It was a long, hard race, that all the racers fully enjoyed.
We started the event with the SCX NASCAR class to get the racing off the ground... not to mention we all needed to wake up a little bit!
Improptu SCX Car Reviewa and Tech Notes:
Notes:
- All of the NASCAR cars ran on the new hand out rear tires. Many of the drivers opted to swap out their front tires as well, since most of us had turned the fronts down a little, or rounded the corners off.
- The SCX NASCAR tires according to the lastest SCX price list were only available as a complete kit of 4 tires with a full rear axle setup. Luckily for one of the racers (me) I got to use the whole kit and swap my rear axle out, after one of the wheels on my Kevin Harvick car came off the axle.
- We teched all the NASCARs, with a body-off presentation to the impound. Once the cars were cleared, the bodies were put back on the cars, and the marshalls cranked the body and magnet mount screws all the way down, so everyone was literally on a box stock, level playing field with no "magnet draggers".
- We also dropped all them on the Magnet Marshall to check them out (just for grins).
- The NASCARs were all run box stock, with hand-out rears only. No SCX PRO parts allowed (to keep the cost down for the racers).
- The SCX PRO Audi's were allowed to run SCX PRO parts, but oddly enough everyone ran theirs with stock gearing.
- We knew that the racing would be REAL close (and it was!) so we did 5 minutes per lane across 4 lanes, European rotation, and was measured in total laps, with the ties broken by total distance of last lap, then by fastest lap time.
For the impromptu review of the SCX NASCAR, this one is short but simple. They ROCK!
For those of you with an SCX Regional Qualifier coming up, I dont know how your race host will check your cars, but we had 5 people that were all running brand new cars (ie: they just came in on Friday kind of new...). The new Earnhardt #3 Wrangler, Kahne #9 Mopar and the Montoya #42 Texaco Havoline. Let me just say that all 5 of these cars placed...you guessed it at the top!! They pulled down 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th.
Given that the motors were identical and brand spankin new, as were the tires, the only thing that we can attribute it to, is that the rear magnets in the new cars are MUCH stronger than all the others.
The magnets in the new cars were pulling 450-480 on the Magnet Marshall and the other SCX NASCARs were pulling 320-330. The light-weight of the group were 2 older SCX Reeses cars, pulling a 215 and 230.
Hmmmm, dont know how that one is going to pan out across all the races, as SCX doesnt make replacement magnets for the cars. Hope you saved yours if you are a no-mag club like we are.
For the SCX Pro Audi
Make SURE that you check the grub screw on your crown gear! You always hear about the one that "could have been" or "that got away"...well, in the case of Greg Andrews and Rick Carlson, the rear crown came loose on the axle and allowed the axle to slide out to the side, to the point that the tire bound up on the fender of the car. Since repairs are made with the track hot (just like in a real race), getting the car off the track, getting the screw drivers, popping the body off, re-aligning the axle and tighening with re-assembly took 9-10 laps of both drivers. Remember the 10sec lap times were on a 122 foot track. So we lost a LOT of ground!
On our Audi's all of them but 1 were SCX PRO Audi's, the last was an SCX R10 with an SCX Pro motor and tires.
All of the cars handled like a dream and gave the drivers to see what they were really capable of. The one repetitive comment that I heard was that the cars were on par with what Slot.Its were capable of doing on the track, and I think it opened up some guys eyes that had been die-hard Slot.It fans.
These things drive incredibly smoothly and are predictable once you get a few laps under you. The power is consistently smooth.
The one complaint about the cars (both the PRO Audi and NASCAR) is that the motors dont really seem to come alive until about 5 laps into the race when they start to warm up.
For the results...
NASCAR RACE: (left to right)
1st : Ronny Paul, Jr. - aka: "Crash" : 119 laps (Distance Winner) : 9.835 sec
2nd : Ronny Paul, Sr. : 119 laps : 9.513 sec
3rd : Shawn Hughes : 118 laps : 9.657 sec
4th : Larry Edwards : 117 : 9.664
5th : Ken Brown : 115 (Distance) : 10.04
6th : Russ Cox : 115 : 9.802
7th : Greg Andrews : 114 : 10.04
8th : Shane Slement : 113 : 9.954
9th : Bruce Hunt : 112 : 10.13
10th : Cooper Carlson (Distance): 107 : 10.61
11th : Rick Carlson : 107 : 10.34
12th : Cole Andrews : 105 : 10.27
13th : Ed Hunter : 103 : 10.58
SCX PRO AUDI Race : (left to right)
1st : Ken Brown : 90 laps : 10.29 sec
2nd : Larry Edwards : 90 laps : 10.42 sec
3rd : Shane Slement : 88 laps : 10.45 sec
4th : Shawn Hughes : 86 : 10.23
5th : Cooper Carlson : 86 : 10.55
6th : Russ Cox : 85 : 10.50
7th : Ed Hunter : 82 : 10.60
8th : Greg Andrews : 81 : 10.24
9th : Rick Carlson : 80 : 10.28
10th : Cole Andrews : 78 : 11.35
About the event's host: Scale Auto Racing, Inc. - Houston, TX.
Scale Auto Racing is located in northwest Houston and is home to the Houston Scale Auto Racing Club (HSARC). Scale Auto Racing, Inc. has been around for about 7yrs and started out as a grass roots operation. It now occupies about 4000sf and houses a 4lane, 122 foot 1/32scale, custom routed track. It also is home to a 1/24 scale 8lane, 87foot 1967 American Racing Yellow track as well as a scale 1/8 mile drag strip.
Scale Auto Racing and its HSARC club primarily run 1/32 hard body cars in competitive league races on Friday nights with about 20 racers. League racing is fun for all ages and starts at 7pm each Friday night.
Hours for the shop are: Friday - 6pm till 12am; Saturday and Sunday - 12Noon till 6pm.
For more information, visit the following: Scale Auto Racing, Inc. ( http://www.HoustonScaleAutoRacing.com ) or the Houston Scale Auto Racing Club ( http://www.hsarc.net ).
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