Hello, My Name is Marty and I'm an SCM!

[Florida_Slotter]

Okay, for those of you who do not recognize the acronym "SCM" it stand for "Speed Crazed Moron".

Supposedly slot car racing has been destroyed by SCMs around the world if you listen to some of the folks in the hobby. My opinion is that the SCM has helped the hobby along.

Now, before all the "harrumphing" starts in earnest, let me explain myself just a bit. Just because I am an SCM does not mean that all my racing is flat out, no holds barred. Yes, I have participated in this type of slot car racing over the years. Perhaps, just like fine wine, as I've aged that type of racing is no longer my interest. Of course there are times when the SCM in me tries to come out when I get a new car and it's fast. I simply try to see just how good it is. You will see my eyes glaze over, my speech stops and I start with the 'body English moves' as if my moves are helping the car go faster. I simply will try to wring every bit of performance from the car that it has to offer. I might even go further and try to improve the car to the point where it gains that next level of performance - you know where it becomes "stupid fast"!

Now, go ahead and tell me that you have never done the above! :angry-tappingfoot:

Just the words that name our hobby "Slot Car Racing" tell us that we are compelled to try and make our cars faster, handle better and run fast laps.

Additionally, just because you repower your car with a slower or faster motor means nothing. You are doing the same thing as above, just in a different manner. Our inner being makes us want to be better than the person that is next to us. It is called "competitiveness" and it is part of us. We're all born with it and it is always rearing it's head throughout our lives.

If we are racing a slow car against a slow car, I will drive that car the best way I know how. I will try and turn a faster lap than you can. Not because I'm mean, but that I'm a racer. I've raced just every form of slot cars known to man. Aside from the cost to put a car together, I find each of them enjoyable and FUN. I like to enjoy myself with my hobby. My emphasis is the ability of the car to run well and do what I would like it to do as long as I stay within the rules of the group I'm racing with.

Perhaps it can be summed up this way - I love slot cars and slot car racing. I've been a part of slot cars and slot car racing since the early 1960's and will continue to be part of it until my body breathes it's last breath. If I am at a race when that happens, perhaps y'all can call "Track" so you can move me out of the way and then continue on with your enjoyment as mine has finally ended.

Just my opinion, of course.

[Mayberryman]

Marty, I am right there with you, I have been a slot car racer since the early days of the Aurora Vibs and Faller cars. I then became involved with a hobby shop about 25 miles from my home (thank goodness we had one or two people old enough to drive) and participated in races on a three lane figure eight mainly with Eldon 1/32 NASCAR cars. I went through the pitman and globe craze only to be wowed away by the Hemi Rewind Kits and later on the Champion line of 16Ds. I left slot car racing for a number of years to race SCCA for about ten years, high speed two cycle go karts for several years and lastly a two year stint with rubbing door handles at a local NASCAR roundy round track. I got back to slots in the second boom of the mid 80s (1984 to be specific) and have been there ever since. My current interest include 1/24 Dirt Based Late Models, Big Block Dirt Mods and Street Stocks which are raced at Outback Motor Speedway, The Cave Raceway and at Portsmouth Motor Speedway. My 1/32 interest consist of running with the fine people at IHRA in the Md. Penn area and The Barn Burners Slot Car Club in Williamsburg Va.

I, also, believe that most racers are prone to make those little and not so little changes to their cars that they feel will make them more competitive in the next race. To be honest, at this point in my life (age 66) I get almost as much fun at home thinking about and making changes to my cars that will be checked out next time on the clock.

[Florida_Slotter]

Mayberryman,

Perhaps it takes one to know one. However, I do appreciate what you've been through.

At the time, I thought it was FUN, going as fast as possible around a slot car track, just about any slot car track. But as time has progressed, so have I. Rather than trying to set the world on fire, I just try to make me happy by driving my cars to the fullest extent of my ability.

When we bought the MDF track for our club, I made a statement, "I am NOT going to clean glue off of the track on a weekly basis and put fresh glue down. We will have to come up with a means of having traction without having to resort to the use of glue." That's when I queried many different folks about which tire to use. We use urethane tires, either Paul Gage or Yellow Dogs. Both work well on our Palm Bay track. As the amount of urethane builds up on the track's surface, the surface only gets more gooder and more gooder!

Recently one of our friends from the Retro slot car world came by and raced 1:32 Can-Am cars with us. After the racing he commented to me, "That track surface is just like it was back in the day. Enough traction to run quickly, but not enough to run flat out. There is a definite "edge" there and if you go over it, you pay the penalty of watching your opponent pull ahead of you!" Yep, it's a great place to race . . . . , err I mean "RUN" our slot cars.

Having FUN is more important than anything slot car related.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Marty, what are you saying? It sounds like you are defending something that isn't under any attack. I suspect you have confused normal competitiveness with obnoxious jerks who drift in and out of every hobby, leaving bad feelings wherever they go. One of those creeps split my thumb from the tip to almost the bottom of the nail because a track call was something he objected to and ignored. That is not the same thing as making your normal, semi-scale model slot car go as fast as it can within the rules. Has anyone ever objected to getting the most from a car within the rules? That doesn't make any sense at all. We aren't communicating here- that can't be what you mean, right?.

I, too, have been in this since the early 60s Aurora vibrator cars, and thought I'd gone to heaven when Tjets came along. I still must have a soft spot for them because after spending hours and hours getting ready to sell hundreds of them, I still haven't even started selling them. And I remember when big money started swaying slot cars away from the fun, scale-ish cars to ridiculous plastic bubbles that didn't look anything like a car of any kind. And that is what I call destructive to the hobby. The vac formed bodies that represent actual cars require an incredible level of artistry to make them come out looking right. Did you see Dennis Samson's pictures? As amazing as some of these are, they go so fast the modelling is wasted because you can't see them (and I hope that isn't the case with Dennis's cars, they are really something- better than I have ever seen). That is what I call stupid fast. Its because I feel stupid for working so hard on something that can't be seen. I feel dumb enough putting little details on cars that I promptly crash into something. But I keep on doing it.

[Modlerbob]

It seemed to me in another thread that some people were being extremely critical of those whose main goal is to turn a lap faster than anyone else. I too have raced since the early 1960 with the Aurora vibrator cars. When some classes of racing developed into something that became very expensive and bore little resemblance to anything at 1:1 scale I chose not to participate and stayed with the less expensive classes. I like most people have always tried to tune my cars to be as fast as the class rules allow and sometimes that has meant stretching the rules until told no you can't do that. For me slot car racing is a sport unto itself and I am not trying to duplicate in scale the speed and handling of 1:1 racing. Watch a race from 1000' above in one of the blimps. The cars appear to be crawling around the track even though they are going close to 200 mph. The impression of speed in the human brain does not scale down directly to 1/24th or 1/32nd scale. Slot cars at "scale" speeds seem to me to be crawling around the track so the words scale speed have no meaning to me. So maybe I'm a SCM too.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

There's a lot of us old farts here, it seems. Yeah, we tried scale speeds once. You needed to pack a lunch to eat for one lap. We did a lot of calculations, argued about the formula to use, all kinds of prep, then... YAWN! The other extreme is irritating, but real honest scale speed is practically standing still.

[Ember]

There was no "being extremely critical" merely identifying that there was multiple ways of doing things.

People are very touchy and prickly lately. Is it the heat?

[Mayberryman]

[chappy]

Well well well, first off I'm not an old fart, I'll be 61 on Sunday , well maybe that is pushing it a bit.
Funny how some topics like this one which is great by the way Marty , have a way of bringing out peoples passions for the hobby.
There are so many different ways to enjoy this hobby and show it off to each other, that make it great.
I really enjoy the diversity it offers. I am glad we are all different , and I respect the differences as much as the folk into them. My preferences fit right where I want them, but if somebody said hey lets go to Modler Bobs, we are racing wheelbarrows, count me in I'll be there. Why because this hobby is about diversity, social interaction , and learning.
Ok what are the wheelbarrow rules?
Bob

[Ember]

I know, LET'S PLAY WITH TOY CARS! :D

[slothead]

Another old timer's 2 cents worth - yes, racing at any level is about speed, but at what cost? I remember tire goop in the corners and cars with rewound armatures and clear side panels for aerodynamics. Racing at any level can become an arms race and get out of control both in terms of cost and just having fun. I favor fun and realism - not into traction gimmicks or cars that look like flying wedges. Tune a car to be smooth and learn how to control it. Have all the cars as even as possible and let skill determine the outcome. Keep the racing realistic, affordable, and most of all fun.

Two related thoughts for discussion. Crash & burn type racing - go off the track and the next stop is the pits to be a spectator. There are many ways of doing this but the bottom line is learning to balance speed and risk. When my grandsons raced each other they were crashing every lap till I changed the rules - 10 laps & first one to crash loses. Then they were able to have close races for 10 - 25 laps and jockey for position on the last lap. Also, claiming fee for motors and chassis. One group I raced with in the 80's had a rule anyone could buy anyone else's car (minus the body) for a set fee that was just slightly more than what the stock parts would cost. Last place driver had first dibs and so on. That removed any inclination to fudge the rules because next week someone else could be kicking your butt with the car. But, if it was completely stock you could replace it and make a slight profit.

Slothead

[FootScoot]

Me, any more I'm a half fast racer. I don't mind running a few good laps with a car that handles good, but being in an actual race isn't much for me like it used to be. I still enjoy the cars just as much as ever, but have more of a cruiser kind of attitude with a little playfulness thrown in now and then. The last time I raced I was watching the wrong car so that kind of ended it for me. No more racing. I've been doing this since the early '60's too and have run the gamut of "Thingies" to Group 7's and everything in between including drag racing, but I have had more fun with these little plastics cars than any of the others, and met a lot of nicer people to boot. :)

[SuperSlab]

[ccobra]

You mean to tell me that no one out there had to walk up hill in a blizzard to there buddies house umpteen miles away to race their little car and then battle the elements again going uphill during a blizzard back home? Any way in my little hometown back in Indiana my first real track was an Eldon which set my buddy also had. We would setup a track with both of our sets and transformers and be entertained for hours. For Parts I would order parts by mail from one of the modeler magazines and build my own cars since my parents didn't want to drive me to the hobby shop 25 miles away. At least my little home tow had a variety store that sold model car kits for a buck fifty. One of my first builds was the Get Smart car which I put in a 16D motor into. What made it competitive was it took most of the power from the two transformers so it could keep up with my buddies Eldon cars. Then to make it faster I cut off the front doghouse and fabricated a new front end using notebook paper and dope. But the best thing to come along was the placement of second hands on clocks. Those fancy stop watches were to expensive for our meager allowances back then so we used the clocks with the second hand to time our laps. Then we would try to find some extra notebook paper that I hadn't used elsewhere on body modifications, to calculate our speed around the track. Today I just retired that first Eldon track for my second track which I made out of MDF and has three lanes with an average length of 45 feet. I also just installed dc voltage regulators for each lane and the Trackmate. It is really fun racing the grand kids on that track, even though I have their track voltage turned down to around 7-8 volts. I am getting to old to constantly put their cars back on the track. Besides, they get a kick out of turning a 6-7 second lap on the track with a scale speed of around 140-150 mph then Varrompha zips around at about five seconds per lap. Yes, I must have the SCM syndrome also which is hard to admit but maybe that is why I spend so much time out in ManWan playing with those little cars on the track. But I think I may have the advanced symptoms for I like to model up new chassis in CAD, do a FEA analysis on the chassis and then build it out of brass tubing or print a new chassis on the printer. I know that there is no cure for my condition so I'll just keeping doing what I've been doing for the past fifty years and loving every minute of it. Slot On!

[Cjent]

WE HAD 2 EIGHT YEAR OLDS OVER THE WEEKEND. RACED CONSTANTLY. ALWAYS COMPETITIVE AND HAD A BLAST. DIGITAL, SO NOT REAL FAST BUT A LOT OF PASSING AND STRATEGY INCLUDING PITSTOPS.
HOWEVER YOU LIKE TO RACE IS FUN. :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: