Category: Events

Thanks to all who came out for a few hours of track time on SR3 Saturday, really appreciate the interest and support!

The goal was to give Sportsman drivers some tips and tricks on driving technic and style. Unfortunately, only one Sportsman drive showed up (Kevin Webster) and he doesn’t really need any help.

Expert driver and 2021 Rookie of the Year, Brad Sandahl showed up with his daughter, Carrie, and did a bunch of laps. Brad certainly doesn’t need much help either but he tested various controller settings and by the end of the day had the fastest lap.

Julian Schwartz, another local junior driver, made an appearance and got to cut a bunch of laps with an OS3 Pro controller, which he seemed to adapt to well, and hopefully, gained some valuable experience for the next Kid’s Race at Stewart Raceway.

Kevin and I tested his various HOPRA-legal SUPER STOCK cars. The purpose of the testing was to determine if the HOPRA SUPER STOCK rules should be adopted. While these cars are very smooth and fast, they really weren’t all that much faster than an L4 V-SPEC Viper (HOPRA SPEC RACER) we currently run. Different, yes, but not really worth the extra expense of forcing a switch to ceramic motor and traction magnets. The HOPRA Super Stock class rules also allow dual-compound tires, which further increases cost and complexity.

The goal of introducing this new class to our racing program was to provide more advanced drivers and builders with a bit more flexibility in tuning their cars. The general consensus was that having to swap magnets and purchase dual compound tires was a bit much from a budget and performance gain perspective.  So, we decided to introduce the Super Stock class into the program but without the ceramic magnet and dual-compound rear tire specs–for now.

So what’s different?

Well, without the ceramic magnets and the dual compound rear tires, not much. But, you can run different gearing than just a 7/23 pinion/crown. Higher gearing, for example, can make the car not only easier to drive on twisty technical courses but also faster on tracks with longer straights. The idea is to allow the more advanced racer more tuning flexibility.

What does this mean to you? This class presents a bit more flexibility in tuning. Meaning, that you can purchase a few different rear axle assemblies with different gearing for different track layouts or conditions. Just swap axle assemblies to change the handling and speed characteristics of a SUPER STOCK class car.

Do I need to buy another car?

No, the Super Stock class is essentially a SPEC RACER chassis. The only difference is that you can run any gearing available in the SUPER STOCK class, the HOPRA SPEC RACER class is restricted to 7/23 gearing.

Will the SUPER STOCK class be run at all Stewart Raceway events?

No, at the moment only a few drivers are interested in this class.  If interest grows, it could be a popular class but only time will tell. Buy a couple of different rear axle assemblies and see if going to higher or lower gearing helps your lap times. If you determine that you’re faster with the gearing flexibility, then lobby in support of this class.

Keep in mind, that both classes allow adjustable armature brush tension on a brush-barrel type chassis, which is also a very useful tuning option. If you’re running that type of chassis, try them both and see what happens.

The SUPER STOCK class is intended to provide a bit more flexibility and a more sophisticated level of tuning for those interested in going faster and finding that winning setup on race days.

Okay, shut up and drive!

So much for the pool party component. The kids focused mostly on driving little cars. Probably because the temps were actually very nice and the pool just didn’t attract as much attention.

We didn’t have any trouble filling the lanes for this event. We actually had eight drivers and eight marshals at the start of the event and six drivers and three marshals for the start of the race. As you can imagine, we needed more than three marshals for this event. However, many of the parents were busy interacting with neighbors they hadn’t met yet or hadn’t seen for quite a while, and missed much of the action-packed, mayhem-filled race.

Regardless, we started the kid’s race with a full slate of six racers, ages 3.5 to 12 years.  Surprisingly, the younger kids were amazingly focused and did remarkably well considering they’d never even heard of a slot car until their sudden immersion on Saturday.

How’d they do? Well, they didn’t complete the entire race (only 4 out of 6 segments) but it was amazingly close with the top driver completing a total of 48 laps and the bottom driver clicking off 34 laps. That’s actually pretty close considering the age gaps and all the distractions they dealt with.

Unfortunately, the Race Director failed to disable the track call buttons, and the kids who knew about them thoroughly abused them. This made for a much longer race but actually worked out okay since we didn’t quite have enough marshals to cover all the crash action.

Thank goodness SR3 supports independent lane voltages. This allowed us to throttle down the younger kid’s cars, which helped them tremendously. But it was a lot of work manually changing voltages as the drivers rotated from lane to lane.

I must say I was impressed with the focus and driving skills that these kids displayed. Most of them never lost focus and completed an amazing amount of laps. And they were way competitive, always wanting to know what place they were in (and when the race ended :).

I must also say that marshaling a kid’s race is hard work! Six active lanes and mostly only two marshals are definitely ingredients for a fatiguing day. I’ll need to adjust the rules and make all drivers have to commit at least one parent to be a turn marshal.

All that said, I’m all in on doing it again. These wonderful kids are the future of slot car racing and our world in general. I’m happy to provide them with a fun family environment and to spend time with their great parents and my neighbors.  Way fun!

Thank you all for helping make this event happen. I hope everybody enjoyed the get-together and we do it again soon!

Okay, shut up and drive!