8 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

The last week or so has been blur for your faithful correspondent, with a trip to the fabulous Amelia Island Concours in FL immediately preceding the R4.

 

I drove back from FL on Sunday and that evening my partner in crime, Jay Guard, drove up from his new house in DeLand, FL, to stay the night so we could leave early Monday morning for OH. We finally got out the door about 7:10 AM and drove pretty much straight through to Columbus, only stopping for gas and a couple of fish sandwiches for lunch, arriving at roughly 5 PM. Was snowed on intermittently in TN and KY, sometimes rather heavily, but no road problems ensued. Near Berea, KY, where we stopped for fuel, there was almost ten inches of snow that had fallen overnight, but again, no problems with the roads.

 

We were certain we were going to be the first people waiting for the McMasters to unlock the door at 10 AM on Tuesday morning, but were chagrined to see Parma's Steve Koepp shivering by the door alongside his multiple boxes when we pulled in!

 

Here's a pic of the calm before the storm at Tom Thumb:

 

 

Jay and Steve pretty much had the raceway to themselves most of the day on Tuesday and got quite a bit of motor and car testing accomplished; Jay went through the broken-in 24 motors (!) he brought and Steve baselined the six ready-to-go cars he showed up with. Gary Echelbarger came in midday and got a bit of track testing in as well.

 

 

Late Tuesday evening, another contingent from the South arrived in convoy: Bobby Robinson from AL, and Clyde Romero and Gene Long from the Atlanta area. Clyde and Gene unloaded their gear and headed off to their hotel, planning to get down to business on Wednesday morning. Both of these guys are making their first trip to the R4. (BTW Clyde is rather a celebrity in my eyes, having flown choppers in Viet Nam. If you get a chance, thank him for his service to our country. He also raced with guys like Howie Ursaner in NY when he was a lot younger...)

Old R4 hand Bobby set up his pit and got a little bit of track time before the track closed at 6 PM. Jay and I headed off to one of our regular R4 feeding troughs, Roosters, for some fried pickles, pizzas, and of course, a few adult beverages.

 

I've already taken a fair number of pics today, as more and more racers trickled in. As has been the case in the past for this event, I'll post the Slotblog 'Post Office Rogue's Gallery' in a separate thread and will do the same with the R4/11 "Box Tour." Stay tuned...

[JBProducts]

Awesome report!! I'll be following your report as well as live timing on Tom Thumb's website!! 

 

Good luck, everyone!!!

[Cheater]

Jeff,

 

I thought I had heard you were joining the fray at the R4 this year.

 

Is that not the case?

[JBProducts]

A lot of people thought I was for some reason LOL. I will be at the Retropalooza and Fall Brawl this year.

 

Perhaps R4 next year!?

[Cheater]

After just a few racers on Tuesday and a few more on Wednesday, Thursday saw an explosion of people coming in from all directions of the compass. Before I left a bit after noon to head back to hotel to hit up the wi-fi to post (the wi-fi at Tom Thumb is inop due to multiple cable mergers screwing up the store's log-in), I surveyed the parking lot and counted cars from 11 states: OH, TN, FL, GA, MI, NY, MD, PA, AL, IN, and NJ. There will probably be a few states represented when I get back to the raceway. Whoever sniffed that the R4 was just a "local Ohio Retro event" couldn't be more wrong.

 

The automated practice rotation system, which was eased for the first couple of days, was in full force today: three minutes per racer per lane and then a mandatory move to the next lane in either the red or black four-lane set. Sounds confusing but it really isn't and with the number of racers needing trigger time, it's the only fair way to do it.

 

 

R to L, Doc Dougherty, Tom Adams, Eric Balicki, Rick Bennardo Jr, Jimmy Williams, Nate Graham, and Jeremy Dennis. Rick Bennardo Sr can be seen between Eric and Jr., providing moral (immoral?) support to Ricky.

 

Today was the day master Lexan artist Steve Koepp again presented the Parma Paint Seminar. Here's some shots of the set-up before and Steve during.

 

 

Steve's well-organized layout prior to the start of the seminar. Pretty obvious this isn't his first painting rodeo, eh?

 

And here's Steve imparting his knowledge to the seminar attendees. Steve's done this seminar for a bunch of the prior R4s and the attendance is a bit sparse because many of the racers have already been instructed by Steve in earlier years. L to R, Lester Lucas, Nate Graham, and first-time R4'ers Clyde Romero and Gene Long.

 

Don't stand still next to Steve for too long or you may end up with flames. The guy will paint anything, including R/C car bodes, power supplies, Zippo lighter fluid cans, fishing lures, and yes, even shoes. The shoes appeared a couple of years ago and were so popular racers have been asking if they were going to make an appearance again this year.

 

Just finished editing a bunch pf pics from late yesterday and earlier today and now need to head back to the track. Have a bunch more pics to post to the Box Tour thread, as well as a lot more mug shots of the 'usual suspects,' and I'll post them to those threads later.

There's a special presentation we're doing in an hour or so and I need to be back for that, since I have the 'award' in the car with me.

[Cheater]

Thursday was the last practice day at the R4/11 before the racing actually begins on Friday, with the GT Coupe class. Most of the day, the drivers panel was full of racers looking for more speed and quicker lap times.

Thursday was Jim Williams' 44th birthday and he was surprised with a small birthday cake and the singing of happy birthday by the racers present. Jim claims he'd forgotten it was his birthday, but I for one don't believe him; I figure he just wanted to forget he was getting another year older!



The Prof. Motor hand-outs motors for GT Coupe were available to the racers present late on Thursday evening (as well as on Friday morning for those arriving that day). The numbered motors were assigned to each racer for his exclusive use and could not leave the raceway; they had to be handed back in before 10 PM Thursday night and picked back up Friday morning.



Jessica and Mike McMasters on the right parceling out the motors and recording the numbers on the racer's tech sheets. Doc Dougherty in at the head of the line, with Rick Bennardo Jr behind him awaiting his motors.

Of course, the racers spent most of the evening breaking-in their hand-outs using whatever method they deemed most effective; a few just ran them on a power supply by most broke-in their motors in some sort of liquid: water, Simple Green cleaner in various dilutions, and even, as Bud Bartos did, in flat Diet Coke! I guess Friday's racing will indicate which process was most effective.

[Cheater]

Here's the drivers panel for the very first race of 2018's R4/11, the GT Coupe 'Am' D Main.

Since I have to return to our hotel to use their wi-fi to post this coverage, I'm not going to be present to take drivers panel pics for many of the races, I am sorry to say.



R to L, Steve Deiters, Gary Echelbarger, straightaway marshal Joe 'Joe Dirt' Liquori, David Clarkin, Greg Krummnow, Clyde Romero, Nate Graham, and Lester Lucas. Marshaling the hole is Taylor David and the bridge is Jason Dennis.

[Cheater]

The 'rubber ducky" car Pablo built using a body he found on the beach where he walks his dogs every day and which he sent to me, as seen in this THREAD, is going to a new home.
 
Pablo insisted that the rubber ducky would attract women like mad, but I thought he was a bit wacko with that claim. Turns out there may be more truth in his opinion that I had believed.
 
Rick Starkey's lovely wife, Tina, has been a real fixture at almost all of the R4s, helping Cindy McMasters with the food and other duties as a volunteer. When she saw the rubber ducky atop my pit box, she went a little nuts. "I collect rubber duckies," she told me, "I just love this."
 
So I rang up Pablo to make sure he wouldn't mind if I re-gifted his creation to Tina and he insisted that would be fine. "I told you that rubber ducky would attract women," he repeated. And I have to admit he wasn't totally wrong.
 
Here's a pic of Pablo's fun little slot car being handed over to Tina Starkey, who was thrilled to receive it.
 

 
I'm reminded of a famous quote attributed to Waite Phillips, the Phillips petroleum brother who gifted the 137,000-acre Philmont Scout Ranch in the Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico to the BSA prior to WWII:
 
"The only things we keep permanently are those we give away."

[Pablo]