Let's get started with the coverage of this terrific event. Jay and I left Atlanta about 4:00 pm on Thursday (Jay continued to illustrate why I call him "the late Jay Guard"; we had hoped to get out of town by 2:30 or so... LOL!), which put into Columbus about 2:00 am Friday morning. Since Tom Thumb was opening Friday at 10:00 am, we did get a decent amount of shut-eye. We got to the track few minutes after 10:00, and there were already a fair number of racers already tweaking, testing, and tuning. It was immediately clear that the quality of retro racers showing up for this event is, if anything, exceeding the high standard set at the Sano. We'll start with some pictures of the racers in attendance.

If you were an official American Model Raceways franchisee, you got one of these emblems. It's made of vacuum-formed plastic with a masonite back. Mike has 4 of them! But when's the last time you saw one on the

wall at a raceway? And did it look this good? Too cool...

By Greg “Cheater” Wells Reporter At and Perceived to Be Large

Here's the original blue AMR King, resurfaced once. I thought it raced without flaw, but then I wasn't very fast. Some termed it a bit quirky, but if so, I didn't see it.

The guy in the deadman sure looks like Les Wright (Cedric) of Wright Way Products. One of the nicest guys in all of slot racing, as he proved to Jay Guard this weekend by using my pit and tools to dismantle Jay's power supply

to confirm the LED display is bad. He's sending Jay a new unit to replace the defective display.

The Rogue’s Gallery – Almost Everyone Tried but just didn’t get everyone

Garry Haworth, Noblesville, IN.

Jay Guard, Anniston, AL

Bill Fulmer, Canton, OH

Bill "BillyBob" Newland, Indianapolis, IN

Bob Oaks, Wauconda, IL

Front to back, Butch Dunaway, Oxford, OH;

Dennis Samson, Irvine, CA; and Joe “Noose” Neumeister, Denville, NJ.

Jack Beers, Hanover Park, IL

Ray Price, Rolling Meadows, IL in front, Basil Michael of Des Plaines, IL, in the rear.

Ken Green, Greenwood, IN.

Lou Cicconi, Aston, PA.

Malcolm Lovelace, South Vienna, OH.

Ron Hanson, Somonauk, IL.

Bob Kurkowski, Parma, OH.

Matt Bruce, Summerdale, NJ.

Dustin Morris, Birdsboro, PA.

Definitely not one of the rogues, this is the lovely Sharon Bruce, team-owner for Matt Bruce. LOL!!

Steve Deiters, former Car Model writer back in

the day.

Jay Kisling, who looks very pleased, probably thinking about something he snuck by the tech

inspectors.

Mike McMasters, owner of Tom Thumb

Hobbies. I asked Mike to smile when I was taking this picture, and he said, "I am smiling!"

Eric Balicki

Josh Crutchfield

Gary Echelbarger

Jason Echelbarger

Larry Mattingly

Paul "Pablo" Wolcott, sporting facial hair grown

especially for the R4. Mike Patterson

Dave Reed. This is the third of three attempts to take Dave's pic; the first two he closed his eyes at the exact moment I clicked the button. So I

said, "I'll snap this one on a count of three" and then clicked it on "two". Looks like he was

already closing his eyes; I shoulda clicked on "one"...

Rob Voska

Vince Del Viscio

Shannon Tewell, who only raced Flexi GT after I

had departed.

Who let this reprobate in the door?!?!?!

Greg “Cheater” Wells

“The Pits” Let's take a stroll in the pits. I'm always interested in seeing the various slot box designs and pit spaces. Most of these pit spaces and boxes are way too neat (how do these guys ever get any work done?), which is why you won't be seeing a pic of my messy workspace. Now I don't recall whose pits these are all, but we can figure some of them out pretty easily.

This is obviously Matt Bruce's pit... since that's

Matt in the picture.

And this is Brian McPherson's retro pit box.

Probably Ron Hershman's pit, but maybe not;

he has a lot of acolytes...

The helpful Jay Guard in his pit, kindly mounting my GT Coupe body so's I have time to hang

with the big dogs and bench race...

Not sure, but I think this is Bob Oaks pit. Or a

reasonable facsimile thereof.

Can't remember whose pit this is, but I'll

probably be able to tell when I get to the Can-Am pics.

Jack Beer's pit IIRC, and if I'm wrong please let

me know.

The bodies tell me this is Jim Bostrom's pit.

And this one's Ken Swanson's pit. Too bad he's not Matt Bruce's size, as he coulda saved some money on a hotel room and just slept in his pit boxes. But wait, maybe he has another use for

a hotel room...

And here's why Ken Swanson needed a hotel

room: for an after-hours pit, not for sleep... This snap was taken about 1:15 AM and I'm told Ken

didn't quit working for more than three hours.

Building a chassis at the hotel the night before the race: now that's serious RETRO!!!

Special Awards Time!

To honor the memory of R. H. "Mac" McMasters, the original owner of Tom Thumb Hobbies, an annual "Mac" Award has been created to recognize person(s) who have contributed to the growth of the IRRA and/or Retro

racing. This award will be presented each year at the annual R4 race at Tom Thumb Hobbies.

The IRRA is pleased and proud to recognize Dennis Samson as the 2008 (and first) recipent of the annual "Mac" Award for his many contributions to our growing segment of the 1/24 slot racing hobby.

Dennis is one of the key figures in the promotion of retro racing and in the creation and operation of the IRRA. Without Dennis's enthusiasm, assistance, and sage advice, it is unlikely that the IRRA would exist today. He is

active in the IRRA management as a board member, and is well-known as one of the hobby's premier builders of great-handling retro chassis. He is also a top-tier retro racer, and a contender in concours at every event he

enters.

Dennis holds the 2008 Mac plaque he gets to keep and Mike McMasters displays the perpertual Mac Award plaque, which will be inscribed with each winner's name and hang in a place of honor at Tom Thumb. In the background is Steve Deiters, who presented this award to Dennis on the IRRA's behalf.

Tech Time!

Paul "Pablo" Wolcott trying to sneak something past the vigilant tech inspectors, while Rob Hanson either looks on or awaits his turn under the microscope. Dunno what it says when the main tech guy needs glasses AND a

light to see... Joe "Noose" Neumeister on the left and Dennis "The Colorado Cowboy" Samson on the right under the hat.

Race Time!

First up was Concours For the GT Coupe Class, it was:

1st Place - Joe “ Noose” Neumeister

2nd Place – Jack Beers

3rd Place – Dennis Samson

By lucky happenstance, we have 32 entries for GT Coupe,

which means a tidy four full mains.

Race director Lou Cicconi moved the show along so quickly that I couldn't get too many pre-race driver line-ups, but that is NOT a complaint! That's Ken Green marshalling the chute.

GT Coupe, Combined Results

1) Ron Hershman - 270 laps

2) Matt Bruce - 267 3) Dave Fiedler - 265* 4) Jay Kisling - 265*

5) Rande Marshall - 263 6) Bob Kurkowski - 259

7) Josh Crutchfield - 258 8) Ken Green - 253

9) Rob Hanson - 252 10) Butch Dunaway - 251

11) Bob Oaks - 246* 12) Joe Neumeister - 246*

13) Greg Wells - 246* 14) Mike Patterson - 245

15) Paul "Pablo" Wolcott - 244 16) Ray Price - 240

17) Jim Bostrum - 238 18) Malcolm Lovelace - 236

19) Basil Michael - 235 20) Larry Mattingly - 233* 21) Dennis Samson - 233* 22) Rick Bennardo - 232

23) Jay Guard - 228 24) Jack Beers - 227*

25) Brian McPherson - 227* 26) Garry Haworth - 226

27) Dave Reed - 225 28) Bill "BillyBob" Newland - 216

29) Bill Fulmer - 185 30) Lou Cicconi - 177

31) Ken Swanson - 114 32) Vince Del Viscio - 19

* Sections were not recorded; finishing positions were determined by markers placed on the track wall.

As da Chicago boys say, da winners o' da GT Coupe race, l-to-r: Bruce, Hershman, Fiedler. Wonder if they're having fun?

Warmack chassis kit built by Rande "RPM" Marshall, oilite bushings. Pro Slot 4002B motor. ARP 7t pinion, Parma 27 T crown (shoulda used a 28t), JK Fronts, JK Big Daddy natural rears. O/S Chevron B16 body. 121.4 grams.

Ron's First Place car

Matt's Second place car

Dave's Third Place car

Now it's time for F1 and we have twenty-nine (29) entries for the class, including some of the nicest open wheel slot cars seen in many a year. Pics will be posted later, so make sure to check 'em out after I find the time to post them. As an aside, I wonder when the last F1 race that attracted 29 entries was held? Not for many years, I'm betting. The results of concours judging were Dennis Samson in first place, Joe Neumeister in second, and Jack Beers in third. (Note: All Noose painted bodies!)

!st Place

2nd Place

3rd Place

F1, Combined Results

1) Jay Kisling - 266 laps 2) Ron Hershman - 260 3) Dave Fiedler - 260 4) Matt Bruce - 257

5) Bob Kurkowski - 257 6) Ken Green - 253

7) Rande Marshall - 253 8) Dennis Samson - 251

9) Rob Voska - 250 10) Joe Neumeister - 244

11) Jack Beers - 241 12) Jay Guard - 240

13) Butch Dunaway - 232 14) Malcolm Lovelace - 229 15) Brian McPherson - 228

16) Ray Price - 228 17) Jason Echelbarger - 225

18) Paul Wolcott - 221 19) Larry Mattingly - 218

20) Vince Del Viscio - 217 21) Bill Fulmer - 207

22) Basil Michael - 206 23) Bill Newland - 205

24) Gary Echelbarger - 204 25) Dustin Morris - 193

26) Rick Bennardo - 118 27) Lou Cicconi - 87 28) Bob Oaks - 80

29) Ken Swanson - 74

l-to-r, Hershman, Kisling, Fiedler

It's Sunday and that means Retro Can-Am, IRRA's premier class. A total of 34 entries have made their way

through the excellent and efficient tech inspection conducted by Dennis Samson and Joe Neumeister, with some guy taking pictures with his Brownie camera.

Here's an overall shot of the most impressive group of scratchbuilt Can-Ams I've ever seen:

As trying to include all the Can-Ams in a single shot doesn't give much detail, here are some shots giving more detail:

Concours was won by, who else?, Joe "Noose" Neumeister, with second place going to Ray Price (L) and third to Ken Swanson.

Retro Can-Am, Combined Results 1) Matt Bruce - 273 2) Ron Hershman - 271 3) Jay Kisling - 269 4) Mike McMasters - 269 5) Dustin Morris - 267 6) Dave Fiedler - 266 7) Josh Crutchfield - 264 8) Jay Guard - 263 9) Ken Green - 263 10) Rande Marshall - 261 11) Greg Wells - 260 12) Rob Hanson - 258 13) Ken Swanson - 255 14) Garry Haworth - 253 15) Bob Oaks - 248 16) Malcolm Lovelace - 247 17) Jack Beers - 247 18) Paul Wolcott - 246 19) Butch Dunaway - 246 20) Dennis Samson - 245 21) Larry Mattingly - 245 22) Joe Neumeister - 243 23) Rick Bennardo - 239 24) Ray Price - 238 25) Eric Balicki - 234 26) Vince Del Viscio - 229 27) Bill Fulmer - 214 28) Bill Newland - 213 29) Jim Bostrom - 206 30) Mike Patterson - 200 31) Dave Reed - 161 32) Gary Echelbarger - 160 33) Jason Echelbarger - 120 34) Basil Michael - 12

Flexi GT Concours winners for Flexi GT were 1st Place - Ken Swanson, 2nd Place - Joe Neumeister and ???? in third. (If the third place winner will identify himself, I'll add his name here.) 1) Dave Fielder - 287 laps 2) Dustin Morris - 278 3) Ken Swanson - 273 4) Rande Marshall - 268 5) Shannon Tewell - 263 6) Jason Blackburn - 262 7) Paul Wolcott - 258 8) Malcolm Lovelace - 253 9) Jessica McMasters - 246 10) Mike Patterson - 237 11) Joe Neumeister - 233 12) Eric Balicki - 183 13) Bob Oaks - 176 14) Garry Haworth - 173 15) Jason Vicars - 168 16) Ron Hershman – 79

l-to-r, Hershman, Bruce, Kisling

L-to-R, Ken Swnason, Dave Fiedler, Dustin Morris

Dave Fiedler's First Place car

Dustin Morris's Second Place car

Ken Swanson's Third Place car

Sure looks like the JK Cheetah 11 chassis is now the chassis of choice, for a King track at least.

I was pretty impressed with Tom Thumb's inventory for slot cars, as it clearly isn't their main business (yet... heheheh). They had Warmack nosepieces by themselves for $24.95 (IIRC), a terrific idea. I could only find some Koford flux brushes to buy, but that's because I made Jay give me a pair of Kelly tires I used for both Coupe and Can-Am.

Cindy and Kyle Snyder (Jessica’s boyfriend) at the doorway of their very small kitchen, which Cindy admitted used to be a bathroom. I had a sloppy joe on Saturday and it was great! Pablo was raving about the pulled chicken sandwiches. The prices were so cheap as to be embarrassing, 16-oz sodas for $1, the same for either sandwiches. I'da put that much in the tip jar, but there wasn't one... The McMasters took a well-deserved vacation to Gatlinburg, TN, after the R4, and are not home as I write this AFAIK. They could not have been more gracious hosts, as I well know. The earlier part of this race coverage would not have been possible without Mike loaning me a laptop and his wireless connection.

The story Mike tells is this: after an unremembered race some years ago, he was approached by a turn marshall who apologized for a fumble that he felt had cost Mike a place. He wanted to give Mike something in atonement for his error. Mike doesn't remember being upset about any such marshalling incident and started to tell the guy not to worry about it, until the apologetic turn marshall showed him what he wanted to pass along: the pictured interior. You bet he took it. Do you blame him? I believe Mike said this interior was packed away for many years (in a safe!) and that he only recently stumbled took it out. The plastic box was incredibly dusty and the tape holding it shut had to nearly be chiseled in half. Does anyone know who could have painted this interior?

Jay Guard brought this crazy toy. As one shifts the gears, the guy vibrates, leans, and makes the kind of noises three-year-olds do with their toy trucks, getting louder and louder as higher gears are reached. What a hoot! Jay says he's gonna re-label it "Retro Racer".

I call this one "Concentration" and I hope I don't have to explain why. Looks like there's some pretty intense racing happening here. L-to-R, Rick Bennardo, Lou Cicconi, Jay Kisling, Jim Bostrom, Butch Dunaway, da cheater, and Basil Michael. That's Jay Guard corner marshalling in the "hole".

I wanted to post a better picture of cute-as-a-button Jessica McMasters, who worked like a slave during the entire event. Here she's drawing the chits for lane assignments prior to a race. Mike McMasters is on the left, Ron Hershman in the foreground (showing off his best side... LOL!)

GT Coupes

Jack Beers

Rick Bennardo

Bill "Billibob" Newland

Jim Bostrom

Matt Bruce

Lou Cicconi

Josh Crutchfield

Butch Dunaway

Dave Fiedler

Bill Fulmer

Ken Green

Jay Guard

Rob Hanson

Garry Haworth

Ron Hershman

Jay Kisling

Bob Kurkowski

Malcolm Lovelace

Rande Marshall

Larry Mattingly

Brian McPherson

Basil Michael

Joe "Noose" Neumeister

Bob Oaks

Paul "Pablo" Wolcott

Mike Patterson

Ray Price

Dave Reed

Dennis Samson

Ken Swanson

Vince Del Viscio

Greg Wells

Here are the cars that competed in F1 at the R4:

Jack Beers

Rick Bennardo

Matt Bruce

Lou Cicconi

Butch Dunaway

Dave Fiedler

Bill Fulmer

Gary Echelbarger

Ken Green

Jay Guard

Ron Hershman

Jason Echelbarger

Jay Kisling

Bob Kurkowski

Malcolm Lovelace (painted by Malcolm's daughter)

Larry Mattingly

Basil Michael

Dustin Morris

Bill Newland

Joe Neumeister

Brian McPherson

Bob Oaks

Paul Wolcott

Ray Price

Rande Marshall

Dennis Samson

Ken Swanson

Vince Del Viscio

Rob Voska

Here are the cars that competed in Can-Am at the R4:

Erick Balicki

Jack Beers

Rick Bennardo

Jim Bostrom

Matt Bruce

Josh Crutchfield

Vince Del Viscio

Butch Dunaway

Gary Echelbarger

Jason Echelbarger

Dave Fiedler

Bill Fulmer

Ken Green

Jay Guard

Rob Hanson

Garry Haworth

Ron Hershman

Jay Kisling

Malcolm Lovelace

Rande Marshall

Larry Mattingly

Mike McMasters

Basil Michael

Dustin Morris

Joe Neumeister

Bill Newland

Bob Oaks

Mike Patterson

Ray Price

Dave Reed

Dennis Samson

Ken Swanson

Greg Wells

Paul "Pablo" Wolcott