Summer Series Takes Shape

The first of at least ten cars have been completed, and many lessons have been learned over the last few weeks. Theories have been created and debunked, and what was to be a very complex set of rules has now been simplified by what is most common among the cars.

The cars will all be either the AF/X produced Magna-Traction or the Praying Mantis produced X-Traction cars. Ultra-G cars are excluded. Chassis may be sanded for lowering but otherwise must be intact. A metal guide pin may replace the stock plastic uint, but no blade guidepins are permitted.

Every current X-Traction sold regardless of who makes it comes with 3/8" wide silicone tires. And while some of the Magna-Tractions that are entering this series have rear wheels capable of mounting silicone tires wider than 3/8" it has been determined that only those tires will be permitted. There will be no restriction on the make or compound of those tires, only on the width. There are no restrictions on front tires or wheels.

Stock magnets must be used, only in their original locations. Aftermarket armature, motor brushes and springs, pick-up shoes and springs and gearing may be used.

The body must be either the AMG CLASSIC Sprinter or the OUTLAW Sprinter and must use chassis body mounts. A nose mounted wing of not more than 3/4" wide by 1/2" chord and cage mounted wing of 1" square flat panel with side boards of not more than 1 1/8" long and 1/2 high must be present during all racing conditions. Veritcal wing sideboards must be squared with the horizontal surface. Gurney flaps may be present. Wings may not be mounted in offset locations.

All cars must carry a number (or numbers) visible from both the left and right sides as well as the front.

Those are the rules as written for the moment, is should be noted that the promoter has final say in any matter that may become an issue.

Very official rules for the series Pete! I'm glad you post these, not only for the racers racing the series, but also for us that if we ever wanted to start a series we have them for reference.

Question: How do you know that the magnets are stock? How do you know that someone did not zap them or change their properties or for that matter, switched them out with another set of magnets that look like the stock ones? Just wondering how you "tech" for things like that.

Let's go racing boys!

PD2

I have a Magnet Marshall and know what a stock draw reading is for the Magna-Traction and X-Traction. If anything is above 5 or so grams those measurements we look closely at the magnets and if they have been lowered.

Just a quick note regarding magnet zapping. Zapping will only bring the magnet back to 100% It will not make the magnet any stronger than 100%. Polarity can be reversed, but the strength of the material is still the same. Zapping is no different than putting in fresh brushes or springs. You hit the button for as long as it takes to say "buzz" and that's as long as it takes. Any more time will only heat up the zapper. What you need to watch for are the polymer magnets which ARE NOT stock. (but a lot stronger!)

Johnny, that's what we will be looking for too. It's a lot easier to throw it on the MM than to do a complete visual inspection. The sound polymers make as they wind up is a lot different too.

AH! OK, that makes sense. Did not think that you had a MM. Those things are great and many in the 1/32 world used them not only for tech'ing but they would also use them to match or stagger magnets to achieve different results for different racing. Most times it was matching magnets for magnet racing. Using the MM will definitely tell you who is cheating.

I know that there are plenty of other things that both visual, tech block, and other devices won't always catch. I guess you have to trust that everyone sticks to the spirit and intent of the rules to have a fair race.

PD2

"You never know your level of competition until they blow by you going into a corner." - Mario Andretti

Yeah.

Monday night was open track night at Sequoia Speedway, and we had John and Mr. Champion up from Bakersfield and Pete's brother in law Ray in from Los Banos for some hot laps and car testing. I arrived after the track opened because I actually sold 2 cars on Monday, and can breath a little easier for the rest of the week now.

Mears and Champion were on the track, lapping off the clock at their request but going pretty fast. Their cars were much simpler than ours graphically although Champions car Quest car wore wheel covers. Otherwise its stark white with minimal decals gave it an interesting look.

The first set of heats was drawn and it was Champion, Pete and Ray holding the outside line of the 3-wide racing. Ten laps was over in a flash and it was close between Pete and John. But it was very interesting and reminded me of an episode of SPEED's Pinks. Both drivers pedaling at the end to close the gap, almost to the point Ray caught and passed them.

I ran against Hicks and Mears and ran flat out, or close to it my entire heat, and won handily but noticed Mears running "soft", backing out early, getting back on late. I began to wonder what the Hell was going on.

This went on for two more rounds of heats, then the computer was turned on and the Mains were set. All of a sudden everyone (except Ray and myself) had their cars exploded on paper towels, cleaning and putting in new parts. Pete switched tires, pick up shoes, brushes, springs and even guide pin. Champion kept his gear plate covered up by a shop rag, making me wonder what was up with that.

In the 25 lap C Main it was Pete with lane choice, Champion and Mears. Amazingly, or intentionally, they were out scored in their heats by Hicks and myself, Ray failed to qualify for the mains on heat points. I think it was that way by design. Two would transfer to the B Main to face Jim Hicks. All that was missing as the cars lined up was the theme song from "The Good (Mears), The Bad (Champion) and The Ugly (Pete)".

Green showed and they were off, it was wheel to wheel for 16 laps, Mears bobbled in the lead but didn't deslot and Pete went by him in a rush. Two laps later he bobbled again with his tires going away and Champion blew by him and set after Pete. On lap 23 Pete bobbled just a little and that closed the gap, but not enough and he got the win. Champion finished 0.11 seconds behind Pete, Mears came up another half second later. But the lap times told the tale; Pete ran a fast 2.11 seconds, Champion ran a fast lap of 2.09 seconds, and Mears, although he finished last, ran a 2.08.

The B Main was much the same way, Jim was bushwhacked by Pete and sat out most of the race against the turn 3 fence. Pete won again at a more relaxed 2.16, Champion ran a 2.14. Now I had to face them down. Pete still had fast lap lane choice and took lane 2, Champion had second choice and did the unthinkable and took the inside of Pete. I was hung out in lane 3. I had run a good time of 2.18, or so I thought.

The race was 50 laps, and would need one carefully planned, but not required, pit stop. On the green I jumped out fast and then slowed down to relax, after 10 laps I led by a straight-a-way. After 20 laps it was a straight-a-way and half way through a corner. On lap 25 Pete stopped and taped his tires and oiled, 2 laps later Champion did the same. I was now 6 laps up on Pete, 7 on Champion. I thought I'd be smart and pull a Ray Evernham, I pulled in, taped my tires and jumped back out on the track with a full lap and a half lead and 18 laps to go! But they were closing the gap and quickly. My car in my eyes was SLOWING DOWN! Then on lap 43 that horrible sound a pancake car makes when the armature is running metal against plastic, essentially out of lubricant my car screamed to nearly a stop on the front stretch with 3 laps to go as Pete, then Champion flashed by. Pete took Champion by just over half a second at the finish, I came in one lap plus time down to them. Pete ran more conservatively at 2.21, John ran a on-off lap of 2.09 but most of his were in the 2.22 range. I actually did better with a 2.15 but in the end it just didn't matter.

This wasn't a points race, it was for a Dollar Store bag of salted peanuts, a tradition on Open Track Night Pete says for many, many years. "Racing for Peanuts" was a phrase that he grew up with, uttered by some of the more famous names who would come to the short tracks in Texas to run for smaller purses then they were used to. I've heard the story a few times, the driver always seems to change, last time it was Gary Bettenhousen, one time it was Dan Gurney. But the rest of the story, and the tradition, remains the same. There was something thrown in once about peanuts being bad luck in the pits, but I Googled it and found that's only NASCAR races.

First points race is 19 days away and we are still waiting for a couple of racers to finish their cars. Pete says he will be building a new XT and retiring his MT at the end of this upcoming series. With this sort of performance, I think it's more of a wait and see.

Wheel covers are gone as of tonight. I noticed that when you have them the front end is solid, not independently rolling free. This could affect cars in the corners a bit so I swapped out my wheels for new mags and ditched the covers.

I wasn't sandbagging, I think my car was getting hot. 50 laps is a lot even at 12 volts. I would have used the excuse at the race but Pete ran the same number of laps I did and his car didn't suffer. It may be the armature I have as well, may have to rethink that a bit. I think it may have had balance problems later in the night and I may have been in the process of throwing off a lam tie to the comm plate.

GREAT play by play on the open night racing for peanuts race Yoshi! I always like it when you get the details of a race like this....I could practically imagine the track and racers lined up...granted, I've only seen pictures of Petey, but I hopefully imagine the rest of the bunch correctly. LOL!

I have a dumb question - I get the taping, because I had to do that in 1/32 and even here at home on my tracks, but, what are you guys oiling and with what kind of oil?

The MT chassis is very nice and now that I've recently run one and my XT's, I honestly think the MT's have a little more power. Of course, it could be the arm and brush setup in the car, but I'm not sure. Regardless, I've personally been enjoying my MT, XT's, and even my T-jet style chassis more now that I've been able to turn down the voltage to the track.

Great open night guys!
PD2

MT=Made in Singapore when craftsmanship MATTERED.
XT=Made in China when profits MATTER.

On long races just a drop in the arm hole on the bottom of the chassis will do, some of us use Singer Sewing Machine Oil in a needle applicator. Pete uses BoLink R/C car stuff that is a bit thicker and seems to last a lot longer, and John Mears uses Marvel Miracle Oil. Pre-race we lube the rear axle holes and a drop on the gear cluster, then wipe it clean.

I watched the video of the A Main again this morning, Pete put the double whammy on me. When he pitted he taped and oiled but put comm drops in too, all in less than 7 seconds. When we pit like that we drop whatever was in our hands on the floor and kick it under the track, it saves time. He actually pocketed his comm drops. Not illegal, just very sneaky. But one of the things I did notice when he did is one of the four lines of RF noise on my analog video disappeared so his car was running a lot cleaner.

Mr. Champion wrote:MT=Made in Singapore when craftsmanship MATTERED.
XT=Made in China when profits MATTER.

On long races just a drop in the arm hole on the bottom of the chassis will do, some of us use Singer Sewing Machine Oil in a needle applicator. Pete uses BoLink R/C car stuff that is a bit thicker and seems to last a lot longer, and John Mears uses Marvel Miracle Oil. Pre-race we lube the rear axle holes and a drop on the gear cluster, then wipe it clean.

I watched the video of the A Main again this morning, Pete put the double whammy on me. When he pitted he taped and oiled but put comm drops in too, all in less than 7 seconds. When we pit like that we drop whatever was in our hands on the floor and kick it under the track, it saves time. He actually pocketed his comm drops. Not illegal, just very sneaky. But one of the things I did notice when he did is one of the four lines of RF noise on my analog video disappeared so his car was running a lot cleaner.

"Made in China when profits MATTER." <- SOOOOO true! I'm not too proud of it, but I work for a China based company..for now..and this statement could not resound more clearly! UGH!

Thanks for the oiling explanation Mr. Champion. I actually have some from my 1/32 racing that I'd use to oil the motor bearings and axle bushings. For the gears I usually used lithium white grease that came from Parma. Is it better to oil the gear assembly than to use the grease? I may even have some the old stuff that I used from my R/C days too.

I have some homemade comm "hotch" that a buddy of mine makes locally that really peps the motors up and also reduces the comm and brush wear significantly! I have no idea what is in it, but thankfully I have plenty and he sells it online. We used to use it when I raced the 1/28 Mini-Z cars - the motors are very similar, if not the same can as the 1/32 slot cars...not quiet 16D's, but not the Mabuchi can.

How do you put comm drops on a pancake comm? I'm looking at my XT chassis right now and trying to figure out how he comm dropped the comm without taking off the body. HHHmm?

Thanks again for the reply!
PD2

I don't like the grease just as a personal preference. The BoLink oil is a left over from the very old days and I just have it left. Everyone has what works for them and I've run cars dry before in very long races. We won't run more than a 100 laps in any race though. We have talked about modeling a scoop on the mold that can be opened for cooling. The body pretty much wraps around and completely closes up all of the cooling ducts on the chassis and there isn't a lot of airflow in or out. The inside is pretty open but the air just doesn't circulate except by the movement of the armature.

When I comm drop during a race I just drop them right through the motor brush holes on the bottom. It goes right to the comm and gets it done. I do that before oiling, just seems to work better.

Well, considering I have not lubed on single car that I've run in HO yet, I guess I better do some maintenance. hehehe Wonder if you open it up if the airflow will cause any issues with the aerodynamics or the way the car handles, even though it will be for cooling?

AH! I see what you talking about regarding the motor brush holes! I suppose it allows the comm hotch to drip to the top of the brushes and the comm just fine. I just noticed a hole toward the rear of the comm area (just inside the rear magnet) where you might be able to hit the comm itself from there, but you would need to juice and rotate the comm through. I guess putting it in the brush holes is better, when time is involved. Thanks for the tip and info bro!

PD2

FYI - tried the oiling and comm drops on my XT's yesterday while on a late night conference call with China (oh joy). Definitely seems to have made a difference. Where the car could handle full throttle, stock controllers, on a 12V track, they all of a sudden where deslotting and rolling - no head first, rear first deslotting....we are talking barrel rolls! LOL! They calmed down as I kept running them.

Thanks for the tips Pete!
PD2

Nitrous. Plain and simple. Wears off fast but if you need to get a jump or it's a short heat they work great.

Nitrous that appears to have done wonders for one XT and slowed the othe XT down....Not sure what is going on, but, one of my XT's FLIES now. Maybe the brushes have finally hit the sweet spot and got seated right or something, but that thing flat out books it, even without hootch. The other XT is acting weird - reving up and down and sometimes coming to a slower speed then going back up to speed....definitely inconsistent. Probably need to break it down and check it out. May have a carboned up comm and brushes or something. VERY strange.

PD2

ENTRY LIST (As of 4/18/09)

Car# Sponsor Owner Driver Chassis
2M Pioneer Concrete J. Champion J. Mendoza XT
10 Casey Luna Ford P. McKay P. McKay MT
10R Mobil1/Penske P. Daigle PROXY XTG*
11 Vivarin Y. Nagura Y. Nagura XT
23s Shoff Motorsports Y. Nagura D. Yslas XT
26 7-11/Big Gulp S. Nagura S. Nagura/PROXY XTG*
27 7-11/Big Gulp P. McKay R. Yslas XT
67 Car Quest J. Champion J. Champion MT
69 Kreitzer Excavating J. Hicks J. Hicks MT
73 Scott Green Racing S. Green PROXY* MT

* Car is owned by Scott Green of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and will be raced by Scott when he is in town.

*XTG= Ultra G chassis with neo dot removed.

Pete, I love the "Racing for peanuts" deal. Great Idea!!....I think that you're on to something there. I'll have to try and work that in to one of my races. Maybe even a Mr. Peanut series msince thay have Mr. Peanut packaging again?
A few years ago I bought several Hot Wheels that were a "toilet car" You may have seen them. Most were white but some were chrome. We used to have a guy racing with us that would call his car a toilet when it didn't run good so in his honor I started to award a "Toilet Car" prize to the last place finishers. Lots of fun!.
At the Little 500 sprint cat race in Anderson, Indiana (real cars) they award a roll of toilet paper to the 33rd, last place qualifier since he'll be "bringing up the rear"
Sounds like your series is shaping up pretty good.

Johnny we recently awarded our second "For All The Marbles" trophy, a standard 12" trophy we had attached a Mason jar to the top of full of marbles. We used a small 6 oz jar but it had the same effect. In the past we carefully drilled holes in the bottom of the jars for bolts to pass through but with the advent of new and better epoxies the next one we give out will just be glued on.

And the racing for peanuts was actually credited to Gary Bettenhausen at the first Pan American Speedway in northeast San Antonio around 1963. There was a USAC midget race there and the advertised purse was around $500. When it came time for a pay out the promoters came up "a little" short, the purse was only about $100 so the winner got $25. The entire phrase has been lost over the years but the one guy who is still alive today that was present said it was "I didn't know (or think) I was coming here to race for peanuts". It's been quoted and misquoted a bit over the years.

SWEET! Thanks for the Proxy Pete! Still wish I could race and control the car from here - or better yet, I wish I could make all races and race there with you guys!

If the cash flow comes back, I may pay the $25 for the car....but it will probably be after the racing starts. At least it will pay for a racer in the race. Kind of like have a racing team that you don't race. LOL!!

Thanks again Pete!
PD2

Paul, you're covered. Don't worry about it. Every time We've asked for donations for our kids series or anything else you've been there. So don't worry.

The car is a plain white with good detailing, the side panels are metallic and the wings are alumnimum with white sideboards. The number is 10R and the sponsors are Penske Trucking, Mobil1 and Chevrolet. I'll try to get a picture posted but it will be Tuesday before I get back to the office to be able to post it. Either Pete or myself will drive it unless we're both in a race then the next driver on the entry list will have to be the hot shoe.

Geez Yoshi. Thank you very much bro. I do appreciate it a lot - you and Pete tackling the kid's series and getting Pete the slot car therapy he needed back when was important and something I'd do again and again. I'm really glad and blessed to have friends like you guys. Thank you guys!

Can't wait to see it! Actually, I hope all drivers get a chance to race it - call it the "control" in the driver experiement. HAHAHA!

Thanks again guys!
PD2

We didn't have an open track night this week, there won't be one tomorrow either because of work committments. We lost Jim Hicks as a racer, more than likely permanently, due to a rather dismaying legal situation. If you want the details email me, I won't be putting them out here.

So, as of today here is the complete entry list. These are the guys who have built cars, paid their membership and will be racing every week.

2M Pioneer Concrete J. Champion J. Mendoza XT
10 Casey Luna Ford P. McKay P. McKay MT
10R Mobil1/Penske P. Daigle PROXY XTG*
11 Vivarin Y. Nagura Y. Nagura XT
23s Shoff Motorsports Y. Nagura D. Yslas XT
27 7-11/Big Gulp P. McKay R. Yslas XT
67 Car Quest J. Champion J. Champion MT
69 Kreitzer Excavating Sequoia Speedway/PROXY MT

Jim's car now becomes property of the speedway until someone either buys it or sponsors it in a proxy. First race is in 7 days and the track will remain closed until then.

What is involved in buying or sponsoring the car? Is the car legal or do I need to consult with an attorney? (I'm not interested in any details. I get enough directing the races here...)

Johnny, a sponsored "PROXY" car will cost $25 for the 12 race series, it makes you eligible for the trophy but the 50/50 cash goes to the driver who places with the car. The car will be maintained "legal" but the actual owner, in this case Jim's car has been absorbed by the speedway but more than likely a new owner will be found before race time. I actually have someone in mind, just need to talk to her again before I change the paperwork.

The money goes to the trophy fund, and the "All the Marbles" is the trophy of choice for this first event. I hope to have it back and finished by May 9th and will post some pictures of it then.