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When the Trans Am class idea was first brought up to me the idea was pretty much a "stock" class. My thinking is we already have 2 classes (Classic Sports Car & GT) where the rules allow most any modifications, so I was thinking the Trans Am Class could be closer to a "box stock" type of class. Maybe something along the lines of the BRM Porsche class, where all you need are quick simple modifications to be competitive? Any thoughts?

July 17th and another Odd Thursday! We had eleven racers on hand for the drop of the green flag. This was the first race with the new Trans Am class. This first race showed the Pioneer Trans Am cars with somewhat of an advantage with their motors out running the Scalextric cars. The field consisted of box stock cars as well as some that were slightly modified. There were even some replicas of cars that competed in the 2 liter and under division of the Trans Am races. Questions were raised as to whether the U2 cars would be allowed to compete in the Trans Am races at TooBad Motorplex. The answer to that question is still up for debate.
   
    The GT race had a new entry from John Morse. John brought out his new Nissan R390, and was able to put down some good lap times once he got use to the new car. During his last heat race in the GT class, Rico not only fought off the other racers but battled a kamikaze fly that for some reason decided Rico was tasty. The fly kept Rico out of the top five in the GT class. Some said it was probably MY fly, working as trained..........I'm not tellin'!

    The BRM Porsche race had six entries, with NO loaner cars on the track! This class is becoming very popular and for good reason! These cars set some of the fastest lap times on the TooBad circuit, and they are just a riot to race! If you could imagine Porsche 962 short track cars, you can get somewhat of a picture of what goes on racing these cars on the tight TooBad course. The racing is just brutal!!! We push, shove, slam, punt, and crash but these cars are tough and just take it! They are really a lot of fun, and the racing is extremely close!

Race Results:

Trans Am Class:
1st Greg Petrolati 53.9 laps - Pioneer Mustang Notchback / Modified Production stock 21k motor.
2nd Rico Locati 53.0 - Pioneer Mustang Notchback / Modified Production stock 21k motor - prep by Greenman.
3rd Goose Gossett 50.6 - Scalextric Camaro / Stock w/no traction magnet & weight, stock 18k motor, Paul Gage tires.
4th Bryan Dickerson 50.1 - Scalextric Mustang / Stock w/rear tire change.
5th Monte Saager 48.8 - SCX Cuda / Stock w/42B motor & rear tire change.
6th Tracy Flood 47.8  -  Scalextric Mustang / Stock.
7th John Morse 47.7  - Scalextric Mustang / Stock.
8th Bill Bostic 45.8  - Scalextric Camaro / Stock w/no traction magnet & rear tire change.
9th John Fisher 45.7  -  Fly Alfa GTV U2 / Stock w/rear tire change. Motor ? = slow.
10th Mitch Brooks 45.1  -  Scalextric Mustang / Stock w/no traction magnet & rear tire change.
11th Perry Petrequin 40

GT Class:
1st Goose Gossett 58.1 laps
2nd Tracy Flood 57.1
3rd Monte Saager 57.0
4th John Fisher 54.8
5th Greg Petrolati 54.3
6th Rico Locati 53.5
7th Bill Bostic 53.2
8th Mitch Brooks 47.5
9th John Morse 35.5

BRM Porsche 962 Class:
1st Goose Gossett 61.1 laps
2nd Rico Locati 60.9
3rd Tracy Flood 59.1
4th Bill Bostic 58.6
5th John Fisher 55.3
6th Mitch Brooks 53.9

Odd Thursday Night Vintage F1 Class. This class will be raced with cars compliant to the NASTEburgring Rules. This class is open to the Scalextric Lotus 49 and Eagle Vintage F1 cars.

Modifications: These are the only modifcations allowed!
  - No traction magnet. Traction magnet must be removed.
  - Any rear tire may be used. Tires may be glued to the stock wheels.
  - Motors and rear axle bushings may be glued to chassis.
  - Weight may be added, but must be located inside the confines of the body, not in view from the top or bottom of car.

I received another suggestion to run the Trans Am cars "box stock" with the exception of added weight and rear tire changes. The suggested included possible changes to the "box stock" rule after a baseline of performance was established, and or problems developed requiring modifications to eliminate them.

As a box stock class, I believe we could allow all the different manufacturers and the competition would be pretty even. The Carrera cars are the only ones with motors rated in excess of 18k, but typically the handling of the Carrera cars is not up to par with the other brands. After a couple of races we would probably have a better idea of how the competition measures up.

The obvious choices for cars to race in a Trans Am class would be those produced by Scalextric and Pioneer. These cars come with 18k motors. In addition SCX has the Trans Am Cuda wnd it also comes with an 18k motor. Carrera makes Mustangs that could be elligible, but they have motors rated at 21k and up. And as most know, the Carrera cars are not competitive in the group with Scalextric, Pioneer, and SCX, at least in "stock" configuration. If the class is limited to Scalextric, Pioneer, and SCX cars the field should be pretty even as far as motor performance.

Some suggestions I have received as to class rules so far include:

Chassis - Stock manufactured chassis only.
              - OK to enlarge body mount screw holes to allow body float.
              - OK to may trim off up to 1/16" around chassis perimeter for body float.
              - OK to cut off body bumpers and valance from chassis and glue onto body in stock position.
             
Body - Stock body, same manufacture as chassis only.
         - OK to remove stock spoilers.
         - No flaring of body fender wells or enlarging of wheel opening.

Tires & Wheels - OK to run any tire or wheel as long as they are not wider then 8mm.
                         -  Tires can not protrude past body, meaning wheelbase width cannot exceed body width.       

Gears, Axles, Axle Bushings - OK to use after market parts.

Guide Flag - OK to use Nova adapter for stock chassis flag mount repalecemnt or repair.

Interior -  Stock interior, same munufacturer as body only.
             - OK to sand bottom of interior for body float, floor boards must remain in stock location, no chopping or sectioning.

Motors - Stock 18000 rpm motors.

Comments or additional suggestions???

It was a wild night of racing! Ten racers drifted in for the night's events. John Fisher made it back from Australia, and it was good to see John Morse back to race. We also had a new racer, a big welcome to Ed Armstrong. Goose was on a terror and nearly got the triple crown, winning two of the three classes and scoring a second place in the BRM class after a near fatal plunge through The Hole! As usual the BRM class gave us some exciting door to door, and into a couple doors, type of racing. The 1/24 BRM Porsche class is gaining in popularity. Six of the ten racers had BRMs in their stable of cars. They truly are a blast to race!

Here are the final results:

Classic Sports Car Class:

1st Goose Gossett 52.5 laps
2nd Chris Kouba 50.1
3rd Glenn Heath 50.0
4th John Fisher 48.7
5th Bill Bostic 47.1
6th Tracy Flood 45.9
7th Todd Flood 41.9
8th Mitch Brooks 41.2
9th John Morse 37.1
10th Ed Armstrong 36.4

GT Class:

1st Goose Gosset 61.6 laps
2nd Chris Kouba 59.7
3rd Bill Bostic 57.3
4th Tracy Flood 56.0
5th Glenn Heath 52.4
6th John Fisher 51.7
7th Mitch Brooks 49.4
8th John Morse 46.3
9th Todd Flood 41.2
10th Ed Armstrong 40.5

BRM Porsche 962 Class:

1st Chris Kouba 60.0 laps
2nd Goose Gossett 58.0
3rd Tracy Flood 57.7
4th Bill Bostic 57.4
5th Mitch Brooks 54.9
6th John Fisher 53.1
7th Glenn Heath 50.1
8th John Morse 48.9
9th Ed Armstrong 45.7
10th Todd Flood 45.4