NEXT RACES FOR ME:

>> EDDIE'S on most THURSDAY NIGHTS

>> SLOT CAR RACEWAY on some TUESDAY or THURSDAY NIGHTS

>> EDDIE'S on Saturday, December 15th for NORCAL/D3

>> EDDIE'S on Saturday, January 5th for NORCAL/SCRA

>> SLOT CAR RACEWAY in April for the SCALE NATS

(everything subject to change without notice, of course)

NEW >> HARBO ACTION Turns out the trip to Stockton for the December NorCal/SCRA race wasn't too bad. Sure, I sucked in Nascar and Nastruck. That's to be expected. But my cars ran pretty well, considering. The Nascar ran a new chassis I actually built using tips from my buddy Greg "cheater" Wells, and a Magna Jiggy from my buddy Butch "Pappy" Dunaway. It was a nice surprise, as the car had been very twitchy on Eddie's king track, but I had been using my old Ruddock controller. When I hooked up my Third Eye, which has a LOT more brake in it (even with the tweaking Howard "Mr. Third Eye" Smith had done on it, the car proved to be smooth enough to actually work on Harbo's Kingleman. Certainly better than my previous ride.

With the truck, the same thing held true. It was a faster ride that in the past, but braking was an issue. Still had fun, though.

In LMP I kinda sucked, but in GT-12 I made the podium, finishing second. Frankly 12s are the only time I even have a chance of making a top three finish, but they are rare indeed, especially on a track that isn't Eddie's Motherlode. That, plus couple of Slotto grabs made for another fun race with all my pals. All the sordid details are HERE!

NORCAL/SCRA 2006-07 STANDINGS:

NEW >> RETRO/D3 RACING...I'm having a blast racing vintage-style scratchbuilt slot cars. I even managed to "build" my own 4.5" chassis for the Vintage Stockcar class. Managed to come in third in its very first race, too, though as you might expect, there's a backstory. You can read all about it here. For more information about this stuff, check out NorcalD3.com.

Chico Raceway Closes, Fremont track in the works....We were all saddened by the final bow of The Chico Slot Car Club, as the track was terrific, the folks were the best, and the town was a blast. But, the landlord was an a-hole, nobody else would step up to keep the tracks in Chico and there you are. The MTT Road Course is now down at Buena Park Raceway in Los Angeles (where it is the fave track of all the locals), and The Kingleman is supposedly in Fremont, allegedly to become a part of a new facility being opened by Dave McConoughey sometime around the first of the year. We can only hope, as Dave is an old-school slot racer and great guy, who also happens to run a portable track at various events in the Bay Area.

New websites for Harbo's and Homeroom Slot Raceways....Harbo's Slot Car Haven in Stockton is now online here.

Homeroom is a 1/32 track in Alameda you can find here.

These guys sanction races and run race programs in Northern California

NORCAL|SCRA holds BIG monthly races of scale cars (Nascar, Nastruck, GT-12, LeMans Prototype). I can testify from personal experience that these folks are the nicest guys around. Helpful to and forgiving of the pathetic newbie, they make spending twelve hours in a small room fun. Their web site has rules, results, photos and more. Their Yahoo! group page still has a members list and what not.

NORCAL/D3 runs vintage-style Scratchbuilt slot cars made popular in the 60's and 70's. Even if you can't build, there are ways to get a car and take part in this fun, easy-going racing. Check out their forum for details.

NorCal/USRA runs Wing and Scale cars at most of the same tracks NorCal does. Intense racing is the rule of the day with these easy-going guys and you'll definitely have a good time. They have a great web site because Owl Chump's Race Reports are actually fun to read.

VMRA is the Vintage Model Racing Association, who race slot cars from the 60's and 70's (or as accurate a re-creation as they can muster), and really go for the realism. They no longer have a Yahoo group, but you can find out more at SLOT CAR RACEWAY's site.

SFHORA, The San Francisco H.O. Racing Association, runs a well-attended series of races on their own club tracks. Plenty of stuff on their website for those who swing it smaller.

OLD WEIRD HERALD will tell you everything you need to know about history, links, etc. The CHAT SECTION is the place to go to find out what's going on and to figure out what will help you make you and your car faster.

SLOT FORUM INTERNATIONAL covers the world-wide scene: 1/32, 1/24, HO, old school, new school, you name it. The forums are of particular note.

SLOTBLOG is the creation of noted slot car impresario Philippe DeLespinay, with an emphasis on more scale appearing cars, historic and vintage info, lots of how-tos, and an intense "Freeblog" of world politics and other fluff.

SLOT CAR ILLUSTRATED good stuff about all scales of slot cars, and THEIR chat section is the Pepsi to OWH's Coke.

SLOT RACERS DICTIONARY

MOTOR TYPES, specs and terminology.

THE VITTER builds a "thingee". This thread is simply amazing. One of the best slot car builders in the world takes you on a step by step journey, complete with hilarious sidetracks, in-jokes, and plenty of photos filled with cryptic clues to something. Learn to build a scratchbuilt slot car and have a blast doing it.

First, I recommend you read some stuff like this to get a little background.

The Car: Depending on whether or not you like painting & decorating your car (which I do), or if you have the basic electrical and technical skills (which I certainly don't), figure that to race in something like Eddie's weekly races, you'll need to drop about $130.00 on a car to be competitive ("BUT," Eddie sez, "you'll be ready for NorCal"). This is based on having Eddie build you a standard 16d Flexi with a ProSlot armature, ready to race. Other tracks can also put a car together for you. Just remember to know what kind of class you're racing in, so you can tell whoever is doing the building what they need to do.

Or you can always try buying a basic 16d flexi ($50), setting it up ($15), paint up your own body ($15), then learning how to drive that. By now, you're in to the tune of eighty bucks, and will quickly grow tired of coming in last every week. Add a Proslot Arm ($35) and now you're at $115, and I forgot to mention you'll want some decent tires ($9), and now you can see that it makes more sense to just shell out the hunnerd and thirty and save yourself a lot of grief. Or you can try the classifieds at OWH or E-bay.

Most area tracks carry pre-painted and/or numbered bodies (which run about $13-20). Clear Lexan bodies run about $5.00. A can of spray paint for Lexan (don't use regular plastic model spray paint, I'm begging ya) is another $5.00. Decals are about $8.00 a sheet but have enough numbers usually that you can do up about nine or ten cars, depending on how you use them. Most tracks charge five bucks to trim and mount a body on your chassis. Eddie can paint you up a body, and if you're not a jerk, he might include it in price of the car. If not, talk to me. I love doing this kind of stuff.

GTP a la EDDIE is a Wong Way-built 16D Flexi with the body painted up by yours truly.

The Controller: Oddly, the most expensive part of the deal. A bottom of the line controller will set you back about $60.00. Something with adjustable brakes and sensitivity (which you will come to need sooner or later) can add another $50.00 for the bottom end (a Parma EC or Professor Motor) controller. I started out with a Professor Motor controller and had brakes and sensitivity controls put on later. The whole process ran about $110.00, but frankly I don't recommend this middle option. For a bit more dough you can get an economy controller with fully adjustable brakes and sensitivity that will make driving much easier, and that means YOU will be more competitive.

New Ruddick DR-30 or Difalco E-Motion controllers run about $220 to $250.00, and are available at the tracks. If you enjoy having brand new toys, I highly recommend going this route. If you're a little gun shy about dropping that kind of dough this soon, you can always find used versions of the same controllers for a bit less. I got mine from a guy who decided to quit racing who asked Eddie to sell his stuff. I got it for $125.00, and it's made a big difference.

You can also try E-bay. I've seen good Ruddock and DiFalcos go for about $130-150 sometimes. Same for the classifieds at OWH.

Other crap: Oil is a must! You gotta keep the parts moving freely. Five to eight bucks. A tiny allen wrench to change tires is three or four bucks. Oh, and the tires, which must be changed depending on how much you race, run about $9.50 a pair (don't worry about the fronts, you never have to change them as they rarely touch the track). Braids wear out quickly, and need to be changed every few races or so. Fortunately, they run about fifteen bucks for thirty pair. A box to keep all this stuff in can be a pricey item if you really decide to get into it. But, if you've got a fishing tackle/tool box, that'll do for now. If you don't, Aaron Brothers Art Supplies sells a great wood box that holds four cars, a controller and some other stuff for $18.00 (and thanks to good ol' Russ Toy for the idea). After that, there's always more and more and more stuff you can buy to make yourself faster/better. The sky and your bank account's the limit, but you CAN do it on the cheap, as well.

OR, you can always buy a "starter set": Tracks usually have a deal where, for about $120 to $160.00 they'll give you an entry-level car, a box, controller (low end Parma), oil, extra tires, maybe some other stuff, and a certificate for free track time. You'll then need to have the track "set up" your car, soldering in the motor, oilites, pin tubes, etc., which shouldn't be more than $15.00. At Eddie's, if you want the ProSlot arm, add another $35.00 to the deal.