Through the end of 2012, I was the co-director of GRRR, which is the Gator Region Retro Racing organization. We raced hand built cars that are kinda, sorta like what we raced 'back in the day' - inline chassis, lexan bodies, smaller then scale wheels and tires on the front and rear, cutout front wheel wells, rather then 'left clear and not cut out wheelwells or - God Forbid "Sticker Wheels" on the front! Our front tires needed to be .750 in diameter and .225 in width and made of natural rubber. No "O"-ring tires. Kinda like a step away from the scale 1/32 products that I've come to love over the past year, but still good looking cars.
I retired from this position and also the Regional Director of FCR-NCS for the Sunshine State. The reason was age and some bad habits had caught up with me. Yes, I was a smoker when growing up and continued to smoke for many years. I quit cold turkey in 2001 and have not touched a tobacco product ever since.
Well I had developed some vascular problems. My legs would swell up and get very painful when I walked around and sometimes, even when sitting up. But through my family doctor and some other specialists, my legs are getting better.
Rather then drag this out all night, I'll shorten it up. This Saturday I am going back out and racing a GRRR race for the first time since July of 2012. Speeds are a bit higher then the 1/32 cars, but the tracks are larger and you still have time to drive.
This week I took out some of my cars, and said to myself, "Self, you better go through these cars as they're looking pretty pathetic right now. So I've been cleaning, degunking them, building tires, checking motors, tweaking and then I had some calls asking me to bring along a new chassis for a couple of racers. So my week has been busy, busy, busy but I'm enjoying every second of it.
With this much layoff, if I can run halfway up through the groups, I think it will be a respectable finish.
Then it's back to the fun cars for a couple of months.
My main reason for going is the tracks we're going to run on are two of the best racing surfaces that I have ever run a slot car on. If you're ever in the area, make it down to Riverview, Florida and visit "John's Slot Car Garage". You'll not soon forget your visit!