot car back then.

Yes I guess technology killed it partially and the closing of the shops stopped new people from coming into the hobby.

[Vay Jonynas]

Technology and rule changes to accommodate technology gets my vote as a primary reason for slot car racing's repeated downturns

I agree. I think the technology of slot cars evolved so quickly that the group that was the backbone of the hobby, i.e. kids, had no chance to keep up with the changes. I mean it couldn't be a good thing when the state of the art slot car advertised in Boy's Life or Car Modeller magazine was obsolete by the time the magazine arrived at your local newstand.

[Mark Clemence]

I would like to add my two cents to this discussion. From my, and my slot racing buddies perspective, there were two main reasons we dropped out of the hobby....availability and cost. I grew up in a large city, but the closest track was 11 miles away and there was no bus service. Being 10-11 years old, I relied on my Dad to drive me to race on weekends. The other factor was cost....having no job other than mowing lawns and shoveling snow, I could only afford 2-3 hours of track time per week plus the occasional cost of a new kit car. [We had not progressed enough to rewind motors or scratchbuild our own chassis] I believe Fate stated in an earler response that competitive cars cost $150-170 each - that was more money than I saw in a year! A car costing that much was out of the question. Later, I recall this would have been 1968 or 1969, I began to race with my brother who had returned from the Army and had a full-time job. He had the funds to buy speed, so although I was a better driver he was winning due to superior equipment. Very frustrating. About this time our tracks began closing and I was nearing driving age and playing sports pretty much full time so my slot car interest went dormant for years.

[tlbrace]

Was a teenager at the height of the hobby, so I was part of the group that would have had to get brought in and committed to carry the momentum. For me, it was:

1) Lack of commercial tracks near me. Nearest was over an hour away.
2) Although my dad built a four lane track in the basement for some club racing (using the pre slotted Kal Kar masonite pieces) we kids didn't have a lot of money to keep buying cars and parts. All the kids pretty much could run would be what they had from their own slot car sets: Strombecker, Monogram, Revell, etc. The disparity in the cars made it less fun for some. Also the cost of maintaining the cars was a factor, and for some, the fun of the hobby was running the cars, not working on or fixing them.
3) While I bought all the mags and poured over the Auto World catalogues endlessly, I would imagine every order to Auto World took $$$ out of the track owners' pockets. Given the footprint needed for a couple of the big 8 lane tracks, the owners had to make ends meet selling cars and parts. Auto World and other vendors had to be major competitors. AW could maintain a far larger and more varied inventory than any local track could.
4) The hobby had to be family friendly, so the tracks really needed to be storefronts in family friendly shopping areas. And that usually meant higher per square foot rent, and again the footprints had to be very large.
5) As things started to slip, for affordable space many of the tracks moved to cheaper space, often in industrial parks, not exactly either family friendly or highly visible.
6) As others have stated, the competition. I never would be a master solderer, never could do a good job rewinding a motor. Couldn't afford to pay anyone to do either. If one really wanted to race locally, virtually none of the commercially available slots were competitive. As nice look as the Cox and Monogram cars were during the day, and as desireable as they may be as collectibles now, they really were not very fast on the track (various IFC variants somewhat being the exceptions).
One need only experience forking over $10 back then at a track for a car, immediately put it on the track and realize you're being lapped by everyone...just once and the charm of the hobby would wear off very quickly.

The thing is I know of about 3 'home' racing clubs that operate in a radius an hour around where I live, and there may be more. For all of them, a typical turnout is 10 to 16 racers (all different guys, little overlap in these clubs). On 4 lane (sometimes 3 lane) tracks this is a very good number to have. We run the current 1/32 scale cars. It is pretty easy to come up with specifications and formats for classes that are affordable and provide enough parity that one need not be a car builder (just learn how to tune the car up for a race) or have a lot of bucks to at least be somewhat competitive if not one of the fastest guys. There is no arms race in terms of hotter motors or innovative chassis. Heck, last season our club even stopped doing pre/post race tech inspections. Anyone compelled to cheat becomes obvious and winds up moving on anyway.

We have great turnouts, whenever someone drops out there seems to be one or two new guys showing up. We've maintained this for going on 15 years now, at least. I'm actually doing a heck of a lot more racing now than I did back 'in the day.'

[Rickard Five]

I have heard that the drag racers are the guys that contribute the most to keeping Buena Park Raceway open. We didn't have a drag strip where I was as a kid, but it seems like a good way to get started in slots. The driving and cars are (seemingly) less complicated than road cars.

Thank You for saying that, for Years our Previous Track owner refused to Kopp to that to the point He'd schedule "Special" series races on Saturday and slow it down to conflict with the DragRacing, and that caused a LOT of hard Feelings!
You got 30 guys entering 120 cars on a Sat. night vs. 6 - 8 guys entering 6-8 cars, You carry Drag Racing parts and don't delay the start of the race 3 hours so the Roundy Roundy Guys can have their race! For the longest time that Blue King was accounting for %60 of the space required and %80 of the inventory, while Drag Racing was bringing in %90 of the cash. Flexi cars are fine in context but Track owners need to realize Drag Racing keeps this thing alive. Thank God we have one now that does

The more difficult question is why slot racing is unable to retain, as longer-term participants in the hobby, a higher percentage of the people who are exposed to it.

The Racers them Selves. Racers are the #1 detractor to any track. and I'm talking about the rude competitive ones The ones that yell at turn marshals, and the rude ones that don't understand that we have a Birthday party today that pays $200 of this months rent so you got a playground, so sorry you can't play on the King

Edited by Rickard Five, 05 March 2012 - 08:32 PM.

[Jim Webb]

Hi Rickard,

Regarding your assertion that racers are the primary detractors at any track, it is unfortunate that this has been your experience. It is easy to understand your frustration from overzealous racers who succumb to those "competitive juices" and become rude. I also get your exasperation over folks who get cranky about not having access to the primo racing real estate when the raceway is hosting a birthday party.

Over the (many!) years, I've witnessed this kind of behavior and sometimes wondered if the owners involved ever questioned whether the effort was worth it. Heck, in my younger and more carefree days, I even called out some of the "rudites" when their behavior got really obnoxious and it was clear the owner wasn't going to call a halt to the nastiness. (I was 6'4", 240 pounds, and could be quite the obnoxious a$$ myself back then - I never gave much though to the possible consequences of stepping into the fray.) But I digress.

What I wanted to get to here is that there are some raceways out here that by virtue of a more "mature" clientele, their age-related mellowness, and that their habits tend to be emulated by the younger racers; an Alpha owner who ensures ("enforces" is such a strong word) a civil atmosphere; or both, are pleasant and welcoming places to be. I am a regular at one of these. I think at least some of it boils down to clear expectations and a strong sense of community (raceway) standards. What do you think?

Looking forward to your thoughts,

Jim

BTW - To take a crack at the original question, I think the generation of boys who were enthralled with slot racing in the sixties eventually got to "that stage in life" when girls became something quite other than pests and the call of the all-consuming (mind AND money) 1:1 ride became so compelling that the two occupied pretty much every waking moment. Like a dinosaur deprived of food, slot racing slimmed down mightily. (That is my own simple, uninformed view and probably does not reflect an ounce of truth about what really happened.)

[Rickard Five]

Jim Being a HUGE Fan of everything Vintage, I Seriously after examining the evidence beleave it was the loss of the uniform of the day, IN the height of Slot cars young men Dressed Smartly for a race, there was a formality to it and true sports man like conduct was the order of the day. seriously if you can't be concerned with your appearance, how can you be with your attitude. I remember back in ther 90's when Glue Racing picked up in Texas, and going to the track, and half the people in the track were doped up or DRUNK! It was the tie and it's loss, that is what killed slotcars

[Jim Webb]

Rickard, Things must have been a lot different in Texas than in Wisconsin back then. The one thing that you could count on if you wore a tie or a suit in my neighborhood on any day but Sunday was a sound beating served up by more-casually dressed kids. As far as dope and drinking, I've never experienced that kind of trouble during any of my three stints of racing - late sixties, early 80's and now. Then again, I've been told more than once that I can be pretty naive, so it seems things can happen right under my nose and I will probably not notice.

Now I'm looking over your post again ... "It was the tie and it's loss, that is what killed slotcars." are you pulling my leg? If so, you got me!

Jim