21 replies to this topic

[Noose]

Here is a quick recap.
 
Can-Am Plus - 18 entries (record)
 

 
Tebu-san 2nd, Will Brinkley 1st Dom Luongo 3rd
 
 
Stock Cars - 41 entries (record)
 

 
Dom Luongo 2nd, Will Custer 1st, Brian Cochrane 3rd
 
 
GTC-FK - 30 entries (record)
 

 
Jonathan Sohl 2nd, Dom Luongo 1st Jason Bauer 3rd

 
GTC-Pro - 14 entries plus Dom's move-up (Record)
 

 
Dom Luongo 3rd, Joe Chubby Salzman 1st, Will Brinkley 2nd
 
Can-Am - 49 entries (record)
 

 
Will Custer 2nd, Will Brinkley 1st, John Weaver 3rd
 
Formula 1 - 40 entries (record)
 

 
Will Custer 2nd, James Grandi 1st, Joe 'Chubby' Salzman 3rd

[elinsley]

Congrats to all the winners and congrats to Willy, Will, and Dom.

[Tex]

record number of entries abound.... well done!

[Noose]

I'll also note that all track records were broken. 

[JerseyJohn]

And with a 12 dollar JK motor...

Thanks for the speed, Tim!!!

[Mike Patterson]

Thanks for posting this, Joe. It is much appreciated by us out here in the hinterlands.

[Dennis David]

What a palooza!

Will Brinkley had it going on for sure. Love the thought of record turn-outs. Didn't realize Stock Cars were so popular.

Here's a shoutout to all the "also rans," you'll get 'em next time.

[Dennis David]

You ever see a happier guy than James Grandi?

[Noose]

Stock Cars are huge out here. Hardest class, too.

[Brinkley47]

Congrats to the new Don Will Custer. He is definitely one of the best triggers in all of slot car racing. Also, big congrats to Grandi for the amazing task of building a race-winning car at the track. Welcome to the list, Dom. We were chasing you all weekend.

I also want to take a moment to thank the people who made this event happen. Chubby, Noose, and Doug worked their tails off so the rest of us could have fun. Thank you, guys.

Last note, I am content with the call made in F1. Chubby was given the same call in Stock Car Friday. As a racer, all we can ask for is fair and consistent race directing/tech. I feel like this was achieved all weekend.

I am looking forward to RP9!

[Dennis David]

Will, the remarks of a true champion. 

[Half Fast]

You ever see a happier guy than James Grandi?

 
He's happy because he built the winning chassis at his pit space the day before the F1 race. A well-deserved win by a good guy.
 
Cheers,

[JerseyJohn]

All I can say is what a great time we all had. It was cool to have my past partner Bruce in from Arizona to race a few days. Doug, big Mike, Pops, and Chubby had PJ humming in top gear all weekend. A great place to race !!! Thanks to Candy for keeping us filled with food and great coffee.

 

Andy Wasserman was great as always at the controls running several races.

 

Noose and his assistant Edsel ran tech efficiently as always. Retro East would not be as successful as it is without Joe's dedication to fair and honest racing and the fact it's voluntary.

 

To all that traveled to PJ – the Florida guys, Dan Ebert, Custer and Brinkley, Maryland Tom, and the Retro Tokyo team, lead by Haruki-Kan and seven other racers from Japan. Kamo-san master builder, my brother, it was great spending time with you!!!!

 

Congratulations to all the winners, podium finishers and all of the racers for being there to share in the speed, fun, and camaraderie.

 

To all of the sponsors and vendors, thanks for the prizes and more importantly for the products you produce that keep us racing year after. Tim, thanks for the Retro Hawk, Mr Skinner thanks for Thunder rubber.

 

Before I go I would like to offer my personal thank yous to Pat Skeggs and Adam Chaya from Retro East and Eric Linsley from NERR for running Jersey John Chassis at the Palooza and my special NY brother RT who is turning to the Jersey side. Thank you.

 

Jeff Bates, we lost you and we miss you. It's not the same. Chewy #2 is retired forever.

[James Grandi]

Dennis,

Trust me, at that point I still didn't quite believe I'd pulled off something that I didn't know was possible haha. Never dreamed I'd be in contention to win that race - I was just hoping to build a good enough car to make the show and fight for a podium finish. Three years of building all my own stuff and progress summed up in one moment in time.

[Noose]

RetroPalooza is growing for sure. We have had it four times at Port Jeff.

 

Here is a comparison of entries:

 

RP3 = 108 entries, RP 5 = 147 entries, RP 7 = 167 entries, RP8 = 192 entries.

[Dan Ebert]

Thanks to Doug and the Port Jeff for putting on a great show. Track is just fast as hell. I only wish that I had made the trip to Port Jeff years ago.  

 

Hats off to Noose for his tireless work all weekend. Thanks to everyone involved. 

 

It was great seeing racers I haven't seen in years. Racing with and seeing Tabu Sato after 25 years. We both raced at the '92 USRA Nats in the Semi-Pro Main. Tabu took first and I took third. He is still as fast as he was than.  

 

Also got to chat a long time with Andy Wasserman after not seeing him in 25 years.

 

I had a great time with all the racers there and won't hesitate to make plans for another trip to Long Island.  

 

Congrats to all the winners, racers, and the new Don Willy "The Don" Custer.

[Half Fast]

I agree with all of the above and...

 

1- Great racing and a reunion for many racers, the slot car community seems to know where to go to meet old acquaintances.

 

2- Compare the 192 entries for the event to the total entries of the last USRA D1 Nats!

 

Cheers.

[Dominator]

RetroPalooza 8 was an unbelievable experience!! I set out with a goal to make every A Main and made that happen in five of the six classes (FK Coupe and Coupe Pro). Sweetening the deal was taking four TQs. I built four new cars for this race and all the work paid off with Can-Am Plus being my new favorite class. To make podiums at a major race is always tough but taking a podium at Port Jeff with so many fast guys there was experience I wouldn't trade for anything.

 

One of the biggest honors I had this weekend was having John Gorski run one of Fang F1s. To have a slot car legend drive one of my chassis at a major event was a tremendous feeling.

 

I received lots of positive feedback on the Stalker which finished on the podium of four of the five Stock Car mains! The new guide tongues held up great and not a single one bent. Lots of interest in the Fang and a number of people raced them on Sunday. I made the move-up to the B Main with mine but had a bent axle that I didn't notice during the move-up so I pulled off early.

 

Lots of great discussion with Tim Skurka, Will Custer, Will Brinkley, Chubby, Brian Cochrane, and many others on my Can-Am and Coupe chassis designs. Just a guess but I think there may be a lot more cars with center weights being designed after this weekend LOL.

 

Port Jeff is well known for its power and how fast their Gerding King is. This weekend the track lived up to its reputation. Doug, Joseph Vincent, Mike, and the rest of the team at Port Jeff had the track perfect all weekend for us.

 

Big thanks to William Skinner and Andy Wasserman for race directing this weekend. To Doug and Chubby for the lesson on proper lane choice. Robert Hughes for pitting for me this weekend. To Ed Sohl and Brian Cochrane for tuning tips. To Thomas Longo at ARP for producing great pinions and front tires. To Bud Bartos for his bearings and threaded axles. To Mike Swiss for his 1.360" motor bracket and guide tongues. To Joe Neumeister for keeping the event moving all weekend. Thanks to Robert Hughes, Parma, John Streisguth, Mike's High Performance Bodies, and everyone else who donated prizes for the Wounded Warrior raffle.

 

To all the racers I had the experience to race with in the mains – Will Custer, Brinkley, Noose, Gorski, Chubby, Doug, Edsel, Brian, Jeff, Timmy, James Grandi, Haruki Kan, and Team Tokyo. I know there were many more and I don't want to leave anyone out but bottom line is I can't wait until the next time!

[spudboy]

Wow!

 

Great representation by New England racers!

 

Well done to one and all of the racers.

[willy wonka]

What a weekend! Just getting settled back in at home. There was lack of sleep but no lack of good competition and good times with a great group of guys. I really enjoy going out east and racing with a great group of guys. Noose does so much for the Eastcoasters and it shows with great turn-outs for nearly every Retro event out there.

 

Have to say it was a great time. Thanks to William Brinkley for traveling with me... he was on his "A" game. Many more wins will be coming his way!

 

Thanks to Bud Bartos for the best chassis around. And Ron Hershman for all he does for me. Gary Curly, thanks for the Stock Car, man.
Ralph Middaugh and Greg Fox for the great Can-Am Plus chassis. Jeff Middaugh for doing tires for me. All of you guys have helped in more ways than you know; I appreciate all you all have done.

 

Can't wait for the next one...

[eshorer]

Lots of good close racing. Thanks much for the Ustream real time video. It's pretty tough looking at the cars going around and seeing what's what (although not impossible in spurts), but who knew that watching a monitor of changing lap totals could be so exciting!  Congrats to the winners and all of the participants for what looked like an epic few days of good racing!

Eddie

[JBProducts]

I had an amazing time at my first Premier event and did quite well !! 

My favorite racing was Stockcars, finishing 11th overall and was quite surprised that i qualified 6th in Can-am and 7th in F1. Learned a lot as far as making sure my car is more setup for the "race" instead of qualifying

 

It was nice meeting and competing  against all the best racers around the world and everyone was very helpful. Big thanks to Port Jeff Raceway for holding this event. I am looking forward to next year.

 

Big congrats to all the podium and winners