156 replies to this topic

[TG Racing]

Bill has bailed me out more than once. Priceless!!

[Cheater]

Let me heap some more praise on Mr. Fulmer. He always shares his R4 photos with me when I ask; several of the concours car pics in this thread came from Bill.

 

And since I was not in the raceway most of the day on Thursday, I couldn't get any shots of Steve Koepp's paint seminar, so Bill furnished the pics shown below.

 

 

 

 

[Cheater]

Here's a pic of Bill Fulmer doing his photog thing at the R4 tech table. Notice that he's moving his hands so fast the camera couldn't stop his motion!

 

 

And here's a gentleman many may not recognize, as he hasn't attended an R4 in the flesh since the first couple of races. However, he has been there just about every year since in spirit and... in screenprint, having produced the R4 poster and T-shirt artwork for about the last half dozen years.

 

This is the talented artist Mike Patterson, of Zanesville, OH, a master of ancient graphics software and archaic computer hardware.

 

[Cheater]

The lovely Tina Boykin let me copy the SD card from her camera and between us we literally have hundreds of candid shots that if posted would quickly become repetitive and boring.
 
Here's a few selected pics of Tina's that are worth posting, some for their nice composition and some for the people shown.
 
Every year the R4 is blessed with two of the best race directors ever to push a track call button.
 
Eric Balicki is one of the most informative race directors there is, with a fairly wicked sense of humor. I'm still wondering how he counts down to the heat start in perfect synchronization with the lap counter's recorded voice. Tina's photo composition skills are superb, as illustrated with this image.
 

 
Then there's this guy, trackowner and R4 creator Mike McMasters, who's pretty much all business when he's in the chair with the mic in his hand. Even the nearby presence of granddaughter Avery won't deter him from doing a difficult job right, in a fair, extremely competent, and sometimes insistent manner. Not sure he really needs to use a microphone most of the time... LOL!
 

 
Not sure what class or race this is, but just love the concentration of the racers' faces. 
 

 
And what we have here is most of the group someone tagged "Lazy Locals," although that's a misnomer if ever there was one, as anyone at the R4 would attest. Not sure if this is actually all of the LLs, but from L to R, front row, it's Jim Fetheroff, Jim 'Tater" Leezer, Jessica McMasters (Avery's mom), Rick Starkey, and Eric Balicki; back row, Kyle Snyder (Jess's man), and, in non-R4 mufti, local Steve Johnson, attending his very first R4.
 

 
One of the real characters who has raced in many of the R4s is Ohio's Al Rutti. As Al will probably admit, he's just, well... a little different kind of slot racer. First of all, he drives using a trigger controller operated by thumb. Second, his intensity when he's racing is often off the charts, which a video would show more clearly than a still pic. Al perspires very freely when it's not below freezing, as it was during much of this year's R4, and I'd bet he leaves a small puddle where he stood after each heat. One of these days, some racer next to him is going to hook up while wearing a rain coat and everyone in the raceway will dissolve in laughter, probably to include Al himself.
 

 
One final candid showing the zen of slot racing, Rutti in center flanked by Rick Starkey, left, who at the R4 probably had just about the best of weekend of racing in his life, and on the right, Murfreesboro, TN's Will Brinkley, ditto as to his results at a big race.
 

 
Thanks again to Tina for sharing her images with me to post here.
 
Unless I locate something I simply can't resist posting, this is the end of Slotblog's 2017 R4/10 coverage. With the great screenshots from Carsteen's LapMaster program, it should be absolutely clear how unbeliveably competitive and intense was the racing at this event after ten years a-building. Hope the coverage was also able to impart the comaraderie and incredible fun and enjoyment experienced by virtually everyone who attended this year's tenth anniversary Retro Revival Reunion Race.
 
It's an old cliche, but you shoulda been here if you weren't!

[Mike Patterson]

Greg,

I was there last year, and raced F1. I was there the year before that and raced F1. This is the first year I didn't race at least one class.

[Cheater]

Mike,

I stand corrected. Sorry for the misinformation.

[Ricky Vegas]

Really amazing coverage of this year's R4. Thank you for everything that was posted for us spectators!