Summer 2023 Points Series

[aquavelvis]

For the Summer Series schedule and rules, see Magnatech Racing through August 12 - Slot Cars Forum

So, on with the news...

Here are June 24 results. Difficulties galore for David but he fought through them, and Kurt and James DNF'ed. Hayward set fast lap.



...and here are the current points standings. Way too early to celebrate.

[aquavelvis]

OK, here are results of heads-up Indy car Race 2 on July 1. Lap totals were down due to a rash of mechanical issues, and some especially bad racing luck prevented Oliver from taking the win. And we welcomed newcomer Robert Mattes!

[aquavelvis]

Point standings after 2 races. Show up and get your points!

[aquavelvis]

Jim was on a family outing, so Cliff came in to run the front desk and supervise the July 8 LMP points race. In the race, Oliver took first place after a back-and-forth battle with Hayward. I had the fastest car but got seriously out-raced. David had some issues, and Robert DNF'ed. Final results:



After three races, the points stack up as follows. David and I hold down the top two spots because we've shown up for all three races. Oliver, Hayward and Robert still have a drop to take, while Kurt and James are already maxed-out on drops.

[pawatson]

It’s great that you have close racing going on. I’ll try & make one race before this summer is over if I can drag Jerry or one of the other guys from here along. It’s pretty expensive if I don’t sell tires or bodies in San Antonio but if I can get someone else to split the gas, the low cost of Entry Fees offsets costs.

[aquavelvis]

Any time you're planning to come over to race, please give me a heads up. I'd hate to pick that day to stay home.

[aquavelvis]

We had a very good race last night (July 15) for NASCAR and GTR cars. Nine racers, two dead lanes (red and black), three turn marshals, and 4-minute heats on white through purple allowed for a lot of action and good lap totals. Biggest lesson was that the NASCAR bodies, trimmed more-or-less to TSRA rules, are poorly-matched against even the five year old Porsche and Saleen GTRs that are trimmed much like we do with current LMP bodies. And while Hayward's .005 RTR NASCAR got severely mangled he still brought it home in third.



Results:



Here are the points standings after 4 races:

[aquavelvis]

PA Watson came over from Houston to race with us Saturday, and won both the GTP points race and the LMP support race.

For fun, Jim ran us through qualifying for GTP, and while about all us figured PA would TQ, it was Oliver who snagged the honors over PA with Hayward and Kurt making strong showings.



PA ran away from us in the race, however. Here's how it ended up:



And here are the points standings after five races:

[aquavelvis]

Here's how things ended up with the Indy Car points race on July 29, Race #6 of the series.


The Indy Car grid:


These cars can be very difficult to drive, and the greatest difficulty seems to be with the lead wires wadding up underneath the lower parts of the body and lifting the front end up. Here's what I've done with James's and my cars and it really helped...a loop of .032 piano wire that keeps the lead wires under the body's "tunnel" above the axle. It can be kind of tail-happy but at least the front end stays down.



Here are points standings going into Race 7 next week:

[aquavelvis]

PA came over from Houston and lit us up! We haven't kept up with track records for years now, but 246 laps in LMP has got to be the best ever. It was a thorough beat-down, but we'll be back to try again!


Here are points standings through Race 7. Hayward, David, and I seem to have the top three places locked up, but Robert might have an outside chance to pull into third. One race to go:

[aquavelvis]

The final race of the Summer 2023 Series was Saturday, August 12. Hayward took the win over Jason, with Oliver third and Robert fourth. This was a very good finish for Jason, who missed a lot of racing over the last few months with health issues. Likewise for Robert, who just started racing a couple months ago; his finish and lap counts were way up even while he struggled with a difficult car, so things are looking good. James and I DNF'ed.



And here are the final points standings. I took the title followed by Hayward and Oliver.