For me, OSCAR races have always been a big deal! Entries typically include some of the most sophisticated, complicated, and fastest chassis built for "Hardbody" racing in 1/24 scale. For those not familiar with the term "Hardbody", it refers to scratch built slot cars with injection molded model car bodies. This type of slot car racing has been the backbone of club racing here in Oregon. OSCAR races have always drawn some of the fastest and best racers in the Pacific Northwest. The thought of me ever hosting races for this elite group never even entered my mind in the 1990's! Today there are a number of clubs racing 1/24 scale slot cars in our area. At times OSCAR races draw racers from all of the various clubs. They come to race the fastest cars, competing against the best racers. OSCAR races are long and grueling. They take a toll on equipment as well as racers, mentally and physically. This November race is the race I host here at Inslot's Checkered Flag Raceway. It has always been, and continues to be, a Late Model NASCAR race per OSCAR rules in honor of Bob McFarland.
The night before the race the track was open for practice. We had a number of racers show up, some to practice and some to just visit. The doors officially opened for the race at 9:00 AM Saturday, and by 9:15 AM most all of the participants had their pits established and were getting some track time. Tech inspections started early with racers anxious to get the race started. Unfortunately Tom Street whom I consider to be the lead figure in OSCAR, was sick and could not make the race. Typically OSCAR races are run using the SRT racing program, a program I have, but am not really familiar with. Tom has always taken the lead running the OSCAR races here at Checkered Flag. For this reason I made the decision to use the Race Coordinator program I also have set up for the track. I also made the decision to forgo qualifying by time trials, another OSCAR race standard. Without the use of qualifying I set the race starting grid by using racer's past finish results and their race history that I had knowledge of. Some technical data, some intuition, and some seat of the pants reasoning. Racers agreed to the line up I submitted without complaints.
From the drop of the flag it was evident this was going to be a close race. Michael (Stig) lead the field in the first hour of racing with Stuart (Stew Meat) and Bob (Nak Nak) tied for second. Those guys had posted a substantial ten plus lap lead over the rest of us. There were no other big leads through the rest of the field. Steven (Dragin' Man) had started out with top five speed but suffered a mechanical issue early. We were to find out he was not down and out!
Round 1 Results:
