Thanks to a multitude of vaccinations, the Doghouse Gang finally put COVID-19 in the rear-view mirror and resumed its regular racing in Gilbert, South Carolina, USA, on July 3. It was a typical warm, relatively sunny/humid South Carolina summer day.
Also, racing again was a blast, although our abilities might not have been as sharp as they were when we last competed about 15 months ago.
This time, the regular derelicts were joined by Allen Evans – another guy who never grew up to leave behind the playtime activity of racing toy cars. Allen came onboard when the gang recently resumed weekly bench-racing sessions at Richard Sylvester's garage-based track. On Thursday evenings, we certainly talk much more than we race.
So first of all, the racers...
(L to R: David Erickson, "Fast Richard" Sylvester, Dan Parker, a.k.a. "Rocky the Flying Squirrel," "Jay-Bird" Pittman, and Jim "SlowBeas" Beasley, who just this moment concluded he is badly in need of a haircut. Missing is Allen Evans, who left before pics could be taken. We also need to come up with a nickname for him. He deserves a nickname. Stay tuned.)
The cars were "retro-flexis" of sorts, as we used the classic Parma Flexi-2 with standard flexi rear clearance around 1/16. Richard insisted that no one could have clearance of less than .040 at the end of three heats. And since it's his facility, and we're just visitors, so be it. I think most of us started the race with rear tire diameters anywhere from .770-.790, which worked fine.
(L-R: Beasley, Parker, Erickson, Sylvester, Pittman)
As usual, there was plenty of good-humored trash talking and laughs. I think we all enjoyed being back on the track enjoying this childhood hobby we all love. The racing was fast and became progressively faster from the first to second heat and second to third heat. The numbers tell the story:
When the final lap ended, I was able to eek out a small lead ahead of Richard. I think much of that lead was gained under track calls, as my car has a nice bit of coast under no-power. It's significant to point out, however, that Dan, aka "Rocky," had the fast laps in each of the three heats. His car was on fire and definitely the fastest car on the track. But as I kept reminding him: It is not he who has the fastest lap who wins the race; it is he who has the most laps. I think I saw that bit of wisdom in Cheater's auto-signature once.
We hope to continue monthly races at The Doghouse, planning a possible team enduro in August using the same Flexi-2s. The plan could change, but that's currently on the drawing board.
