3 replies to this topic

[Randy Tragni]

Team South Bay is the 2019 Ferndale Fray Team Competition Winners!

From left to right, Steve Testerman, Ron Coaxum, Jeff Hurley (hidden),

Dan Jimenez, Curtis Adams, Ted Essy, Ken Stephens, Paul Josefy (hidden).

[Randy Tragni]

Did I mention that most of these guys are San Jose Slot Car Club members?

Also, Next big race is the 12 Hours of San Jose Speedway in May which will see a number of very well known 1/24th scale champions battling out against these guys and others from the area.....using Viper Jets from Harden Creek.

[ajd350]

Great bunch of guys. Love racing them.

[fastguy]

Randy, thank you for posting the celebration following the conclusion of the team completion last week at the Fray. This is only my second time competing at the Ferndale Fray http://thefrayinferndale.com/ , and it is by far the most difficult yet most rewarding type of racing I have ever experienced in my 40+ years of racing slot cars. For those that have never driven a Fray style HO car, they are very challenging to build and just as difficult to drive fast. The lack of traction magnets and the 10 lap sprints for each heat makes for some exciting racing. Points are awarded on a 6 point scoring system depending on finishing order for each 10 lap heat and total points take the win.

 

Thursday at the Fray marks the day that the teams compete in the IROC cars, with each team providing a set of cars that are used for the day against the other teams. Three cars from each team are on the track at any given time, and the challenge is determining how fast you can go with an unfamiliar car with minimal offs. Our team provided a set of Vans that were the hit of the day. While Team SouthBay scored well all day, the team from St. Louis won out for the IROC team award. Well done guys!

 

Friday is the day the individual completion takes place and includes all racers qualifying to determine the heat lineups. Qualifying consists of a 4 lap timed segment with an average lap time established. This is where one "off" can ruin your day, placing you in a lower heat to start and making your final placement much more difficult. The top 3 from each race make the move up to the next highest main, etc. However, if you want to do a lot of racing, qualify poorly and you will have a chance at many moveups as long as you keep finishing in the top 3 each time. To make a long story short, local Chad Trump took the individual title for the third time over a terrific field of racers.

 

Saturday is the Team competition with several stellar teams in the hunt for the overall cow trophy. The St. Louis team consisted of Chad Trump, Ron Schmidt, Jeff Kaatz (TQ), Scott Chalmers and Michael Paulus. The RJ Jets team included Rick Jocham, RC Lincoln, Chad Bourne, Trek Lawler, Rick Voegelin and Greg Bernstein. Both teams featured several past winners and were determined to do well in this head to head competition. Each team has 5 racers in each team race with ten total heats per competition. Total points determine the winning team. My SouthBay team faced off early in the day against St. Louis and after a heated battle, ended tied with them on points after 10 heats. However, we did hold the tie breaker edge with 6 heat wins versus their 4, so we knew we had a shot at the overall title if we could win out the rest of the day, no easy feat. We knew that we were to face the stacked RJ Jets team in the last race of the day for the championship. We did get a big break when we were assigned to the Fray Black table, one we were all familiar with back home. When the dust settled, we came out with the victory after a spirited competition.  The late nights till 1 AM with no one else around at the facility were worth it, although I did wonder at the time why these guys are so determined and passionate about these lil' buggars. Now I get it!

 

I am so proud to be a part of this special brotherhood of Team SouthBay. We had a large group cheering for us all day to do well, and it certainly paid off well. Some of these guys have been to the Fray religiously every year and have come so close,(some for 19 years) but this is their first Team victory. It truly was a moment I will never forget with cheers and tears coming from all directions. 

 

 

Onward to The 12 Hours at San Jose Speedway May 11 with several National and World champions on the driver's roster including Paul Gawronski, Justin Colvin and the entire winning Fray team from 2019. Terry Flynn at Harden Creek Slotcars https://hcslots.com/ generously sponsors the race each year with custom ViperJet cars with the latest go fast stuff. Terry loves to do custom builds, no matter what class or speed you are looking for and puts extra effort into all of his RTR cars, including Vipers. See you there!

 

Ted Essy

Attached Images

• 
•