Topic: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

Dave Ferguson invited me to a HOPAC race to be held on Andre Perra's Riverside Raceway in northwest Portland. Dave offered to loan me a car and controller, so how could I say no? Upon arrival I found a large number of competitors in Andre's beautifully accentuated race room, all ready to go it! I arrived early enough to get in some practice laps and quickly realized the car Dave loaned me was just flat awesome! I really like the G-Jet platform developed by Gary Beedle of BSRT. The cars are extremely fast but unlike the heavy magnet downforce cars, they still require some finesse to get them through the corners quickly.

The racing was exciting to say the least, but what impressed me more was how friendly and helpful everyone was. In addition to Dave loaning me one of his cars another racer, whose name I totally forgot and I apologize, loaned me his DiFalco controller for the race. As well as great racing on a very nice track, Andre provided lunch for everyone. Andre told me this was the last race to be held on this particular track as the track was being replaced by a newer version of his Riverside Raceway.

For me this was an awesome day. My years in the slot car hobby started with an Aurora HO slot car set and racing and collecting HO cars. When I was young I would read about the southern Californian legends like Gary Beedle, Dave Ferguson, Andre Perra, and Bryan Henden. Here I was in the same room with them, it just doesn't get much better!

So a big thanks to Dave Ferguson for getting me there, and to Andre Perra for putting on such a fantastic event!

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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

This is the G-Jet car Dave Ferguson built and prepared for me. It was totally AWESOME!
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Here's the business side of the car:
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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

The turnout for this race was excellent with the race room pretty well packed.
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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

THE MAN himself, Gary Beedle!
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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

Competitors getting in some practice laps.
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Lee Dundas Jr.
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Dale Buck designer and builder of Bucktrax.
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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

Track owner and race host Andre Perra.
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Race director Darin Snow.
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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

A tour of the pit area:
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Thank you sir for loaning me your DiFalco controller!
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Always the team to beat!
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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

Darrin Snow the race director is shown here documenting the tech process while Dave Ferguson looks on.
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The tech inspection area was located on the ground floor of the garage.
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The track is located on the second floor of the garage.
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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

A look at the action with some of the Pro racers.
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Impressive racing hardware!
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Casual moments in the racer's lounge area.
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Advise from Dave Ferguson is always welcomed!
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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

Riverside Raceway
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On the grid
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Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

Looks like a blast!

Re: Racing with HOPAC in Portland at Riverside Raceway

It really was a lot of fun! The action is quite a bit faster than the 1/32 cars we are currently racing, but not crazy fast like the neo traction magnet type cars.