Race 5 – MARC 2023-2024 – LenJet Raceway

It’s Raining on Me!

Ashland, MA, January 13, 2024 – Nasty weather might have kept some people away but 13 adventurous drivers made it LenJet for a some racing on the Nuvolari and Viper tracks.

First up was Spec Racer on the Nuvolari.  I think this might have been the first time we have raced this class on the Nuvolari, but I could be wrong.  Given the light rail you needed to be low, but you also needed a car that would handle the esses.  Racing was fast with lap times in the low 3 second range.  Greg Burstein showed he can drive magnet cars with the best of them with a fast lap of 2.939.  He was the only driver to dip into the 2 second range.  We also had a new driver join us.  Bob Blanchette is a regular at Modelville racing 1/24 Retro and Flexis.  Read on to see how Bob handled the tiny cars.

Sportsman Spec Racer Podium - Bruce Olsen 1st, Jim Colligan 2nd, Tom Bussmann 4th and Bob Blanchette 3rd

Sportsman Spec Racer – As usual, the Sportsmen came ready to race and put up some impressive lap totals.  When the dust settled, Bruce Olsen was at the top of the field.  Jim Colligan rolled in four laps behind Bruce with newcomer Bob Blanchette just two laps back to take third.  Tom “Let me see what I have in my pit box” Bussmann rounded out the podium in fourth followed by Josh in fifth.  Great race guys!   Impressive finish by Bob for his first time racing H.O.  I think we’ll see him in the future.

Sportsman Spec Racer Results

Driver

Yellow

Blue

Orange

Green

White

Red

Total

 Avg

Bruce Olsen

73

73

79

79

78

78

460.14

76.7

Jim Colligan

71

75

75

80

80

75

456.26

76.0

Bob Blanchette*

67

76

74

82

78

77

454.33

75.7

Tom Bussmann

53

80

79

83

68

70

433.08

72.2

Josh Goudreault*

64

48

62

75

74

73

396.01

66.0

* – Not MARC members

 

Pro Spec Racer Podium - John Pileggi 1st, Greg Burstein 2nd, Ryan Archambault 3rd and Peter Lentros 4th

Pro Spec Racer – The Pros have been on this track many times when the track was at the Nantasket Beach Raceway.  Many laps raced in enduros as well as MARC races, so these guys should know the track.  Leading the way, John Pilieggi showed he does know the track blasting out 503 laps to take the top spot.  Greg might have been too focused on fast laps, but he managed to come home second just sections ahead of team principal Ryan who finished 3rd.  The Mayor of LenJet rounded out the podium in fourth.  Hakim, Paul, Jim Mac, and Tom Gray filled the rest of the field.

Pro Spec Racer Results

Driver

Yellow

Blue

Orange

Green

White

Red

Total

 Avg

John Pileggi

81

82

84

87

85

84

503.09

83.8

Greg Burstein

78

78

92

79

87

78

492.12

82.0

Ryan Achambault

75

75

86

86

87

83

492.07

82.0

Peter Lentros

75

76

79

82

83

80

475.36

79.2

Hakim Harris

72

78

80

81

81

77

469.26

78.2

Paul Ryer

73

83

72

77

81

75

461.16

76.8

Jim Macartney

65

76

78

80

73

71

443.22

73.8

Tom Gray

65

66

79

75

78

74

437.17

72.8

After lunch a few drivers had to leave but the racing continued with CMPM on the Viper.  Bruce and Tom Bussmann were the only remaining Sportsmen.  Checking his box, Tom did not find a Modified so he decided to run CMPM with the Pros.  Bruce decided to skip the race and sit in as Race Director.  Thanks Bruce!

CMPM Podium - Tom Bussmann 1st, Paul Ryer 2nd, Tom Gray 3rd and Hakim Harris 4th

CMPM – CMPM on the Viper is fast with lap times in the high 2 second range.  Ryan ripped off a 2.587 lap, but it’s the total laps that mean the most (A concept I am still trying to learn).  The top of the CMPM field was not made up of the usual cast of characters.  Tom Bussmann found some magic in his pit box and drove to the top of the podium.  Paul also found some goodness and rolled in 4 laps behind Tom for second.  Tom Gray also had a great drive just 6 laps behind Paul to take third.  Hakim just made the podium by sections over Ryan to take fourth.  John Pileggi, Jim Mac,  and Peter rounded out the field.

CMPM Results

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driver

White

Green

Orange

Blue

Total

 Avg

Tom Bussmann*

96

98

97

92

383.16

95.8

Paul Ryer

91

97

102

89

379.25

94.8

Tom Gray

99

104

92

78

373.16

93.2

Hakim Harris

94

89

91

84

358.34

89.5

Ryan Archambault

101

81

88

88

358.32

89.5

John Pileggi

88

90

92

88

358.01

89.5

Jim Macartney

89

90

84

82

345.28

86.2

Peter Lentros

87

74

87

83

331.17

82.8

* Sportsman

Thanks to everyone who made the trip to LenJet.  Next up is the East Coast Championship at LenJet.  This will be a ffull race weekend starting with open practice on Friday Feb 2nd from 4 PM – 10 PM.  Saturday will start with Super Stock followed by Spec Racer.  These 2 races will count towards the MARC season points.  We turn up the wick and finish Saturday with Modified and CMPM.  Sunday we’ll really speed things up Neo.  Hope to see you there!

The race report faithfully submitted this day,

January 27, 2024

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sergeant At Arms

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Race 4 – 2023-2024 – South Shore Speedway

Over the rivers and through the woods!

 

Hingham, MA, December 9, 2023 – To some, the drive to Hingham feels like a drive to the other side of country.  But hey, what do they know.  Everyone knows this is the center of the universe.  In any case, 16 intrepid travelers made the trip to South Shore Speedway for some racing on Elvis.

Racing at South Shore Speedway

First up was Open Weighted.  Given the downforce of MaxTrax, we run this at 13.5v to keep the cars peppy.  This was the first race where the RPMs Ghost Cat was legal.  A few guys tried them, but I’m not sure if anyone ran one in the race.  I found my G3 to be a bit faster so that is what I went with.  I think once I figure out the setup for the Ghost Cat, it will be quick.  In any case, we raced.

 

Sportsman Open Weighted –  As in other races, the Sportsman came ready to race.  A few are still getting the hang of the challenging green lane, but a good race overall.  Oh

Sportsman Open Weight Podium - Jimmy Colligan 1st, Terry Ayer 2nd, Hal Pierce 3rd and Bruce Olsen 4th

Jimmy has a few laps on Elvis and put it to go use taking down the top spot in Sportsman and finished in front of a few Pros as well.  Terry Ayer was just a few laps behind Jimmy to finish in second.  Hal took third and Bruce rounded out the podium in fourth.  This was Josh’s first time on Elvis and he did a good job picking up the track.  I’m sure we’ll see him on the podium soon.

Sportsman Open-Weighted Results

Driver

Green

Blue

Yellow

Red

Total

 Avg

Jim Colligan

63

70

68

64

265.05

66.2

Terry Ayer

62

69

70

61

262.25

65.5

Hal Pierce

56

66

61

56

239.05

59.8

Bruce Olsen

53

61

62

59

235.26

58.8

Josh Goudreault

48

58

60

53

219.05

54.8

 

Pro Open Weighted –The Pros have been on this track many times for the most part

P{ro Open Weight Podium - Greg Burstein 1st, John Pileggi 2nd, Peter Lentors 3rd and Dan Decosmo 4th

and put up some good totals.  Greg Burstein showed just how quick the Open Weighted car can be setting a new Open weighted lap record of 3.228 and lap total record of 314.22 to take the win (Yes Greg, I have updated the whiteboard with your record).  John Pileggi was quick and consistent to take second place.  The mayor of LenJet finished third, closely followed by Dan in fourth.  Track Owner Paul thought he was fast.  He wasn’t.  Hakim had some issues but brought the car home running.

Pro Open-Weighted Results

Driver

Green

Blue

Yellow

Red

Total

 Avg

Greg Burstein

72

78

83

81

314.22

78.5

John Pileggi

70

78

77

76

301.23

75.2

Peter Lentros

69

78

74

71

292.18

73

Dan Decosmo

71

74

73

72

290.16

72.5

Paul Ryer

64

72

74

66

276.14

69

Ryan Archambault

62

70

71

71

274.18

68.5

John Stezelecki

60

68

67

68

263.10

65.8

Tom Gray

63

66

62

61

252.04

63

Tom Jahl

59

65

65

63

252.14

63

Jim Macartney

59

67

61

63

250.27

62.5

Hakim Harris

49

59

52

54

214.08

53.5

 

 

Lunch Break

After lunch a few drivers had to leave but the racing continued.  Super Stock on Elvis has always been one of my favorite classes.  You need to balance handling against the MaxTrax downforce.  Set the car up too low and you’ll get a whiff of burning armature.  Too high and you’ll crush the main straight, but struggle in the twisty sections.

 

 

 

 

Sportsman SS Podium - Hal Pierce 1st, Bruce Olsen 2nd, Terry Ayer 3rd and Jimmy Colligan 4th

Sportsman Super Stock – Four drivers participated in the Sportsman race, so everybody was on the podium.  Hal got in a groove and couldn’t be caught taking down the top spot on the podium and finishing ahead of a few pros.  Bruce took the second step on the podium with a solid drive.  Terry took third and Jimmy came home fourth.

Sportsman Super Stock Results

Driver

Green

Blue

Yellow

Red

Total

 Avg

Hal Pierce

90

101

99

91

381.10

95.2

Bruce Olsen

82

99

99

85

365.05

91.2

Terry Ayer

84

96

94

81

355.12

88.8

Jim Colligan

77

95

88

82

342.03

85.5

 

Pro Super Stock Podium - Peter Lentros 4th, Paul Ryer 3rd, John Pileggi 2nd and Greg Burstein 1st

 

Pro Super Stock – The back of the field was fighting heat issues, but all made the end of the race without letting the smoke out of their cars.  At the top of the field Greg Burstein took the win with another record setting run and sweeping the day.  Once again John was chasing Greg and ended a solid run in second.  Track owner Paul showed he does know the track and ended up on the podium after struggling on Green.  Peter Lentros rounded out the podium in fourth.

Pro Super Stock Results

Driver

Green

Blue

Yellow

Red

Total

 Avg

Greg Burstein

101

108

106

98

413.14

103.2

John Pileggi

91

101

108

103

403.17

100.8

Paul Ryer

86

111

105

94

396.07

99

Peter Lentros

84

106

100

94

384.21

96

Tom Jahl

89

95

101

90

375.27

93.8

Tom Gray

87

84

100

89

360.20

90

Hakim Harris

84

99

88

84

355.10

88.8

Ryan Archambault

81

88

104

63

336.12

84

Jim Macartney

79

81

76

2

238.01

59.5

John Pileggi showing his dance moves

Thanks to everyone who made the trip to South Shore Speedway.  Next up, we will be at LenJet racing Spec Racer on the Nuvolari and CMPM/Modified on the Viper on January 13th.  Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

The race report faithfully submitted this day,

December 25, 2023

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sergeant At Arms

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Race 3 – 2023-2024 – Ralph Spoilsport Raceway

November 11, 2023 – Hi Ya race fans.  This month we had 10 racers compete at the Ralph Spoilsport Speedway.  Once again, we had competing races.  Several MARC Pros were competing in the KSR Enduro in California.  Wishing them good fortune for their race.

Daunting Squiggles awaiting the uninitiated

For this month’s MARC race, there was an even split between Sportsman and Pros.  Open Weight practice started at 8:00 AM.  Once again, the MARC racers were introduced to the Ralph Spoilsport Speedway “Squiggle”.  Leaving the start line going through the first sweeper, the first straight way and first hairpin you face three feet of track with four left hand arcs about ¾” from center.  This is a unique feature to the tracks on the MARC circuit.  Mike Tiffany, having driven it in 2019, was lobbying to have it removed and replaced with a straight track before the race started.  Mike had to be convinced it would be more fun with it.

 

Technical note – a few weeks ago while practicing with a naked Fusion chassis, it was noted that the Trackmate lane counter was not always registering.  All four lanes behave the same, Debounce had no effect. The lane counter sensors are located between the pin slot and power rail.  The Fusion chassis has significant gaps on either side of the center to

Sportsman Open Weight Podium - Hal Pierce 3rd, Bruce Olsen 2nd, and Terry Ayer 1st

allow the light to get through, confusing the software.  Pushing the chassis very slowly by hand trips the lane counter three times in one pass.   Most of the time putting a body on the chassis alleviates the problem.  However, large windshields may still allow the light to pass through.  Viper, G3, T-jet, Magnatraction bare chassis do not show this problem.  We had a quick meeting explaining the problem before the race.  More on this later.

Open Weight was the first class we raced.  Power was set at 14 volts.  As

Pro Open Weight Podium - Tom Jahl 1st, Jim Macartney 2nd, Tom Gray 3rd and Paul Ryer 4th

with the Fiddlehead Race this was the first time running Open Weight cars on this track for a MARC event.

 

 

 

 

 

Results are as follows:

 Sportsman:

First               Terry Ayer               297 laps        best lap     3.376 seconds

Second          Bruce Olsen           291 laps        best lap     3.648 seconds

Third              Hal Pierce              266 laps         best lap     3.602 seconds

Fourth            Mike Tiffany            256 laps         best lap     3.756 seconds

Fifth               Jim Colligan            254 laps         best lap     3.710 seconds

 

Pros:

First             Tom Jahl                   288 laps         best lap     3.614 seconds

Second        Jim Macartney          281 laps         best lap     3.287 seconds  best time!

Third            Tom Gray                  279 laps         best lap     3.644 seconds

Fourth          Paul Ryer                 277 laps          best lap     3.632 seconds

Fifth              Hakim Harris            245 laps          best lap     3.646 seconds

 

In both Sportsman and Pros, the lap spread was 43 laps.  The best lap time spread was .334 seconds for the Sportsman and .359 seconds for the Pros.  A good difference in lap count and the best lap times.

With the first race in the record books, we broke for lunch.  It must have been good because it looked like someone licked the chili pot clean.  Hopefully no one left hungry.

Sportsman Open Weight Podium - Terry Ayer 1st, Bruce Olsen 2nd, Hal Pierce 3rd and Jimmy Colligan 4th

 

After changing the voltage on the track, we began practice for the SPEC racer class.  As is the tradition with the faster cars, we were keeping track of who hit the highest on the back wall after leaving the track.  The SPEC’s traction magnets made a huge difference in the dreaded “Squiggle”.  After a half hour of practice, the drivers seemed to be able to carry decent speed through this obstacle.

 

SPEC racer results:

 

Sportsman:

First               Terry Ayer               441 laps        best lap     2.460 seconds

Second          Bruce Olsen           421 laps        best lap     2.414 seconds  best time!

Third              Hal Pierce               404 laps        best lap     2.621 seconds

Fourth           Jim Colligan             389 laps        best lap     2.678 seconds

Fifth               Mike Tiffany             368 laps        best lap     2.932 seconds

 

Pros:

First             Tom Jahl                   417 laps         best lap     2.616 seconds

Second        Jim Macartney          409 laps         best lap     2.559 seconds

Third            Hakin Harris              404 laps         best lap     2.554 seconds

Fourth          Tom Gray                  398 laps         best lap     2.453 seconds

Fifth              Paul Ryer                 395 laps          best lap     2.556 seconds

 

Pro Spec Racer Podium - Tom Gray 4th, Hakim Harris 3rd, Jim Macartney 2nd and Tom Jahl 1st

This was an interesting race.  Bruce found a way to exit the track by launching his car from the turn before the “Squiggle” across two straight aways, across the driver’s station and onto the floor.  Not just once but multiple times.  We’re still trying to figure out how he did it.

Remember the lane counting issue?  During the race Paul noticed Mike only had registered 40 laps in blue and 58 in white.  Paying attention to the lap counter we noticed his car was not registering on every lap.  Yup – Mike was driving a Fusion with a semi-transparent body.  After changing bodies to one with a solid paint job – counting improved.   We had to cover the entire windshield with lane stickers to get each lap to count.   Next time we’ll do a quick check during practice on the Fusion chassis to make sure they are counting.

 

Racing Hard!

So for the race analysis.  Sportsman had a 52 lap span and a differential of .472 in best lap times, pretty big difference.  Pros had 22 lap spread and a difference of .163 in best lap times.  Much closer in spread and in best lap times compared to the Pros.

Terry wound up with a double win in Sportsman.  Home track does have its advantages as demonstrated by John Pileggi last month.  Tom Jahl took the double win for the Pros, negating the home track advantage theory.  Thanks to everyone for making the trip.  All in all a good day of racing.  Next month we meet at Paul Ryer’s.

 

Keep the shiny side up,

Terry

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Race 2 – 2023-2024 – Fiddlehead Raceway

MARC 2023-2024 Season – Race Two, Saturday October 14, 2023

 Fiddlehead Raceway, Rochester NH

Attendance was a little light this year, as there were some racers that chose to run in a 1/24 retro race at Modelville on this date. Still, we had 10 racers on hand, six pros and four sportsmen.

Sportsman Open Weight Podium - Terry Ayer 1st, Bruce Olsen 2nd, Hal Pierce 3rd, and Mike Tiffany 4th

The first race of the day was Open Weight, which was run at 13 volts. This was the first time Open Weight was run on this track, so we didn’t have any previously established benchmarks. The stout Max rail provided great grip for the low downforce cars. After a couple hours of practice, sportsmen and pros jointly took to the track to test their set-ups.

When the dust settled in the Sportsman class, only one lap separated first and second place. Terry Ayer took the checkered flag with 211 laps, nipping Bruce Olsen with 210. Hal Pierce followed in third place with 200, and Mike Tiffany rounded out the podium only one lap behind Hal with 199. Only 12 laps separated the field!

Pro Open Weight Podium

Since Paul Ryer was running the retros at Modelville, the club briefcase didn’t make it to Fiddlehead. So having no ribbons to pass out, the podium drivers used their fingers to indicate their finishing position.

On the Pro side, track owner John Pileggi took the win with 267 laps followed by Rya Archambault with 239.  Jim Macartney pulled down third place with 219, Halim Harris was only two laps back in fourth with 217, Tom Gray was fifth with 205, and Tom Jahl finished sixth with 203.

 

Next up was Super Stock. About a half hour into practice, the pizzas arrived. After two hours of practice, we were ready to race.

Sportsman Super Stock Podium

Last year, Bruce Olsen won the super stock race with 292 laps. This year he would once again take down the win, but with 322 laps. Quite an improvement! Terry finished second with 315 laps. Mike Tiffany took third with 281, and Hal Pierce fourth with 275.

The Pros race saw John complete the double with a convincing win, turning 383 laps. Tom Gray finished second with 338 laps. Ryan tried the Viper Maxi traction magnets and took third with 326 laps. He would have done much better except for a green fuzz ball that was wrapped around his armature, causing heat and other problems. Disclaimer – Ryan brought this gem from home (not acquired at the race).

Pro Super Stock Podium

Hakim rounded out the podium in fourth with 325 laps, Jim was fifth with 320, and Tom Jahl sixth with 318 laps. Only 20 laps separated second through sixth place.

 

The festivities were over by 4 PM since we had a smaller group. Thanks to all who came! Unfortunately, Ryan and I will miss Terry’s race due to our attending the KSR enduro in CA. Hope to see you in December!

JP

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Race 1 – 2023-2024 Season – LenJet

Death to Pumpkin Spice!

Ashland, MA, September 9, 2023 – Once again we start to transition into the Fall season even though it was hot. Damn hot.  Luckily our host Peter Lentros had the LenJet

Back at LenJet Raceway for the start of a new season

Facility nice and cool like an early Fall day.  15 drivers entered the building with nary a scent of pumpkin spice.  Gotta avoid that stuff, it makes you slow and crave for attending fall festivals that eat the funds intended for slot car racing, but I digress.  Every proceed to knock the dust off their equipment and the rust off their driving skills as we dove into practice.  We could have started out with slower classes, but we dove into the speed with Spec Racer on the Purple Mile and CMPM for the Pros and Modified for the Sportsmen on the Boomerang.

You gotta have rhythm.  The Purple Mile like it’s 1/24 scale big brother is all about establishing a driving rhythm to match the track.  Do so and you can crank the laps out.  Don’t and it’s going to be a long race.  We ran the Sportsman and Pro groups together.

Sportsman Spec Racer –   Some of these guys are getting quick and finished in front of some of the Pros.  Dave Muse encountered a mechanical issue that forced an extended pitstop while he was in the Blue lane and greatly impacted his lap total.  Meanwhile at the top of the field Bruce Olsen quietly cranked out 405 laps to take the top spot over Terry Ayer.  Hal Pierce followed Terry home to take third and Cedric Prevoe took the last podium spot coming home fourth.

Sportsman Results

Drivers

White

Green

Orange

Blue

Yellow

Purple

Total

 Avg

Best Lap
Bruce Olsen

66

68

67

72

68

64

405.09

67.5

3.865 Blue
Terry Ayer

66

63

73

73

63

63

401.3

66.8

3.685 Blue
Hal Pierce

59

56

71

69

66

62

383.3

63.8

3.725 Blue
Cedric Prevoe

57

61

63

65

60

56

362.8

60.3

3.921 Blue
Dave Muse

55

58

58

10

53

53

287.25

47.8

4.575 Orange

Sportsman SPec Racer Podium - Cedric Prevoe 4th, Hal Pierce 3rd, Terry Ayer 2nd and Bruce Olsen 1st

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro Spec Racer – Hakim Harris’ Pro debut started a bit shaking but then Hakim got in the groove in the middle lanes.  I’m sure we’ll see Hakim at the top of the field soon.  Ryan Archambault picked up where he left off last season taking the top spot followed by John Pileggi 4 laps back in second.  Victor Feliciano made the trip up from New York by taking the third spot on the podium.  Jim Macartney showed he’s got the speed and took the fourth spot on the podium just 4 laps behind Vic.

Pro Results

Drivers

White

Green

Orange

Blue

Yellow

Purple

Total

 Avg

Best Lap
Ryan Archambault

79

80

80

72

75

73

459.30

76.5

3.400 Orange
John Pileggi

73

76

79

79

72

74

45323

75.5

3.450 Blue
Victor Feliciano*

75

71

79

78

71

70

444.41

74

3.446 Orange
Jim Macartney

71

71

77

76

75

70

440.33

73.3

3.512 Blue
Jonathan Feliciano*

69

72

73

76

74

73

437.34

72.8

3.626 Blue
Peter Lentros

68

76

76

77

73

66

436.33

72.7

3.627 Orange
Tom Jahl

70

70

75

67

71

63

416.24

69.3

3.616 Blue
Paul Ryer

66

69

67

71

68

68

409.30

68.2

3.711 Orange
Tom Gray

63

60

73

67

70

62

395.7

65.8

3.650 Blue
Hakim Harris

42

59

72

70

70

60

373.34

62.2

3.701 Yellow

*Not MARC Members

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch and some practice on the Boomerang it was time to race.  Once again Sportsman and Pros would run together.  We have found there is not a significant speed difference between CMPM and Modified so the classes were run together.  Trackmate wasn’t happy and we had to restart after the first heat.  After that, it still wasn’t happy, and the file saved with best laps was unusable.  The author has determined that the fast guys are still fast.

 

Sportsman Modified – Four drivers participated in the Sportsman race, so everybody was on the podium and the racing was close.  Unfortunately, Cedic suffered a mechanical in Red that hurt his total.  It was all Bruce all day as he took his second podium.  Hal was hot on his heels in second with Terry just behind him in third.  Cedric took the last spot on the podium.

 

Sportsman Results

Drivers

Yellow

Blue

White

Red

Total

 Avg

Bruce Olsen

61

65

67

70

263.77

65.8

Hal Pierce

58

65

69

60

252.16

63.0

Terry Ayer

56

66

65

62

249.6

62.2

Cedric Prevoe

53

66

61

23

203.1

50.8

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro CMPM – The back of the field was a war of attrition with Jim, Hakim, and Paul fighting mechanical issues.  At the top of the field Jonathan Feliciano showed his need for speed by taking down the top spot.  Ryan kept it from being a Feliciano one, two, by taking second closely followed by Vic.  John Pileggi rounded out the podium in fourth.

 

Pro Results

Drivers

Yellow

Blue

White

Red

Total

 Avg

Jonathan Feliciano*

89

98

97

95

379

94.8

Ryan Archambault

81

92

94

83

350

87.5

Victor Feliciano*

77

85

92

86

340

85

John Pileggi

74

86

74

82

316

79

Tom Gray

59

64

86

80

289

72.2

Tom Jahl

67

70

73

68

278

69.5

Paul Ryer

75

75

47

80

277

69.2

Hakim Harris

55

75

78

68

276

69.0

Jim Macartney

63

65

69

60

257

64.2

*Not MARC Members

CMPM Pro Podium - John Pileggi 4th, Victor Feliciano 3rd, Ryan Archambault 2nd and Jonathan Feliciano 1st

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who made it to the kickoff event for the MARC 2023 – 2024 season.  As always, it was a great day of racing and I look forward to a fun competitive season.  Next up, we will be at Fiddlehead Raceway racing Open Weighted and Super Stock on October 14th.  Hope to see you there!

The race report faithfully submitted this day,

September 17, 2023

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sergeant At Arms

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Race 9 – Catfish International – Race 9

Catfish25!  MARC Turns Out to Mark 

a Quarter-Century of Fun

 

Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 8, 2023 – Plenty of doughnuts, pizza, and dessert pie were on hand for our long-delayed 25th Anniversary celebration for Catfish International Speedway.  I mean, let’s eat!  Who cares about racing?  8-).

Catfish International is named for our son, Henry Catfish Hayes, an avid racer himself as a pre-teen.  Henry will turn 30 this fall! The raceway was supposed to get its quarter-century, star turn three years ago, but, well you know; something crazy and horrible happened in our world.

Through the miracle of vaccines, developed largely right here in Cambridge, the planet is on its way to regaining some semblance of normalcy.  And now we are feeling safe, or safe enough, to gather for racing in our homes once again.  The vibe was excellent, and we were glad to be together here, finally!

I decided to dedicate this Catfish25 race to the creator of our Brystal Catfish road course, Bryan Henden, who died in the fall, way before his time.  Bryan was a pillar of the Pacific NW racing scene, and with his Brystal Trax, one of the very best HO slot track builders there has ever been.  There will never be another like him.

Enjoying the racing - Hakim Harris and Mike Tiffany

Mood up!  Voted America’s Top Slot Car Spouse multiple times, Gretchen Adams made magic happen for Catfish25 with donuts, fruit, and lots of smiles.  She loves what this hobby does for me, the friends I’ve made, and what it was for Henry and me together, in the early years.  She looks forward to our race date at CIS every year, and has missed seeing everyone these last few, weird trips around the sun.

Our first class of the day was G-Jets with vintage Can-Am bodies.  There were some sharp looking cars entered, and then some schmendricks trying to run one-dimensional, paper drivers!

Sad.  But we got everyone through tech, and Dave Muse put our round robin together.

Many thanks go to Dave, who wrestled our computer printer throughout practice, as I had, without much success, for the preceding two days!  After the best of five falls, Dave finally pinned the sucker, and we had printouts when we needed them.

And, longtime MARC member, and now denizen of Lewes, Delaware, the estimable Vince Tamburo, our overnight guest at Chez Catfish, ran the computer for most of the day.  Thank you, Dave and Vince!

We ran the G-Jet Can-Am round robin, 16 racers, with the Sportsmen and Pros together.  Five minutes per lane.  Some very quick cars, and the second, third and fourth spots overall were covered by less than two laps!

 

Pro G-Jet Podium - Rob Hayes 1st, Erik Eckhardt 2nd, Ryan Archambault 3rd and John Pileggi 4th

Catfish Sr. took the checkered flag first, setting new single-lap and total lap track records with his long-wheelbase, Dan Gurney #48 McLaren. He was 13 laps ahead of the zoomin’ Erik Eckhardt, who was bunched closely together with Ryan Archambault, and Dr. John Pileggi.

Our top Sportsman in G-Jet Can-Am was Dave Muse, racing out of the Catfish stable this day.  He bested seven other Sportsmen, with a darn fine drive, some 14 laps over Bruce Olson, and 16 over Hakim Harris.

After post-race tech, we began practice for our second programme of the day, Open Weight, also known in some quarters as Spec Jet.  Open hearth pizza from Stoked arrived, and practice continued.

 

Halftime entertainment

At about 2:00, our musicians, the Tyson Jackson Trio, performed Thelonious Monk’s classic “Ask Me Now,” “The Sunny Side of the Street,” and of course the U.S. national anthem.  Gregory Groover on tenor saxophone, Max Ridley on upright bass, and Tyson Jackson, playing a tiny, raceway-appropriate drum kit.  These guys are truly amazing players, and have become great friends of mine.

Open Weight practice showed that some very fast cars were in the house.  There would be no cruising for Catfish Sr. this time around!  Our round robin began, Sportsmen and Pros running together once more.

Hakim Harris led the Sportsmen across the line, with a 14-lap cushion over Bruce Olson (160.21), and Mike Tiffany (160.14).

Dave Muse was 4th, just edging Cedric Prevoe.  Tom Bussmann completed the Sportsman field.

 

Racing at Catfish

In the Pro column, Paul Ryer made Catfish Sr. work like mad to re-ascend the top step, totaling 202.18 (2nd) to Hayes’s 208.04 (1st).  Dr. John Pileggi came third, closely pursued by Ryan Archambault, who was a mere 2/3 of a lap behind.  Ryan did improve his single-lap Open Weight track record, by a few hundredths of a second.

When the smoking controllers were laid aside, a procession brought the candle-adorned Apple, Cherry Crumb, and Strawberry Rhubarb pies down the stairs, to a lusty rendition of Happy Birthday, to Catfish.  As JP often says, “Good pie!”

Thanks to everyone for making the trip, the great racing, and the laughs.  And thanks to several of our friends who weren’t able to be with us for this, for one reason or another.  You’re still our friends, but maybe just a little less so.  8-)

Saturday, May 6 will be the return of the Nuvolari Enduro, on the famed Brad’s Tracks Nuvolari race course.  The event returns after a three-year absence, now held at LenJet, and hosted by Peter Lentros.  Six team captains will be appointed, and teams chosen, that day.  Please PM or email Ryan Archambault with any questions.

Our final MARC championship race of the 2022-23 season will be

the following weekend, on Saturday, May 13, also at LenJet.  First race of the day will be Open Weight on the Python.  Then the programme will split:  Sportsmen will race Super Stock on the Bear, and the Pros will be racing Neo on the Brystal Viper.

Thanks to everyone for coming to Catfish25!

 

Rob Hayes

 

 

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MARC Race 8

“SPORTSMAN MARC RACER TAKES HIS FIRST WIN AND AN OLD PRO GETS DISQUALIFIED DUE TO NON ATTENDANCE” 

March 25, 2023

 

Various Pro Drivers - Looks like everyone got a ribbon for something

Thirteen racers descended upon the Lenjet empire looking to compete in spec racer on the Purple Mile. The mile is a favorite of HO racers. The sound the cars make buzzing through the banking is something to behold. Add it to your bucket list if you have not already.

The spec racer battle was shortened to 3-Minute per lane versus our usual 5 minute round Robin due to nasty computer gremlins. A big thanks goes out to Dave Muse and Rich Payne for getting us racing.

In the combined round Robin …

Pro division finishing order Ryan 262, John P 255, Tom J with a stout 253, Peter L 240, Tom G 234.

Sportsman order (hope I get this right as top 3 all on same lap ! And I don’t have the sections recorded my apology if incorrect) tied for first Bruce O and Tom B 239 both on same section ! Terry A close behind for 3rd also with a 239 , Mike T 236, Hakim H 234,Josh G 217,Cedric 215, Hal 201.

It was decided as we only had 5 pro drivers destined to race cmpm on the boomerang, pros would run super stock on the champion along with the sportsman and also only 3 minute heats.

Sportsman Podium - Hakim 4th, Terry Ayer 3rd, Tom Bussmann 2nd and Josh G 1st

We had one phone in entry by Dan Decosmo who was up north finishing a job in New Hampshire. He had timed his commute to make the last race for 5 minutes heats …would he get there in time to make the last entry for super stock seeing we shortened the day slightly to 3 minutes per lane ?

With Dan entered as the last driver in the rotation we figured if he didn’t make it we would let another racer unofficially run under his name To keep the lanes clean.

This set up an interesting event.

Dan was ultimately disqualified for not being at the event. His stand in “Dankim” unofficially won the event overall ! The real Dan arrived just a few minuets too late.

Pro finishing order Ryan 209,John P 203, Tom G 197,Peter 196,Tom J 192 , Dan D (Dankim aka Hakim DSQ @ 211!)

Sportsman order …Josh G with his FIRST marc win at 193 just sections ahead of Tom B 193, Terry A 186, Hakim (racing as himself) 183, Bruce o 175, Cedric 167, Hal p 160.

With the shortened second race the action completed a little early several racers stuck around to chat for a while. If we had had enough interest an Iroc would have ensued. Iroc racing is becoming very popular and perhaps the club should continue to consider its inclusion or perhaps a “hand out car format “ of some type at every event. Thoughts always welcome as want to keep interest up and encourage more racers to join in. Keep discussing over next few weeks and the rules meeting.

Again thanks to Peter Lentros for the greatest Slot car playground on earth Tom Gray for leading us this season and everyone that help keep the racing moving and enjoyable.

Keep racin’

Ryan

 

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MARC March 11, 2023 Race Report

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

 

 

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MARC-2022-2023 – Race 6

Archambault and Lockwood Dominate at Lenjet Raceway

February 11th 2023

Lenjet Raceway, Ashland, MA

Ryan Archambault and Dave Lockwood both had a sensational race day at the MARC G-jet and Super Stock events. Ryan scored both Pro class wins while Dave Lockwood scored both wins in the Sportsman classes as well as two overall second place finishes.

Formula One G-Jet Pro:

 

Pro G-Jet Podium - Tom Jahl 4th, Peter Lentros 2nd and Ryan Archambault 1st

Ryan scored BIG as he was the only Pro to blast out over two hundred laps on the tedious Glen track. Skillful driving and a very fast F1 G-Jet enabled Ryan to blast out 210 laps. The closest Pro driver to Ryan was Peter Lentros with 196 laps. One lap behind Peter was Stez who took the third-place position with 195 laps. Tom Jahl scored 187 laps which gave him the 4th podium position. Congratulations to Ryan for a great race and win.

RESULTS

1    Ryan           210.13  laps

2    Peter           196.49

3    Stez             195.43

4    T. Jahl          187.30

5    T Gray          184.38

Formula One G-Jet Sportsman:

Sportsman G-Jet Podium - Terry Ayer 4th, Cody Pare 2nd, Dave Lockwood 1st and Hap Pierce 3rd

Dave Lockwood’s 208 laps would give him the first-place podium position as well as the second place over all position in the G-Jet Class. Cody put up a very impressive 196 laps to hand him the second-place podium G-Jet position and fourth overall. Only four laps back from Cody was Hall. Hall squeezed 192 laps while his sidekick Terry took the fourth and final position with 191 laps. Congratulations to Dave for some real fine driving to take the win.

RESULTS

1   Dave                208.44   laps

2   Cody                196.15

3   Hal                   192.52

4   Terry                 191.41

5   Oh Jimmy         185.22

6   Hakim               180.16

7   D, Muse            175.13

8   Mike T.              174.30

9   Bruce                172.45

10 Josh                  167.44

11  Cedric               157.46

PRO SUPER STOCK:

Pro Super Stock Podium - Tom Jahl 4th, Peter Lentros 3rd, Tom Gray 2nd and Ryan Archambault 1st

Once again it was all Ryan Archambault who took the win with some very aggressive driving on the short course Champion track. Ryans driving skills awarded him with 341 laps. Tom Gray was 8 laps behind Ryan with 333 laps to place second. This was a very good run for Tom. Peter Lentros scored a hard earned 325 laps giving him the third podium position. Tom Jahl had a very good race putting up 307 laps for the fourth place position.  Once again, congratulations to Ryan for a fast great run.

PRO SUPER STOCK

1       Ryan        341  laps

2       T Gray      333

3       Peter        325

4       T. Jahl      307

5       Stez          287

Sportsman Super Stock

Sportsman Super Stock Podium - Jimmy Colligan 2nd, Terry Ayer 3rd, Dave Lockwood 1st and Hal Pierce 4th

It was all Dave Lockwood in this race. Dave would place first in Sportsman Super Stock and his 335 laps would also give him second place overall.  Very nice job Dave!   Oh Jimmie Colligan would have a great event driving his car to 319 laps for the second-place finish in Sportsman class. In a reverse roll of the G-Jet event, Terry would take the third position with 314 laps and side kick Hal took the final 4th place podium position scoring 311 laps. Congratulations to Dave and the entire podium finishers.

SPORTSMAN SS RESULTS

1    D. Lockwood                   335  laps

2    Oh Jimmy                        319

3    Terry                                314

4    Hal                                   311

5    Bruce                               310

6    Cody                                301

7    Mike T                              298

8    Hakim                              288

9    Josh                                 277

10  Cedric                              248    Tie

10  D. Muse                           248    Tie

 

 

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MARC 2022-2023 – January 14, 2023

MARC at the Mecca – 2022-23 Season, Race #5, LenJet

January 14, 2023 – The Miniature Auto Racing Club of New England met for the fifth race of its 2022-23 season at LenJet Raceway, in Ashland, Massachusetts.  Is this the worldwide Mecca of HO slot car racing?  Is Kimi Finnish? Sure ‘nuff. 100%!

Racing on the mighty Bear

19 fearsome dudes, including the new guy Josh Goudreault, stepped up for our first race of the day, a mad Spec Racer thrash on The Bear, a tight, wicked fast road course, formerly the property of Steve MADDman Medanic.

 

 

 

 

 

Sportsman Spec Racer Podium - Pete Medeiros 4th, Tom Bussmann 2nd and Hakim Harris 1st

The Sportsmen and Pros would all race together, in a round robin format.  Quite a few Fusions being raced in Spec Racer (and Super Stock) these days.  In fact, seven of the top eight lap totals in this one were Kind of Blue (or white) chassis.  Hakim Harris helmed a brutally quick vehicle for the Sportsman win, besting all but four of the Pros’ lap totals!  The rest of the top four Sportsmen were Tom Bussmann, who seems to have actually built his car before coming to the race (!), the ever-popular Bruce Olson, and Peter Medeiros, who we’re always happy to have in da house.

The Pros all gave merry chase to Greg Burstein, racing out of the Equipe Archambault garages, but ’twas quite in vain.  Even without his usual metronomic precision, Greg had the best ride of the weekend, and he brought it home around 16 laps ahead of the slammin’ tandem of John Pileggi (364.32) and Rob (G3RS) Hayes (363.20).  Equipe Archambault founder and president Ryan Archambault came fourth, around nine laps behind.  Next time, maybe pick the cars out of a hat, Ryan?  8-)

Next up, the Sportsmen and Pros would diverge, moving to two different tracks in the immense LenJet complex.  Sportsmen moved to the insanely fast Brystal Viper to run 3-ohm Modifieds, and the Pros to the MaxTrax Python to run Super Stock.

 

Sportsman Podium

In the Sportsman program, Hakim Harris, running what may well be his favorite class (I think he did pretty well in the Amateur Modified category at this year’s HOPRA Nats, right?) took his blue-chassied rocket to a 16-lap win over Tom “Mr. Preparation” Bussmann.  Pete Medeiros was another four laps back with his G3RS, and Bruce Olson was fourth, and the best of the rest, 32 laps behind Pete.

 

Pro Super Stock Podium - Ryan Archambault 1st, John Pileggi 2nd, Paul Ryer 3rd and Tom Jahl 4th

Meanwhile, over on the Python, with his team driver departed for domestic commitments, Ryan continued his Fusion-fueled dominance in the Super Stock class.  John Pileggi (Fusion) was second, nine back, and Paul Ryer and Tom Jahl were locked in a gladiatorial duel right to the end, Paul (Fusion) ending with 377.24, squeaking it out over Tom (G3RS) who had 377.9.

 

 

The day wrapped up with nine racers in an IROC program, on The Bear.  John Reimels, who has just returned to us from a long HO layoff, showed he still has them driving chops, ascending the top step.  Paul Ryer was two back, John Pileggi third, six behind Paul, and Tom Jahl a single lap behind John.  Three racers – Peter Lentros, Pete Medeiros and Tom Gray all had 145 laps.  Ryan, clearly exhausted by his Super Stock effort, was two back of the 145ers, and Hakim, similarly tuckered out, brought up the rear.

Lots of racers, lots of tracks, and lots of HO racing; that’s what we do.  We invite you to visit us here in New England, and take part!

Race #6 will be back at LenJet on February 11, where we’ll run Indy/F1 G-Jets on the Brad’s Tracks Shamrock Glen, and Super Stock on another of Brad’s creations, the Champion.

Over and out,

Rob Hayes

 

Tech Sheet

Tech Sheet

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