Happy Independence Day to all my fellow American readers (and any who consider yourselves “American Adjacent.”) Well, the last week has sure been “interesting,” hasn’t it? A cynical person might think there isn’t much to celebrate right now, but I think 248 years of history deserves a little more faith than that, so I spent my 4th of July working on something that’s been a long time in coming, and putting the finishing touches on a dream I’ve been chasing since I started slot car racing in the opening week of 2020!
Above you can see the fronts and the backs of the finished products; the one I just built is on the right. From the back, you can see a previous owner got a little “creative” with the labels, and since that one is the odd one, it will go in the middle. The announcement horns are missing from one of them, but it will have to do; it is over 60 years old, after all! Note that all the flags are blowing to the left, because once installed, that would indicate the direction of the on-shore breezes!
Well, almost the finishing touches. I hate to say it-because this is the last thing you want on Independence Day!-but I had a “misfire.” I thought I was going to be really really finished by the end of the day, but I miscalculated something: it turned out I had a lot less sitting scale figures in stock than I thought I did. I remembered an unopened package of 100 figures as being “sitters,” and when I opened it, I discovered to my disappointment that they were “standers.” So unfortunately I’ve only about 1/3 the spectators I’m supposed to have in the track’s now finished “grand” grandstands.
However, worry not, for Amazon comes to our rescue again; I ordered 300 more figures, including a lot of “sitters,” so they are on their way. Desafortunadamente, they won’t be here for at least a week, and possibly longer, so, I have to confess: it’s not completely finished! But its SO close! Close enough for you to get the idea of how cool its going to look! Once you see this, you’ll understand why I’ve held out for so long to get these vintage Atlas pieces and why I was unwilling to substitute anything else for them! They may not yet be fully populated, but Drag City Raceway’s PIT ROW is now finished, just the way I’ve been dreaming!
At long last, this is starting to look like a real racing track!!!
Now that we’re this close, it seems like an appropriate occasion for a MUSCLE CAR RUMBLE in honor of this, the most American of Holidays, because as I always says, what’s more American than the ground pounding fury of several hundred V8 horespower?! I feel a tournament coming on! How ‘bout you, race fans? You In? The track has a great seat for you and your friends and family!
Let Freedom Ride!!! Another great post with great vids, good info and lots of entertainment. Thanks for adding to our Nation’s Independence Day Celebration!
Those grandstands came out great and I love the signage you made too. That really adds a lot to the presentation! Even though all the fans aren’t in place yet, the ones you have give a great sense of what it will look like soon. I know that will be lots of fun putting up all those peeps who thoroughly enjoy the upcoming races at Drag City!