MONDAY OT (Open Track) (Page 1 of 6)

well since your just down the road from me I can't use the traffic for a reason not be there..

Yesterday was the first open track day, and although not many people attended I saw quite a few different types of cars making some laps. First to show up was Doc. He ran some of his NASTE spec 1/32 cars. What became evident right off the bat was the need to get the car's guide flags lowered. With the recessed braid on ICFR versus the copper tape tracks most cars are set up for, there definitely was not enough guide flag extending into the slot, and not good enough electrical contact on the pickup braid. Other than that all the cars Doc ran seemed to perform well with many cars running under the 6 second mark.

Mitch came by with some of his Northwest True Scale cars. Since the track was built primarily for 1/24 cars Mitch's cars did not suffer from any of the issues the 1/32 cars experienced. Bart showed up shortly after and unloaded some NWTS cars as well. He put down some serious laps with his Early Modified and Can Am cars. John arrived with a box full of OSCAR spec cars. He got in some good practice laps with three of his Clubman cars.

There was just a little discussion in regards to what the Monday track days should look like. The decision was to keep it casual and not have a structured race schedule. One thought was a casual race could be "scheduled" by the racers in attendance for the next Monday. The attending racers would determine what class would be raced. The doors would still open at 1:00 PM, and the race would "tentatively" start around 5:00 PM or 6:00 pm. I would post the plan for the next Monday here, and add the details to the schedule on the NASTE Calendar.

There was also some talk of racing some Flexi type cars. The OSCAR racers in Bend race these types of cars and Bob Nak has been working to promote this class around here. In Bend they race 4 1/2 inch wheelbase cars and they are a lot of fun.

So before next Monday I am going to make an attempt to get some of the parts I have, as well as some "used" Flexi cars put out on display and for sale. I will have new parts for 1/32 cars used in NASTE spec races, as well as used and some new parts for current 1/24 cars and vintage cars. This gentlemen is this week's mission! I will keep you posted here as to how it is going!

Cool, we'll be here!

I spent some time in the "wrecking yard" today. As I mentioned in my previous post I plan to have some "stuff" available for purchase at Monday's track day. So far I have some Flexi type chassis and some Womp chassis. There is everything from bare chassis to rollers, and even a couple RTRs. Prices will vary, depending upon condition and how complete they are. Figure $2 to $15 for Flexi's and Womps. I will also have clear bodies, new, used, and some factory painted. The clear bodies will go for $1 to $10, and I also have a bunch of used bodies for free. I will be digging out more stuff before Monday.

I am thinking about doing some advertising for the track here in Vancouver. Maybe some flyers in a couple of the hobby shops up here, or maybe even a Craigslist ad. Inslot's Checkered Flag is well suited to Flexi type cars, as well as Womps. I think if I promote some Flexi and Womp racing along with the current club classes (NWTS, OSCAR, NASTE) there might be some Vancouver area folks that used to race that may join us. If not the Flexis and Womps would at least make for some cheap fun once in awhile!

Yes, I've been there. There's Hobby Lobby Lobby in the Vancouver Mall and Hobby Town by Home Depot off Padden Parkway. Those were two hobby retail stores I've thought about as well as the one on N.E. St. Johns.

Thanks Doc, I didn't know that!

Monday open track update:

Opening the doors at 1:00PM seems to be working pretty well. By 2:00 three or four people had already made it by. By 3 or 3:30 all the lanes of the track were full. Around that time a couple racers took off but they were quickly replaced by people arriving in the 4 to 5:00 hour.

There were lots of different types of cars on the track at any given time. Everything from modified late model 1/32 RTR cars and Parma I32s to vintage 1/24 and Parma Flexis. Doc had some of his 1/32 NASTE spec cars running some really good lap times! John Gill brought out a few Parma I32 cars that were really sweet! Around 6:00 or so there were enough racers on hand that the decision was made to set up a short lap race. John Gill set up the SRT race program for a 50 lap race. It took a couple tries but after sorting it out it looked like some of these impromptu races might be a fun addition to the day's activities.

All said it seemed like everyone had a good time. We had a couple new drivers on the track as well as some veterans. We closed the doors at 9:30PM after a really good B.S. session. For you folks planning to come up next Monday, be sure to throw a Flexi type car in your box. If you have an old Flexi and the tires are shot, I have pairs of older tires that are still good enough for practice! We will play around with having another lap count type race or two whenever there are enough racers on site, and the desire is there. If you don't have a Flexi there will be some loaners available.

Thanks to all that made it by. I had a good time!

We will always save a spot for you Rico! I think you have some of the worst luck of anyone I know!

Ahhh, updates.  Gotta love those unplanned updates.  We've been throwing money at things like crazy.  It would be cheaper to go back to buying slot cars...

Thanks Bill!
Was nice to get some laps in!

We will see next Monday how hot it will be. Right now it is showing 102 for Portland on Monday.
105 is forecasted for Saturday. I read earlier today that 107 (last time in 1981) is the all time high for Portland so it will be close!

I'd take another 3 weeks if it were me!