Despite terrible weather that kept at least 4 racers away and sickness that kept another 6 away we managed a total of 87 entries. For many it was their first time at Tom Thumb Hobbies as they prepped for next months R4/9. So many new faces is great to see. Hopefully they all had a great time and we made them feel at home. We are looking forward for their return for the R4 in March.
It was a tough weekend for ownership, staff, and racers as we mourned the loss of a great friend and racer, Jim Nolen. Jim was an avid racer and he spent all of his free time before his passing getting ready for this race and the coming R4. We reserved his pit-spot one last time and displayed his slot box as well as some of the bodies he had painted and prepared. We also displayed a few magazines showing some of his past triumphs while racing. In addition Steve Koepp painted an incredible body that was included with the flower arrangement and a original oil painting that was included in his funeral and displayed at the raceway. Jason Engel also had some "Nolen" stickers printed that were on most, if not all, the cars.
As a final tribute I finished his GTC car and it was entered into the race. Myself and six of his closest friends each drove one ceremonial lap. I drove the first and the last heat with Jessica McMasters, Rick Starkey, Kyle Snyder, Jim Leezer. Eric Balicki, and Jim Fetherolf driving the others. I'm proud to say that Jim's car lead the first lap of the first heat in Jim's final race.
How much did Jim Nolen love slot car racing? It was requested that he be buried in a Tom Thumb Hobbies T-shirt. And he was. I was incredibly touched and honored.
The racing was fast, and in most cases, close. Willy Custer won GTC with 289, Cap Henry had 288, and Dave Simerka finished with 287. Willy also TQ'd with 4.672. Jeremy Wyant was the B Main winner and Bill Fulmer won the C Main.
Willy Custer won (296 laps) and TQ'd Can-Am with a new track record of 4.534. Tom Adams finished second with 292 and Ross Scharf took third with 290. Most of Willy's race laps were faster than the previous track record. Eric Shirey won the B Main, Eli Ezrow the C Main, and Elmo Vallance the D Main.
Cap Henry, who almost seems to "own" F1 here, took the victory once again with 287 laps. Willy managed a second with 283 and Dave Simerka got his second third place of the day with 282. Cap was also TQ with a 4.741 lap. Rick Starkey won the B Main, Bill Fulmer the C Main, and Mike Stuchel the D Main.
Full results and details are available HERE and a link to Bill Fulmer pictures from the weekend is HERE.
Thank you to all that came. We hope we gave you a reason to return.
Thanks to Bill Fulmer for the pictures and the help in tech, and Eric Balicki, who didn't feel well enough to race but came anyway to share race directing duties with me. Rick Starkey, Jim Leezer, and Mike Denney for helping prep. Connie Denney for the baked goodies. Tina "Sugar Momma" Boykin for her baked goodies, awesome salads and, along with Sherri Leezer, helping serve the hungry crowd.
Of course I need to thank Kyle Snyder and my daughter Jessica for all they do before, during, and after these race weekends. Without their help we could not pull these off.
Lastly I must thank my beautiful wife who works her butt off year round at the store. But especially hard during these races. She plans, preps, cooks the food, handles most of the track maintenance, and does the job of ten making sure that the front of the store keeps going while we race in the back. The warm-up race is almost always on or near the date of our anniversary. This year we were "privileged" to spend our 28th anniversary with a bunch of smelly slot racers. Is that a good wife or what??
Hope to see you all at the R4/9 in March and the ORS final race in April at Tri-State Raceway.
