I never thought I’d end up with an IROC set of Viper V-SPEC cars but Eric ‘Fastlane” Lane recently gifted the track with a sweet set of F1/Indy hardbody cars. All of them ran amazingly well during break-in and testing. Can’t wait to race them! Thanks, Eric!
In addition, I just finished a cool 6-car set of AW Super III NASCAR livery rigs. These were mostly built for our many junior drivers but I think us older kids will enjoy running them also.
Both sets are magnet cars and should be great additions to our IROC program.
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. Â
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.
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.
Given the holiday hustle & bustle, it’s not likely we’ll be able to pull off another race day event this year. As such, our season officially ended after the 2022 IROC Championship finale on December 10.
First off, I’d like to thank all of you who stuck with our program and attended as many races/events as you could. Kathy and I really appreciate your loyalty, interest, and friendship.
We’ve had a wild ride this season, for sure. The season started out well but once we made the planned switch to HOPRA rules, we lost a few drivers. Not only that, we lost those drivers while we were trying to bring a new 6-lane Brad Bowman track online. Nothing is more impactful than losing participation when you’re increasing racing capacity by 50 percent.
In spite of that setback, we also added a few new drivers to the group in 2022. These new drivers are entering a program that is very well-positioned to both encourage and cultivate new participants in this great hobby we all have loved for most of our lives.
So, again, I really appreciate those of you who stuck with the program and made it as successful as it has been. We’ve done a whole lot of different types of racing, with all kinds of different types of cars, body styles, racing formats, etc. And through it all, the competition has been extremely close and the racing super exciting and–most important–fun.
So who were the top dogs in the two different driver classifications we currently offer?
2022 Sportsman Class Standings
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
Kevin Webster
6861
454
55303.45
2
Jordan Walker
5483
315
47097.53
3
Jerry Pearson
1949
167
21366.55
4
Eric Lane
915
69
7651.906
5
Gabe Maddox
35
29
218.53
6
Kathy Stewart
120
16
394.248
7
Martha Elderon
204
9
1020.019
8
Jared Johnson
122
7
1576.468
9
Madeline Johnson
105
5
1650.493
2022 Expert Class Standings
Place
Name
Laps
Points
Total Time
1
George Peters
9674
862
69452.86
2
Greg Kondrek
4490
379
19191.5
3
Ian Douglass
3530
344
15465.58
4
Brad Sandahl
3157
265
25463.15
5
Russ Toy
3180
197
15957.58
6
Randy Cook
136
13
1566.557
7
Steve Stewart
10607
1182
70235.96
Again, congratulations to Kevin and George. They love racing these little cars and it clearly shows in the results they’ve achieved.
I hope everyone enjoyed the 2022 Stewart Raceway season and certainly hope all of you return for the 2023 season. We’re going to stick to our rule set and overall program in the hopes of growing our ranks by making it easier, more affordable, and more competitive–for more racers.
Stay tuned for the 2023 racing schedule and a couple of exciting additions to the program. Happy Holidays to all of you!
I never thought I’d end up with an IROC set of Viper V-SPEC cars but Eric ‘Fastlane” Lane recently gifted the track with a sweet set of
F1/Indy hardbody cars. All of them ran amazingly well during break-in and testing. Can’t wait to race them! Thanks, Eric!
Both sets are magnet cars and should be great additions to our IROC program.
Given the holiday hustle & bustle, it’s not likely we’ll be able to pull off another race day event this year. As such, our season officially ended after the