January, 2023 - Stewart Raceway

Open Track Day Report

Julian, Abe, and Grace cutting laps on SR3. Right-click and open a new browser window for larger pics.

Wow! I think we broke records for attendance at Stewart Raceway yesterday.

What a great turnout of junior drivers, parents, and club drivers preparing for next Saturday’s 50/50 Series opening round.

Thank you to all our friends and parents who brought their kids to the track Saturday. It was fantastic to see all lanes busy, parents helping and coaching the kids, marshaling crashes, and supporting all the young drivers as they clicked off hundreds of laps. That was cool!

Eric Lane’s healthfood contribution to the event. Thanks, Eric!

Yea, it was a bit crazy at times but what do you expect when you hand over control of a little car capable of doing 600 (scale) miles per hour? The kids like to go fast but they also like their total lap counts, which seemed to be the focus of the day.

Once again, the top junior driver was Abe Maddox. Abe clicked off the most laps in both “kids” sessions and wasn’t shy about it either. That was his goal and he nailed it. Madeline Johnson was next best in terms of total laps in both sessions running on the outside Yellow lane. Yes, there were faster young drivers in the field today but Abe and Madeline seemed to understand the “Turtle and the Hare” story better than most. Dax Schwartz hung in there for both sessions and was a close third in total laps running in the other outside lane (Red), which is definitely not the ideal lane for total laps.

It wasn’t an “official” race but all the kids were very keen on keeping track of their lap counts and making sure their car was quickly placed in the slot after crashes. I’m amazed at the focus and attention they gave to driving these little cars for so long, totally cool.

Okay, it is clear that the kids enjoy this stuff just as much as we older “kids.” That said, I think we should have another “official” junior race soon. However, I think it might be more fun if the parents team up with the kids and do some sort of “teams” event. Anyway, I’ll look into it and see if the software we use can support it.

Thanks also to the veteran drivers who helped the kids while they patiently waited for access to the busy track. The kids eventually got bored with little cars and moved on to other things and the older kids got to get some track time in also. All in all, a great day playing with little cars.

Okay, stay tuned for details on a future parents/kids race day and get-together. Until then, next Saturday, February 4, kicks off the 2023 50/50 Racing Series. This is a “big kid” race event involving driver/owner-prepared Viper V-SPEC cars, the new Mega-G+ class, and two IROC class races. Register here. Mega-G+ car prep videos here.

Okay, shut up and drive!

New Website Features

Right-click image and open in new window to view the actual size.

While I’ve been “self-quarantined” I’ve been hacking on the Stewart Raceway website even more than previously announced.

Last week I added a new Forums service with a bit of a different twist. The new Forum is also available to the larger slot car community. We’ll see how that goes but anybody can create an account and post to the forums. Currently, Roseville Raceway and Thunder Road Raceway have their own forum categories, which they can manage. We’ll see if there is any interest from these track owners in taking advantage of forums to communicate with their communities. Their members/subscribers can also use most of the services available to Stewart Raceway members.

Native Private Messaging service. This is the primary and recommended PM service to use.

In addition to the forum features, I also added Private Messaging, Group Messaging, and Member/Subscriber Profile capabilities to the site. The basic idea behind these services is to allow members/subscribers to message each other directly or in a group fashion, and keep their member profiles updated with the most current info.

Yea, so what? I know, most of you could care less about these features. But one very useful aspect of profiles is having Stewart Raceway member profile information accessible to the Race Director. Right now the profile is pretty basic, consisting of contact info, scale interests, and classes currently competing in. The profile also includes driver availability for racing and/or track events. All of this helps track owners plan and organize racing and track events.

So, for now, the CALL TO ACTION is to simply log in to the site when you get a chance. This will automatically register you to the new profile and messaging features. All of these features, including the Forums, are only available to logged-in users.

Standalone PM service. Still evaluating but feel free to try it out and compare to the standard PM service. I may restrict this one to Race Director use-only, we’ll see.

Feel free to edit/update your profile while you’re logged in, only takes a few minutes.

NOTE: Right now there are two Private Messaging services. One is an integral component of your site account, which is accessible on your account/profile page after log in. The other is a stand-alone private messaging app accessible from the Member Resources page. Both are fine to use but each has its own interface and functionality.

If there seems to be interest in these new services, I’ll post additional user information and maybe a video or two on how to use them, we’ll see.

Open Track Day next Saturday! Register now!

Round 1 of the new 2023 50/50 Series goes green February 3, 2023. Register Now!

Okay, shut up and drive!

God’s Speed, Paul

Paul at center in photo, Fray in Ferndale, CA, 2020

Another accomplished Fray racer, Paul Josephy, passed away on January 9, 2023, Paul was 75.

I raced with Paul quite a bit over the years that I participated in Fray T-Jet racing. He was always helpful, kind, and always funny. In fact, Paul always had a funny joke or story to tell no matter what you were doing…even if you were racing.

I still have a pair of special pliers he gave to me during a race here in the Bay Area. They were excellently crafted and extremely precise pliers used for flattening or tweaking a T-Jet pickup shoe. I’m sure they weren’t cheap but he just handed them to me and said “keep them, they’re yours.”

Paul is on the far right, standing next to Curtis Adams, who also recently passed away.

I recall once showing up for a Fray race at George Peter’s Hillview Raceway with a new DiFalco controller. Paul came by my pit area and picked up the controller and said “nice feel, very smooth.” I said, yea, “it’s like air.” He said, hold on a minute…” He came back with his controller and said “try this.” Oh my, his controller was “air” smooth! Turns out, it was a Medanic “wiperless” Magic controller and I’ve raced with one ever since.

I hadn’t seen or heard from Paul over the past couple of years at all, likely due to his situation and C19. Paul died in Wichita Falls, Texas with family and friends.

God’s speed, Paul. You’ll be missed by the slot car community, family, and friends, for sure.

https://www.hart-wyattfuneralhome.com/obituary/paul-josefy

God’s Speed, Curtis

Don’t remember the year, Curtis (second from right) with the South Bay team accepting second-place in the Teams racing at the Fray in Ferndale, CA.

Curtis Adams was just 64 years old when he passed away from apparent congestive heart failure on December 19, 2020.

Curtis was an avid Fray car builder and racer. I didn’t know him well but in pretty much any Fray racing event I attended he would be there and do extremely well.

The things I remember most about Curtis were his smile and generosity. He helped everyone and often gave struggling racers a set of his self-made dual compound tires, which were incredibly good.

Curtis (right) finished third in the “A” Main at Junewood’s Festival of Speed in Loomis, CA.

Curtis’ last race at Stewart Raceway was back in late January of 2020, just before the Covid-19 fiasco was unleashed.

He’ll be missed by many, many, slot car racers. He was one of the best sportsmen in the hobby, for sure. God’s speed, Curtis.