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I'm sorry to hear that. My condolences to his family.

Awesome place, awesome track, awesome host. Under three seconds per lap on a fifty-five foot track with little cars you can hardly see, with some in like colors. Hard to keep apart sometimes but great fun nonetheless. The two 1/32 scale guys came in last...

I'm in the middle on this issue. Bill's wording of his opinion may be a little strong, but I can see his point.

The way we use the fuel system in the team races this season is nothing more than a forced wait period because it is not tied to car speeds but solely to lap counts. So every 18 laps we have to stop for 10 seconds and continue the race. Fast and slow drivers alike. Since fast drivers rack up laps faster they have to pit sooner.

On the other hand, it depends on where on the fuel gauge the faster driver starts to see if (s)he needs to stop once or twice per heat. Theoretically, the faster driver could clock more laps during the time of the forced pause, so minimizing the number of fueling stops for the faster driver is a valid strategy for a team. That and figuring out how much fuel to take on during the last pit stop in the team's final heat (but this would gain you one lap at most I think).

Assuming that each team can run at least one lap and no more than one and a half lap during the period of the refueling stop, the impact on the total score is small, but we do have some close races so it may be worth it. However, since the races ARE so close, missing laps due to fuel system screw ups (like what happened to Rico's team last Tuesday) have a huge impact. So is it worth the hassle to deal with fuel system errors?

On another note, and this happened on at least on one occasion last Tuesday (maybe more), when you run through the lap counter and the fuel goes to zero but you don't stop the system will not count any more laps until you stop in the pit, take on fuel and continue the race. However, if you run empty in the final seconds of a heat and the race stops before you cross the lap counter again you do get a partial count. This doesn't seem fair to me as not all teams will be in this situation.

Example, during the race a car runs across the dead strip, the lap count goes up by one and the fuel drops to zero. If the car is still at zero fuel the next time it crosses the dead strip (in other words, it didn't stop to refuel) the lap count does NOT go up. But if this scenario happens in the final few seconds of a heat (and people are probably more likely to continue to race when they know they have only a couple of seconds left) and the car makes it all the way past the 8/9 marker on the track it would get almost a full lap added to its total as a partial count. If on the other hand, it makes it all the way across the dead strip again it would NOT get an extra lap added.

So, again, since the races are pretty tight and can be determined by the partials scores, the fuel system may be more hassle for the Tuesday night races than what it COULD add in 'realism'.

For endurance races where we run an hour or more per lane I can see some 'realism' and equalizing benefits of the fuel system, but only if it is tied to the speed of the car rather than based on lap counts although that is also linked to the speed of the car. Or perhaps we should look at car type (I don't know if Randy's system can be set up that way) and take off fuel and play with the tank volume based on the type of car.

After observing what the system did last Tuesday I would recommend we contact the maker of the software and make it so that the Pit-Out sensor can NEVER act as a Pit-In sensor. That seems to cause a reversal of the system and cause of great frustration.

Like Bill, this is just a statement of my observations and opinions, not meant to persuade any of you to think otherwise. It's just meant to make you think...

What's MIO finish?

I guess I should have Googled it first.....

http://www.duluxprotectivecoatings.com. … 0There.pdf

Seems like a great top coat for racing.

I wish I could. I have a Toyota R88C that I have been saving for years now. I may stop by sometime just to catch up and watch.

You say that as if it is a problem. "Sind wir denn nicht alle Berliner?"

Technically, it will show that the driver station has power (whether the controller is hooked up or not), power to the track must go through the controller and is only applied once you pull the trigger. I guess you could connect it to the black lead of the controller to see if your controller sends power to the track, but that may interfere with the variable braking action in the controller/driver station. I haven't thought that one through yet.

One question regarding the steps shown in the gallery. Why not move the cut lines a little further outside so the from axle tabs remain on the chassis?

It is my understanding that at the finals all drivers will race with SCX provided cars, not their own. Therefore, your car building/tweaking skills are not judged. If that's the case, why judge it in the qualifiers?

I'll show up with a non-pro car and will race on whatever tires and whatever motor I get handed at the door. Now the question with the tires will be: if they are silicones and require a Dremel to true how are we going to do that when we receive them on the day of the race?

Are those tracks open for lunch? I work in the Clackamas area.

What time?