385 replies to this topic

[Clyde Romero]

Well, it's good to be back in the USA, I just got back from the SPA GP which was fantastic. 

 

I am big F-1 fan, if you've ever been to my track I have a F-1 wing on the back wall

Looking forward to the fall season of slot car racing, Retro Rumble, SANOS and of course the Fall Brawl 

Hope everyone had a safe Labor Day weekend.

With gas prices falling hopefully we should see more racers at events.

Let's hope we keep this virus in check for the holiday season ahead, until then guys, be safe and see you at the track!

 

Clyde 

 

[Clyde Romero]

Well, I push out for Fast Eddies Southern Retro Race this Thursday.

8-hour drive, I know Dom from the Northeast will be there and I hope other racers I know from out of town will show as well.

I hope Eddie has a good turnout for this race.

For me this kicks off my race travel season.

Looking forward to it.

Stay tuned for pictures of boxes and racers!

Until then

Stay safe out there.

 

Clyde 

 

 

[Dominator]

See you Thursday Clyde. I'm flying out of Boston tomorrow morning.

[Eddie Fleming]

See you Thursday Clyde. I'm flying out of Boston tomorrow morning.

I am glad to see someone on the IRRA board and northeast fast guy making the trip to Fast Eddie's. It is a great place and race. I wish life allowed me to make it this year but that is not the case. 

 

With the R4 being no more I think this race should be considered as a major event by the IRRA. 

[Danny Zona]

I am glad to see someone on the IRRA board and northeast fast guy making the trip to Fast Eddie's. It is a great place and race. I wish life allowed me to make it this year but that is not the case. 
 
With the R4 being no more I think this race should be considered as a major event by the IRRA. 

 

Don't forget Jay Guard.

Jimmy Williams is coming down as well.

It's going to be fun.

[Clyde Romero]

Well I just got back from Fast Eddies Race down in Florida, had a great time

there was some fantastic racing to be had at this track, here is a picture Eddie

Eddie Hoffman

we raced on 2 tracks at this race 

I had a chance to meet the gentlemen who make those controllers we all use

Jim Difalco

I spoke to him about the origins of the electronic controller, it was a very interesting conversation to say the least.

this is what I call Murder's Row !

Seniors Corner you had to be born before 1965 to sit here!

this is a picture of all the racers who were born before 1965!

Gray hair no Hair Crowd!

(and yes, I am in the picture I was born in 1950)

great bunch of guys!

everyone in this picture is drawing social security and can tell you about Medicare!

Here are 2 of IRRA BOD members Dominic Lunongo and Jay Guard 

 

The Retro Rumble is a great race, and you should try to make it in the future 

Stay Safe and see you at the track!

 

Clyde Romero

Atlanta Slot Car Raceway 

 

 

 

 

 

[Clyde Romero]

It’s always unfortunate when Mother Nature strikes, Hurricanes are the worst, since they disrupt the power grid.

 

This one is particularly bad for our hobby, since there are a lot of tracks in the path of the storm in central Florida.

 

As we all know with power, slot car tracks can’t operate.

 

Lets hope that the damage is minimal to the electrical grid and infrastructure.

 

With the economy being what it is, and now this it’s not what the tracks in central Florida needed.

 

When things return to normal, those of you who live in the effective area need to really step up and support the tracks!

 

Lets hope the electrical grid is restored quickly and that the infrastructure damage is minimal.

 

To all the racers down in central Florida, hang tough and be safe.

 

Clyde 

[Clyde Romero]

I recently had the opportunity to be at the dedication of the aircraft I flew at my Air National Guard Base

you know you are getting old when the aircraft you flew is on a pole!

Here is my self and one of my weapon system operators (he sat behind me on the aircraft) Stan (The MAN) Williams

they did an outstanding job with this, and its actually mounted about how low we actually flew this plane!

I have flown low enough to look up at a McDonalds signs that you see on the Interstate! 

it was a MACH 2 aircraft and could fly supersonic on the deck, did it many times 

the only aircraft that was faster than us on the deck was the F-111 

Stan and I had been the last combat crew to fly the RF-4C to the Bone Yard A/C 421 after Gulf War 1

 

 

[MG Brown]

I recently had the opportunity to be at the dedication of the aircraft I flew at my Air National Guard Base

you know you are getting old when the aircraft you flew is on a pole!

 

I am glad that this warbird is on display instead of rotting in a desert boneyard somewhere.

 

 

[Bill Seitz]

Living in Tucson, I'm very familiar with USAF AMARC. The one nice thing about the Sonoran Desert is that metal objects tend to last a very long time even exposed to the elements. Only planes that are being preserved for spares or future use are kept here. Except for a handful that wind up in museums or on display somewhere, like Clyde's on a pole, most of the rest become recycled scrap metal and trash very quickly.

[Clyde Romero]

Every time I go to a race away from my home track I try to learn something

Well, when I was at the Southern Shootout I learned something

My car was handling really good, I was doing very well in my race

then all of sudden the handling started to go away

it was the guide flag nut, it was loosening, so I had to tighten it after each heat

and you know how that goes, you're under the gun and you either make it too tight or too loose

so, I never got it right and ended up not doing as well as I should have 

so, I asked an experienced racer what was going on

he said the threads on the guide flag were no longer good and the nut was either loosening or tightening depending on the turn 

so, lessons learned, if the guide flag nut doesn't have sufficient pressure on the guide flag post, dump the flag 

 

was planning on going to the SANOS this weekend but family got in the way!

but I am on for the BRAWL in November

 

until then guys be safe

get your flu shot

it's out there and it can put you in the hospital

 

 

Clyde 

[Bill from NH]

Clyde, once I got a guide nut where I wanted, I would CA glue it to the guidepost to prevent it from moving. On wing car guides with shortened posts, a Dremel cutoff disk cut an X in the post end & nut, where the glue was then applied. Just another way for accomplishing the same result.

[Clyde Romero]

Ok rumor has that a foreign National won all the concours events at the recent SANO race at Mike Swiss track this last weekend.

 

Still waiting for confirmation on this fact and pictures of the cars etc.

 

I was going to make this race but my granddaughter birthday was in the way, she is 7.

 

Anyway I am a positive go for the fall brawl which will be the last race of the season for me.

 

I wish they would move that date since it falls over the Veterans Day holiday and being a Vietnam Vet there are functions I would like to attend, but as we used to say in the military
It is what it is.

 

If you havent taken your flu shot guys do so, its out there and the flu in conjunction with Covid need I say more?

 

We are a narrow spectrum of slot car racers that need to keep whats left of this great hobby alive for future generations.

 

The holidays are upon us ( where did this year go? Last I remember it was Memorial Day)

 

Until then
Stay safe out there
Clyde

[Racer36]

It’s just a vicious rumour……..

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[Racer36]

Pictures as requested.

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[MSwiss]

Dennis,

Try cropping the photo's and repost.

 

They shoul then be oriented in the correct direction.

 

Or maybe jet pilot Clyde is used to seeing things that way, when he's doing a 90 degree climb. LOL

[Clyde Romero]

Well, it's getting to that time of the year, you know what I mean the FALL BRAWL!

I am hoping for good weather on my drive up from Atlanta next week.

Looking forward to catching up with old friends in this amazing hobby we call slot car racing.

Being a native New Yorker from the Bronx I will visit some old friends and family that still reside in the area before I head back home.

For me the Fall Brawl is the culmination of the year in slots, I really enjoy the entire atmosphere.

I wish more of my racers from down south would attend this outstanding event.

With the recent loss of the R4, we are down to a very small number of Retro events that draw talent from around the nation.

Anyway, enough of that, I will take a bunch of pictures and post them.

Take your flu shot guys, it's out there along with COVID.

Until then, be safe.

 

Clyde 

 

 

 

 

[Clyde Romero]

Ok question for you pros out there 

so what’s the guide flag of choice for retro cars? red fox,jk, cahoza ?

what about the weighted guide flags?

i weighed one it approximately 1gram heavier than a stock guide

do you think that makes a difference?

Can’t wait to hear the responses 

 

 

 

[S.O. Watt]

JK seems to be the fastest at SZ and many other places. Unfortunately its a bit brittle.

Use plastic nuts to stop your other issue.

[Dominator]

Depends on the class and track.

Red Fox guides weighted with brass is a little quicker than the original but seems to turn more consistent laps. I sometimes run these in Can Am but mostly in the other 3 classes.

Tungsten works well on tracks that may not be then smoothest especially for stockcar and F1.

At the end of the day it's what works on that car at a particular track

[Clyde Romero]

Ok so tomorrow I push out for New Jersey, and the Fall Brawl.

 

Spending the night at a friend's house in Wilmington Delaware. We flew together in Vietnam, it's been 50 years since that war ended, a half a century, unbelievable.

 

Looks like the weather will be unseasonably warm for this time of year in New Jersey.

 

Anyway, I always enjoy the run through the Carolinas and Virgina on I-95 this time of year with the leaves changing.

 

The only thing a I dread is the traffic around DC, I have an EZ Pass which makes it a little better but still it's a gauntlet

 

Well, that's it for now, look for some pictures and a post when I get back. 

 

Clyde 

[MG Brown]

Early news from the Fall Brawl Retro Nationals XIII in New Jersey has it that our very own Clyde Romero made the podium in the Am GT Coupe race held on the Jersey Devil.

 

He is too modest to post his accomplishment so I did it for him.

 

Looks like the same car I couldn't catch last weekend.

 

It would appear that the Fall Brawl results are being posted in the same thread as the live stream...

[Clyde Romero]

WellI just got home from the Fall Brawl, great time up there racing.

It was unseasonably warm up until Sunday, then the cold weather came.

As usual I got to meet the racers that I don't see until I come up north

this is the back room with NOOSE (red shirt) and the Clintons and Ralph Griffth (in the back left) along with Dom Luongo (IRRA BOD member) standing with Don Bonano Sr

Dan Zona, Alex Freund, and Dale Yamashita you always find this gang of racers in the A main 

Coupe FK

Can Am

Stock Car

F-1

judge for yourself on how many cars were there to race

and NOOSE Tech them ALL!

 

Made a new friend at this race Dan Wiegand he runs Speedys Fast Lane up in Syracuse NY

a fun guy we laughed all weekend, we were in the top 3 in the coupe FK race

 

so if you have raced at a track that uses Lap Master 

this is the VOICE OF LAPMASTER

Andy Wasserman 

I got a chance to reconnect with and old racing buddy from the 60's

Howie and I raced all over NYC back then, Polks Hobbies, Roosevelt Raceway and his home track Cobra Raceway in the Bronx where I lived. 

 

well, that is it for me this season, had a great time racing 

looking forward to next season

have a safe holiday season

and see you at the track!

 

Clyde 

 

 

 

 

 

[JerseyJohn]

Early news from the Fall Brawl Retro Nationals XIII in New Jersey has it that our very own Clyde Romero made the podium in the Am GT Coupe race held on the Jersey Devil.

 

He is too modest to post his accomplishment so I did it for him.

Fall Brawl 2022 GTC Podium.jpg

 

Looks like the same car I couldn't catch last weekend.

 

It would appear that the Fall Brawl results are being posted in the same thread as the live stream...

 

 

I had a great time racing with Clyde, That piker got me by 15 ft LOL Congrats to Dan for his First Place driving a JJ Chassis

[Clyde Romero]

 

I had a great time racing with Clyde, That piker got me by 15 ft LOL Congrats to Dan for his First Place driving a JJ Chassis

 

Hey Jersey it’s always fun with you on the track, we podium that race and that’s what counts!

 

See you next year! Dan has a hand wound motor from back in the day that slipped by NOOSE!