NitroDude's Racing Adventures

The trip to the Oklahoma and Indiana races went really well until I got sick. I made the money round in Oklahoma but unfortunately the second day in Indiana I caught a bad cold and decided it would be best to not compete and just help my buddy Chuck. That decision probably saved me about $1300 in entry fees. They had 1504 cars in the main event on Fri and Sat and it took from 8:00 am to after midnight both days to get the 1504 car race finished. There was some really good close racing all 4 days counting the warmup races on Wed and Thur. I will put some pics up as I go through them. We left California at 4:00 am on Thursday and arrived in Alburquerque at 8:00 pm that night. After we checked into the La Quinta we went across the street and had dinner at the Cracker Barrel before a good night's sleep. We got up at 5:00 am on Friday and had breakfast at the hotel and then headed towards Oklahoma City. We stopped off in Amarillo TX so Chuck could see the Big Texan steakhouse because he had never been there. Then we arrived in Oklahoma City around 4:00 pm. We checked into the La Quinta and then went by the track for a few minutes before going to the Olive Garden for some dinner. Saturday morning after breakfast, we headed over to the track and raced until around 8:00 pm. That is the track where the million-race started at and was held there for 3 years. There were a few of my buddies that was also going to the Indiana race racing there in Oklahoma also. One of them and myself both made the money rounds out of 310 cars. After the race we went to a pretty nice Mexican restaurant before heading back to the hotel for some much-needed rest. We left after breakfast on Sun morning and drove to Mt Vernon IL and checked into the Hampton that evening. We decided to go get a pizza and take it back to the room so we could watch the football game. After breakfast on Mon morning, we made the short 175-mile trip to our final destination in Clarksville IN. We checked into the Best Western around noon and unloaded our cars so we could service them in the hotel room so they would be ready to start dialing them in after we got setup on Tuesday at the track. There was a Golden Corral and a Bob Evans right next to the hotel, so we didn't have far to go for food while we were there. :D
 

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This is my buddy Chuck that went on this trip with me. We had to service our cars since we had raced in Oklahoma on the way there.
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Since we arrived in Indiana a couple of days before the event, we got real good pit spots. They let us set up on Tuesday and start dialing cars in. I was really glad we chose the spots we did because it was the perfect spot to watch the race since that was pretty much all I did after I started getting sick on Wed. I could see the lineup screen and all of the action from my pit spot.
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Bo is not the promoter of this race. He just furnishes his shop and the track for it. He also supplied all of the food and drinks every day and any donations went for a charity Bo was doing for a little boy with serious health problems. He went all out to accommodate everyone that attended this race. Bo put up a couple of tables for racers to donate cars to sell with all of the money going to the little boy. Some of the cars sold for over $600.00. That was pretty cool to see everyone come together and help raise a pretty substantial amount of money for the boy. I think it was above $10,000.
 
As soon as the doors opened Wed morning the racers started filling the place up and getting ready for the 2 warmup races Wed night and 3 warmup races on Thur. By Thursday evening the place was packed.
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Thanks for a time line and the tales of your adventures and travels. Sorry you felt punk but you did make the best of it. Loved the old juke box standing off to the side in the corn hole playing area photo. Nice pic of you and Bo and what he was doing to help that little fella with his charity was wonderful and super nice to know all those in attendance helped in their own way.

Thanks for sharing . You done good!!! 👍:)
 
Sux that you got sick Nitro and didn't get to open up a can of whoop ass on them. Sure looks like a good time.
 
StandOnIt said:
Sux that you got sick Nitro and didn't get to open up a can of whoop ass on them. Sure looks like a good time.
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That would have been a pretty tough challenge. The best slot car racers from all over the United States were there so you had better bring your A-game. No one has ever won it twice, but Billy Varner a young man that comes up from North Carolina came close. He made the finals 2 years in a row. He won last year with over 1000 cars entered and runnered up this year with over 1500 entered. This is the largest slot car race in the world, and it has almost outgrown Bo's shop. It is kind of like the Chili Bowl it just keeps growing larger and larger each year. They had it 4 years in Oklahoma and 1 year in Tennessee and now 2 years at Bo's in Indiana and it is going to be at Bo's again next year. I will put some more pics on here as I go through them.
 
The second pic shows just a few of the cars and parts that were being sold for charity. Those 2 tables were refilled a few times during the week.
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Well it’s that time of year again when Slotcar racers flock to Southern California for the MINI MARCH MEET at BPIR. Some of the best nostalgia hard shell cars in the Country will be battling it out this Saturday on the West Coast.
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There have been racers testing for this race for the past couple of weeks so I expect it to be a pretty good race. I’m working on cars at BP right now so I can test tonight and tomorrow. I will race my Nova, Camaro, and Cuda in the Hot Rod Bracket class and my 2 Funnycars in the .990 Funnycar class.
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StandOnIt said:
Hoping for some pics of some of those cars at the meet. Cool stuff
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I will take some for you. Sorry it took so long to respond to your question about retirement. I had typed a response a few days ago, but I guess I didn't hit send, and I didn't notice it until I came back here today. :)
 
I'm not a huge drag racing fan, but was bored and started watching the Funny Car Chaos on flo racing today, and a guy on there was driving the blue max car you have pictured. Ronnie Young I think was his name.
 
*WEAVER* said:
I'm not a huge drag racing fan, but was bored and started watching the Funny Car Chaos on flo racing today, and a guy on there was driving the blue max car you have pictured. Ronnie Young I think was his name.
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Yep Ronnie built a replica of the Blue Max that 3 time Funnycar World Champion Raymond Beadle used to drive. He even purchased and restored the original hauler that Beadle used back in the 80’s.
 
One of the Barstow desert boys is here but unfortunately he has already crashed his fuel altered and has some serious work to do on it to get ready for tomorrows race.
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My cars are pretty much ready so now I’m mainly hanging out on racing forums as you can see looking at my laptop. 😃
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My buddy Bobby G is in the house testing for tomorrows race. Bobby owns Westside Garage in Orange about a block from where I live. He builds some of the coolest hot rods on the west coast. Here is a replica Slotcar he built of his real 1940 Ford Truck and 1932 Coupe.
www.yelp.com

Westside Garage - Orange, CA

Specialties: Auto Repair Shop in Orange, CA specializing in Classic Car repairs, restorations. performance and suspension upgrades, brakes and more!
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https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x80dcd98f0a1c1d97:0x5ef7717b0dcd6a9e!3m1!7e115!4s/maps/place/Westside+Garage+LLC.,+West+Chapman+Avenue,+Orange,+CA/@33.7878771,-117.8569705,3a,75y,180.42h,90t/data=*213m4*211e1*213m2*211s37iixIjHGAXlyLfW4IhShQ*212e0*214m2*213m1*211s0x80dcd98f0a1c1d97:0x5ef7717b0dcd6a9e?sa=X!5sWestside Garage LLC., West Chapman Avenue, Orange, CA - Google Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e2!2s37iixIjHGAXlyLfW4IhShQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi6mfjO_vX9AhWmDEQIHTxiBvEQpx96BAh6EAQ
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I just made a test run with my Cuda and everything looked good but then my Nova spun a pinion so I had to pull the motor and resolder the pinion back on. Then it made 2 nice smooth passes.
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It seems as if pizza, hot dogs or hamburgers taste better at the track although can't speak to slot car tracks since I've never been to one but, HEY!!! Racin's racing', no matter what. ;)
 
Racers are here bright and early this morning to get a few dial in passes before eliminations start at noon. Here are a few pics.
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Got to have some chips and cheese sauce to snack on until the 100-piece fried chicken and 3-gallons of potato salad order get here. Here is a shot of the winner plaques. The 3 winner plaques that are unwrapped are the 3 that I'm shooting for.
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My teammate Randy Langer is in the house ready to do battle today. Randy and his wife just bought a house not too far from Hattiesburg Mississippi so this might be his last race on the west coast for a while. It will be weird not racing with him on a Weekley basis, but at least I will have a nice place to stay when I go to the Bash on the Bayou race in Louisiana. :)
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Keep the pics coming! Gotta love it even though we're a nation apart in distance. Me in the ***** of the U.S. of A. and the racing of slot cars on the gold coast. Fun all the way across America! Whoopie!
 
Well, another great race is over until next year. There was a lot of good close racing yesterday. I entered 3 classes and made it to the final round of all three, with 2 wins and a runner-up. My Blue Max Funnycar runnered-up in .990 F/C, my orange Camaro won 1.090 B/Gas, and my blue Nova won the Hot Rod Bracket race.
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