NitroDude's Racing Adventures

Congrats to you!! You da man in drag racing!! Since, at my age, I want to believe there is no such thing as a foolish question, the inevitable inquiry must be made. How much of what you took in when working for a drag team could be used in your hobby of the down scaled version of drag racing?
 
Congrats to you!! You da man in drag racing!! Since, at my age, I want to believe there is no such thing as a foolish question, the inevitable inquiry must be made. How much of what you took in when working for a drag team could be used in your hobby of the down scaled version of drag racing?
That is actually a very good question because there is a significant amount of knowledge, I took from big car racing to slot car racing that has helped me stay at the top of the pack. Even though the numbers are scaled down the concept is much the same. For instance, knowing how tire height, width, and compound, gear ratios, "motor timing low end torque vs high rpm", downforce, body aerodynamics, chassis flex, weight distribution and balance of the car, is much the same and very important for the performance of the car. Another thing that is crucial to consistency is the track and motor temperatures. I was the first one to bring a temperature gun and keep data on the track temp and my motor temps. Some of the guys would tease me about it until they realized that my cars were outperforming theirs and it didn't matter what they tried they were falling behind...now there is not a slot car box at the track that doesn't have a temp gun in it. Then I started testing a motor dyno out and it has really been helpful. It measures the rpm at 8 different points. I ran 10 motors on it a few weeks ago getting ready for a big race and then I took the data and made a list of which motor was going to be the best and then tested them in the same car and each one performed on the track just as the dyno said they would. I went to the race and qualified number 1 and 2 in both classes I entered.
 
It is really appreciated for the explanation and detail of how complex it really is to be on top of the game. It ain't easy being #1. Or even #2.

There was time, many years ago, there was the mistaken thought I had a handle on setups but as the years go by and they become so sophisticated I find myself unable to keep up. That business as you describe it is a whole new world for me and sounds like you really must stay on top of your game in slot car racing.

I think back to the days when I had my stock car - mid to late 1950's - and that was sort of the time Fred Flintstone was busy in the quarry and he and Barney came to the track Saturday nights. The car had one set of roll bars behind the seat with supports welded to the frame and going back in the trunk area at an angle. There was a piece of an old metal sign removed from a sign along the highway for a gasoline advertisement that supposedly separated the gas tank from the driver compartment. It that would not have done much good in case of fire, a gas tank made from a beer keg, a piece of galvanized pipe threaded into the bung hole and a cap with a tiny hole drilled to vent, and a hole drilled at the base of the barrel then threaded to accommodate a brass fitting and copper line that ran the gas to the carburetor. The seat was the driver seat from an old school bus and a seat belt army air corps surplus for a WWII fighter plane. All bought in a junk yard. Adjustments for handling consisted of wrapping a chain around the rear axle and frame and moving the bolts between links to lengthen or shorten the travel, you know, sensitive adjustments. Did a single rollover in one race and came out unscathed so everything worked as it should.
It was not too long after that I decided there was no money to be made as a car owner - there is more to the story but that's a tale for another day - and took the job of starting stock car races. At least I got paid every week.
 
I was at the Wing Car World Championship's all last week watching the best wing car racers from all around the World and what an awesome week of racing I saw. There were track records set in every class and Brad Friesner from Canada came pretty close to his World record he set at 1.286 in the Czechs Republic a few years ago. He ran a 1.300 and he qualified number 1 and won both classes he raced in. Here is a link to a video of the G-7 race.
 
Here are links to videos of some of the other classes at the World Championships held last week.

 
This was the lineup for the 27-light race.
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Are those guys actually letting off the throttle at times or is that all just flat out? That doesn't even look fun IMO, plus those cars are ugly, at least your drag cars you can paint up nicely.
 
Are those guys actually letting off the throttle at times or is that all just flat out? That doesn't even look fun IMO, plus those cars are ugly, at least your drag cars you can paint up nicely.
Some of the lanes can be ran wide open if the car is set up right but some of the lanes, they are blipping the trigger. But it isn't easy to race those cars because they are so quick and you can lose where your car is really easy, and they can't go into a corner with another car on the outside of them or they will both go flying off the track. It takes a lot of skill. I don't think I could drive one of them. They are not concerned about looks as much as performance. There is not much you can do to make those cars look good. You are right about the drag cars looking much better, but they are hard shell bodies and are designed to look more like a real car. The wing cars are Lexan bodies and are designed for speed and handling. They are the fastest slot cars in the world. They may not look like much, but tire compound, chassis setup and the way they wing a body is crucial in the performance of those cars. Some of those guys will change motors eight times during a race...9 including their qualifying motor. The same with the tires. It costs a lot of money to race the upper pro class. But most of them race for manufactures and other sponsors.
 
Unlike sandlot baseball where if eight guys show up you toss a bat and the other guy catches it to determine who gets first pick. And everybody plays!!
No uniforms, no organized teams, no lights for nighttime play . When the game ended it was because Mom said, "be home by dark!!"

Kids baseball, like racing slot cars, became very complex. :)
 
What a good looking work space. How long have you been doing these drags with slots? I never had any idea this was so popular and for those more adept at the sport, lucrative although the money rarely covers expenses. Keep the pictures and report your successes. DNFs and rare bad finishes are optional to report. 😁
 
What a good looking work space. How long have you been doing these drags with slots? I never had any idea this was so popular and for those more adept at the sport, lucrative although the money rarely covers expenses. Keep the pictures and report your successes. DNFs and rare bad finishes are optional to report. 😁
Over 30 years. I raced for a manufacturer for about 8 years until I went back full time on a real car team. I just traded my fuel altered for this dragster about 20 minutes ago.
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If you go to Slot Car Drag Racing SOCAL on Facebook you can see a lot of cool cars, results and pics of winners from a lot of the west coast races and flyers for future races.
 
There is a birthday race today for a long time racer that turns 80 this week. I expect at least 100 cars to show up for brackets. There is a $300 bonus added to the payout and there will be some heavy hitters show up and use this race as a warmup race for the $5,000 race that will be here in 3 weeks. There will be some tough racing today. I showed at 7.30 am and there were racers already on the track testing. Here is a nice 1969 Chevy truck.
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Pit is set up and ready to go to work.
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I burnt up 3 motors last week so I have 3 new ones to break in before I put them in a car.
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Nice truck!
That is my buddy Cody's dad's truck. Cody is a blind young man that races with me. He has an awesome 1966 custom built Nova too. They went down south earlier this year and drove it in the Power Tour that started in TN, and went through GA, FL, before returning to TN. They had a 5-speed tranny built for it to replace the 4-speed for the trip. It raised the gas milage from 8 mpg to 14 mpg. They build some nice custom cars in their little shop. I think his Nova will be here sometime today so I will take a pic if shows up.
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Here is one section of pit area where racers are busy prepping their cars.
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It was a great day of racing with a lot of good food and some tough competition. After some late entries the Bracket Shootout ended up with 168 cars and we finished around midnight. I came up a little short losing my last 2 cars in the bottom 7 which was 1 round from the money rounds. Now I can start getting ready for the next big race in 3 weeks.
 
That is my buddy Cody's dad's truck. Cody is a blind young man that races with me. He has an awesome 1966 custom built Nova too. They went down south earlier this year and drove it in the Power Tour that started in TN, and went through GA, FL, before returning to TN. They had a 5-speed tranny built for it to replace the 4-speed for the trip. It raised the gas milage from 8 mpg to 14 mpg. They build some nice custom cars in their little shop. I think his Nova will be here sometime today so I will take a pic if shows up.
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Love the pics under the hood. Carbureted and simple. Nice detail.
 
That is my buddy Cody's dad's truck. Cody is a blind young man that races with me. He has an awesome 1966 custom built Nova too. They went down south earlier this year and drove it in the Power Tour that started in TN, and went through GA, FL, before returning to TN. They had a 5-speed tranny built for it to replace the 4-speed for the trip. It raised the gas milage from 8 mpg to 14 mpg. They build some nice custom cars in their little shop. I think his Nova will be here sometime today so I will take a pic if shows up.
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Here is a pic of Cody’s 1966 Nova.
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Wow, nice car!
They did a nice job on it. It is at the Orange County Fairgrounds right now for a car show tomorrow. They had a blast doing the Power Tour earlier this year. It has a Comp Thumper cam with 190 AFR heads on it with a dual plane air gap Edelbrock intake and 650 Holly double pumper carb.
 
Time to get ready for the next big race that is only a few weeks away.
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I purchased another canopy dragster that is the sister to my yellow canopy dragster. Now I have 8 dragsters and I plan on getting 2 more before the end of the year because I want to take 10 dragsters to the Million in Indiana next January.
 

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All great looking dragsters. Really appreciate showing us what you do. I don't have the patience to get too involved in anything and it is so nice to see what others do for a hobby. 👍
 
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