It’s Friday night at the track, and that means an informal “run what ya brung” night! These types of events, with their sparse crowds and runs late into the night, can be some of the most fun you can have at the track, and even though the big names and the best cars are rarely present, there’s still some interesting things to see, some interesting people to talk too, and on the cool southern California summer nights, enjoying a hot dog and a beer while hanging out in the paddock and watching grudge matches or qualifying runs can make for some great memories!
Well, that’s The Lore, anyway; the reality is the last week has been filled with that weird weather that late summer in the Rocky Mountains is known for, with temperatures at or near 100° with short but spectacular and often violent thunderstorms in the evenings. In this environment I often stay indoors with the AC on and hide in the basement! Which is fine, since that’s where all my toys are!
When I first started this blog the country was still under lockdown, and, in isolation, I was making the most out of racing alone. I got so used to thinking of my slot car hobby as a solitary pursuit that I sometimes almost forget that I don’t have to race alone anymore! One of my friends dropped by to race with me, brought his small but slowly growing collection of stock Auto World Thunderjets. So naturally I brought out my own small assortment of stockers, and he got a little more training on the big track at my place and gave me a run for my money more than once!
Racing these stock cars is challenging; they’re almost as fast as my custom jobs, but they don’t grip or handle nearly as well, so keeping them stuck to the track is an adventure. Fortunately my sophisticated DS3 controllers with the variable resistance settings make it possible to adjust for some of those difficult cars. What matters is not who won, but how much fun we had. True, your H.B. is a loner by nature, but its still fun to open up the throttle with a friend now and then, if for nothing more than to prove to myself that, yeah, I still got it!
I think this looks like a great Friday night and those impromptu races for fun sound terrific! I’m looking forward winter when I don’t have to keep cutting the grass and can spend time on my trains!