245 replies to this topic

[Jeff Cox]

I see on the weekly email that I get from Bill Pinch that next week at P-1 Raceway there will be a My Series general meeting, is this a rules meeting to get this ironed out and if so why hasn't it been mentioned anywhere in this thread?

 

On a side note as I have been serving as tech director for at least the last 6 or 7 years I have not been aware of any kind of rules or competition comitte meetings for at least 2 years, although there have been rule changes and new classes added since then.

 

Jeff Cox

[DOCinCanton]

I was talking to someone recently, I forget who. However, during the next race at Winter Garden, it was suggested to have a My Series directors (with drivers present) meeting after the JK Indy car race but before the endurance race.  Bill should be coming; he has the hand out motors. Someone needs to tell Greg about it.

[DOCinCanton]

Ralph, look at my proposal in post #90. Your scheme of running two car class by only changing thr body is between #2 and #3......

 

As others have said above, I would prefer to have an interior in the Nascar cars.  We can easily remove the requirement for the front axle & wheels and put a wheel sticker on it for all flexi car classes.

 

Also, the ground clearance is a matter for the track owners to decide. In the history of slot cars, when racers control the rules, the ground clearance has always been reduced in the vain of going 0.02 seconds faster.   

[Jeff Cox]

I was talking to someone recently, I forget who. However, during the next race at Winter Garden, it was suggested to have a My Series directors (with drivers present) meeting after the JK Indy car race but before the endurance race.  Bill should be coming; he has the hand out motors. Someone needs to tell Greg about it.

Once again here lies the problem, complete lack of comunication between the directors and the racers.

 

Jeff Cox

[Ralph Thorne]

Doc, you can't just change a body and go race in your class #2 and #3 because you want to run 3 different motors between the the two classes. OSS is only interested in running one motor.

If you want to run an interior you can. It's not required that you don't have one, just a racers option.

The .050 clearance we use is more than the current USRA minimum and the same as GRRR. What's the issuse? Is GRRR not allowed to race at tracks because their cars are too low?

[DOCinCanton]

Any racer by simply changing the body can race in car class #2 then #3. Only the JK Retro Hawk motor is allowed. I dont understand your problem with seeing this. Ralph, you did not read my proposal. Go back and read post #90. If you do, you will see that I am correct.

 

And if the racer wants to continue racing his only flexi car, he/she could simply change the body again and compete in a third race.  I am thinking that this is what separates my proposal from the OSS. A racer can actually run 3 races with the same flexi car. Very inexpensive racing.

 

The interior topic: either its required by the rules or not. A racer will not use an interior unless its required. Again, this is  racer thing about going 0.02 seconds (or more) faster a lap.

 

The clearance is a matter for the track owners to decide collectively, as I said above. That will never change. The track owners own the track, right. Its up to them.

[Ralph Thorne]

I just don't see the need for 3 different motor choices.

Good luck and happy racing whatever a Florida decides.

[DOCinCanton]

The GTP car class could be limited to just the Hawk 7. However, I would prefer the Hawk 6, and the RH, the RH for continuity from #2 to #3 to #4. Less expensive racing than the OSS.

[Danny Zona]

The problem with the hawk 6 arm, from what I hear from motor builders.

I know My Series rules don't allow this but how can it be truly detected?

The arm is easy to advance the timing.
The arm is easy to dewind.
We are allowed to balance the arm. So that means cut tip balancing can be done.

Just another reason for FK style motors, IMO.

[DOCinCanton]

Danny, Thats good information; kind of knowledge we need to consider when deciding on next year's My Series rules. Maybe we are right. Hawk 7 and RH in GTP.

[Jay Guard]

This is all good honest discussion, but let's remember that a BIT of compromise can go a long way to make something great for EVERYONE.

[DOCinCanton]

I agree with you Jay. Tthere has been no comprimise from the other side, whereas there is compromise in my proposal.

[Danny Zona]

On my hawk 6 arm post.

I don't believe anybody has done any of those things. I doubt anybody in our group would.

It's just a possibility that it could happen.

[CoastalAngler1]

Treasury should give Jeff a flexi roller with a bullet RH, Kelly Retro tires, and a Kelly Daytona body if he runs flexi 2016...he is getting the short end of the arm shaft and I'm sorry for that.  Jeff deserves a 5 foot high trophy for dealing with MYS chaos.   

 

Add an incentive for the tech director in 2016

Add incentives to improve the program

Ditch the name, start fresh, give a prize for the winner of the new name contest.

Set new goals - increase racer count should be priority one!

[Michael Rigsby]

On my hawk 6 arm post.

I don't believe anybody has done any of those things. I doubt anybody in our group would.

It's just a possibility that it could happen.

 

I do know of one racer that did run a motor in LMP with an advanced comm.  He had to withdraw before the race ended because the motor went south, and the only way I knew about it was he told me what he did. He was fast in the race and did qualify very well.  So yeah, the possibility exists and it's up to racer's honesty and integrity, but if you go to  the same sealed motor (Retro Hawk) in all classes, that pretty much goes away. It's like the army, they give you a lock to put on your foot locker to keep honest people honest.

[Michael Rigsby]

Don't worry no matter what happens the number of retro races will not diminish.

 

This is the best part of this whole discussion to me.

[tonyp]

Anytime you can work on the motor, people will cheat, or at least the though will run through their head. RH eliminates that.

[Twisted Metal]

After getting caught up on all of these posts last night i'm glad to see the progress that has been made to date. All of the communications and compromise in making it easier for Florida slot car racers to be competitive in a Florida series while keeping racers costs down would be huge. There are a lot of great flexi car racers in this state that i feel would come out to compete if the rules were kept simple as being discussed. By going with just the RH motors for NASCAR & GTP the competition will be a lot closer and more fun for all of the racers. And the best part, all of this can be done on a low budget. Fast Eddie's Raceway will be switching over to the RH motors in January for both the NASCAR & GTP classes. 

I am more that willing to hold any of the Florida My Series or Outlaw Series races on my tracks in the upcoming year but have not heard from anyone to date for further discussions. Looking forward to all of these rules being worked out and the future of slot car racing in Florida.

[Danny Zona]

After getting caught up on all of these posts last night i'm glad to see the progress that has been made to date. All of the communications and compromise in making it easier for Florida slot car racers to be competitive in a Florida series while keeping racers costs down would be huge. There are a lot of great flexi car racers in this state that i feel would come out to compete if the rules were kept simple as being discussed. By going with just the RH motors for NASCAR & GTP the competition will be a lot closer and more fun for all of the racers. And the best part, all of this can be done on a low budget. Fast Eddie's Raceway will be switching over to the RH motors in January for both the NASCAR & GTP classes. 
I am more that willing to hold any of the Florida My Series or Outlaw Series races on my tracks in the upcoming year but have not heard from anyone to date for further discussions. Looking forward to all of these rules being worked out and the future of slot car racing in Florida.

I've talked with Greg a while back and we want to run nascar and gtp with retro hawk motors also. He is willing to host an Outlaw race if it was ever to get started.

We are working on building up some locals and start racing, hopefully. I have a few young guns lined up. We have a couple Jacksonville racers wanting to race also.

[DOCinCanton]

A little philosophy here. I think what Ralph has done with the Outlaw rules and organizing a new series is awesome. He diffinately has my respect for doing so.  ​ However, we need to realize that Ralph started from a clean slate because there was no organized racing at the time. No carry-over. Therefore, there was no baggage.

 

With the My Series series, it has been continuous for many years. My Series grew out of on older series back in 2008 (maybe). For the last 7 years or so, the My Series format has been run in Florida going through many changes as it kept up with motors and bodies and other issues.  (I have personally experienced this since 2010.) With My Series, there has been a lot of carry-over and baggage.  I am sure that the directors of My Series will come up with a reasonable set of car classes and rules for 2016.

[Half Fast]

Guys-

 

Let me congratulate all on this thoughtful, civil and useful discussion on all sides. Slot car racing in Florida will be the better for it, regardless of the outcome.

 

Cheers

[Michael Jr.]

A moment for education: Help me to understand why the RH seems to be a favorite over a traditional 16D by Proslot or some other manufacturer.
I'm fairly new compares to virtually everyone reading this but thus far....I've understood the 16D to be the foundational motor for 1:23 and 1:32 flexi racing.
I know Parma is offline with this but there's plenty others out there.

Not a relevant point for your series. But I need some training on this issue. I don't need to end up the one guy in the US using 16D for everything.

[Michael Rigsby]

Very simple, Michael.  16D technology should have died off about 25 years ago and been replaced by C can motors, but thanks to Parma, it just never went away.  

 

Enter the Retro Hawk, a much improved version of the Falcon 7 with better quality, a tied comm, better bushings, magnets and brushes, and performance on par with a 16D.  Given two matching cars, both with the same chassis, body, quality components, with the only difference being the motor, eight times out of ten the Retro Hawk powered car will beat the 16D in a flexi simply because of the lighter weight, and slightly lower center of gravity since it's smaller.

 

Granted you can buy cheap Pro Slot sealed 16D  motors, but you have to go through several to get a good one and overall quality is just not there anymore.  Retro Hawks, once properly broken in, either by water method, or on a power supply, are pretty dang equal, and most people can get up to five or six races of a motor with good treatment.

 

In Florida in the My Series, we had a special tagged American made arm made by Pro Slot, marked FL16D, with fixed 30 degree comm timing.  When they first came out, the quality was very, very good, then over the years, the quality got worse and the performance very uneven. Now, you may have to buy 10 arms to get two good ones, but even so, it is 30 year old technology that should have been replaced.  For $12.99, you can buy a Retro Hawk, break it in, and go racing, get four to six races out of it, plus some practice, when it loses brakes, buy another one of the shelf , break it in, and put it in the car.

 

Or you can buy 10 $25.99 Pro Slot armatures to get two good performing ones and hope they last a season, then contend with a car thats 10 grams heavier than the guy next to you that's running a Retro Hawk who is eating you alive in the donut. Not to mention the cost of the items that go with a 16D motor program like a magnet matcher, magnet zapper, can tools, bearing installation tools, diamond hones, comm lathe, etc.  You don't have to have a motor program like that.....a simple cheap throw away motor, that doesn't allow tampering and keeps everybody pretty equal is all you need. 

 

This from a guy who had a pretty good 16D and S16D Pro Slot motor program. My box pretty much looked like the picture Danny showed above.  Never again.

[Michael Jr.]

Ok.... I'm nearly convinced. That's why I like this blog. I always learn something.

[CoastalAngler1]

Ask TonyP about this.  He raced and won with 16d motors 40+ years ago.  Retro guys are wise guys...