I won the championship one year without winning a single race. I had many second place finishes (the Doc approach to success)!

One can make the argument that a racer may not fall as far behind due to a bad night, but by the same token it could impede process in making up lost ground. Any position below the top eight down to the last placing competitor result in points lost. All racers below the top eight are scored the same as if their finish position counts for nothing. Look at it from a new racer's perspective, if you're not in the top eight you're just another loser.

I feel in the NASTE point series EVERY racer should get credit for the races they compete in. competition is so good and close now I feel good if I place in the top ten. I should get credit for it if I do. At the end of the season I do not want to see 10 racers tied for last place.

We all know my math skills can be questionable, what I do know is the most consistent racers will STILL win regardless of what value you put on the points awarded for finish positions. The relationship between the point totals will change, but not the relationship between the racer's finish positions.

Through the years of NASTE, and with the HO club I was involved with in the 80's,  I've experimented with various scoring systems for point series racing. My first question is; what would be the reason to change to a different point system?

I finally settled on, and stayed with the current system for a few reasons. 1. It is one of the easiest systems to use for scoring. 2. It is one of the fairest systems of scoring. A racer gets 1 point for every other racer he beats in a race. At the end of the season a racer's score tells the whole story. Their total is exactly how many other racers they beat in races to win the championship. 3. A racer gets more points for wins where the race had more competitors he had to beat. 4. In a race where the top finishers are basically the only racers to score points, a racer can achieve the exact same number of points for a win where they only have to beat say 6 other racers, as a racer who has to beat 20 other racers. The points have no equality in relation to the number of competitors in any given race. 5. If a competitor has a bad race and falls below the point cut off of the top finishers, he loses more points to the leader. I.e. let's say the points leader finishes 9th in a field of 12, he only gets 1 point, same as 10th through 12th, but he still beat three other racers. 6. And lastly, I have NEVER seen where scoring differently for a point series has ever made a difference in the outcome! I have had racers question the scoring systems I have used in the past. At the end of the season I have re-scored the entire championship, ALL the races, and re-totalled the finish. It has NEVER made a difference in the final outcome. The point totals may come out different, but the racer that won still always won. The biggest difference was in how close the point totals were. Some may question that, but I challenge anyone to go back through a season, re-assign the points using other values, and re-tabulate the finish scores. No matter how you count it the winners still win regardless of the total numbers.

To me what makes a little more sense is to allow racers to throw out one or two races each season. This brings the point totals in closer and gives racers a chance to recover if they have a really bad race, or just plain miss a race.

With all that said, I am not opposed to using a different numbering system. Just tell me what you guys want and I'll be happy with it.

2,104

(97 replies, posted in Rapid Raceway)

YES!!!!

2,105

(97 replies, posted in Rapid Raceway)

All I want to know is, what happened to Indy Car votes?????? I LOVE those cars!!!!

Gotta admit, I voted for Early Modified!

I have work to do, my NASCAR sucks!

Race host and fisherman extraordinaire Al, or MEAT as we like to call him!
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_7350.jpg

Jeff taking a break to get in a little bench racing between races.
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Pictured left to right: Chris, Stan - just behind Al, and Zack.
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Chris' winning Can Am car.
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Staring grid for another Can Am heat race.
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Pictured left to right: Monte, Chris, Al, Zack.
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Monte, The Big Smooth!
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Pictured left to right: Stan, Monte, Jeff, Zack.
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Zack's ready to go, Monte's hookin' up.
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The Slot.it McLarens are a popular choice for the Can Am Class.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_7339.jpg

Can Am starting grid for a heat race.
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Pictured left to right: Jake, Mitch, Chris.
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Just an indicator of how fast Monte was, even the camera couldn't catch him!
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_7335.jpg

So after five point races we have a tie for the lead!

NASTE 2019 Point Series Championship Race No.5 @ Rippin' Ridin' Raceway December 13, 2018

Race Results - Can Am Class:
1 Chris 78.9 Laps - 10 points
2 Monte   77.0 - 9 pts.
3 Al   72.7 - Fastest lap to break tie - 8 pts.
4 Mitch  72.7 - 7 pts.
5 Rico  70.1 - 6 pts.
6 Bill  68.6 - 5 pts.
7 Stan  65.3 - 4 pts.
8 Jeff   61.3 - 3 pts.
9 Zack  59.7 - 2 pts.
10 Jake  58.8 - 1 pt.

Current Standings for the 2019 NASTE Point Series Championship After 5 Races:

1st - tie Al - 40 points
1st - tie Monte  - 40 pts.
3rd Rico  - 31 pts.
4th Daniel  - 22 pts.
5th Mitch  - 17 pts.
6th Bill  - 14 pts.
7th Stan  - 11 pts.
8th - tie Greg   - 10 pts.
8th - tie Jeff - 10 pts.
8th - tie Chris - 10 pts.
11th - tie Gary  - 9 pts.
11th - tie Fernando  - 9 pts.
13th Zack - 2 pts.
14th - tie Terry Redeau  - 1pt.
14th - tie Jake - 1 pt.

As usual, racing at Al's last night included fast close racing and some great snacks! We welcomed a new racer Zack to the field. Zack brings his RC car racing experience along and it served him well! There were many comments about how the the track was hooked up last night and it was reflected in the lap times and total laps for each heat race.

The first class on the grid was Trans Am. This is always one of the most closely fought classes every time it is raced. Last night was no different. Jeff won but by only one lap over Rico. Al was third just three tenths of a lap back, with Mitch just a mere six tenths behind Al.

Trans Am Results:
1 Jeff   67.1 Laps
2 Rico    66.1
3 Al  65.8
4 Mitch  65.2
5 Bill  64.0
6 Chris  63.1
7 Stan  60.2
8 Monte  59.2
9 Zack 58.7
10 Jake  55.5

Can Am was the class for the Point Series Race of the evening. Racers have been working to up there game and there were some awesome cars on the track, driven by awesome drivers! It was a tough race for some of us trying to keep pace! The top dog's finishes were knocking on the 80 lap door! The top five all broke the 70 lap mark, but Chris and Monte were clearly the guys to beat and led the way through the entire race!

Can Am Class - NASTE 2019 Point Series Championship Race No.5 @ Rippin' Ridin' Raceway:
1 Chris 78.9 Laps
2 Monte   77.0
3 Al   72.7 - Fastest lap to break tie
4 Mitch  72.7
5 Rico  70.1
6 Bill  68.6
7 Stan  65.3
8 Jeff   61.3
9 Zack  59.7
10 Jake  58.8

After the crowd cleared out a bit the Open Class cars were gridded up for a little grudge racing. This round Al was top dog, but just barely edged out Chris by one tenth of a lap! Both of the top cars were Slot.its!

Open Class Results:
1 Al 76.8 Laps
2 Chris   76.7
3 Bill   75.4
4 Mitch  75.2
5 Stan 72.2
6 Zack  68.1
7 Rico  44.4

Thanks Al for another night of awesome racing and food! Your smoked salmon is till the best in the west! Obviously that's why we call you MEAT!

Thanks Howie for all your help and support in this endeavor!

Thanks Doc, moral support and supervision is key to the success of any project...........

We missed ya tonight Doc!

Thanks Al!

I have plenty of time to plan a date for the actual move. I will be trying to get the track disassembled and ready to load in the next couple of weeks. I am thinking of waiting until the holidays are over to do the move. Probably just after the first of the year, weather permitting. I'll throw out some dates soon and see who can be available to help. I think I will need at least 8 guys to load the pieces, 10 would be better as each piece is BIG!

These pictures are representative of the pieces the track will break down to for moving. This first example would be the larger of the two sections, which includes the bank. This piece measures 12' x 8'. The 180 degree turn at the end of the downhill from the bank detaches as a separate small piece. The spool of braid is sitting on this curve in the photo.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_7329.jpg

This second piece will be this section, including both straights and the hairpin curve at the end. This piece is approximately 16' x 6'. We have verified this section will fit into Howie's covered car trailer.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_7328.jpg

I believe the 12' x 8' section will be the heaviest. I tested the weight of the 16' x 6' section and it did not seem extremely heavy. I am hoping to get a bunch of guys on hand to help with loading and unloading. The more bodies the easier and simpler it will be!

Made a recon trip to Aurora today to formulate a plan to move the track. The track is solidly constructed with the MDF track surface mounted on a 2" x 4" framework, 4" x 4" legs, and a plywood subsurface. The track will come apart in two large pieces and one small piece. The plan is to move the track with the legs attached, using Howie's enclosed car trailer and possibly a U-Haul type truck. The wiring is all clearly color coded with nice connectors at attachment points. It should be possible to move the track without the need to cut any of the wiring. The plan for the next visit is to start the actual disassembly. Today I was lacking some tools needed to start disassembling the track.

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http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_7332.jpg

Thanks Terry!...and YES, a bigger shop would have been better!.........but that was NOT an option. Given our lot size, I could not have gone even one foot bigger in any direction........well except, UP!.....maybe.......that of course would have been up to city approval.............another separate obstacle!

Thanks guys for all the offers of help! I'm sure I'll be hittin' y'all up when it comes to move time!

New name?.....Well I have a couple ideas there.........although Checkered Past is kinda cool! What I have in mind has kind of a long story to it. It would pay tribute to the track's past as well as to the original builder. It also looks as though there may be two tracks here, the Checkered Flag track as well as my old HO routed track. I have been considering a new racing format for the old HO track. The idea is something totally different than what I raced on the track previously.

More to come!

Thanks Stan. Wednesday I'm going down to take another look, get some measurements, and start on the preliminary disassembly in preparation for the move. I should know more after that.

Thanks Doc, I'll keep you posted!

Since the completion of my shop I have been working on plans for a new slot car track. I have been looking at the possibility of acquiring an existing track and moving it, as well as building a new track. A few weeks ago I began talking with Bob McFarland about the possibility of buying his Checkered Flag 1/24 track. Today I received a call from Bob, telling me the track is mine!

Checkered Flag is a 1/24 four lane routed track originally built by Kirk Smith. OSCAR and PASER have been holding races on this track since it was built, at its previous location in Milwaukie as well as its current location in Aurora. I am excited about getting this track and setting it up in my shop in Vancouver. I look forward to the opportunity to host races for OSCAR, PASER, Northwest True Scale Racers, NASTE, and any other club interested in racing on it. This track is perfectly suited for racing all types of cars and it will be fun for me to host a large variety of car classes. I am not particular as to what types of slot cars I race because I like them all. I admit there are some I like better than others but I have just always enjoyed racing whatever the type of car.

In the next few days I am planning to go to Aurora and start the work necessary to get the track ready to move. I will be asking for volunteers to help with the actual move in the near future. Standby for updates!

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/checkeredflagvan.jpg