Category: Events

What a fantastic day and night for slot car action. Beautiful weather, a great make-up of cars, fuel racing, two new drivers, competitive racing, and some very tasty grub and treats.

Short Story

Race 1: Jag Hobbies PR-5 GT F1 Hardbody (i)

New driver, Mark Wialbut, got thrown into the fire after just an hour or so of practice. Mark hasn’t raced slot cars in many years, but he had a smile a mile wide during and after the race. Joe Vargas returned to the raceway after a fairly long layoff; his last visit was in October 2025.

The results don’t really tell the story here. This IROC set is fast and stuck, much like a Viper L4 car. Of course, our 2025 Sportsman Champ, Dean Donaldson, pressured Home Cook’n from the first green to the last checkers. Dean loves magnet cars, and it appears the PR-5 “GT” chassis suits his driving style well.

The leaderboard never changed in this one, but there sure were some battles going on. Joe edged out Mark for the final podium spot. No surprise there, since Joe’s average placing after six appearances is a nice 3.4. Again, Mark Wialbut was all smiles, and by the end of his first race in over 40-years, he was posting very respectable lap times. I suspect he’ll return with his beautiful wife again soon.  Details

Race2: MegaG+ 1.7 Modified

Dean and Dustin came out swinging in this Modified race, swapping the race lead over the first three segments. While Home Cook’n was struggling with Dustin and Dean’s blazing pace, Joe Vargas was driving the wheels off his rig, chasing Home Cook’n. Home Cook’n finally recovered from the blistering early pace and got to the top of the leaderboard for Segment 4. After that, it was a battle between Dean and Dustin for the second podium spot.

Dustin brought his son, Rye, to this event. Rye has raced on his Dad’s home sectional track, but had never raced a Modified car or on a routed track. By the end of the race, Rye was cutting close to sub 6-sec laps.

The battle for 2nd between Dean and Dustin was hot and heavy, but Dustin managed to stay in 2nd through to the end, though both Dean and he had ample opportunity to steal the top spot from Home Cook’n. Dustin appears to be our next Expert addition, with a very good run and a lap record in the Modified class (5.745 in Yellow).  Mark Wialbut may not have finished on the podium in his first visit to the raceway, but he clicked off a new lap record in this class with a 4.959 lap in the Orange lane! By the end of the race, he was clearly getting back into his groove with near sub 6-sec lap times.  Details

Race 3:  Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 (i) Lexan Eric Lane Set

Well, after some great racing and a wonderful BBQ pork loin ribs dinner (Thanks, Mrs Stewart!), we still had a few drivers interested in racing more. Of course, Dean lobbied for Vipers, so we dragged out Eric Lane’s very cool set of F1/Indy Lexan cars.

Joe was up against two Experts deadset on not letting the other one beat them, not an ideal position to be in, but he stayed focused and got as many laps as he could. Going into the final Segment, Dean and Home Cook’n were tied in points at 29. Of course, Joe was thinking it might be an opportunity to be the spoiler, since he was finishing in the Orange lane. In the end, Home Cook’n pulled off the win with a little help from the Green lane. Dean came up short due to ill-timed crashes, but he had the fastest laps of the race (4.741 in White) and the fastest median lap time. Details

Race 4: OS3 TFX Box Stock Dash Aston Martin (i)

Believe it or not, Joe and I overruled Dean’s preference for more magnet car action, and we pulled out this way cool set of TFX cars for the final race of the night. Dean was not pleased with our choice, but he begrudingly hung in there and hooked up to give them a try.

By his second rotation, Dean had changed his tune, made some adjustments, and acknowledged that the TFX is a fun and challenging platform to race. Joe and I both already knew that, and Joe’s 2nd place podium spot shows he’s not only a good magnet car driver, but he’s also a very versatile low-downforce driver.

Maybe there is hope for Dean. I know he didn’t like the result here, but he definitely enjoyed racing the TFX. Details

A big thanks to all participants for supporting our racing program and making Saturday another way fun event!

Okay, stay tuned for an invite for another “Under the Lights” this coming Wednesday. We’re on our own for food this time, so potluck or just winging it with snacks will be the fare for this one.

Oops, almost forgot about Mark’s incredibly tasty margaritas, amazing!

Okay, shut up and drive!

Just two teams showed up, comprised mostly of junior drivers. Team Maddox arrived first with 2025 Junior Champ, Abe Maddox, and relative newcomer and Junior driver, August Feinstein. August had visited the raceway just four times prior to Saturday’s racing, but was very excited about having a slot on Team Maddox and about doing more racing.

Team Johnson brought their two star Junior drivers, Madeline and Matthew, and their newborn “development” driver, Luke Johnson.  Luke wanted to race, but team racing requires an even number of drivers on each team. He’ll be back!

Short Story

Race 1: Viper V-SPEC F1/Indy 1.7 (i) Lexan Eric Lane Set

These kids love Vipers, so we ran Eric’s awesome set for race 1. August Feinstein came off the line blazing in the first segment, winning by two laps over our Junior Champ, Abe Maddox.

Abe didn’t dig that very much and won the last three segments convincingly. In spite of the heated battles between August and Abe, Team Johnson’s Madeline Johnson bagged a very nice 2nd place in segment 2 with the fastest lap of the segment in the Orange lane. Our youngest Junior driver, Matthew Johnson, followed that up in the next segment with a very nice 3rd place finish in the Green lane.

August fought hard throughout the race, holding onto 2nd place, just 4 laps behind Abe at the finish. Team Johnson did extremely well considering they’ve been busy tending to their new little brother and haven’t been racing much since last August. Details

Race 2: Dash IROC

We decided to mix it up a bit and do a Dash race instead of a full rotation race for the last one. We reversed the lane choices to make it a little more competitive. Matthew got to pick his lane first, Madeline second, and August third choice, which placed Abe in the toughest lane for the final race.

August Feinstein put the hammer down and won the 40 lap race by three laps. Abe bagged second with some very nice driving in the more difficult Blue lane. In the process, Abe clicked off the fastest lap of race with a 4.397. Team Johnson’s, Madeline Johnson, had the next fastest lap of the race with a 5.820, and she was just one lap behind Junior Champ, Abe Maddox at the checkers for the final podium spot.

Since we’ve never run this new Jag PR-5 GT set in a Dash race, we have some new lap records to report. Each of the four drivers in Race 2 set lap records in their lanes!

• • • August Feinstein, 5.881 in the White lane
    • Matthew Johnson, 6.201 in the Green lane
    • Madeline Johnson, 5.820 in the Orange lane
    • Abe Maddox, 4.397 in the Blue lane

Thanks to all the teams that showed up and made this event a fun day for the kids. They’re the future of slot car racing, and the future looks bright!