Valentine’s Day Weekend 2022 

Super Stocks on Da Bear...

Lenjet had a great turnout for the February race with out-of-town racers attending from New Jersey, New York and beyond making a stop in prep for this year’s HOPRA Nats.

Up first …Super Stock on the TKO Bear - Would it be a Teddy Bear or a Grizzly?

Seventeen took to the TKO track with HOPRA super stock cars for practice to find the right setup and learn the track.  The track was fast but yet had enough surprises to keep the racers and Marshalls on high alert. In the round robin racing a combination of pros and sportsman raced together. We had a good variety of manufacturers represented with Gs, Vipers and Fusions in the mix.

After a good race finishing order for pro was Jonathan Feliciano 371 laps, second Ryan at 367, Wayne Wallace 358, Greg B 352, Victor 345, Brian 339, Peter 315, Tom Gray 314, Stez 311, Rob 310

In the sportsman rankings it was Cody Pare taking the win with 333, Terry 302, Tom Bussmann 299, Bruce 284, Hal 284, Hakim 287, Dave 194

Was the Bear tamed? Not completely.  Is it a teddy Bear? No …not that soft and easy. Grizzly? Probably more like a Panda …kind of adorable to look at but don’t piss it off!! It can and will kick your ass.

Next up was the MARC Sportsman running Modifieds on the brutal white Scorpion 6 lane track. This is a support class for the 2022 Nats open to sportsman and pros.  With that some of the pros asked if they could join the sportsman to get some track time. The sportsman agreed to let them run but would not change their finishing order. Thanks guys it made for some great racing.

Pro finishing order Jonathan 401, Victor 361, Wayne 341, Brian out early with 34

Sportsman Hakim with a great win (second overall) welcome back Hakim with 362, Cody 301, followed closely by Terry at 300, Hal 297, Rick 289, Bruce out early with 98.

After the Traditional pizza lunch 9 brave drop in neo racers took to the 6 lane Brystal Viper track (assisted by sportsman Bruce as a volunteer Marshall Thank you Bruce !!) as it was getting later in the day decision was made to limit the race from our usual 5 minutes per lane to 3.

It was apparent that the open track time some do the racers had taken advantage of Friday night to prep find setup and practice paid off. Race was a wild one with many racers having their share of problems and some not quite having the setup to get around the track as well as they would have liked. Taking down the top spot was long time MARC racer Rob Hayes with 424, second was a hard charging Jonathan narrowly missing a “triple” for the day with 422 laps, Victor 3rd 409, Greg B 4th 403, Tom Gray 392, Peter 384, Ryan 375, Brian 365, Tom Bussmann 294.

Quick shout out to everyone that helped keep the day moving, especially Dave Muse, Greg B and Terry thanks for helping setup and run races.

Bigger thanks to Peter for such a great place to race …and the new air filtration system not only keeping us healthy but keeping the tracks way cleaner than in the past.

Till next time… keep it in the slot

Ryan

A December to Remember!

Ashland, Massachusetts, December 11, 2021 – Fifteen drivers showed up at LenJet for the December festivities.  The Kanans have become MARC regulars, now that Nick is continuing his studies in Massachusetts.  Bill Bonsma dropped in with his son William to see if he’s still got controller skills.  And the Usual Suspects were there for some Spec Racer on the Scorpion (everybody’s favorite…), Super Stock on the Champion for the Sportsmen, and CMPM on the Boomerang for the Pros.  As usual, there was a great day of racing in store for those in attendance.

Sportsman Spec Racer – Bruce Olson, a recent convert to the HO racing world was dialed in and drove consistently across all lanes.  I’m pretty sure this is Bruce’s first time on the top spot of the podium, but I think we’ll see him here more in the future.  Terry Ayer was 11 laps behind Bruce in third, and Bill Bonsma came from deep in the woods to land a few laps behind Terry for third.  Hal Pierce took the last podium spot.  Most of the Sportsmen were running fast laps in the 2.8 – 3.1 second just a few tenths off the pros.

Sportsman Spec Racer Podium. From left: Hal Pierce 4th, Bruce Olson 1st, Terry Ayer 2nd, and Bill Bonsma 3rd.

Pro Spec Racer – Tom Kanan made his drive from NY worth the trip, taking the top spot by 14 laps.  Pretty good, considering he had Dr. Pileggi, Nick the Quick, and Ryan chasing him!  Nick and Ryan finished on the same lap!  These guys created a big gap to the rest of the field.  Fast lap times were in the 2.5 to 3.0 second range.

Pro Spec Racer Podium - Ryan Archambault 4th, Nick Kanan 3rd, John Pileggi 2nd and Tom Kanan 1st

As usual, Modelville’s Rich Payne was on top of things and made sure pizza arrived to fuel our afternoon of practice and racing. The Sportsmen headed to the Champion to get ready for Super Stock, and the Pros headed to the Boomerang for CMPM

Sportsman Super Stock - Looking at the lap times it’s pretty clear who dominated the race, as there was only one driver with fast laps under 3 seconds. Cody Pare finished atop the podium with 351 laps, 47 laps (!) ahead of Terry Ayer in second. Father Rick Pare channeled some of that Cody Magic to take third.  Bill (Deep Woods) Bonsma got his second podium of the day, finishing in fourth.

Sportsman Super Stock Podium. From left, Rick Pare 3rd, Cody Pare 1st, Terry Ayer 2nd, and Bill Bonsma 4th.

 Pro CMPM – CMPM is a blast on the big ol’ Boomerang.  Lots of speed and some big sweeping corners, but some tight corners as well, forcing you to stay on top of the car.  Nick The Quick lived up to his nickname, taking down the win with Ryan chasing him for second.  John Pileggi took the third spot and Peter Lentros rounded out the podium.  Fast laps were right around 3 seconds.

Pro CMPM Podium: From left, Peter Lentros 4th, Dr. John Pileggi 3rd, Ryan Archambault 2nd, and Nick Kanan 1st.

As always, fast, close racing.  Many thanks to all who made it possible, and most especially Peter Lentros. See you in February back at LenJet.  We’ll have Super Stock on the Bear, the Sportsmen will run Modified on the Scorpion, and the Pros will run Neo on the Viper.  Hope to see you there!

The race report faithfully submitted this day,

January 22, 2022

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sergeant At Arms

MARC 2020-21 FINALE

LenJet Raceway, Ashland, Massachusetts

May 8, 2021

Reported by Benson S.R. Tuna

Dear friends, after stops and starts, masks and vax, Zoom and vroom, we come to end of the weirdest MARC New England season — with 2020 being the weirdest year, period — in living memory.  In my humble opinion, we did make good use of the days available to us.  We’re very fortunate to include the wide open spaces of the world’s largest slot car facility, with tall ceilings, and excellent ventilation, among our menu of host spaces.  So, another thanks to LenJet’s Peter Lentros, and Richard Payne at Modelville Hobby right next door, for bringing into existence something that, well, really can’t exist.

G-Jets on the Car Model - a great combination

Our cohort included Bruce Olson from New Hampshire, who really seems to like racing the wee scale with us, and keeps showing up.  Apparently, the advice his parents gave him (about choosing his friends wisely) has been long forgotten.  Also with us, all the way from Portland, Oregon, was the inimitable John Hubbard, birthday boy. five-time HO Le Mans driver, and Pacific Northwest HO regular.  John was staying at Chez Catfish, his base of operations in order both to run in this race, and a 1/24th Retro Coupes tilt at Modelville a few days later.

Our first class of the day were the highly popular F1 G-Jets, on the Brad Bowman Car Model tub track.  Impromptu editorial:  the ergonomics and driver sight lines are really tough on the Car Model, with so many big guys crowded about.  Both slotted and de-slotted cars regularly disappear from the drivers’ view in a blur of chub and spun cotton.  Maybe it’s time to move some of the drivers’ panels to the layout’s back straight?

A nubby, expanded PVC surface, and low-downforce, slip-on-tired slot cars make F1 G-Jets on this track something of an adventure.  Lots of back-end snap, particularly late in heats, when the tires picked up the clag.  Squeeze on, squeeze off, Bucko!  Those with patience, finesse, and powerful motor magnets were rewarded in the end.

Sportsman G-Jet Podium - Cody Pare 1st, Terry Ayer 2nd, Bruce Olsen 3rd and Mike Tiffany 4th

11 racers from five states put their cars into tech; the Sportsmen racing side by side with the Pros.  After the dust settled, the pizza was ordered, and a lot of ducking and driving ensued, Cody Pare took top Sportman honors with 396 laps, followed closely by a pack of Terry Ayer (392), Bruce Olson (389), and Nitro Mike Tiffany (387).

Pro G-jet Podium - Ryan Archambault 1st, Peter Lentros 2nd, Rob Hayes 3rd and Erik Eckhardt 4th

Pros:  Ryan Archambault, exhibiting magnetic power usually seen only in the Marvel Universe, took top Pro honors with 459 laps.  LenJet host Peter Lentros was second (446), and Catfish Sr. was third with 437.  Erik Eckhardt (uncharacteristically whinging), Tom Gray, Paul Ryer, and our esteemed visitor John Hubbard completed the skein of Pros.

The midday artery clogging (pizza) ritual followed, along with plenty of thrashing and practice, and more thrashing for… the Modifieds.  On to the wonderful Brystal Viper… for 30 minutes of fast, fast fun.

Everyone was looking for the tire combo, Holmes.  Slip-ons, 2.5-ohm armatures, full, C-10 magnet packages, and no ball bearings allowed means it’s easy to get these brightly colored missiles into Venusian-level temperatures, and quick.  Beware!  What diameters would allow you to stay on the table, get through the esses, and still read south of 165 degrees on the infrared?

Thrash, thrash, thrash.  Time after time, some podium hopeful would look insanely fast in practice, then pull up after a few blinding laps, produce their thermometer, and, as the digits on the display climbed, the corners of their mouth would… drop.  Back to the pits!  “To finish first, first ye must finish.”  – Ben Franklin.

Two racers down:  Nitro Mike was not feeling well, and wisely decamped to home base, Wingdale, NY.  Bruce Olson decided he’d run the race computer and watch, as this may have been his first time with the really fast HO stuff.

Sportsman Podium - Terry Ayer 2nd, Cody Pare 1st and John Hubbard getting some camera time

Cody Pare had what was a wildly fast car, and he was driving it just as wildly!  Still, he took top Sportsman honors, with Terry Ayer, the sole additional Sportsman on the strength, having what appeared to be an off day.

Seven Pros threw their hats into the ring.  But it was clear by half-distance that it would take a minor miracle to catch Erik “The Viking” Eckhardt, and his Durf Hyson-prepared special.

Ryan started on Orange, Blue and Yellow, had a handful of a car, then sat out for several turns through the round robin.  He tried dropping the nose .004” and the rear .002”, before he came back on, and, magic!  The car was transformed.  He posted high lap totals for the day on his concluding Red, White, and Green.

Pro Podium - Erik Eckhardt 1st, Ryan Archambault 2nd, Rob Hayes 3rd and Peter Lentros 4th

But it warn’t enuff to catch Erik, who had by then driven off into the distance, exhibiting an almost feral determination and focus.  He wanted this one, winning Orange, Blue, and Yellow, and finishing with 548 laps.  Ryan had 517, just pipping Catfish Sr., who had 514.  Peter Lentros completed the four-man Pro Podium, with 509.  Oregon’s John Hubbard took fifth, followed by Paul Ryer, and Tom Gray.

The top three drivers took these approaches to their cars:

Durf/Erik:  A stiff G3R chassis. .327 fronts, and BSRT HPS rear hub/tires, .427 OD.  BSRT gears 7/22.  Springs: 9.2 grams pressure left, and 7.7 grams right.  BSRT #144 advance-timed High Power armature.  Std BSRT C-10 magnet package.  And… looks like a Toyota body to me.

Ryan:  Stiff BSRT G3RS chassis.  For the first 3 lanes, 346” fronts, and .434 Viper Albino rears, The last three lanes —when things got much, much better for Ryan — BSRT HPS #345 tires on .285” rims, for an OD of .432”, and dropped the front to .340.  7/22 BSRT black poly pinion and crown; BSRT #144 advance-timing High Power arm, BSRT end bell and Beedle bronze bushings; #249 shoes, 9.9 grams pressure left and 9.2 grams right; regular, low downforce BSRT C-10 motor and traction magnets.  His guide pin was in the center position.  And he dressed it all in a MaDD Nissan GTP body.

Rob:  Stiff BSRT G3RS chassis, with molded-in body posts.  .350 front tires. BSRT HPS B compound hub/tire at .434, with Scale Engineering hollow axle.  BSRT black delrin pinion, and gray delrin crown, 7/22.  Standard BSRT C-10 magnet package.  BSRT #245 shoes; 9.4 grams left, and 7.8 grams right.  BSRT end bell, Beedle bronze bushings.  BSRT #144 advance-timed arm.  .010 BSRT Porsche 917K body, painted by Greg Williams.

Yeah, so that’s all folks!  The 2020-21 season, such as it was, is in the rearview.  We head on into what appears to be an immeasurably brighter future.  Excited to travel again!  Take good care, be smart, and we’ll hope to see you all in September.

A Couple of Guests Drop By!

Ashland Massachusetts, March 20, 2021 – Fourteen drivers dropped by the LenJet HO Raceway for a full day of racing including Roger “RPMS” Porcelli and Mark Heller

Racing on the Purple Mile

from the MAHOPRA club.  It’s always good to have some friends join us and we appreciate them making the trip.  The first class of the day was Spec Racer on the Purple Mile followed by Super Stock on the Champion.  For this event we decided to get back to our regular race day schedule and race 2 classes for 5-minute heats.  We also decided to have mains for the Super Stock race.  How did our guests do against the MARC regulars?  Read on to find out.

We had our regular hour and half practice for the first race of the day and people quickly dialed in their Spec Racers on the fast and swoopy Purple Mile.  Powering down the main

Pro Spec Stock Podium - Roger Porcelli 1st, Ryan Archambault 2nd, Greg Burstein 3rd and Peter Lentros 4th

straight is great, but you also need to get through the fingers and donut if you are going to be quick.  Speaking of donuts, thanks Roger for providing donuts and coffee for the group!  As always with this class, racing was fast and hard fought.  Once again Ryan Archambault peppered the race with some fast loaners that drivers put to good use.  Lap times needed to be in the sub 3.5 second range to make the podium.  In Sportsman, Peter Medeiros took the top spot on the podium just a lap ahead of Mark Heller.  Cody Pare finished 4 laps behind Mark for third and Mike Tiffany rounded out the podium in fourth.  The Sportsmen in this group are definitely driving like pros.  Roger showed up

Sportsman Spec Stock Podium - Pete Medeiros 1st, Mark Heller 2nd, Cody Pare 3rd and Mike Tiffany 4th

equipped with RPMS speed parts and it showed as he took top spot.  13 laps back, Ryan Archambault finished in second followed by Greg Burstein in third and Peter Lentros in fourth.

As usual, Rich was on top of things and made sure pizza arrived to fuel the afternoon of practice and racing. Everybody moved over to the Champion to get ready for the main

Pro Super Stock Podium - Paul Ryer 4th, Greg Burstein 1st, Roger Porcelli 3rd and Ryan Archambault 2nd (I guess Pros don't know how to line up for a photo...)

event.  We decided we would have two 2.5-minute mains, one for Sportsmen and one for Pros, following the 5-minute round-robin.  We didn’t tell our guests that we had raced Super Stock on the Champion in February.  Nothing like a little home field advantage.  Lap times are fast on this track and you need to be in the sub 3 second range if you want to make the podium.  This track has a great rhythm, and you need get into to race clean.  In Sportsmen, Cody seeded into the top spot for the main followed by Mark Heller who was having a great day with another second-place finish.  Tom “Mr. Serious” Bussmann and Mike Tiffany rounded out the Sportsmen main. In the main, the results

Sportsman Super Stock Podium - Cody Pare 1st, Mark Heller 2nd, Tom Bussmann 3rd and Mike Tiffany 4th

didn’t change, but Mark stayed closer to Cody this time around just 6 laps down for second.  Tom rolled into third and Mike rounded out the podium I fourth.  Greg channeled the slot car gods and laid down 380 laps to take the top seed into the Pro main.  This is 14 more laps than the winning lap total at the 2016 HOPRA Nats Pro Super Stock main.  Car Czar Ryan seeded into second spot followed by Roger and Paul who beat out Tom Gray for the last spot in the main. In the Pro main it was the Greg and Ryan show driving some stout Wizzard Fusions with Roger and Paul watching.  After 10 minutes of racing Greg maintained the top spot just 3 laps ahead of Ryan in second.  Roger settled down when he saw Ryer nipping at his heels to finish third 5 laps ahead of the MARC director.

Thank you to everyone who showed up for another great day of racing especially Roger and Mark for making the trip. Everyone is looking forward to the day we can back to our regularly conducted races, but in the meantime, it has been enjoyable getting some track time with those who are able to join.  Next race is April 10^th, with Open Weighted on the Boomerang and Super Stock on the Viper.  Hope to see you there!

The race report as recorded this day,

April 3, 2021

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sergeant at Arms

A MARC Tripleheader!

Ashland Massachusetts, February 13, 2021 – Twelve drivers dropped by the LenJet HO Raceway for a full day of racing.  Since we have been running 3-minute heats and attendance has been less then 15 people, it was decided to run 3 classes. Open Weighted was run on the Python, Spec Racer was run on the Boomerang and Super Stock was run on the Champion.  We saw a good mix of cars for all races with BSRT, Viper and Wizzard all represented.  Some new faces were on-hand as well.  Bruce Olsen has been racing 1/24^th for many years and decided to try out the HO scene and he likes it!  Tom Bussmann’s son Harrison is no longer the little kid we remember from racing in Tom’s basement participated in his first race.  Hopefully, we’ll see him at future races.  Dave Lockwood, a force to be reckoned it the T-Jet world, was back again to taste the speed of inline cars.  Could it be that he’s developed a taste for magnet car racing? We shall see.

Open Weighted:

Racing on the Python

First up was Open Weighted on the MaxTrax Python.  This is an entertaining track for these cars.  It seems some drivers have figured out the setup while others are still trying to work it out.  The top Sportsman drivers were ahead of some of the Pros.  I think we’ll see some drivers moving up to Pro next season.  In Sportsman, Dave Lockwood showed he can drive a magnet car by taking the top spot and coming in third overall.  Cody Pare crushed it coming in second a lap

Pro Open Weighted Podium - Ryan Archambault 1st, Peter Lentros 2nd, Paul Ryer 3rd and Tommy Gray 4th

behind Dave and fourth overall.  Peter Medeiros was third in Sportsman just 2 laps behind Cody and the podium was rounded out by Terry Ayers who was 4 laps behind Peter.  In the Pro field Ryan took the top spot with 2 laps over the Peter “The Godfather” Lentros.  Paul Ryer meandered home in third followed by Tom Gray in fourth.

Spec Racer:

Racing on the Boomerang

Everybody moved over to the Boomerang to try out Spec Racer on the big fast track.  Tire sizes seemed to be smaller than what people expected to get the handling needed in the tight sections of the track.  Once again some of the Sportsman put up more laps than a couple of the pros during a fast and mostly clean race.  This time Cody took the win in Sportsman followed by Peter Medeiros in second and Dave Lockwood in third and Terry in fourth.  Ryan crushed the Pro field in first followed by

Sportsman Spec Racer Podium - Cody Pare 1st, Pete Medeiros 2nd, Dave Lockwood 3rd and Terry Ayer 4th

Peter Lentros in second.  Paul and Tom Gray wrapped up the Pro field.

 Super Stock:

Racing on the Champion

For the last race of the day everyone moved to the Champion for Super Stock.  This was the first HO track at LenJet and has probably seen the most different classes raced on it.  It has served as the Super Stock track for the HOPRA Nationals for the Amateurs and the Pros.  Dave Lockwood took his second win of the day with the top spot for the Sportsman.  Cody was just 2 laps behind, followed by Peter Medeiros in third and Terry in fourth.  Bruce Olsen just missed a spot on the podium by

Sportsman Super Stock Podium - Dave Lockwood 1st, Cody Pare 2nd, Pete Medeiros 3rd and Terry Ayer 4th

sections.  In Pro, Ryan completed the sweep for the day taking the top spot.  MARC director and some time racer Paul Ryer found a setup that worked and finished 4 laps behind Ryan in second.  Peter Lentros was third followed closely behind by Tom Gray in fourth.

Thank you to everyone who showed up for another great day of racing. Everyone is looking forward to the day we can back to our regularly conducted races, but in the meantime, it’s been enjoyable getting some track time with those who are able to join.  Next race is tentatively March 6^th, with Spec Racer on the Scorpion and Modified on the Viper.  Hope to see you there!

The race report as recorded this day

February 27, 2021

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sergeant at Arms