NASTE Odd Thursday Night Racing Rules & Current Thread (Page 15 of 85)

I hear ya' !!!!....I have that ability or affliction, whichever way you see it!!!

I don't know much about can am, but I do have a Monogram T70 that handles poorly and an MRRC Chaparral that I intend to run the crap out of. I can probably change the motor in either  direction as needed. Lord knows I have enough practice doing that... Slot it McLaren? Hmmmmm.

From Goose:

I have been doing some reading in my can/am book. 1966 was the first year for "can/am" and it appears 66 & 67 were mostly small block cars. In 67 the big blocks started to show up in more cars, chev & ford engines, some 351 ford upped to 377 were used. So it appears the 2c chap never really raced in can/am, just usrrc. Do we disallow the 2c, or do we include some of the 1964/54 usrrc cars to run with the small block can/am cars? (food for thought?). So i am beginning to wonder if we should run all cars together and have racers declare their car as a "small block" per motor spec or "big block" car per motor spec to determine lap times & lap quantities for each of the two classes. This would be like the way we run our f-1 races with different class cars. Would this be a simpler way to run this class and help Bill keep track of scoring two classes? Please feel free to correct me on the above can/am info above if i am in error. We should be able to create a list of which years & car type had which engines used for racers to determine class to race in(?). Getting kind of complicated, or is it just me!

Goose

This is very interesting stuff guys. I like hearing about the history of the Can Am. Guess some day I should read a book! Heaven forbid!

It looks like from what I've been reading you guys have come to a mutual agreement on two major things regarding the class. 1) There should be two divisions within the class for the older type cars and the newer cars. 2) Pretty much anything goes as to the car specifics. The only problem I see in using lap times as a break out, or to designate the two class divisions would be in the case of "sandbagging". Personally I don't think that would be a problem but who knows. However with that said, if there were enough dispariety between the legal motors for the class (i.e. 18k motors for the earlier cars -vs- say 25k motors for the later cars) the lap times issue would resolve itself, and probably be a moot point. The breakout lap time could be set at a point where a perfect lap would be needed for an early car to break out, and it would be a high enough lap time that it would be easily obtainable by the later cars. Another point in regards to using lap times as a measurement, with the new lap counter/timing system we are using we have median laps times for the entire race. That might be a useful tool should you guys decide to use lap times as some sort of gauge.

I agree the Vanquish cars should be inelligible. I'm good with the Carrera cars in the mix.

===========Bill

We had a great time too.  Always fun to get our and run the little cars.  Thanks Bill.

You're welcome guys! I really enjoy the Odd Thursday races! We have some great racing and an excellent group of people!

We've been busy with the garage sale, but I'll get the results posted from the race as soon as I can.

=============Bill

Hey Bill: Thank you for hosting another great Thursday night of ruckus slam-in fighting race bouts @ Too-Bad raceway! You are to be applauded for sharing you're track and home for all of us racers, enough cannot be said for you're efforts!! Had a great time being shoved around the track last night. I have to really thank Chet' here for his letting me use his brm car last night, that beast really hauls, and i feel really privileged he shared it with me! For me that is one of the acts that make Naste special for me. I am already anxious for the next Thursday night race. Now i need to find a "legal" vintage car.

Goose, your welcome and I'd say anytime but I might be lying. Seriously, I'd lend you a car again in the future, just not a good one. Thanks Bill for another fun filled night of racing, crashing, eating and bench racing.

Rico

I've been promoting and holding slot car races for over 35 years now. In that time I've learned that rules are an important part of a successful racing program, and that for the most part, the simpler the rules the better. Here at TooBad Motorplex the written rules ar simple, and even those are loosely enforced. That has resulted in some great racing on odd Thursday nights. However as we develope and refine our cars, and improve our driving skills on the race course, the racing becomes closer. As the racing tightens up the rules become more important as a car's performance becomes more of a factor as skill levels equalize.

At the last race I stated for a car/driver to claim an official win, the car must be compliant to all the rules. What bothers me the most about out of spec car wins is that it skews the race statistics. A lap record is of no value if it cannot possibly be met or broken by a legally prepared car. So that brings us to rule enforcement, and I just totally HATE that! It seems lately the biggest issue with the rules seems to be motors that are above spec, producing more RPM than allowed by the rules.

I am currently conducting some testing using a hand held mechanically driven electronic tachometer. My goal is to come up with a "spec" number to use as a guide to determine if a particular car's motor is within the rules. Where this becomes difficult is in obtaining a measurement from a car without total disassembly and removal of the motor. I addition to RPM, this particular instrument I have measures in FT/MIN. I have found that the FT/MIN reading may be usefull as the reading can be obtained without disassembly of the car, by measuring rear wheel speed. I understand that there are other variables that affect the rear wheel reading such as tire diameter, friction, and gear ratios. From testing I have seen that these variables do not have a great affect on the FT/MIN readings. The RPM readings on the other hand vary much more according to tire diameter and gearing, and the readings also fluctuate more as the car runs. To date I have test data from more than 60 cars of all makes and configurations.

I will continue with the testing and may even try to validate the test results at the next race. Please keep in mind NOTHING is really changing at TooBad in regards to the current rules. The testing to be done is simply accomplished, and will only be required of the "official" winning car. The Traction Magnet Rule for new and less experienced racers that have not won a race is still in effect. The only difference is in my data collection as cars with traction magnets will not be elligible for establishing records (excluding the BRM Porsche 962 Class). In addition there are other reasons a racer may wish to race a car that is out of compliance with the class rules, such as car developement and testing for another race or track. TooBad's policy of WHAT a racer can race or put on the track is not changing. What is changing is a car's elligibility for an "official win".

==========Bill

I installed H&R 18K Hawk motors in both Scalextric Trans Am cars and in my Slot It GT40 for classic sports car. It will be interesting to see how much variation there is amongst the three. Bill, are you testing at 12 volt per some factory specs or at 10 volts that we run on? I also noticed that the Ninco motors are rated at 14.4 volts, it will be interesting to see what they turn at 10 or 12 volts.

Hi Bill: Thank you for hosting another fun night of hard racing. It sure is neat to see so many "core" club racers show up to battle it out against each other. I also really enjoy seeing their new cars they bring to race. I am enjoying the various classes you have established for us too.