24 replies to this topic

[elvis44102]

jan sent me some pictures 1971  50 years ago lol

 

Bloodworth is on the other side of Jan (mislabeled) and im John not Jim and Tony P is down by the coke machine

 

i was still 15 yrs old

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[elvis44102]

no smiles on this group...pretty sure Ken took this picture for posterty

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[Steve Deiters]

It was a race for the ages for sure.  I think that is Tony P. standing at the end of the straight at the entrance to the bank.  I can't tell who he is talking to... 

[elvis44102]

It was a race for the ages for sure.  I think that is Tony P. standing at the end of the straight at the entrance to the bank.  I can't tell who he is talking to... 

myself and Dave simerka always stayed at bloodworths house about three blocks away...i know i slept on the floor a few times at these huge races 150 or 60 entries...the over glued track and ken changing batteries during the race..seemingly ALL the fast east coast guys just could not adjust..i had two cars too pick from i gave bloodworth my second car and ran a 25 wire wind

[Steve Deiters]

myself and Dave simerka always stayed at bloodworths house about three blocks away...i know i slept on the floor a few times at these huge races 150 or 60 entries...the over glued track and ken changing batteries during the race..seemingly ALL the fast east coast guys just could not adjust..i had two cars too pick from i gave bloodworth my second car and ran a 25 wire wind

You, Dave Simerka, and Dan Bloodworth were like the Three Musketeers.  Wherever you saw one you saw the other two.   Frankly a very potent powerhouse of local racers who did quite well when the big guys from the coasts came into town.

[MSwiss]

jan sent me some pictures 1971  50 years ago lol

 

Bloodworth is on the other side of Jan (mislabeled) and im John not Jim and Tony P is down by the coke machine

 

i was still 15 yrs old

Jan got them via my good friend, and top local racer, Mark Rosenwinkel, via Ron Hershman.

 

Mark apologizes for the mislabeling.

 

He is a real detail oriented person.

 

He is in the process of putting together an extensive history of the USRA Nationals, with the emphasis on G7 Pro.

[elvis44102]

i lived 25 miles from parma and being 15 i really did not get to the track much..i enjoyed building a fast car the actual racing not so much...i enjoyed the camaraderie of my fellow racers more so as i got older than the actual race as well..

 

i can remember eddie sohl hollering about the glue in the dead man to this day...i so wanted to tell him wipe the OUTSIDE

 

not more on the inside.....but not my business and whos gonna listen to a 15 year old kid lol

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[elvis44102]

Jan got them via my good friend, and top local racer, Mark Rosenwinkel, via Ron Hershman.

 

Mark apologizes for the mislabeling.

 

He is a real detail oriented person.

 

He is in the process of putting together an extensive history of the USRA Nationals.

is that Ron Hershman next to Stuart marshaling at the top of the straight? looks very familiar

[MSwiss]

If you are talking about the guy with glasses, with his right hand on the wall, no.

 

Ron is not nearly old enough.

[Mbloes]

John, can you walk us through your car?

[elvis44102]

John, can you walk us through your car?

Dan used to work for Ken and Dan would get parts that i would build into 2-3 cars..this one was 24 gauge possibly Carmen arm nothing special except this one looks on the heavy side (lead)...you could probably get a limpach 888 chassis and duplicate the performance..the trick with PRO cars is all in the detail...do the fronts touch? maybe...the angle on the guide flag? some gear mesh? everything is precise to the ten-thousandth..i actually ran a pacesetter at one of Camens big races and lead the race till mechanical issues put me out..REH or RVM fronts the coolest fronts ever even tho they bent easily magnesium lol

[MSwiss]

reh or rem fronts the coolest fronts ever even tho they bent easily magnesium lol

rem fronts...machined by Michael Stipe. Lol

I'll go edit it.

[shadow]

In 1972 John built my limpach 888 and camen motor for me and I finished 5th in the Mar Nationals .John was one of the best setup guys back in the day (at 15 years old)

[elvis44102]

In 1972 John built my limpach 888 and camen motor for me and I finished 5th in the Mar Nationals .John was one of the best setup guys back in the day (at 15 years old)

dave, i remember the ping-pong matches at your house and the mustang you had with tiny steering wheel and real racing slicks, and stopping at every open gas station during the 1973 oil embargo....memories s lol

[muskie^man19]

Steve Deiters - can you email me please at:

 

muskyloco@outlook.com

 

I've been trying to contact you for some time.  Tried a PM, but unsuccessful.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark Rosenwinkel

[NSwanberg]

no smiles on this group...pretty sure Ken took this picture for posterty

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Everyone looks like they ate it.

[old & gray]

 

no smiles on this group...pretty sure Ken took this picture for posterty

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Everyone looks like they ate it.

 

 

The missing  element in the photo is the clock. I wasn't there in1971 but I was there in 1970. My bet is the race was over well past midnight. 

 

People forget how large the fields were back then, in 1970 I ran in the N consi (missed the two move ups) but at least I wasn't in a slower Consi.

[Steve Deiters]

 

no smiles on this group...pretty sure Ken took this picture for posterty

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Everyone looks like they ate it.

 

This was an era when sometimes the races ran all night.  At the very least the track was open.  I tell people now that we used to stay up for 2-3 days at a time at these big races.  They think I'm making it up. LOL  This was an era with monster number of entries. 

One side note.  For the longest time there was nowhere to sit down in the raceway. No seats.  Ken eventually got three chairs and by late Saturday on a race weekend people were getting kind of testy over them. LOL

Picture most probably taken by Ken MacDowell.

[Dave Crevie]

I got back into slot racing for a while during one of the resurgences in popularity. I entered a few big races that were non-stop racing or tuning. And It wasn't just slot racing that had this modus operandi. During my serious involvement in R/C racing, there were a few races that were 24 hour a day events. Even racing real cars, a race weekend meant racing, partying, or working on your car straight through. At one race, I bent the 3rd to 4th gear shift fork of my F-prod Spitfire during the Friday practice. My group was last on the track that day, and due to residential encroachment, all activities at the track had to end at 6:00pm. Fortunately, the track owner, Tito Nappi, allowed me and my helpers to stay a little over to pull the trans, which we took back to the motel room. We pushed the bed to the far end of the room, and proceeded to rebuild the trans on the spot the bed normally occupied. Of course, that left a sizeable spot of gear lube on the carpet. When we finished, we simply moved the bed back to where it had been, and as far as I know, the motel staff never discovered the ruined carpet. 

[elvis44102]

 

no smiles on this group...pretty sure Ken took this picture for posterty

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Everyone looks like they ate it.

 

this race had 160 or so entries, ken had two sets of batteries that he would swap and for at least qualifying  the built up glue was horrendous

 

i qualified early knowing the track would get worse and held TQ for hours till Scott topped my time...its really no fun to watch one big name after another screw up in qualifying  while putting on MORE glue instead of a little wiping the outside lane...it had to be 5am or so...some races did go into Sunday daylight....we were just relieved it was OVER lol

[muskie^man19]

Does anyone have the lap totals for this race?

[shadow]

Mark It will be hard to find totals for these races ,maybe Mike McDowell son of Ken McDowell may have them somewhere .

[A. J. Hoyt]

I believe I went to this race with Jerry Matthews, likely Pat (the other half of JAP bodies, bearing another trick "Pooch" paint job if not the infamous "Zig-Zag Nixon" body), Nelson, Raisin and, likely, Ron Headland; the participation plaque is still quite legible on the side of my Hoffman's box! Tried to download an image of it but the process is different now (asks for a URL). Says, "First Annual" (how can anything be the First Annual) Miniature Auto Racing Nationals September 3, 4, & 5, 1971    PARMA International Raceway car-shaped logo. (There are likely pictures of it in a "show off your slot car box" thread.)

 

This sprung into my mind today while doing laps in the pool; it was an earworm of the theme song from "Shaft". This may have been the race when we left early evening and that song was playing all through the night drive - on every freakin' station - became a running road trip joke - we couldn't escape so we turned the radio off!

 

Funny how things like that can prompt memories from that long ago. I feel better because, unlike the '76 Bicentennial race, I actually remember a bunch of THAT day (only 15 years old, not Bicentennial partying yet!).

 

Keep it in the slot (don't make enemies!)

 

AJ

[Bugeye]

I remember my Dad and I showed up a few days before that to race our cars,

having no clue about the big race.

It was so busy with people practicing we couldn't get time on the big track, so

we had to run on the track in the back. I remember Limpach was there. 

Also I was only 7! lol

 

Rob

[elvis44102]

I believe I went to this race with Jerry Matthews, likely Pat (the other half of JAP bodies, bearing another trick "Pooch" paint job if not the infamous "Zig-Zag Nixon" body), Nelson, Raisin and, likely, Ron Headland; the participation plaque is still quite legible on the side of my Hoffman's box! Tried to download an image of it but the process is different now (asks for a URL). Says, "First Annual" (how can anything be the First Annual) Miniature Auto Racing Nationals September 3, 4, & 5, 1971    PARMA International Raceway car-shaped logo. (There are likely pictures of it in a "show off your slot car box" thread.)

 

This sprung into my mind today while doing laps in the pool; it was an earworm of the theme song from "Shaft". This may have been the race when we left early evening and that song was playing all through the night drive - on every freakin' station - became a running road trip joke - we couldn't escape so we turned the radio off!

 

Funny how things like that can prompt memories from that long ago. I feel better because, unlike the '76 Bicentennial race, I actually remember a bunch of THAT day (only 15 years old, not Bicentennial partying yet!).

 

Keep it in the slot (don't make enemies!)

 

AJ

i remember the JAP bodies , there seemed to be so much more work involved in them i didnt try to copy them as i had bloom bodies lol i actually had to catch a few hours "sleep" on the floor in a corner at some huge races