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.
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.
Curtis (back) at the Fray in Ferndale.
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.
While Round 2 was expected to see a full field of drivers, five were unable to appear for Saturday’s event.
The good news was four drivers rolled through the gates in time to start racing. Well, actually a couple strolled through the gates due to a landscaping crew blocking the entrance to Stewart Raceway.
Anyway, we got a bit of a late start but with only four drivers, the schedule would certainly get compressed. In fact, after the first race, we shut down the two gutter lanes and started racing with just four of the six lanes on SR3.
The short story is George Peters remains the series points leader after two rounds. While the summary results tell a different story, the battle for this round was a lot closer. In fact, several races were lost on the final lap or final corner. That’s exciting racing!
Overall Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
565
78
6145.547
2
Kevin Webster
521
66
6182.358
3
Jerry Pearson
260
21
3487.966
4
Steve Stewart
589
96
6017.514
Round 2 was NASCAR racing on the SR3 road course, which meant slightly shorter segments but still six races, including a feature race of 150-laps with Jag Hobbies NC-2 cars with NASCAR livery.
Race 1: Tyco 440-X2 “Wide-Pan” Stock Cars (15v)
Home Cook’n, George Peters, Kevin Webster
Jerry Pearson started out his racing debut with a solid second-place finish in the first heat and a very close Run Time to the winner of the heat. The number 7 Lumina body was lowered by GP Designs (George) and worked quite well. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
120
16
1131.07
2
George Peters
111
13
1162.899
3
Kevin Webster
102
11
1160.71
4
Jerry Pearson
95
7
1224.1
Race 2: OS3 TFX “Lites” NASCAR Bodies (18v)
This was Jerry’s first crack at a “gravity car” race but he actually did pretty well, staying very close in total laps for many heats and increasing his lap times throughout the race. George–again– was very close and he had the best median lap time. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
120
16
1497.009
2
George Peters
111
13
1537.096
3
Kevin Webster
106
11
1532.322
4
Jerry Pearson
99
7
1545.817
Race 3: Jag Hobbies TR-3 Augorans (IROC) (15v)
This was another hotly contested race with George and Kevin Webster both winning heats and Jerry besting Kevin by one lap in the final segment. The TR-3’s used are slightly hopped-up with Jag IFE fronts and DF rear wheels. Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
79
16
710.183
2
George Peters
79
13
720.339
3
Kevin Webster
71
11
759.035
4
Jerry Pearson
66
7
718.049
Race 4: Jag Hobbies NC-2 “Lites” NASCAR Livery (15v)
The”Feature”race was another barn-burner with plenty of drama and controversy. We lost Jerry after the lone IROC race but the three remaining drivers soldiered on through the rest of the schedule using only three lanes and Call Buttons to manage the racing.
Home Cook’n clearly had the better car in the feature race thanks to the use of a Johnny Lightning Thunderjet500 “Pull-Back” snap-on body. We use some of their screw-on bodies for the TFX cars. They make two versions: one for T-Jet screw-on bodies; and one for snap-on AFX bodies. There was some discussion after the races about this body not being commercially available but clearly, it is. Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
150
16
1388.062
2
George Peters
144
13
1422.24
3
Kevin Webster
137
11
1413.449
Race 5: Jag Hobbies PR-5 “Lites” NASCAR Livery (15v)
Yet another hotly contested race with George Peters very narrowly losing this one to Home Cook’n again. Kevin Webster kept up the good fight, only losing a couple of laps per segment, but first and second were both neck and neck on total laps and just two seconds separating them at the finish–that’s close!! Details
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
60
16
697.351
2
George Peters
60
13
699.638
3
Kevin Webster
53
11
709.432
Race 6: Viper-Jet (SPEC JET) NASCAR Livery (12v)Â
The final race of the day was nearly a repeat of Race 5, with only tenths of a second separating George Peters and Home Cook’n in the final two segments. Kevin Webster remained focused but didn’t have a Lexan body prepared and was forced to run a hardbody, which is obviously a disadvantage in this class.
This was also a “Concourse” race, in which George easily bagged those style points with a nicely prepared Lexan Lumina (middle). Detailed Results
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Steve Stewart
60
16
593.839
2
George Peters
60
13
603.335
3
Kevin Webster
52
11
607.41
Again, thank all of you who braved the heat and beach traffic to come out in the sticks and race little cars with us. Round 3 of the NASCAR MADness Series is slated for June 25, 2022. Stay tuned for details.
Just a few cars debuting in Round 2 of the NASCAR MADness Series
GP Designs Lumina for a Viper SPEC JET chassis (Right-click to view larger images)
Saturday.
George “brushing” up on his Lexan detailing skillsThese are actually snap-on “Pull-Back” Johnny Lightning “ThunderJet 500” bodies on NC-2 platforms. Smaller and lighter than Tomy/AFX bodies.Lexan bodies for the SPEC JET (Viper-Jet) race.Waterslide decals from eBay.Lumina Lexan from Lucky Bob’s.
This Saturday, Round 2 takes place on the SR3 straight road course featuring a 300-lap Jag Hobbies NC-2 NASCAR race.
George Peters is currently leading the series after Round 1 on the SR3 oval. 2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl, currently in 2nd place, will miss Round 2. We’re also expecting two new drivers, Jerry Pearson and Randy Cook, to enter the series in Round 2. Both drivers have attended open track days on SR3 and both have had impressive results in practice races recently.
Schedule:
Gates Open: 10:00 AM, Practice begins, any car, any voltage, any lane.
11:15 Drivers Meeting, Announcements
While Round 2 was expected to see a full field of drivers, five were unable to appear for Saturday’s event.
This was also a “Concourse” race, in which George easily bagged those style points with a nicely prepared Lexan Lumina (middle). 
The NASCAR MADness Series continues…