NASCRC

Annual NASCRC Holiday Race Is Coming!

2011-12-04T21:56:00.002-06:00

It's that time of year again! Make plans to attend this years

NASCRC Holiday Race!

FAQ:

Where : Fine Scale Hobbies in Decatur Alabama
What day : December 18th, 2011
What time : 1pm until 5pm
Will there be food : Yes
Do I need to bring food : You can if you'd like
Will there be prizes : Yes

Email Paul if you have any questions: itspault @ gmail . com

Race Report for December 4th, 2011

2011-12-04T21:30:00.001-06:00

Classes raced today were:

Vintage Rally Sedan
Vintage NASCAR Carrera
Modified
GT
NASCAR
Vintage F1 (PRE 1960)
1960s F1
Group C
Trans Am

Steve ended up as the Champion today with 101 points. Bruce took 2nd with 92.

In other news:

Gary has gotten in several new cars lately. Below is a small sampling.

Race Report for November 20, 2011

2011-11-20T21:12:00.000-06:00

This week we tested yet another scoring system. This particular system was designed by Steve and took into account not only your finishing position, but also awarded extra points based on laps completed. This was the third scoring method we have tried in the same number of weeks and we hope to decide next time we meet which system to use.

There will be no racing over the Thanksgiving weekend.

NASCRC Race Report for 11-13-2011

2011-11-13T20:24:00.004-06:00

It was a low turnout this afternoon for the weekly club race of the North Alabama Slot Car Racing Club over at Fine Scale Hobbies in Decatur.

In attendance were Gary, Chuck, Steve, and Paul. We raced the following classes:

Group C

Monograms

Vintage NASCAR – Monogram

Street Stock

Vintage NASCAR – Carrera

F1 – 1960s

Modified

NASCAR – no magnet

GT40

We also did some further testing of scoring methods with the goal being to make sure that a racer that deslots more times in a class, does not end up with more points than a racer that finishes the race. The method of scoring we used tonight seemed to do just that. Winner of a race was given 2 points, drivers finishing the race were given 1.5 points, and drivers that did not finish the race were given 1 point. Another added bonus to this type of scoring was the point-spread was not as great as the old scoring method, which we also kept track of. With the old method, the gap between first and fourth was 36 points instead of 14 with the test method. Look below to see the gap that separated second through fourth. Ties in any particular class were settled with a race-off with the winner being awarded a half a point.

Worth noting only for pointing out the differences in scoring the old way and the test method, was that with the old method, Chuck had 27 DNFs vs. Steve’s 25 DNFs and still beat Steve overall. With the test method, Steve squeaked out one extra point to beat Chuck’s overall score. The new scoring method seemed to do exactly what it was meant to do which was not to reward drivers that did not finish races. We could use some more racers to further test this method, so be sure to come out and race.

At the end of the afternoon, the results were:

Paul 57.5
Gary 47.5
Steve 44.5
Chuck 43.5

There was also a motion to add an “honesty” ping pong ball to the bag. If that ball is drawn once in the course of club race, the winner of the previous class raced would offer up his car for an informal inspection, all in good fun of course.

A new class was added today too. We call it Vintage Rally 2-Wheel Drive Sedan and the cars will be raced in a clockwise direction, so be sure to reverse the polarity on your old Cortinas, Escorts, Toranas, etc..

Also, check out the updated Track Records page to see who is holding fastest laps in any particular class. Be the first to set the best time in any class not yet timed, or knock someone off by breaking their record!

Come and Race!

RACE REPORT FOR 11-6-2011

2011-11-12T10:34:00.000-06:00

In attendence was Gary, Chuch, Steve, Bruce, and Paul

This afternoon, the focus was on experimenting with how we score a round of slot car racing. Our goal is to make it less rewarding for a driver that de-slots his car and more rewarding for a driver to actually finish the race. What we did was this: If you deslotted, you only received half as many points as you normally would. The results were: Less point spread at the end of the night. This was just a test and next week we hope to try scoring using yet another method.

It was also confirmed that we will have our Holiday Race. The date has not been decided yet. Watch this blog for more details.

The Track Records page of this site has been updated with a new table.

Race Report for October 23rd, 2011

2011-10-23T19:19:00.003-05:00

Week number two of our Sunday racing series is in the books. This afternoon we raced Rally, GT40, F1, Group C, Mini, Monogram, and NASCAR. As usual, Fine Scale Hobbies provided free snacks and soft drinks and fun and camaraderie was had by all.

The competition was fierce as usual and there were more than a few spectacular crashes. At the end of the afternoon though, it was John, Gary, and Bruce that shared the podium this week with their impressive first through third place victories.

YouTube video find: Group C Mercedes Benz lap.

Race Report for October 16th 2011

2011-10-18T11:36:00.002-05:00

Things were back in full swing Sunday afternoon over at Fine Scale Hobbies for our first Sunday race. As many of you know, college football season made a dent in the Saturday evening race attendance, so Gary and Margret moved the weekly NASCRC race to Sunday, from 1-5pm.

The racers that came out to do a little jousting on the slot car track were Gary, Steve, Bruce, Chuck, and Paul. Also in attendance, returning after a long medical leave, the Ice Man himself, John, whose claims of being “rusty”, fell on deaf ears as we all knew he would quickly find his tempo and methodically pick apart the competition, which he did, coming within just a few points for winning the overall event.

Everyone had the usual good time as we traded paint on the track and stories in the pits. Classes raced as I recall were Group C Slot-Its, GT, Street Stock, Magnetless Trans Am, and Trans Am.

Gary will have the track open for racing on Sundays from 1-5pm for at least the rest of the year, but be sure to check the calendar the day before making the drive to the track.

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

2011-10-09T20:09:00.001-05:00

Seems like college football may have stolen some regular racers and in an effort to be accommodating, Gary and Margret have decided to try racing on a Sunday instead of Saturday night. Maybe this will make it easier for everyone that for whatever reason, hasn't been able to make it to the track. So dust off your slot cars and come on out this coming Sunday, the 16th and race. Gary will have the track open from 1 until 5.

Modifieds Anyone?

2011-09-04T17:16:00.000-05:00

One member has been busy over the off-week getting his new NASCAR ready to race in the modified class. 30k motor, plenty of magnet, and a numerically low gear ratio is sure to cause trouble when the Mods Class ping-pong ball is drawn. This was his 1st attempt making his own decals so cut me....er, I mean HIM some slack!

Late 60's F1 Comes to NASCRC

2011-08-21T21:51:00.000-05:00

Race Report for 8-20-2011

Tonight we introduced another new class of cars to race at NASCRC’s weekly race at Fine Scale Hobbies. Seems as though most of the members owned on of the Scalextrics late 60’s Formula 1 slot cars so we decided to race them. These cars are wickedly fast and equally beautiful and the thought of breaking one of these works of art in an accident just didn’t sit well with club members. Solution: Take the magnets out so as to reduce race speed, which translates into less breakage.

Many remember a few weeks ago the fun we had when we launched the Group C magnetless class. Let me tell you that these late 60’s F1 were every bit as thrilling to race and the open-wheeled designed made for some interesting nerfing. I posted some pics below. Click them to enlarge.

As usual we all had a great time racing six classes of cars which equals 36 races per participant! You won’t get that kind of action at the 1/24th scale commercial tracks, that’s for certain.

Hope to see everyone next week and to keep you entertained until then I have posted some late 60’s F1 videos for your enjoyment.

Race report for 7-23-2011

2011-07-24T16:02:00.000-05:00

Slot car racers attending tonight’s race were Gary, Paul, Steve, Bruce, and Chuck.

We raced the following classes:

Magnetless Trans AM
Vintage F1
Mini Cooper
GT40
Mongram
Modified
F1
NASCAR

Tonight it was the “All Steve” show as he handily racked up 158 points for the night, a whopping 29 points higher than the second place finisher. As you can see, anyone can win racing box-stock with the North Alabama Slot Car Racing Club so come on out and join the fun.

Race Report fro July 16, 2011

2011-07-17T20:16:00.000-05:00

Here is a quick rundown of the weekly NASCRC slot car race. Tonight's racers were Gary, Chuck, Steve, Paul, and visitors David and Matt. Classes raced were Mini Coopers, F1, Trans Am, LeMans prototypes and NASCAR.
At the end of the night, Gary, Steve, and Paul were tied point-wise and a shoot-out was needed to declare the night's winner. Steve deslotted during this mad-dash race to bragging rights and crashed into Paul's car, thus ensuring Gary a win and a trip to the winner's circle after a dry spell of several weeks.

Hope to see everyone back next week for four more hours of slot car fever.

Slot Car Race Report for 6-25-2011

2011-06-26T13:34:00.000-05:00

Tonight's drivers were Steve, Chuck, Paul, Darry, Bruce, and Gary.
Pizza, soft drinks, and sweet snacks were on hand for all.
This reporter forgot to grab the race results at the end of the night so I'll just post a few photos showing what we raced. The overall high points went to Paul, who narrowly edged out Bruce and Steve for the victory.

No racing next week. The next race will be July 9th. Be sure to call or check the race schedule.

Hear the engines roar!

2011-06-18T21:48:00.000-05:00

Slot Car Race Report for Saturday, June 18, 2011

Another fine night of slot car racing is in the books and a great time was had by all.
NASCRC raced seven classes of race cars tonight. They are as follows:

GTP Group C - Magnetless

Rally – Magnetless

Trans Am – Magnetless

GT

GT40

Street Stock

Vintage F1 – Magnetless

We hope to see everyone back at the track next week. You guys that have missed a few weeks, (you know who you are), need to dust off your pitbox, limber up your trigger finger, and head over to Fine Scale Hobbies for the next race.

GTP Group C Sportscar Racing comes to NASCRC

2011-06-12T20:38:00.005-05:00

Race report for Saturday, June 11th, 2011

Welcome to another NASCRC race report. Only five members ventured from their homes during the continuing Alabama heat wave. The air inside Fine Scale Hobbies was cool as a cucumber but the action on the track was hot as class after class of slot cars raced the circuit, fish tailing and trading paint with their neighbors in the next lane.

As usual, the snacks and soft drinks flowed freely and one member picked up a couple of pizzas on his way to the track for all to enjoy.

The green flag waved to kick off a night of racing and tonight was the inaugural race of the GTP Group C class. The Group C Racing Series recreates the great days from the Sports Car racing in the 1980's when these cars raced in the World Sportscar Championship. The real cars will be racing throughout Europe. Here is a link to the prototype Group C website: Group C Sportscar Racing

What we have done in NASCRC is to remove the magnet on an appropriate Slot-It car and reversed the polarity so as to run the course clockwise. I must admit that this class is a blast and everyone in attendance for the inaugural race seemed to agree. So be prepared by prepping a car for next time because this class is a keeper. Gary won the class with only 6 points separating the entire field.

(A little GTP Group C history can be found here by clicking this link)

(Another Group C history lesson)

Next we moved onto powerful ponycars of the sixties and seventies as the Camaros and Mustangs eased up to the starting line for the Trans Am class. Still in the zone from the last class, Gary nailed down another class victory.

Now onto the GT cars. Paul and Steve eased away from the field to take first and second in this very competitive class.

You could hear the motor revs from the paddock as the vintage F1 cars prepared to do a slippery battle out on the asphalt. Paul managed to keep on the track long enough to secure a class victory.

Drawn from the bag next was the Modifieds! What a mixture of cars there were as the drivers prepared for a flat-out free-free-for-all. Steve won the class but amazingly, only 4 points separated the field!

Last class of the night was the little hi-impact street-stock class. Paul sealed the overall night’s victory by earning 19 points to add to his nightly total.

We hope to see everyone next week for another great night of slot car racing.

Race Report for June 3, 2011

2011-06-11T16:19:00.000-05:00

NASCRC slot car racing resumed once again after three long weeks of Fine Scale Hobbies being closed. Tonights racers included Steve, Paul, John, Bruce, Chuck, and Gary.

The first class of racing for the night were the heavy sleds of yesteryear, the Monogram NASCARs. These loud, pavement pounding behemeths really put on a show as they beat and slammed each other lap after lap.When the dust settled though, it was all Gary, posting three wins out of six heats for a total of 28 points.

We also raced F1, Vintage Carerra backwards NASCAR, modern NASCAR, Slot-It, Mini Coopers, and finally, Trans Am without magnets.

Steve ruled tonight and racked up 184 points!

Below are a few snapshots using a camera phone.

Digital Slot Car Racing in Huntsville - MSCRAM invite

2011-05-11T21:35:00.000-05:00

This in from David Wilke of the MSCRAM (Mars Slot Car Racing Masters) slot car club over in Huntsville. As some of you already know, MSCRAM has been working on getting up and running and are inviting anyone that wants to do a little digital racing to come on over to Huntsville. I told David I would relay this message for him:

We'll race on Friday May 27 starting at 4:30 pm and all day Saturday May 28 from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm. Anyone who wishes to try out Ninco N-Digital racing is welcome. Setup will be Thursday (volunteers welcome).

We have controllers for four lanes and can run up to 8 cars if someone decides to buy a Ninco N'Digital controller for themselves. We also have 4 club cars for general use.

The track is a lot of fun to drive (thanks Carlos Velez for the layout!). The 2-lane infield technical part should be interesting (to say the least) with 4 cars running simultaneously. Just imagine if we had 8 cars running!

We have enough power to run 8 with the addition of our second 14VDC 3A transformer. If we start running higher RPM motors, we can add a third.

We are running GT-3 primarily, but welcome anything chipped for N-Digital (I have a '66 AC Cobra I want to try).

If you Decatur boys will call me on my cell phone (number below) I'll meet you at Gate 9 Visitor's Center to help everyone get signed in for access to building 4205- glad to do it!

Looking forward to meeting y'all,

Dave Wilkie

President MSCRAM
Huntsville, AL
(256) 508-1558

Race Report for April 7th, 2011

2011-05-07T23:17:00.001-05:00

Tonight, everyone must have been busy doing other things as we only had three racers come out tonight for some slot car racing action. Because of the low turnout, we decided to compete for fastest lap time in all of the differnet classes of cars that NASCRC races. These times were recorded on a new page called:
NASCRC Track Records. Anyone that is interested can take a shot at bumping off the current record hoder.

Currently we are planning on allowing record attempts to be run between classes on one night per month. Watch the schedule to see which night. On other nights, during the normal breaks, provided that no one else is using the track, record attempts may be taken provided the driver has two other people to verify the lap times.

Other news: Gary said the track will be closed for the next three Saturdays and will be open again on June 4th.

Race Report for April 16, 2011

2011-04-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

Tonight's participants were:
Gary, Steve, Chuck, Bruce, and Paul

Classes Raced:
Vintage NASCAR
Slot-It
NASCAR
Vintage F1
Modern F1
Magnetless Trans Am
Trans Am

Top three finishers:
Paul, Steve, Gary

Next Race: 4-24-2011, check schedule later in the week to verify.

Race Report for April 2nd, 2011

2011-04-06T21:01:00.000-05:00

It was a low turnout Saturday with only Paul, Bruce, Chuck, and Steve showing up at the track for a night of slot car racing. Fewer drivers resulted in us cycling through the individual classes of racing, thus we ran quite a few different types of cars. Classes raced are as follows:

Slot-It
Vintage F1
Trans Am
Le Mans Prototypes
Modified
GT 40
Hi-Impacts
Rally
Mini Coopers
NASCAR

The racing was competitive with no more than eighteen points separating the field at the end of the night. Come closing time though it was a shoot-out between Steve and Paul for bragging rights of the night. Steve crashed his NASCAR, allowing Paul to take honors with 108 points.

There will not be any racing on April 9th so we hope to see everyone turn out on April 16th. Be sure to check the schedule before making the drive.

Slot Car Racing on Mars

2011-03-29T22:07:00.000-05:00

Below is an email I received recently from David Wilkie concerning their new slot car club in Huntsville. As far as I know they race the digital 1/32 scale cars. I thought I'd pass this information along for him:

MARS Slot Car RAcing Masters (MSCRAM) will host its Grand Opening of its new Ninco N-Digital track Friday April 8th starting at 4:30 pm with more racing action on Saturday the 9th starting at 1:30 pm. This will be held in MSFC building 4205 in the Gallery. Non- NASA personnel will have to check in through gate 9,s visitor's center (west of the gate) and get a visitor's badge from 4312 (NASA Security). Directions upon request.

We will have one door prize on Friday (Ninco Porsche 911- gently used plus a new Ninco digital chip).
Feel free to call me and share my cell number so interested participants can get in.
If something happens and we have to scrub one or both dates, I'll let you know by April 6th.

Rain and thunder does not deter

2011-03-26T22:39:00.001-05:00

Inclement weather did not deter some members of the North Alabama Slot Car Racing Club as we had seven participants show up for a night of racing. As usual, the racing race close and sometimes the sound of paint-trading and collisions was louder than the ice that fell outside during a breif hail storm.

Tonight’s drivers were Gary, John, Steve, Darry, Joe, Chuck, and Paul. In addition to racing for bragging rights, Gary offered up a nice Hot Wheels ’66 Chevy Nova as an extra incentive to stay focused.

Classes were drawn from a bag and surprisingly, no NASCAR was chosen. The following is a list of classes raced along with the name of the class winner:

Street Stock – Paul
Modified – Chuck
Magnetless Trans Am – Paul
F1 – Steve
GT – John
Monograms – John

In the end, with his eye on the prize, it was Paul who edged out the competition. There was only a three point spread between 2nd through 4th as Steve, John, and Chuck watched the little diecast Nova slip out of their reach.

As usual, free soft drinks and snacks flowed freely as well as the friendly race banter and general chit-chat. Another fine night of racing it was.

Below are a few snapshots from tonight’s race:

F1 cars lined up and ready!

Chuck parks it in the trees!

Would you believe these belong to just two guys!

Tonight's booty!

Ready for the pony cars!

Hope to see everyone next time!

Race Report for 3-19-2011

2011-03-19T22:53:00.001-05:00

Mild temperatures may have kept some slot car enthusiast away from the slot car track in favor of yardwork or cookouts, but six racers still managed to show up for some white-knuckle slot car racing action at Fine Scale Hobbies in Decatur Alabama. For this weekly NASCRC race we had Gary, Chuck, Steve, Doug, Bruce, and Paul.

The points leader at the end of the night would be awarded a brand new Mini Cooper so the pressure was on for everyone to put on their A-Race in hopes of owning the Cooper. Right off the bat, Steve managed to post a string of un-characteristic poor finishes which would haunt him the entire evening as some of the others pulled away in the points.

With a brand new Mini Cooper on the line, Gary steadily picked through the field and made a charge for the points lead only to get derailed in the last class of the eveing which was the Slot-Its.

Newcomer Doug was turning quicker laps than the week before and even added a 6-point victory to his sting of 5-pointers.

Chuck had on display an assortment of yellow and black road signs that he made, which I assume will be going on the new track that may take shape this summer. More on the track redesign at a later date.

Paul won the Mini Cooper as he successfully held off the competition. Below is a photo of his new Mini Cooper.

This is why we race slot cars and not real cars!

2011-03-14T19:51:00.002-05:00

It’s very rare to find any film footage pre-1960 with actual sound attached as the technology wasn’t easily obtainable in the day. As such, much of the vintage film compilations that are out there leave us wishing for more. Sound is a very important dimension in hot rodding. One of the most important really. With this footage, however, be thankful it has music instead of actual sound because some might not be able to handle the extra dimension.

Many of the folks featured in this film lost their lives. That makes it even more tough to watch… But it also drives home a point – these fellas gave their lives to racing and as slot car racers we don't have to worry about that do we?

Watch at your own risk

Race Report forMarch 12, 2011

2011-03-13T11:41:00.001-05:00

We once again gathered for an evening of slot car racing over at Fine Scale Hobbies. Tonight’s participants included Steve, Chuck, Bruce, Joe, Paul, Ed, Danielle, Jordan, and Doug. Gary decided not to race tonight and chose to turn-marshal and run the event with the help of Margaret as she filled the role of point keeper.

Tonight, the regulars had to carefully pick their way through the rookie traffic but on-track incidents were minimal and the racing fun was at a maximum. At the end of the night it was Steve who managed to hold off all comers for the night’s top honors. It was a great night of racing and fun and hope to see everyone back next time.