Racing Returns to Southampton
March 11, 2023
With threat of inclement weather looming (and arriving violently 2 days later!) 13 racers returned after a 3 year absence to the hill in Southampton to battle it out on the SnakeBite Circuit.
Following practice to cypher out setups and some race discussion, Marc’s open weight Class at 13.5 volts was up.
These are 2 magnet cars with brass weights, 6 ohm armatures slip on tires and open gear ratio. In practice drivers tried a variety of tires and gear ratios. Most seem to feel even with the high speed nature of the track that being run at lower voltage the cars just can’t pull a higher gear ratio out of the turns.
With 6 lanes the racing and action was intense on the very fast layout. Five marshalls stayed on their toes putting errant and airborne cars back in the slots.
Pros and sportsman raced together with mid pack having some tight finishes especially considering 6 lanes in a 30 minute round robin
In the pro ranks Ryan first at 400 laps, Paul Ryers 372 in second, Tom gray in 3rd with 337 , Tom Jahl in 4th with 321
The sportsman put up a good show , outpacing a couple of the pros. Sportsman winner Peter Medeiros found a great setup with 353 laps, just one lap down an ever consistent Terry Ayer at 352 in second, O Jimmy at 338 for 3rd, Mike Tiffany 331 in 4th, Cody 5th 325, Hakim 314 6th, Rick Pare 7th 309, newer racer and getting ever faster Josh Goudreault 8th 305, Cedric in 9th with 294 completed the field.
Co-owner of local Paisanos, Peter agreed to deliver 8 large pizzas(they don’t normally deliver during lunch time). He was invited in to check out the action. Similar to most of the over 35 crowd “wow haven’t seen this in ages” a controller was immediately put in his hand (sorry other paisanos patrons) and he took some laps asking where and how to get a set for he and his sons. Hopefully we see him at a future race!
After over indulging in the feast it was back to the action …up next even faster spec racer !!
Voltage was upped and practice was underway. Over a second per lap faster. Get the catcher mitts ready here they come !
Would the pros finish order shuffle? Would Persistent Peter Mederios outpace the sportsman again?..keep reading.
Round Robin 5 minute heats felt more like 8 minute heats with the track calls. It was decided one more small wall would help alleviate some of these on the future along with getting rid of the “track call delay and countdown” should speed up the day on return to fast five …onward!
Pro finishes, Ryan 558 in First, Paul Ryer 535 having some great side by side racing with Ryan for a heat or two in 2nd, 3rd just one lap shy Tom Jahl at 534, Tom gray 4th 511 laps.
Sportsman …Hakim had a great car and good drive for first at 548 (second overall!) Pete Medeiros had to settle for second in this one with his g based car at 519, Josh G had a crazy fast spec racer viper but just couldn’t get quite the handling out of it for 3rd at 501, Terry Ayer another steadfast run at 493 4th, o Jimmy 5th at 482, 6th Rick 481 , 7th Cedric 480, 8th Cody with an errant body 447, followed by Mike Tiffany in 9th at 428.
I’d be remiss if didn’t mention , Local racer Joe Escalante came to run some laps on the Harley track which we were not using. He had some TFX IROC cars a few of us got some laps with. More so thanks to Joe as my neighbor Matt came over to see what was making his power dim and tv to be fuzzy (joking)with his son and two of Drew’s friends. Joe was nice enough to let them try the IROC cars and then setup a race for them using some super 7 hardbody cars Ryan had on hand. The laughter and smiles on the kids faces (dad too ..who by the way had never seen a slot car track in use before !!) made my day even better. The kids had a blast …far as I can tell the big kids on the other track did as well.
Thanks to everyone for coming out to race and keeping the place clean and tidy ! It was great hosting a race at home after 3 years away.
See ya at LenJet 3/25 where spec racer on ppl mile !! Sportsman SS on champion, pros CMPM on Boomerang.
Ryan