16 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

[rant]

A well-run slot racing series posted a race announcement a few days ago for an event at a raceway that is not listed in either Slotblog's Main Raceway list or the Club/Home raceway list.

 

Just proves that what I posted a few days ago in another thread is 100% true: "Honestly I don't know why I waste my time trying to maintain an accurate slot car raceway list, since it is obvious almost no one cares."

I'm pretty much at the end of my tether regarding my nearly two-decades long effort to maintain an accurate raceway list for the 1/24 hobby here at Slotblog.

 

When active Slotblog members who know about an unlisted raceway without helping to get it listed here, it shows I am truly wasting my time producing something people aren't interested in. Since I doubt this situation will ever change, the Slotbog Raceways Lists will likely be permanently deleted soon. Fair warning!

Wish someone could explain to me why so few people involved in the 1/24 hobby, including virtually all of the racers, raceway owners, manufacturers, and distributors, feel an accurate raceway list is so completely unimportant.

[/rant]

[NSwanberg]

Thank you for keeping it.

[Modelville Guy]

Please keep it going.

 

There is no other place to point travelers where there might be a raceway in their area.

 

All of us who care, should look over the list and let you know of any errors or missing tracks that they know of.

[Bill Seitz]

I've spent years chasing slot car raceways opening and closing all over the country. The Slotblog directory is a great asset, though from my own experience know how hard this is to keep current. Some slot car racers apparently want to keep their racing spot a secret to limit the competition, so they don't want anyone else to know about it. The information is kept between racing buddies and away from the rest of the outside world where some faster competition may come and outrace them.

 

There are also a few venues that are private and by invitation only. P.A. Watson has moved his King track from its former Houston location into a private location. He still has occasional races and invites Texas slot car racers, but it's not open to the public otherwise. When I saw this slot car series moving their event from Modelville Hobbies to Rooster's Raceway, which like Greg I'd never heard of before, I thought maybe this was one of those private "by invitation only" venues. I'm too far away to matter, and I left it at that.

[grooverunner]

My question is where would the best place/places to look to find tracks that are not on the list that are in business? I doubt many pay for a real website. Facebook perhaps?

[Bill from NH]

Slot car distributors may have their own track lists but those have never been shared with anyone. Facebook might help, but it doesn't have a search engine.

 

NERR used to schedule two races in Solvay, NY, near Syracuse. Local participation there was practically non-existent. The current schedule replaced those races with Port Jeff & Rooster's Raceway, a local civic club-owned track, that was a former MVH track. 

[Pablo]

Some slot car racers apparently want to keep their racing spot a secret to limit the competition, so they don't want anyone else to know about it. The information is kept between racing buddies and away from the rest of the outside world where some faster competition may come and outrace them.

 

You may be on to something there... the way some raceway owners do business is a shame.

Sadly, it's beginning to make sense to me.

 

Thank God I now have a great local track that also hosts a successful traveling series.  

[raisin27]

The directory is a great asset to those that use it, but I do understand your frustration.

[Bill Breck]

Wish someone could explain to me why so few people involved in the 1/24 hobby, including virtually all of the racers, raceway owners, manufacturers, and distributors, feel an accurate raceway list is so completely unimportant.

 

I would bet that a lot of the "unlisted" raceways have a Facebook page.

 

I appreciate your list. Without it I would have never been aware of some of the raceways that I've been to.

[Bill Seitz]

Some of the unlisted raceways don't even have a Facebook page, or at least not one that's easy to find. Some that do are inactive, which makes them look abandoned, and then I discover that the racers at this venue have another page where they promote the racing schedule among their local peers and post race reports. It seems as though they don't want anyone on the outside beyond their tight, little group to know they exist in case they might upset the pecking order.

 

For years, I've traveled around the US visiting whatever raceways I can find. I'm not a typical slot car racer. I enjoy building cars possibly even more than running them, and I "play" rather than "race". I'm absolutely no threat to the local establishment, yet when I arrive with a huge box of cars, I'm immediately given the "evil eye" as some out of town pro come to win all their races. I've felt unwelcome a number of times until it becomes clear to them I'm not there to enter any races.

[Pablo]

I discover that the racers at this venue have another page where they promote the racing schedule among their local peers and post race reports. It seems as though they don't want anyone on the outside beyond their tight, little group to know they exist in case they might upset the pecking order.

 

I'm inclined to agree and you really are opening my eyes to this attitude.

The inmates are running the asylum.

 

I tried to help a raceway fix a bunch of typos and errors in a new ruleset.

As Bill says, they have branched off into a Facebook "racer's group" for that specific raceway.

I actually had to be vetted to be allowed to post  .

 

They did not appreciate or want my help.

Matter of fact, I was told I was "confused."

That may well be true. Now I'm both disturbed and confused.

They played me like a fiddle.

 

0.010" or 0.07" thickness bodies.

Minimum 7mm body thickness.

64 degree pitch spur gears only.

.047" minimum rear clearence.

     

 

Just set me in a corner with a Crayola and a coloring book.  

[mppicione]

Greg,

 

The raceway list and the contact info for track owners has been useful to me now that I live in Delaware.

I hope that people who are setting up new track locations continue to list in it.

[Mike Patterson]

It all comes back to one thing: people. They're the worst.

[Cheater]

The raceway list and the contact info for track owners has been useful to me now that I live in Delaware.
I hope that people who are setting up new track locations continue to list in it.

Marc,

Maybe I haven't made it clear.

In the 18+ years Slotblog's raceway list has been in existence, no more than five raceways have contacted me to get listed. The number is probably less than five, actually.

If I hear about a raceway and contact them for the info needed to create an entry for their facility, either the phone is never answered and/or the voicemail I leave is not returned over 99% of the time, even after contacting them multiple times.

If I had a business and was being offered free advertising, I would take advantage of that. But almost no raceway owner seemingly thinks that way.

The entries in the raceway list, at a 98+% level, have been created by me from info dredged up from Facebook and other online sources. Again, in 18+ years, no more than a couple dozen people (out of the roughly 8,500 Slotblog accounts) have informed me about raceways that needed to be added. There are a few standout contributors to the raceway list, but I won't try to list them because I'm sure I would omit someone.

[jimht]

Regarding reaching a wider audience that might then help keep the Raceway listings current, it is quite normal for an internet forum to also have a Facebook page to promote said forum and attract new forum members.  

 

I don't see a Slotblog presence on Facebook. 

[Cheater]

Jim,

 

For reasons I do not understand, I was banned permanently from Facebook, both my personal and Slotblog accounts. I created a new account using a different email and name and never posted anything of my own to it. Within a few weeks that account was suspended permanently as well. I am reasonably certain this is AI-generated crap.

I have no idea why I was banned, even though I appealed the action. I never posted anything political or pornographic to either of my accounts.

[Bill from NH]

Greg, at one time, you had made a post on every slot car related Facebook page I was ever on. Your posts weren't controversial, in fact they were quite short. Maybe having one person make so many posts on the same subject pages upset Facebook and they thought something nefarious was going on. When the Slotblog network was down, the Slotblog Facebook page was a good way to contact you. Sorry to hear that it no longer exists.