175 replies to this topic

[Casey Scott]

Congrats, Tom Adams! Nice run in Can-Am.

[Cheater]

Can-Am Final results:

 

 

I have the podium shots in my camera but am too beat to tweak and post them tonight, since we have to be back at the raceway at 7:30 AM. I'm going to add a couple of placeholder posts so as not to have the pics separated from this results post when I post them tomorrow.

 

I don't think I have ever seen a better series of races than what we had today at the R4/9. Check the lap charts to see if you don't feel the same way.

 

Just a couple of comments before hitting the sheets...

 

The closeness of Can-Am qualifying is mind-blowing. The first eight racers' times were covered by .082 seconds, that is, less than a tenth of a second!

 

While the McMasters may hold the title, as it were, to the Tom Thumb American King, Cap Henry is really the person who owns it.

 

The breadth and depth of racing talent at this event exceeds any slot car race I've attended in almost 30 years. Even in the lower Mains, the racing was fierce, hard-fought, and almost insanely close. Many of the participants expressed to me their amazement at the event of which they were a part.

 

Now a question: if the racing under IRRA^® rules at the R4/9 isn't the closest 1/24 slot car racing in the entire history of the hobby, someone needs to inform me just when and where slot racing has ever been more competitive. So many track records, both for laps and lap times, were set today that I've lost count.

Tomorrow is the F1 class and whereas a few racers had to leave tonight, a few more have arrived to run the F1s on the R4/9's last day.

[Cheater]

 
As the power goes off, Cap's face shows obvious relief that he'd been able to prevail in the intense Can-Am final. Second place finisher Willy Custer extends his hand in congratulation.
 
The individual plaques are awarded.
 

 
Will Brinkley, eighth place.
 

 
Ricky Bennardo Jr, seventh place.
 

 
Dave "Shadow" Simerka, sixth place.
 

 
Greg Fox, fifth place.
 

 
Tom Adams, fourth place.
 

 
Bud Bartos, third place.
 

 
Willy Custer, second place.
 

 
Cap Henry, the R4/9 Can-Am champion, now looking very happy with his hard-fought win.
 

 
The full Can-Am Final podium.
 

 
Ricky Bennardo Jr was top qualifier in the Can-Am class.

[Cheater]

The Concours award in Can-Am went to Elijah Kondrath. I must have been elsewhere when he was awarded his plaque, as I didn't get a picture, but Bill Fulmer did and I'll update this post once I can get a pic of the award and the car.

[Cheater]

While the traffic in Columbus is nothing compared to what we have to deal with in Atlanta, there was a small jam in town early this morning at a particular spot on North Wilson Rd, with a decently-long line of cars in the center turn lane waiting to turn into the Tom Thumb parking lot.

 

There was also this swarm of slot car "locusts" gathered at the yet-to-be-unlocked door...

 

[Cheater]

The racing format for today's F1 class is the same as yesterday's Can-Am class.

 

Qualifying, which is starting as I type this, will determine the seeding for a series of Mains, (which are probably more traditionally termed Quarterfinals in 1:1 racing). The top 16 laps totals will be seeded alternately into two Semis. The first four finishers in each Semi will advance to the F1 Final.

 

The entire McMasters family works their butts off to pull off an event of this size, but they couldn't do it without the help of numerous others. Here's just a couple of them.

 

First, of course, is the famous IRRA^® BoD member and 'tech nazi' Joe "Noose" Neumeister. Here's shot of him running the tech table for F1 this morning.

 

 

And another guy who has been providing invaluable assistance at the R4 for many years is Bill Fulmer, who takes all of the car documentation photos for the R4 events. Since I took on that task for the first couple of years along with the event reportage, I especially appreciate Bill's assumption of this important task. I have personal knowledge how much work this is when there are 150+ cars entered...

 

[Cheater]

One of the really nice things the McMasters are doing at this year's race is to place a "tip jar" beside the great food set out for the racers in order to collect donations for the St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, one of the family's favorite charities. Tom Thumb will be matching the donated funds before sending it off.
 
Almost $500 has been raised so far...

[Cheater]

A highlights of the R4 each year is the awarding of the annual "Mac" award, which is given in remembrance of R. H. McMasters, the original proprietor of Tom Thumb Hobbies (and Mike McMasters' father). The criteria is "for contributions to the growth of IRRA^® and Retro racing." The 'Mac' was first awarded in 2008 and it has been awarded every year since then, with the exception of 2013.

 

This year's honoree is Rick Bennardo Sr, who has been tireless in his support of the IRRA^® agenda since its beginning, not only as a racer but as a producer of chassis kits and parts, and innovative, useful tools.

 

Congrats, Mr. Bennardo!

 

 

Mike McMaster's award a delighted Rick with the 2016 Mac award.

 

 

Details of the very classy crystal plaque.

[Cheater]

Group 2 F1 tech has been completed and there is a nice round number of 50 F1 cars entered. Qualifying is still in progress.

[Dennis David]

What an event, matches anything from the golden era.

[John Streisguth]

Congrats to Rick for the 'Mac' award!

[Howie Ursaner]

What an event, matches anything from the golden era.

 

Golden era - 160 entries, pros from every corner of the USA. Not quite the same here.

[Cheater]

I dunno, Howie.

 

There really aren't any slot racing 'Pros' these days. And even in the "golden age' most of the racers at the Arcos and similar races weren't pros, I believe.

 

And in the '60s, there weren't any classes so yes, 160 entries would represent an equal number of racers. Total entries for R4/9 is 162 in three classes, which represents roughly 70 racers.

 

Bottom line for me is that a direct comparison really isn't possible, but Dennis' sentiment isn't much of a stretch.

[Les Boyd]

Fantastic coverage. I can look at both live video and the lap counter.

 

Great coverage, and a great turn-out. WICBT.

[Dennis David]

Not to start an argument and maybe not in numbers or professional sponsorship but I do think it compares in other aspects such as closeness of racing and level of organization.

I wonder how many of the current crop had their traveling expenses taken care of? ;-)

Sorry to interject... A topic for another thread?

[Cheater]

Qualifying for Retro F1 is complete, but again there was a problem merging the two Q sessions into a single file, so it had to be done manually. And I will have to correlate several print-outs to post them here.

 

With the able and welcome assistance of John Miller in sorting and entering the two data sets, here's the Retro F1 qualifying results:

 

1) Cap Henry - 4.678 secs

2) Willy Custer - 4.686

3) Dave "Shadow" Simerka - 4.693

4) Eric Gehrken - 4.709

5) Greg Fox - 4.731

6) Bud Bartos - 4.752

7) Jason Echelbarger - 4.762

8) Ricky Bennardo Jr - 4.766

9) Al Rutti - 4.788

10) Ross Scharf - 4.789

11) Steve Koepp - 4.798

12) Jimmy Williams - 4.809

13) Rick Starkey - 4.821

14) Matt Bruce - 4.831

15) Jeremy Wyant - 4.848

16) George Katzakis - 4.864

17) Jay Guard - 4.878

18) Joe Neumeister - 4.887

19) Jerry "Boogie" Wyant - 4.910

20) Bobby Robinson - 4.958

21) Gary Adams - 4.958

22) Ryan Bruce - 4.968

23) Daren Toman - 5.004

24) Rick Bennardo Sr - 5.026

25) Butch Dunaway - 5.033

26) Mike "Raisin" Garrett - 5.058

27) Mike Denney - 5.060

28) John Miller - 5.063

29) Bob Appelle - 5.068

30) Eric Balicki - 5.072

31) Eric Linsley - 5.073

32) Kyle Snyder - 5.118

33) Alex Stoudinger - 5.128

34) Gary Echelbarger - 5.131

35) A. J. Hoyt - 5.137

36) Scott Hall - 5.153

37) Lester Lucas - 5.159

38) Eli Ezrow - 5.165

39) Earl Graybill - 5.206

40) Greg Krumnow - 5.220

41) Terry Watson - 5.233

42) Jim Leezer - 5.266

43) Steve Deiters - 5.293

44) Steve Davidson - 5.295

45) Mike Patterson - 5.253

46) Bill Fulmer - 5.477

47) Diana Dyckman - 5.482

48) Rowdy Wallins - 5.684

49) Nate Graham - 5.825

50) Elijah Kondrath - 6.010

[Dennis David]

Those pictures of Cap after the race shows he's all in...

[Samiam]

Golden era - 160 entries, pros from every corner of the USA. Not quite the same here.

 
If you prorate the number of raceways/racers then as compared to today's numbers, this event is comparatively as huge.
 
I'm impressed by the level of competition. Lots of big fish in the pond this weekend.

[Dennis David]

Are all the races being held on the King track?

[Cap Henry]

Yes, only track here is the American King.

[Cheater]

Before I start posting the Mains race results, here's sort of a 'public service announcement'...
 

 
Now back to your regularly scheduled program...

[Cheater]

F1 F Main results:

 

Fast lap - Jim Leezer - 5.059 secs

 

[Pablo]

I'm in for $50 for the St. Judes jar. Ready to PayPal it or whatever, let me know.

 

Pablo

[Cheater]

F1 E Main results:

 

Fast lap - Scott Hall - 4.976

 

[Cheater]

F1 D Main results:

 

Fast lap - Mike "Raisin" Garrett - 4.939 secs