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I'm OK experimenting by location and seeing what feels right. 

Should we assemble an approved motor list?  Something where the OEM motors at 8-10V would all be comparable with any aftermarket options (so why go aftermarket, right?).  I do not have the knowledge to assemble this list but I am certain there are those in the gallery who do.

CK

Yes, the brakes are a bit under-spec'd for runs of this magnitude but for the derby and other mild recreational pursuits, they are more than fine.  Bikes are built to support heavier riders and the bikes themselves are actually closer to 40 lbs.  They actually did a fair job of stopping me this time (new calipers) but I wasn't confident to fully charge into the sweepers at the bottom of the course.  No one is looking for a 26" high missile coming down the road, and while watching the testing it became apparent that despite being brightly colored, they are essentially invisible on the road from either in front or behind.

The next iteration (the MkIV) will have disk brakes for both front and rear axles.  Truth be told, hardware has already been acquired to start the build, just focusing on other things currently (like getting the MkI and MkII finished).

On the wildlife end of things, I did get to see a deer (probably 2 but I was staring at the one hoping it'd go the other way) this time and two turkeys last time.  These things are super quiet on the road, and obviously, pretty fast as well.

It is a BLAST!!!

It does do extremely well and I am very happy with it.  It got a little darty lower down the run with the wheel pants on it, when we had some cross wind gusts out of the trees in the open, but it was easy to correct and still pretty stable overall.  It is a blast heading down the hill with it.  I am very pleased with how it came out, especially for a first build and from scratch.

He can confirm but I believe Rico's proposal was to consider the 2 GT classes independently and run them as such.  I agree that we may have complicated things beyond what's necessary with where we went in the F1 class and I don't advocate going there with these classes either.

Classics II has the 18k and 8mm tire rules for podded chassis entries.  I would be in favor of anyone appropriately setting up a Thunderslot T-70 Spider (I don't think the coupe was USRRC eligible) and seeing how it ran.

Can Am also has motor limits, and I believe only the spider was eligible in the series.  If someone wants to prep one which fits the rules (23k motor), I am personally fine with it.  If it's truly that dominant, it is more of a challenge to build something which competes against it. 

Also, maybe Greg just got a really good one and found a magic combination with tuning it.  I would be willing to run my Slot.It McLaren against his T-Slot T-70.

Indeed, thanks again to Al for hosting an excellent evening of racing.  I don't remember many of the details but I do remember very close finishes and multiple heats with everyone finishing on the same lap.  I know I had a couple tight heats with Al as a neighbor and I think it was Jeff and Al and whoever was in the last lane of that heat on the GT3 race having quite the scrap.  I think it reflects well on the development of the group's collective racing skill and the way we've developed some of the more stock-oriented classes.  It all ends up with some very good racing.  And at the end of the day, that's why we show up.

Well, that and the salmon.

Shouldn't that be "markably" well?  Unless, of course, you are doing something for a second time.  Then I guess it could be re-markable.

Greg can confirm but I *think* he has as well.

Thanks Howie for letting a bunch of hoodlums run wild in your shop today.  Thankfully the temps were high enough to keep us pretty lazy and mellow.

For the unfamiliar, this is what Rapid Raceway looks like, with our host in the white shirt on the right (and Trans Am cars at the start line):

We started with a field of 8 racers who braved the heat today.  First up were the new class of Trans Am cars run in an IROC format.
Our fleet consisted of the four cars from the two Oregon teams which were entered in last year's Tacoma 24h.  The cars are only now just about to be commercially released, but the ones from the fall classic seemed to run out extremely well at Rapid Raceway.  With great looking bodywork and simple aluminum podded chassis, they were well matched with each other and the voltage (13v) suited the pink motors well.  The end results were:

1 - Bill "How'd I get here" Bostic - 152.1 laps
2 - Monte "Big Smooth" Saager - 150.1
3 - Rico - 143.2
4 - Howie - 141.2
5 - Chris - 140.2
6 - Mitch - 138
7 - Al - 131
8 - Jimmy - 100

The Trans Am's in motion:

Blurring through the corner and onto the straight, 3 cars wide, Rico with his hand over his heart, cringing in fear of the mess he may have to marshall:

Next up were our ever so popular Group C cars.  For this we run box stock in either anglewinder or inline configuration.  It was weird having sufficient lane spacing to not be bouncing them off each other and the 13v sure made them quick.

One heat's starting grid:

The crowd thinned by one for Gp C as Howie had somewhere else he had to be.  In the end, it was:

1 - Monte 138 + a little more than Rico
2 - Rico 138 + not quite as much as Monte
3 - Chris 132
4 - Tie for Mitch and Bill at 121 and I can't remember who was further around the track
5 - See above
6 - Al - 118
7 - Jimmy - 99

Artsy Gp C in-motion blurry shots, starting with Rico dusting off Bill (as his destroyed pinion wakes the dead!):

Monte's black and red blur lurks in the shadow beneath the bridge while Rico's red-taped Omron streaks through the frame:

Mitch's Lowenbrau does a fly-by:

Bill's Bud car does some streaking of its own:

Next up were the BRM Classics - the 917 and the 512.  There is a modest population of these among the NASTE regulars and we are nearing critical mass to work these into our normal rotation.  Just need a few more people to take the plunge and run them with us.  They do make a gorgeous starting field though:

We were whittled down to 5 and a half racers for this race as Jimmy needed to step away before the green dropped and Rico was on borrowed time and bailed after heat 2.  There were good battles throughout the field but in the end, Monte wasn't able to three-peat.  Bill stood at the top of the podium, followed by me and then Mitch:

1 - Bill - 144
2 - Chris - 139
3 - Mitch - 132
4 - Al - 127
5 - Monte - 126
6 - Rico - 63

More artsy shots...

Monte's shaken, not stirred Martini & Rossi 917 getting the taillight treatment from Bill's Gulf Oil entry:

Mitch's borrowed entry in its familiar Scuderia Kouba livery:

The last event of the day was the GT/BRM Open race, where you could run anything you had the heart to build up with BRM parts.  It made for an, ummm, eclectic starting field, as evidenced with this photo:

This represents literally one car from each BRM class...  We were down to just four racers at this point as Bill thought it more sporting to run the show and marshal than actually compete.  Monte was clearly the man to beat, running the field into the ground with his purple TA Camaro which was straight from the T24 last year.  By this time the track was super tacky and his sponge tires and purple motor were a lethal combination.  The rest of us took knives to his gunfight, and we all were searching through pit boxes between heats.  After eventually migrating to a Tacoma-spec Gp C car (black motor, weight kit, foam tires), I was able to reel him back in and finally get a lap on him by the end of the fourth heat.  It was a fairly epic battle (in my head at least) and quite a fun time.

In the end, the finishing order was:

1 - Chris 154
2 - Monte 153
3 - Al 143
4 - Mitch 132

All of this brings us full circle.  One more thanks goes out to Howie for lending us the facility for the day.  It's nice to have a different track to play on from time to time.  And the day couldn't be complete without the fine  folks at BRM producing the robust and gorgeous models which also run so well.  We race them every Odd Thursday, and they are a blast!

Chris

More pics here: https://goo.gl/photos/Lta7B5FRQ8kSc2S39

Do we have a forum feature to have a poll?  Maybe would be better to start a separate thread with a poll or two:

1 - Lift the NSR ban? 
2 - Allow Thunderslots as class legal cars where applicable?

I am in favor of both, but that's what another thread would be better to discuss.  Maybe...

Or... just throwing this out there... maybe it's time to lift the NSR ban?  They are available at Slot.It prices if you look hard enough and as has been said before, by the time we are tuning any of the other brands to run as well as they are these days, we probably have "NSR money" invested in them.

I have already come close to picking up a Thunderslot (but admit to not having done so yet) but already do own 3 or 4 NSR's.  I would love to be able to use them but also would enjoy getting a Slot.It to compete with them.