Dec 1st show in York PA

[proxieken]

This is a big show held at the Fairgrounds each year. In an adjacent building is a huge toy show that has loads of hard to find die cast and model kits. The show is organized by Craig Holler, my local shop owner. I talked him in to letting me set up and run a track for him. Carrera has very generously provided some handouts and we are going to be demonstrating the racing software and pit stops. I hope to have 6 hours of people racing!

If anyone wants to run a table at the show for slot car stuff Craig can be reached at deadplasti@AOL.com Since this is the first year of having any real slot car presence, (other than used stuff in the 800 table toy show) he is not really expecting a huge turnout for slot car racing. There will be lots of folks in the area and the show is pretty decent. I hope he can get some exposure for the hobby. I will be tearing down my track to build one at the show and maybe someone will have a go at racing and enjoy it enough to discover the hobby.

If anyone is passing through the area or interested in anything please contact Craig at the above e-mail. He is the organizer and guy who owns the local shop. If possible he wants to add slot cars to the show and help to promote the hobby.

[ElSecundo]

One of our guys goes to this show every year, and it's something like a 1200 mile round trip. He always brings back something interesting.

[proxieken]

I got the promo stuff from Carrera. really nice box of handouts and goodies for me as well. They donated 6 digital cars to use. They are 3 white and 3 red Mercedes. An evenly matched IROC field. Matches the company colors, but might be confusing to figure out which one is which under race conditions! I found some old decals and dry rub letters and have gone to town on them. They are numbered 1-6 and some are sporting stripes. And I added whatever other decals I could find to help folks tell them apart. One Is flamed!

Really nice of Carrera to support the show. These cars are going to see a lot of miles that day.

[proxieken]

Got some new prizes to give away- The Carrera Club cars from 2003 and 2004. Both are evolution cars but asking prices on e-bay are getting up there.

We are going to set up on a 8x12 area. Hope it turns out well. I will try to take some photos.

If you are in the area and want a chance to win a nice slot car, stop by for a race.

[proxieken]

This is the proposed format for the racing. I just thought this up this morning so I could get over ruled by the event organizer. I think it sounds pretty good. The prize cars are Carrera Club cars from years past. They are asking a lot for them on E-bay, but I am not sure what the value is. I really like the space shuttle Charger with the astronaut driver. Racing is IROC. Carrera gave us 6 of the same cars to use. They run pretty smooth right out of the box.


Hat Race Cup
6 heats during the day, each winner will win a hat. All winners will qualify for a final championship race at 2:00. Wear your hat back to the track for a chance to win limited edition Carrera cars. First place wins 1st choice of cars. Second place wins 2nd choice of car. All heats are 50 laps with fuel management. Championship race is 75 laps.
9:00 open racing and practice. There will be open practice runs between every heat.
9:30 first heat.
10:15 second heat.
11:00 third heat.
11:45 fourth heat.
12:30 fifth heat.
1:15 final heat.
2:00 Championship race. Prizes awarded.
Sign up for a heat to reserve your spot. All openings are first come first served.

[proxieken]

Got everything back from the show. This pictures shows what went on most of the day. My schedule went all crazy and it seems we were chasing flying cars. There was a pretty good mix of kids and adults racing throughout the day. The hat challenge went OK, even thought the races were kind of random. One of the cars died about halfway through the show. Several of the winners did not make it back for the championship so we let a young fellow in as a provisional qualifier. 4 drivers in the final race were all excellent. The winner was someone who must have raced in the 60's.

During the day we had many times where the power was lowered and younger drivers simply battered the cars to pieces. There is perhaps one mirror left on the lot of the cars. Most hit the floor several times. Tail lights are broken and some are running a single headlight. Then we would open things up for older drivers and turn the power back up.

I saw some genuinely happy children laughing and having a blast. Some father and son and mother and daughter races were neat to watch.

Overall it was a fun day and showcased the capability of digital racing with computer assisted timing. Might have found a couple new local racers as well.

[goosenapper]

Check out that kid grinning at his white Merc sliding through the corner! Great shot.

It's good to hear that it went okay and was well received. I wish I could have made it but I was out of town. If you end up doing this again next year, maybe it would be worth making a few plexiglass barriers of some sort to keep the cars on the table.

A big thumbs-up to Carrera for donating a lot of goodies (including four cars!) for this. And to you, Ken, for doing what you did to try to promote the hobby!
:text-bravo: