RussKit - Some History

In 1964 Phil Barchetta who was Strombecker's PR man started one of the first factory sponsored teams that raced at various tracks in the Greater Chicago area. The following year Jim Russell hired four local hot shoes from Southern California; Mike Morrissey, Rick Durkee, Ron Quintana Len Vucci and formed the legendary Team Russkit. The racers had their expenses paid as well as any parts required to build and maintain their cars. Team Russkit would go on a 30 day nationwide tour which had a tremendous effect on the development of professional slot car racing in America. The first thing Team Russkit discovered is that they were not as far ahead of everyone as they thought! In Car Model, February 1966, pg 24, Mike Morrissey writes, "To begin with, everywhere we went, we were surprised at how fast cars are going. From Las Vegas to Long Island, we found cars almost as fast as ours, and in Detroit... well, I'll come to that later." Detroit was the home of The Groove Raceway and there things did not go exactly as planned according to Morrissey:

Team Russkit"We didn't have much trouble going as fast as anyone else except in one place, The Groove, in Royal Oak, Michigan. It was here that we got clobbered, whipped, and obliterated. I mean, they could have saved themselves some time by simply beating us with hammers and throwing us outa the joint!"

"You see, it was at The Groove that we learned all about 'supertraction' tracks... the hard way. We had heard about these midwest track surfaces, but we'd never realized just how sticky they were. They use a high-gloss paint that is nearly shiny. Then after the track is broken in and builds up a little tire goop on the paint surface, it becomes so sticky that you can't believe it!"

Team Russkit"Anyway, our cars are built for normal surfaces and are, as I said, very light. They wouldn't slide or drift at all, but instead would just do snap rolls. The locals' cars weigh 5 to 6 ounces or more. They use flat brass plate about 1/8" thick for frames, those 'Silastic' tires, and a variety of motors. The flat plates give a very low center of gravity, which kills the flipping tendency, and the weight stabilizes them. To get all that mass down the straights, they use hairy motors like Dyno-Chargers, Rams, and wildly rewound Pittmans and Mabuchis. To stop they use up to 6 volts of power brakes. We'll be back that way, though, and next time we'll be properly armed! Maybe we can put up a decent fight." A year later Team Russkit returned and that year they beat the locals at their own game. A sense of equilibrium had returned to the slot car racing scene. If you can imagine what it must have been like going up against a group of hired guns in factory blazers no less.