23 replies to this topic

[DOCinCanton]

It is hard to believe that another year has rolled by so fast and we have the R4 coming up next week. Last year was a blast getting to race on a blue king track like I use to back in the 60's and meeting so many racers that I have never seen in person. Also, it was a blast meeting a few racers from Northern Ohio which I have not seen in about 50 years. The most notable was Bill Fulmer who race with me in my hometown at Schrock's Raceway in Canton Ohio.

 

I also want to give a special thanks to TonyP for loaning me two awesome cars. Tony: you are a very good friend. Thank you. Tony got me setup with a tri-pod which handled great last week at Tom Thumb Hobbies. The second car is a straight rail car which ran very well also. I got a new paint job going for me in Ohio State colors.

 

 

I am looking forward to meeting those from last year and those racers who could not attend last year but are coming this year. See you all there.

 

Now the reason why I was up in the Columbus area last week was that my wife and I picked up a pure breed German Shepherd puppy. Talk about chewing up everything in site. He is already claiming this home as his.

 

 

[Pappy]

Love them Ohio State colors along with that #1. 

 

I'm planning on stopping by on Saturday, I'll be looking for that Can Am car.

[Bill from NH]

Doc, be sure to keep those cars away from the puppy.  Teeth marks won't help their aerodynamics.

[DOCinCanton]

This dog is chewing on chairs, tables, planters, etc. even though he has about 8 chewy squeak toys. And its only going to get worse. 

[Bill from NH]

Shoes are next.

[Pablo]

Lucky you to have Tony P. equipment to use, Doc

Good luck at R4. I'd say "have fun" but I know you will.

Swing for the fences

 

Nice purebred Shep. Chewing is a minor problem. PM me if you want my opinion on dog subjects.

[willy wonka]

Congrats on the beautiful pup! See you soon buddy!

[JBProducts]

Doc !!!! Have fun and good luck !!!!   

[DOCinCanton]

How things can change suddenly. I got news that my sister Rose is going to have open heart surgery on Monday AM. My plan was to leave here in Florida on Tuesday morning and arrive in Columbus on Wednesday some time. Well, now I am leaving tomorrow morning and head straight back home to Canton Ohio. At this point, I am not sure that I will make the R4.

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

I really hate to hear that. We are praying for your sister and family. I would be great if you can still make it but your sister is more important.


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[DOCinCanton]

The odyssey:

 

Sunday March 11: Left Florida at10am; made it to Virginia, about 600 miles. Grabbed a hotel; then checked the weather map. Did not look good; major storm coming in, but I could not drive anymore. 10 hours driving did me in.

 

Monday March 12: Got up at 4am; checked the weather map again. Sure enough that snow storm covered the entire state of West Virginia and more. Trouble ahead. I got on the road at 5am. I probably average 45mph for the first 150 miles. The going was pretty treacherous, but I finally broke out of the snow storm headed North on I77. Made it to the hospital where my sister had bypass surgery in the morning. I got to see her at 2:30pm; of course she was still out. She came through the surgery very well. I will see her tomorrow morning when she should be awake. Now its time to have dinner with one of my brothers. So things are going as good as one could expect.

[Brinkley47]

Good to hear, Doc!

[willy wonka]

Glad your sister is doing well and you made it through the storm safe.

[DOCinCanton]

Tuesday March 13: I was able to get in and see my sister 3 times today. She is doing very well for having quadruple heart bypass surgery. She is hurting and very uncomfortable, but that is understandable after that kind of surgery.

 

I found time this afternoon to go to Mark's Model World and conduct some motor testing on Mark's King track. It was great to see Bill Fulmer. Bill helped me with the motor testing. Thank you Bill. Also, Greg Fox came in.

 

Gonna get out of here tomorrow morning and head down to Columbus. 

 

I also want to thank everybody for your kind words. See you at the R4.

[Wizard Of Iz]

I’m glad to hear your sister is doing well.

Have fun at the R4.

[DOCinCanton]

Wednesday, March 14: It's been a long day. I got to the track before 11 AM and immediately started putting tires on my cars. The track was cold and seemed to lack grip as everyone found out. Also, I had set my guide depth for braid recess of 0.025"; the braid depth is actually between zero and 0.010".

After the needed adjustments, my cars seemed to run pretty good. I was running 4.8s with the better cars, but I was brought back down to earth when I saw many racers in the 4.7s. Some were even in the 4.6s. 
 
Here are a few pics of the early racers.
 

 

 

 
Among those in the pics are Bud Bartos, Steve Koepp, Jay Guard, Greg Wells, Lester Lucas, Mike McMasters, Rick Jr, Nate Graham, Jim, etc.

[Mike Patterson]

Tomorrow everything will be different. The track will be cleaned and glued. It will be stuck city for a while.

Don't make any drastic changes. Friday the track should be back to normal.

Good luck.

[tonyp]

Mike,

 

Good advice.

[DOCinCanton]

Thursday, March 15: I was surprised how much the track was not stuck today. However, I think that the track is in great shape. I tried the JK Wonder rubber on small hubs but found my cars too loose. Thunder Mediums worked pretty good for me.

 

At 5 PM I registered for GT Couple and was assigned my hand-out motors even though I won't be issued them until tomorrow morning.

[DOCinCanton]

Friday March 16: I got 2 handout Professor Motor motors and decided to get a 3rd. Broke these motors in at 5V for 5 minutes. 2 motors metered out very well on the Trinity machine, giving me some hope that I had good motors. However, you always need to get on the track to prove out slot car motors. Apparently, I got average motors; qualified 16th out of 30 entrees; finished 14th overall. Another long day; I'm getting worn down. 

 

EDIT: The C main that I was in was very competitive. It seemed that Jim, Jim, and I were never more than 1 1/2 laps apart for the entire race. All 3 of us at some point were the race leader. Every 2 heats the leader changed. I was very glad to finish 2nd. Also, I want to thank Bud Bartos for the advice he gave me on the GTC cars and Can-Am cars which come up today.

[Eddie Fleming]

It has been a rough week Doc. I hope you rested well. 

 

You ran great in your race and finished in the upper half of the field. Not all that bad a day, and I bet you had fun.

 

Go for it again today.

[DOCinCanton]

Saturday March 17: Thanks Eddie. Today was a very long day. I was very impressed with how fast and how deep the fast guys are. You had national champions in the C main. I left the track for awhile; but was able to watch the A semi; then the championship race. It was a great race through the race; very impressive. Congrats to Jimmy Williams. He doive a great race.

 

Yea, I qualified 28th out of 51, and finished 23rd overall after the mains. Not bad for a 68 year old slow guy.

 

Today I had the pleasure meeting and talking to Al Rutti who pitted next to me. I did not know that he is from Cleveland.

 

Also, I want to thank Mike McMaster and his entire crew. They run a great system which keeps things under control and orderly.

 

Tomorrow is F1.

 

EDIT: I also want to mention that I met a long time Cleveland racer, Gary Cooper. He and I raced with others in the Car Model Series in Cleveland back in the late 60's. Also, we talked about our trip to the 1968 Arco race in Hinsdale (Chicago) Ill. He reminded me that I drove Lyle Jenkins, Perry Celashi (sp), Jan Limpach and himself to the race. It was a lot of fun talking to him about the old days.

[DOCinCanton]

Sunday, March 18: The R4 is history now. I want to congratulate Jimmy Williams for another great drive in the F1 race. This day had two awesome events. First was Jimmy Williams drive to victory (he actually came out of the C Main) and dinner afterwards. Six of us racers got together at the Texas Roadhouse (which I hear is a tradition) and talked about today's events and much more. Greg Wells, Jay Guard, Taylor Davis, Bobby Robinson, Jimmy Williams, and me had a great time winding down from this week's racing.

 

Time to head home after about eight days. I hope to get an early start tomorrow morning.

[DOCinCanton]

Monday, March 20: I got home safely Monday evening at 11pm after a 15 1/2 hour drive straight through; no stopover. More later.