45 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

A rare event in slot racing? I think so!

Try as I might, I cannot recall having ever seen this before.

At Thunder Valley Raceway on August 23, SERRA was honored by having three generations of the same family racing slot cars in our retro series.



The picture shows Steve Harrrington, the clan's patriarch, on the left, his son Chad Harrington in the middle, and on the right is Alex Harrington, Chad's son and Steve's grandson.

Doesn't really surprise us that the Harrington family would put on this tri-fecta, as Shirley and Steve Harrington own Raceworld Speedway in LaGrange, GA, a regular stop on the SERRA retro tour.

Still, we believe this to be a fairly rare occurrence in 1/24 slot racing. Anyone else know of three generations of the same family involved in slots at the same event?

[Cheater]

One of the SERRA racers entered in Flexi GT was not happy with the way his car handled and decided to finish by hand the job the car tried to do itself via making frequent and upsetting contact with the wall.



We'll not embarrass the racer by giving his name, but in return we suggest that said racer consider sitting in on a couple of anger management classes! LOL!!

[Cheater]

As Porky says,

"Th..th..th..th..a..t's all, folks".

No more pictures to post nor stories to tell about SERRA #6 at Thunder Road.

Next SERRA race is at Green Flag Speedway in Pickens, SC, on September 27. See you there!

[Hworth08]

Congrats to those that did well and a very nice race report!

Could someone supply a bit of info about the "fingerless" King that was pictured? I've heard of mini Kings, half Kings, short Kings, etc., but that's the first one I've seen.

The track looks like it would be a lot of fun.

[Cheater]

Hi Don,

The blue track is not a King at all, but a Kingleman, i.e. an Engleman design with a King-style donut. The Thunder Road track is reversed as compared to the Kingleman that used to be at Speedway Slotcars in Fayetteville, GA.

There's a decent pic of the track in page one Don Berni's post with his pictures.

And yes, the track was a lot of fun to race on, with few, if any, "vices".

[Bill from NH]

We'll not embarrass the racer by giving his name...

Give it to DHL Transport. They got a job waiting for him!

[Cheater]

Well, Bill, your memory isn't slipping any, that's for sure!

I still have those mangled chassis pics around somewhere...

OK Steve Harrington located them for me...





Sharp-eyed Slotbloggers may recognize the chassis, as it is the one shown in the Turbo-Flex tome. Here what it looked like before DHL "modified" it:



The part of all this that made me so angry was that this chassis was a Christmas gift for a kid at Pete Varlan's Pit Stop Raceway in Rochester, NY. After DHL let it get caught in their conveyor system (my assumption), they put it and the mangled original box in a larger DHL box and dropped it off at the recipient's door without getting a signature and without either notifying us (a DHL shipper with daily pick-up) that it was damaged in transit or even noting that fact in their records!

I haven't personally shipped ANYTHING via DHL since.

[Hworth08]

The blue track is not a King at all, but a Kingleman, i.e. an Engleman design with a King-style donut. The Thunder Road track is reversed as compared to the Kingleman that used to be at Speedway Slotcars in Fayetteville, GA.

Greg,

I should have been more specific. I was asking about the track with the outside walls painted orange and shown in post #16.

[Pappy]

Hi Don,

That track is like a mini-orange without the esses. The straightaway is only 16' long. It's very smooth and would probably be a lot of fun to race on if everyone had a lot of practice on it. Otherwise it would be a slugfest. I've run on it a little and things happen real fast.

[Larry Mattingly]

One of the SERRA racers entered in Flexi GT was not happy with the way his car handled and decided to finish by hand the job the car tried to do itself via making frequent and upsetting contact with the wall.

Wow...

And we all thought Bob Flotka was bad...

LM

[Ron Hershman]

Wow...

And we all thought Bob Flotka was bad...

LM

Hey I have that car Flotka folded at the 1995 Lugnut nats.

[Larry Mattingly]

Hey I have that car Flotka folded at the 1995 Lugnut nats.

You mean to tell me that PdL hasn't purchased it for the museum...

LM

[JEngland]

Your race at Thunder road last weekend was our coming out party and also a tremendous victory for myself , Bart and our two other partners , Kevin Rodden and his brother Ed Rodden.

In the next few days I want to share the story of Thunder Road and how against all odds we put the raceway together. Stay tuned , I want share this with you. With high rents like there is these days , it could be a future business model for raceway near you someday.



Also regretfully I was not able to participate with the exception of running a few laps in one race. I had a funeral visitation at 11am , another at 2pm and then a surprise birthday ( 5pm) which under no circumstance could missed.



I love your racing series and plan to become a regular on the circuit soon ( with the exception of when the Tennessee Volunteers are playing football. Go Vols !



It was also a reunion of sorts. I have not seen Speedy in 31 years. I knew him from Five Points Raceway. He flipped when he walked in Friday afternoon and saw a very , very young picture of himself and his racing partner. I'm sorry I forgot the other guys name on our "hall of fame walk" going down the hallway to the rest room. For those of you who remember Joe Burris , owner of Five Points Raceway , he is a magazine publisher in Nashville. Here is his website. http://www.joeburrisandassociates.com/



Chris Barnes ! Dude , it was great to see you too. You taught me SO Much racing over there in Winchester on Ron Arnold's track back in the mid nineties.



And one more thing. Butch Dunnaway has been providing Bart with technical support all summer helping prepare for this race. He even went as far as loaning many of the local racers with cars including me. So ole' Pappy had something to do with that high turn out. Thanks Butch!

I was looking forward to seeing Tommy Flythe , where was he ?

[Pappy]

It was my pleasure John. I just hope some of your guys caught the Retro bug.

[Marty Stanley]

Unfortunately there are times in life when we must make adult decisions. Dang it!

Because of that part of my being, I had to cancel my plans to make what turned out to be an awesome event.

However with the popularity of this type of racing growing in the southeast, I'm sure there will be more races of this type and I will just have to make one of them.

Thanks for all the photos, reports and such. Kind of makes me feel like I was there.

Next time, for sure!

[Mopar Rob]

And we all thought Bob Flotka was bad...

That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I remember one time at JK's in Hanover Park I was marshaling and he was racing and kept falling off in front of me. He stated, "If it comes off one more time throw it in the f'ing trash".

After we went through that about four-five more times, I started to pick it up and walk toward the trash. He wasn't amused.

[Don Weaver]

I'm sure there will be more races of this type and I will just have to make one of them

Marty,

Try and make the October race at Slots of Fun in Abbeville, SC. Don Berni has one of the coolest places for Retro racing you'll ever find (see Cheater's post for SERRA #4). The 135' Grandstand is smooth and perfect for these cars and he has an inventory for Retro's that will make you drool so bring your wallet! There's a machine shop in the back if you need to drill, cut, sand or tumble your chassis'. His wife, Karen, even has a bed and breakfast a block down the street and Abbeville is a great "turn of the century" tourist town if your wife wants to come.

Don Weaver

[Marty Stanley]

Don,

Thanks for the invite.

I fully understand about the kind of person that Don Berni is. He has already impressed me quite favorably in my dealings with him. I consider him a friend and I haven't met him!

Now, when is it so I can mark my calendar?

I intend to plan ahead and make this one.

Thanks for the info.

[Don Weaver]

Marty,

It's the 18th of October... hope you can join us!

Don Weaver

[Marty Stanley]

Don,

It is marked on the calendar in RED, underlined and bolded.

Best yet, I even got permission to make the run up and have some fun.

I am looking forward to it.

Hmmm, October in the mountains of SC... sure does sound like a motorcycle trip in the making!

['Slots of Fun']

That's great, Marty!

If you want I'll reserve a room for ya at the Bed and Breakfast! I'ts only one short block from the raceway. Let me know.

PS: Bring Barney, we allow pets at the B&B!

V/R,

Don Berni