53 replies to this topic

[n9949y]

Another jalopy set up. My Al Dykes car. A PPS common floppy side pan chassis, .064 brass. Pro slot

2002 16D motor, 1/8 axles, 6t pinion/29 crown, PSE "Tuna" 1/8 X 13/16 rim/tires.

 

The body is solidly reinforced with Devcon's Plasticwelder and nylon window screen strips lining the fenders,

so it's lasted for a good while. Very competative chassis/body combo- 9.48 oz. Teamed up with Mike Nabors

to win the 2008 Turkey Night enduro race.

 

 

 

One of the better jalopy or modified color action photos I've found

on the internet

[James Wendel]

8/12/2015 - Monza class: Open-wheeled, front engined, Grand Prix and Indy cars from the 1930s thru the mid-1960s.  This is the only open-wheeled class raced at Pelican and the only class that specifies minimum tire diameter and maximum tire width.  "Big wheels".

 

While I have a car for the class, I have only raced it a couple of times, and never with great success.  It is a difficult class.  It presents unique challenges both in building and driving the cars.  It had been over a year since my last attempt at Monza class... time to give it another go.

 

Prior to the start of the race, no one could get motivated to clean the track, as is customarily done before each week's competition....  So we will run on last week's rubber... which makes for a "tight" track.  This class requires unique tires: 1/2" wide, 1" plus diameter tires on a 5/8" hub.  Most racers, myself included, do not have multiple sets to choose from.  We run what we have, and I had too much traction... ah well. 

I am sure that many of the other racers had the same problem.

 

Nine guys came to race, so we ran the preliminary heats "Basil's way", and they were a hoot.  The cars are tricky to drive.  They often break loose without warning.  And since they are open-wheeled, there is the risk of touching tires while passing, which can cause a spectacular launch of one or both cars.  You must should drive conservatively and pass cautiously.

 

The prelims sorted us down to:

 

The Consi

In the red lane is Tom's Lancia Ferrari, the most popular car in the Monza class, as its side-pods give room for moving side-pans and additional "road-hugging" weight.  In the white lane, Mike's Lancia twin, (actually quadruplicate, as we shall see later).  Mike finished the Prelims in 5th place.  He was adjacent to 2nd place James in the preliminary rotation and gave him fierce competition.

 

In the blue lane of the Consi is Leo's #32, white... err... (I don't know what it is).  Leo's car had a motor-and-a-half, it was a freaking rocket.  Leo beat me (James) in the one preliminary heat that we shared.  Leo finished the Prelims tied with Deke for third, but got hosed in his Semi-main by "that guy" who kept deslotting and taking-out Leo's car, denying Leo a spot in the Main.  "Hey, that's racing".

 

Finally, in the yellow lane is Basil's Mercedes.  I know it's a Mercedes only because I heard him mention it to someone else and it's silver.... right?  Basil was 6th in the Prelims, winning one heat race and taking a couple of thirds, so it would seem like the Consi is about right.

The Consi final:  Mike 1st, followed by Leo, Basil, and Tom.  All but winner-Mike join Greg in the Hooligan.

 

The Hooligan

For the Hooligan, Leo drew red lane.  This evening the red-lane / yellow-lane bias seemed stronger than usual. 

The Preliminary-heat point distribution was: red: 17%, white: 22%, blue: 26%, yellow: 35% 

We all have to live with luck of the draw.  Or as some clever guy once said, "If you want a game with no luck involved, go play chess."

 

Greg's blue and white car is in the white lane.  Greg tied with Paul as "Hooligan-Prime", so they had a 25 lap run-off race to determine who goes to the Semi-Main.  Paul won that run-off and so here is Greg in the Hooligan. 

Tom drew the blue lane this time out and Basil again got the yellow lane.

 

Hooligan final: Basil 1st, Leo 2nd, Greg 3rd, Tom 4th.

 

The Main Event

In the red lane is James' Lancia.  James (that's me) was 2nd in the Prelims... fast but not dominant.  And I was geared too short.  I calculated that a 6:1 ratio would have the proper "roll-out" with the large diameter tires, but in the "longer" lanes: white and especially red, the car seemed to top out early.  Nothing can be done about it.  Hope for the best.

 

In the white lane is Deke's yellow Lancia, the 4th Lancia of the evening and the only non-red one.  Deke had been fast all evening, finishing 3rd (tie) in the Prelims and giving James serious competition in the two heats they shared.

 

Todd's black #97 drew the blue lane.  Todd swept the preliminary heats handily.  Todd is a multiple Main event winner in this class and clearly the evening's favorite.

 

Paul's gold #9 car drew the yellow lane and is the Cinderella story of the Main Event.  Paul won the run-off race for the bottom rung of the Hooligan, then pulled off a second place finish in his Semi-Main.  Could he pull another rabbit out of his hat?

 

The race was exciting, but no great surprise.  Todd showed the crowd why he is "The Man" of the Monza class and drove off to victory.  James tried to keep pace in the red lane, deslotted and played the losing game of "ketchup" for the rest of the race.  Deke held a solid second, but had nothing for Todd, Paul finished 4th.

[James Wendel]

Glamour shots of my 3rd place Lancia Ferrari

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tex]

LOVE those cars!

[James Wendel]

Thanks, Tex.  As with the Tourist Trophy class, almost all of the Monza class car bodies are Resilient Resin models made by the late Doug Haynes.  They are amazingly durable bodies.   Some of these cars have been raced for many years and survived dozens of races. 

[n9949y]

Resilient Resin models are made more durable by many of us constructing/repairing our RR and plastic bodies with Devcon Plastic Welder, a Methacrylate Adhesive which is a toughened structural adhesive for difficult-to-bond engineered plastics, composites, unprepared metals, ceramics, and dissimilar substrates. Body shops use the adhesive to attach dissimilar materials. They require little or no surface preparation and cure at room temperature with no cumbersome heating fixtures required.

 

To construct a 1960 Indy Watson roadster in 1/24th scale I spliced together the nose section of an AMT 1/25 Watson with a 1/24th Monogram Kurtis Kraft body using piano wire "rebar" running longitudinally along the body axis that's glued solidly with Plastic Welder. As with most other Monza class cars mine has taken some very hard shunts into walls, once backwards, resulting  in a split along the Monogram body seam repaired stronger than new with copius amounts of Plastic Welder.

 

 

[n9949y]

more photos of this week's(8-12-15) Monza race:

Renowned author, James, standing, checking his 1956 Lancia Ferrari D-50's set up

 

Paul doubling down in his Kurtis Kraft Indy car tune up for his late, though successful finish.

 

 Evening's score sheet

 

Winning car

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monza pits

[James Wendel]

8/19/2015 - Vintage NASCAR, 1949-1959 Full-sized American sedans.  Because Bob's month-long break at STR is over, I had expected to take a break from racing at Pelican, however...

my 1950 Olds vintage racer beckoned, "Let's go racing", and so I did. 

 

Twelve drivers showed up to race: Cully was back from his trip with pictures of his new grandson.  And Bob was down from Keizer with Stu and John from Wilsonville.  Missing were regulars Deke and Greg.  Twelve makes for a full Hooligan class.... no second chances for the Consi guys.  We ran the Preliminaries "Win to Get in".

 

The Prelims took longer than usual due to several track repairs, although only one heat-race needed to be re-run because of power loss.  The down-time gave me the opportunity to visit a bit with John, who I had not seen since the Cottage Grove Unlimited Hardbody Race, viewable here: http://slotblog.net/...ttage-grove-or/

 

After the Preliminaries were completed and the Semi-Mains run, we have the finals:

 

The Hooligan

Dave's brown 1958 Plymouth is in the red lane.  Dave had a tough evening.  Back in March of this year Dave won the Consi with this car, so we know it can be done.

In the white lane is John's very cool 1950 Chevrolet convertible.  This was John's first visit to Pelican Park and it takes a while to get up to speed.  John is an excellent competitor and he was getting the feel for the track by the end of the evening.

 

In the blue lane is Paul's white 1957 Chevy hardtop.  Paul was still trying to get his hot, new Proslot motor to co-exist with an uncooperative chassis.  Changes to the weighting seem to have helped.

And Stu drew the yellow lane for his black '57 Chev.  Stu has raced at Pelican only once before.  That was a few months ago, in the NASCAR class, and he then finished third in the Hooligan.  Can he better his standing tonight?

 

Hooligan final:  Paul 1st, John 2nd, Stu 3rd, Dave 4th

 

The Consi

Now this is an odd mix in the Consi: two Chryslers and two Oldsmobiles.  Theoretically, any of these four could have made the Main Event had things gone differently.  All were fast in their respective heats.  And specifically, the Oldsmobiles of Leo and James were very fast.  However, both fell victim to some very bad corner-marshaling in their Semi-Main.  By very bad, I mean world-class bad.

 

At the time, in the heat of battle, I was P.O'ed.  I had been deprived of my god-given right to a spot in the Main.  But after the red-mist faded, I remembered that everyone screws up occasionally... (yes, even me).  If there were never any "upsets" the same bunch of guys would race the Main every week, and that would be boring as hell.  It's all good.

 

So... Basil's red Chrysler in red, Leo's blue Olds in white, Mike's blue Chrysler in blue, and James' red Olds in yellow.

 

Leo gave it a valiant effort and led part of the race after leader James made an unforced error in the carousel corner.  But contact with Basil's car in the donut sent both Leo and Basil into the weeds, giving the lead back to James.  The long tailed Chryslers are a challenge to pass, both for their driver and for their competition.  Not surprisingly, there were several conflicts and crashes in the field as they fought for position.

 

Consi final: James 1st, Leo 2nd, Mike 3rd, Basil 4th

 

The Main Event

In the red lane sits Cully's '48 Chevy, which generally dominates the Jalopy class.  In the Vintage class it is still a top-tier contender, but has a harder time.

Todd's 1958 T-Bird drew the white lane.  Todd won the Main with this car 12 weeks ago when a three car pile-up gave him a big lead over the field.  Cully is the only other driver from that group to make the cut this week.  Can Todd repeat his class win?

 

In the blue lane is Bob's #22 Fireball Roberts 1957 Ford.  This is the first race for this new body.  It looks pretty sweet.

And in yellow is Tom's Trans-car, Chevy into Olds, built before the Oldsmobile model kit was available.  It is H-E-A-V-Y, almost 10.5 ounces of road-hugging weight.  Yet it is fast.

 

The race began with a multi-lap battle for the lead between Todd and Cully.  They pulled away from the field.  Cully, just back from a two week vacation and in the unfavorable red lane, could not hold Todd's pace and came off.  Now he must play ketchup in the red lane, which is a near impossible task with his relatively narrow Chevy.

 

At some point soon after, Todd deslotted in the kink and his car languished under the bridge for most of a lap before he was able to get the attention of the tunnel-marshal and get back on track.  This gave the lead to Tom in the yellow lane. 

 

Tom drove with speed, resolve, and good fortune, avoiding collisions along the way as back-markers, Bob and Cully struggled to regain position.  Unbeknownst to Tom, Todd was pursuing with equal resolve and good fortune... and he was gaining.

 

With the race winding down, Tom called out to Basil, the "Podium Driver", for a update... "How close is the second place car???  How many laps to go???"

 

"Well.... it looks like Todd is on the same lap, about a donut behind.... and there's err, less than ten laps to go.... No, make that seven."  Todd was gaining fast.  Both he and Tom picked up their pace.  In just a few laps Todd was right on Tom's tail.  With an open lane between them, there was no way to defend.  Tom pushed hard, trying to hold Todd off for yet another lap, but there were still two laps to go.  By the final lap, Todd was clearly ahead.  There were no more surprises... no last second deslot.  Todd won going away.  Cheers and applause from the crowd. 

 

Main final: Todd 1st, Tom 2nd, Bob 3rd, Cully 4th.

[n9949y]

Todd's winning '58 Thunderbird. Body from a  circa 1989 1/24th Monogram #2904 Ritchie Valens

"La Bamba kit." Note with its period decals the T-Bird could have looked like an entry at the inaugural

Daytona 500, Feb 22, 1959

 

Score Sheet, Vintage Stock cars, 8-19-15. With 12 racers it's the Win To Get In format- 8 qualifying heat

races with the winner of each going to the Semi Main's two heats where the top 2 of each going to the Main,

the bottom 2 of semi-mains race in the Consi. The 4 who didn't win any of the prelims go to the Hooligan.

All 50 lap race lane assignments are determind by blind drawing of colored poker chips- kinda appropriate,

given how Lady Luck plays a role.

.

 

Semi Main, heat two. James on White lane tangles with Bob on blue- Bob plows into the wall and James

spinning, goes airborne. Just behind James on Yellow Cully zips by the carnage to win the heat, so he

moves to the Main.

 

 Start, Heat Four. Bob-Red lane, Stu-White, Leo-Blue, Basil-Yellow. Basil wins heat.

 

Mike Nabes reaching for poker chip to determine his lane.

 

Track Repair

 

Vintage stock car pits

[James Wendel]

9/03/2015 Dirt Modified - 1950-1979 short-oval, "modified" stock cars.  Intermediate and Full-sized sedans, and Trans-Am class cars.  Bodies can be cut-down and their wheel-wells opened-up.  Tires can extend beyond the bodywork up to 3.125" overall width.  Technically, 1/25th scale cars are limited to 3.00", but I don't think that anyone follows that rule.

 

I brought two cars with me, and in the past, I have loaned out my #2 ride to another racer whose car wasn't up-to-speed.  However this evening, I arrived late.  Only one of my cars was "up-to-speed", so the other one stayed in the box.  I raced the blue 1/24th scale Camaro... a former Main Event winner.  (Actually, the Mustang is also). 

 

Eleven racers came to play.  Of the locals, only Greg was missing.  And Bob was down from Keizer, and James up from Roseburg.  It's the Win-to-Get-in format.  Eight go to the Semi-Mains... three don't.

 

Some of the best racing of the evening took place in the Preliminary Heats.  Let me say once again: Pelican Park has The Best Club Racing Format in the World ™.  Each heat is an independent, complete race.  The cars all start at the start/finish line, they all hit the first turn together.  There is a winner and a loser and finishing order (but not lap count) makes a difference.  So the racers battle for position even if they have no hope of winning the heat.  That said, one bad preliminary heat doesn't spoil your race the way it can when racing for cumulative total laps.

 

And the Semi-Mains had the most exciting racing of the entire evening.  I did not take pictures of the fields for the Semis, but they were hotly contested, down to the wire races with multiple lead changes.... bringing us to the finals:

 

The Consi:

In the red lane is Bob's black #4 1957 Ford.  Bob raced in my Semi-Main, and it looked for a while like he was going to win a transfer to the Main... he was certainly fast enough.  But his luck turned sour mid-race, and he wound up in the Consi.

Tom's blue #13 Thunderbird was also in my Semi and also had a shot at the transfer.  But he finished third and also went to the Consi.  The T-Bird is a big body for the class, but it fits on a big-Nascar chassis, so what it gives up in quickness, it gets back in handling.

 

In the blue lane is Leo's #0 day-glo Buick?  Olds?  Dodge?  I don't know what the heck it is, but it's bright as hell.  It was fast too, but must have had issues, or maybe bad luck, because Leo normally does better.  (Is not our luck truly of our own making, Grasshopper?)

And in the yellow lane is Paul's very cool looking AMX... a smaller car; quick but not as good in the corners as some.

 

Bob won the Consi in the red lane, Tom 2nd in white, Paul 3rd in yellow, Leo 4th in blue.  Leo drops down to fill out the Hooligan field.

 

The Hooligan:

Here we find Leo's day-glow #0 in the red lane.

Next to it, in the white lane, is Todd's black #14 Dodge Sportsman.  Last time we raced this class, Todd drove this car to  3rd place in the Main.  This evening the Racing gods have stuck him in the Hooligan.  So go our fortunes.

 

Deke's red/yellow Chevelle drew the blue lane.  Deke's car held promise early on, but a broken body necessitated a body-switch, and the car never handled the same.  Deke was grumbling about, "shoulda stayed home and watched a movie".  FORGET THAT.  Watch a movie some other night.  On Wednesdays we RACE.

And in the yellow lane is Dave's funky old Rambler riding on what was once my original jalopy chassis.  I don't know if it was out of whack somehow, or if Dave was just pushing it beyond its limits, but it was crashing all evening.  Chances are the front-end clearance is screwed up by now.  DAVE - remind me to show you how I set that up.

 

Hooligan final: Leo 1st in red, Todd 2nd in white, Deke 3rd in blue, Dave 4th in yellow.

 

The Main Event:

In the red lane is Basil's red 1966 GTO.  Basil won his Semi Main, in the blue lane.  And he won his qualifying race in a single try, in the yellow lane.  Now he's in the red lane... we shall see how that goes.

In the white lane is Cully's purple Chevelle.  Cully and James had already raced together twice this evening, each winning once.  Together again in adjacent lanes... in the two most evenly matched lanes.... this held promise for a good race.

 

In the blue lane is James' 1969 Z-28 Camaro.  Although my Camaro is a former Main Event winner, the last time we raced Dirt Modifieds, I wound up in the Consi.  It was my own fault.  The handling was a little "off", and I didn't check it out before the Semi.  So I need to make a good showing in this evening's Main, to redeem myself.

And in the yellow lane is Mike's orange Road Runner.  Mike is a real competitor.  He doesn't usually have the fastest car on the track, but that man can focus.  Mike will dog you for the entire race, just waiting for you to slip up.  Many times I have seen him slip past the leader when they screw up, and Mike takes the win.  Gotta keep an eye on that guy.

 

The race: When the power comes on, it's always a question of who gets to the corner first.  If I am not in front by the Carousel corner, (the deadman), I will often back off rather than go into the twisties in a pack.  This time I had the lead, so I pushed on and pulled away from the field.  Within a lap or two, I heard some "crashin" and from the corner of my eye saw a marshal hand Cully his car... broken in two.  Cully pulled his controller and retired.  Bummer.

 

Mike, in second place, was the only other racer still on the lead lap and he was only a "donut" in front of me.  My car was faster, so it was no problem to get on his tail.  We were in adjacent lanes, blue and yellow, so passing his big, loose Plymouth was risky business.  Mike was pushing, trying to avoid going a lap down.  I made occasional half-hearted runs at an inconsequential pass, but nothing too serious.  We were just having fun.  The outcome of the race was already settled.

 

Main Event final: James 1st in blue, Mike 2nd in yellow, Basil 3rd in red, Cully DNF in white.

 

The previous Dirt Modified race can be seen here (post 115):

http://slotblog.net/...y-racing/page-3

[n9949y]

Because we Pelican Park racers are so polished and experienced just a slight bobble or tiny set up error can chage a racer's results from one race to the next- oh, and a little bit of luck, good or bad, can bestow fortune or not. I didn't set my pick braids correctly, so at a couple of turns wasn't getting full track power-oops, slower laps-to the Hooligan.

 

Will miss the 1:24 Gran Sports race (1960-70 closed cockpit prototypes) this upcoming week as I'm off to the UK for the Goodwood Revival, perhaps the greatest vintage event in the world, to see 1:1 Gran Sports cars racing.

 

Last year's starting grid for the 1 -1/2 hr Whitsun Trophy race. 28 Ford GT-40's entered, some driven by veteran Le Mans and F-1 stars. so the racing was fast and furious, and not with some bent and battered bodies at the end. Just amazing!  Adrian Newey, the Chief Engineer for the famed Red Bull F-1 team drove his white w/red stripe machine to a sound win.

 

 

Vintage cars, vintage outfits, too

[James Wendel]

Hey, Todd... I didn't realize it at first, but that's you in the vintage garb, isn't it?  Very dapper looking chap, I dare say!

 

When you get back, you should start a new topic in the 1:1 section and post pictures and narrative of your trip.

[n9949y]

Great idea, James. I'll set up a new topic in the 1:1 section and post pictures and narrative of the trip.

 

I'm leaving my DSLR home- too much to haul around for this old guy. I did bring a huge volume thumb drive which I will use to download son David's really good DSLR photos. I'm carrying a small Samsung ST72 which will fit tidely in one of the waistcoat pockets.

 

This year I'll endeavor to watch from the other side of the track!

[James Wendel]

Okay - way behind on postings, so quick and dirty (simplified) catch-up reports

  (photos courtesy of Leo's phone - thanks, Leo)

 

9/09/2015 - Grand Sport - 12 racers

 

The Consi

Left to right: Cully, Mike, Bob, Tom

 

Consi Final: Bob 1st in blue, Tom 2nd in yellow, Mike 3rd in white, Cully 4th in red

 

The Hooligan

Left to right: Dave (loaner car from Bob), Basil, Greg, Paul

 

 

Hooligan final: Basil1st in white, Paul 2nd in yellow, Dave 3rd in red, Greg 4th in blue

 

The Main Event

Left to right: Paul P, James, Leo, Deke

 

 

Main final: Deke 1st in yellow, Leo 2nd in blue, James 3rd in white, Paul 4th in red

 

Congratulations to Deke on the win with his Porsche 906

(I'll get you next time)

 

[James Wendel]

9/16/2015 - Super Stock  10 racers

 

The Consi

Leo, Bob, Tom, Mike

 

Consi final: Bob 1st in white, Leo 2nd in red, Tom 3rd in blue, Mike 4th in yellow

  Tom and Mike join the Hooligans to fill out the grid.

  Tom's car had mechanical issues, so he gave up his hooligan spot to 2nd place Leo.

 

The Hooligan

Dave, Leo, Paul, Mike

 

 

Hooligan final: Paul 1st in blue, Leo 2nd in white, Mike 3rd in yellow, Dave 4th in red

 

The Main Event

Basil, Greg, Cully, James   (I believe this was Greg's 1st Main Event since his return to racing on a regular basis)

 

 

Main Event final: James 1st in yellow, Cully 2nd in blue, Basil 3rd in red, Greg 4th in white.

Cully had the race handily won, but insisted on giving it away at the end, cause he's just that generous. 

  What a nice guy!!

 

[James Wendel]

9/23/2015 - Trans-Am  12 racers

 

The Consi

Bob S, Bob H, Deke, Basil

 

 

Consi Final: Bob Hanna 1st in white, Basil 2nd in yellow, Deke 3rd in Blue, Bob S. 4th in red

 

The Hooligan

Dave, Tom, Greg, Mike

 

 

Hooligan Final: Mike 1st in yellow, Tom 2nd in white, Dave 3rd in red, Greg 4th in blue

 

The Main Event

Cully, James, Leo, Todd

 

 

Main Event Final: Cully 1st in red, James 2nd in white, Leo 3rd in blue, Todd 4th in yellow

 

Bonus Feature: Cully's Main Event winner, the Smokey Yunick Camaro

 

 

 

 

 

[James Wendel]

Sept. 30, 2015 - GTO: Contemporary GT cars, 1975 to present. 

High performance, production based, hardtop sports cars.

I brought two cars to the track; On the right, my ungodly-orange, multiple-Main-Event-winning Ferrari Italia 458,

  and on the left, my new, never before raced Lamborghini Diablo in 1/25th scale.

 

Heavy truck traffic on I-5 and slow service at the newly remodeled McDonald's (they've taken the fast out of fast-food) caused me to arrive at Pelican just minutes before the 8pm start.  In fact I missed-out on the drawing for lane assignments, which made me lucky driver #13... that meant I had to sit out the first three preliminary heats, then race against the three 2nd place finishers.

 

Before the racing began, I had just enough time to run a few quick laps with my two cars.  I settled on the tried and true Ferrari as it is more forgiving at the limit.  Deke was also still testing his cars and he was clearly not feeling well.  His cars were also not right, so I offered him the use of my virgin Diablo, which he gratefully accepted.

 

The bar has been raised: Leo and Basil have retired their mid-20th-century-tech Parma resister controllers and are now sporting new Defalco Genesis controllers.  No learning curve here; they each won their 1st race of the evening. 

 

After the prelims and the semis, we get down to the finals:

 

The Hooligan:

Hooligan grid: Paul, Dave, Mike, and Tom.  Amazingly, there were two blue Bugatti EB110s in the lineup.  Stranger still, there was a third Bugatti, Greg's car, but he didn't make the finals and I neglected to get a photo of his car.

 

 

Hooligan final: Tom 1st in yellow, Mike 2nd in blue, Dave 3rd in white, Paul 4th in red

 

The Consi:

Consi grid: Deke, Cully, Paul P, Leo

 

 

Consi final: Leo 1st in yellow, Deke 2nd in red, Paul 3rd in blue, Cully 4th in white.

 

The Main Event:

Main Event grid: Basil in red, James in white, Bob in blue, Todd in yellow

 

 

Main Event final: Basil 1st in red, Bob 2nd in blue, Todd 3rd in yellow, James 4th in white

I think that I need to build a lower profile body.

 

Race heat worksheet:

 

Bonus Feature: The little devil, 1/25th Lamborghini Diablo (by AMT)

 

 

 

[n9949y]

James' Lamborghini Diablo driven by Deke in red lane on way to 3rd place in heat one. Photo shot by

Todd with his DSLR Canon Rebel XT, 1/50th, f7, no flash.

 

[James Wendel]

10/14/2015 - NASCAR   1980 to present.  Sealed Super-16 motors, Parma or ProSlot.

Nine racers were on hand.  Missing were Deke, Dave, and Greg.  Out-of-towners Bob S. and James were here, but not Paul P. or Bob H.  Paul L. raced the preliminary heats, but had to get up early the next day, so he left at the break.  So... only eight for the finals.  No Hooligan race this week.

 

The Consi

Mike in red, Tom in white, Basil in blue, and Leo in yellow

 

Mikes car suffered the dreaded Hanna Achilles break in the semis.  An eleventh-hour repair was necessary to get Mike back on the track for the Consi race.

 

Leo was top qualifyer in the preliminaries: the only racer to sweep his heats.  But a gear failure in his Semi-Main relegated him to the Consi.  Basil was also fast in the Prelims, tied for third with James.  But Basil drew the red lane in his Semi and finished third to James and Cully.

 

Consi final: Leo 1st in yellow, Basil 2nd in blue, Tom 3rd in white, Mike 4th in red.

 

The Main Event

 

Bob in red with a different T-Bird than last time, James in white, Todd in blue, Cully in yellow.

Bob had an excellent preliminary series, finishing second in points.  He split with James in their two meetings and had single victories over Cully and Basil. 

Cully finished uncharacteristically fifth in the prelims, suffering some minor gear issues and from his position in the rotation next to Leo, who was burning up the track.

 

Todd, in the blue lane, seemed slightly bemused that Leo's misfortune in his Semi-main had landed Todd a spot in the Main Event.  Todd's preliminary results had not been up to his usual competitive level.  He finished the Prelims tied for last with just two points.

 

In the opening lap, Cully deslotted (I don't know how) giving the field nearly a half lap head start.  James and Bob in adjacent white and red lanes were closely matched for speed and diced for several laps until contact in the donut took both cars out.  Todd's car hit the wreckage before it was cleared....  Once things were sorted, Cully had the lead and was pulling away from the field, Bob was in second with a comfortable lead over Todd and James.

 

Todd stayed clear of the faster cars allowing pursuit, but the order remained unchanged among the top three.

 

Main Event Final: Cully 1st in yellow, Bob 2nd in red, James 3rd in white, Todd 4th in blue.

 

 

The Winner

 

Attached Images

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[James Wendel]

October 28, 2015 - Jalopy class; 1936-1948 American sedans.  I think of these cars as emblematic of Pelican Park racing.  They have been the model of choice for the annual Turkey Night  enduro.  When I started racing hardbodies in 2010, the Jalopy was one of my first builds.  They look cool and are a little difficult to drive fast... that makes for interesting, fun racing.

 

And I have a fast car with a distinctive look:

For a close-up look at the chassis of this car, see post #25 above.

 

Eleven racers turned up this evening, although Paul announced that he had to leave at the break.  Seems that he had a big day scheduled for Thursday: a series of examinations for a job application.  I hope that went well for you, Paul. 

 

We decided to run the preliminary heats Basil's Way, despite the usual ten racer limit.  All good for me, since Rich's Thursday morning race was postponed, so I can sleep-in. 

 

Memorable highlights of the Preliminaries included Todd squeezing out the last couple of laps of a heat race on a failing plastic crown gear.  I examined it after the race and the teeth were worn to mere nubbins.  In another heat, James (that's me) deslotted in the bank, my car coming to rest near the end of the top straight.  Corner-marshal Mike had to wheel his chair backwards around the corner to reach the car while I silently ground my teeth.  (Good job, Mike!) 

 

And that brings us to the finals:

The Consi:

Left to right: Cully, Bob, Todd, and Tom.  Unusual to see both Cully and Todd in the Consi.  Both finished the Preliminaries in the top four, but the Slot Car gods can be cruel. 

 

Cully drew the yellow lane in Semi-1 with James, Leo, and Tom.  This evening the yellow lane was generally regarded as a bit tight for jalopies, and Cully's '48 Chevy is on the narrow side.  A 3rd place finish in the Semi put him in the Consi.

 

Todd was leading in Semi-2, when his car stopped dead.  It took the corner marshal at least a lap discover the cause of the problem: a piece of lane tape stuck to Todd's pick-up braid.  Todd lost his chance at the Main event, and the Slot-gods laughed at his misfortune.

 

The Consi race: after the power came on for the opening lap, all four cars hit the bank in a tight group.  Tom's car in the inside lane clipped Todd's car just enough to cut it loose, taking out the other two racers as well.  Tom pressed on alone and had a solid half lap lead before the remainder of the field was back on track and in pursuit.

 

Consi final: Cully won in the red lane.... only the 2nd win from red all evening.  Tom, whose car was fast and smooth all evening was second in yellow.  Bob was third in white, Todd 4th in blue... this time tripped up by a piece of lead stuck to his guide.  The Slot-gods were crackin'-up.

 

Todd and Bob drop down to fill out the field in the Hooligan and another chance at glory.

 

The Hooligan:

Left to right: Dave, Todd, Bob, and Deke.

 

This race had the closest racing during the opening dozen-or-so laps that I have ever witnessed at Pelican... or anywhere else for that matter.  All four cars blazed around the track in tight formation, never more that a car's length distance between the ever-changing leader and the rear-most car.

 

Eventually a car deslotted, and another soon after.  The field spread out and it became a more typical race, but man-oh-man, they were a closely matched set of cars & drivers.... Great Racing... even in the Hooligan.

 

Hooligan final: Todd wins a victory in white and a donut, Dave 2nd with my ex-Plymouth from the red lane, Deke 3rd in yellow, and Bob 4th in blue.

 

The Main Event:

Left to right: Mike, James, Basil, and Leo

 

Mike in red, was 7th qualifier (3-way tie), but won his Semi after Todd's problems.  Basil in blue, was 5th qualifier (tie with Tom)

 

Leo in the yellow lane was 4th qualifier, but had the disadvantage of racing the preliminaries next to James, who swept his preliminary heats.  #1 

 

The race confirmed that James' sweep was no fluke.  He drove away from the field with little difficulty.  Mike drove a steady race in the red lane, stayed out of trouble and finished 2nd

 

Main Event final: James 1st in white, Mike 2nd in red, Basil 3rd in blue, Leo 4th in yellow.

 

[rvec]

Nice finish James. Always a tough crowd at Pelican

[n9949y]

Congrats, James. Nice to see the Wed Nite Winners trophy spread round.

 

Part of  Pelican Park's magic is its one of the few 1/24th tracks tracks containing lots of scenery.

[James Wendel]

"Congrats, James. Nice to see the Wed Nite Winners trophy spread round."

 

Thanks, Todd.  Somebody has to keep Cully from winning every week.  

Next week is your turn.  The Monza class is rather your domain.  I am tempted to drive up just to see if I can't knock you off of the Monza throne. 

 

(But I have other races that I really need to be prepping for.)

[James Wendel]

November 25, 2015 - The Annual Pelican Park Turkey Night Team Endurance Race

 

Since the dawn of time, the Jalopy class has been raced in the Thanksgiving-Eve, Pelican Park enduro.   But Jalopies are the worst handling of all the classes run at Pelican, which sometimes results in massive carnage, especially in team race with a mix of less experienced drivers.

 

This year, the group voted to run the Dirt Modified class for the first time ever on a Turkey night.  The locals and "regular guests" gathered for an evening of racing and Pot-Luck eats.  This year we had only fourteen racers on four teams.  One car per team.  Twelve minute heats with three minute pitstops between heats.

 

Team leaders were selected as the Main Event qualifiers of the previous week's "warm-up" race: Tom, Leo, Cully, and Bob S.  I missed that week's race, so my name went into the drawing with the other "regular racers".  "Bad Bob" McFarlin's name also went into the "regular" pool, as he used to be a dominant force on the Pelican track.... Although he hasn't raced here for quite some time.

 

After the drawing and the assignment of the two "once-a-year" guest drivers, Jonny and Aaron, the teams looked like this:

 

The Teams:

 Tom, James, Dave, Jonny

 Leo, Mike, "Bad Bob", Aaron

 Cully, Basil, Greg

 Bob S, Deke, Paul Painter

 

The Cars

L to R:  James' Camaro (Team Tom), Bob's 1957 Fairlane, Leo's Olds, Cully's new 1962 Impala

 

Despite being the only 1/24th car in the field, the Camaro is smaller that it's 1/25th scale competition.

 

Cully's car would have gotten my vote for concours winner.  It appears nearly black, but is actually a deep emerald green.  Note the full roll-cage.

 

Photos were taken at the mid-race break, after eight, 12-minute heats.

 

I don't know if the damage to the number 11 on the door was a result of race collisions, or if it was "Cully the modeler" intentionally adding tire-rub detail to the body.

 

Bob's Fairlane got the Concours award from Master Modeler (and Concours Judge), Deke.  I am sure that Deke drew upon his experience as a former circle-track driver in making his choice. 

 

Bob's car had lost it's front bumper by this point in the race.

 

My Camaro wasn't in the running for concours. 

 

Tom, our team leader agreed that the Camaro was easier to drive than his car... thus a better choice for long heats.

 

Thus far, the car had lost both ends of it's rear bumper

 

Leo's car was also a "Plain-Jane", but in BRIGHT red, it was easy to see on the track.

 

The long tail on this car makes it harder to pass.... Ask me how I know that, Mike.

 

Final Result: Team Tom 1st with 2,446 laps, Bob S. 2nd, Cully 3rd, Leo 4th

 

Big Dog Award (most laps in a single heat)... Dave of Team Tom.  Dave was in top form this evening. 

  Great job, Dave!

 

Good food, good friends, and slot car racing !!!

[James Wendel]

Turkey Night - after the party's over

 

The winning car... lost a bit of paint off the nose.

 

Lost more than paint off the tail

 

The crowd found it highly amusing to gather up all the little bits and pieces

 

The "authoritative verdict" was that the car could continue to race if I attached the largest piece...

   It's taped to the trunk lid.

 

Nearly all the damage was done in the 12th heat.  The car survived four more 12 minute heats in this condition to take the win.

 

I hope to glue it all together again to race another day... assuming I have enough pieces.