West Coast D3 Racing
Retro F1 and Retro Can-Am races, September 8, 2007
Buena Park, CA

Steube, Radisich the big winners.
New FK motors prove their worth.
By "Gene Husting", photos by "Al Hall"... (Seriously, pictures courtesy Keith Tanaka)
 

Pre Race Activity

This was the last race on Buena Park's Ogilvie "Hillclimb" track as it is being replaced by a flat road course previously in Chico, California. Lotsa entries in both F1 and Can-Am with 22 and 31 respectively. Practice had seen the Usual Suspects doing well, with Tore Anderson returning to the battle after a long hiatus. Interesting new cars surfaced as well as Old Reliable machinery.

John Cukras had built several cars using this inventive chassis, but it did not perform as expected. John has spent countless amounts of time along with Pete Zimmerman trying to find the "right" recipe. His Can-Am chassis are however, quite fast as you will see.

In contrast, this is a Paul Sterrett-built car driven to good effect by expert Chris Radisich, one of the nation's top slot car racers. This simple and easy to build design sure works!

More contrast in this Keith Tanaka-built, Dennis Samson-inspired very effective car.

The Dokk tech-checking the F1 class, while Buena Park Raceway owner Chris Gallegos looks on.

Concours judging by Heather "the Controller Girl".

John Cukras 2nd, Larry Shephard (raced by Mark Wampler) 1st, Gavin Aguirre (Gugu special) 3rd. While the Gugu Special extra-wide car with molded-in driver is not D3 legal, we let the munchkins race them until 2008.

Pictures do not show the nice detailing on this very nice car fitted with a period Cox driver...

Retro-F1/Indy Race Qualifying

* New qualifying record
 

The Dokk's Lotus was built by Mike Steube and was simply a rocket, both in handling and power. Its motor has now 8 races on it and gets faster at every race...  Unfortunately, it got destroyed after being used for target practice and is shown here with missing bits and somewhat twisted.

One of the John Gorski cars entered in the race, that of Jay Henry. Those cars are fast and handle great. They are also built to legal D3 width, that also of 1966 Rod & Custom, 1968 ARCO and  USRA, and 1969 NCC rules.

Retro-F1/Indy "B" Race

F1 "B" Main racers line up, L-R, John Wakamatsu, Oscar Morales, Brendan Aguirre, Jay Henry, Lee Hines, Craig Williamson, newcomer John Hartman (last raced 30 yrs. ago!), Jesse Javier, Roger Uusitalo and Gavin Aguirre making sure that you see him.

Serious race action with major crash-fest and lots of action...

The race was a bit of a crash-fest with Gavin and Brendan as main contenders. Jay Henry first led with Roger hot on his trail, Jesse already a lap behind. In the second heat, Jay extended his lead to one lap over Jesse as Roger went on stand-by. John Harman, who had not raced a slot car since 1970, was now in third with his loaner car borrowed from de Lespinay. In the 3rd heat, Mark Wampler came in and set a good pace with 25 laps. Jay still led Jesse and Craig Williamson in the 4th heat, but Wampler was quickly catching up. Wakamatsu also placed a marker on his turn on red with 24 laps. Jay had now 4 laps over Jesse, but Mark was now catching at too fast of a rate, and so was John Wakamatsu of Team Legend (AKA Team Cukras). At the end of the race, Mark had 3 laps over Jay, with John Wakamatsu hot on Jay's trail in the same lap. Jesse and Oscar followed, with Craig edging Roger Uusitalo by a lap.

The other drivers were never really in contention but had a great time anyway.

* Fastest lap

Happy winner Mark Wampler flanked by Jay Henry and his lovely offspring and Team Legend's John Wakamatsu.

Retro-F1/Indy "A" Race

The field ready to roar...

The "A" F1 drivers smiling for the camera, seconds before the demolition began.

The intensity is unbearable and John Cukras is breaking down under pressure. Not!

The race began with Doug, Kyle and Paul turning 29 laps, with Cukras and Kravitz and Terry a lap behind. In the second heat, Doug gained a lap on his son and Chris Radisich now charging. Mike Steube came in on red in the third heat through the rotation and also turned 29 laps, meaning business. Then de Lespinay started his race with a clean and trouble-free 31 laps with his rocket car, and effectively seized the lead then and now. Two more heats and he had a lap over Mike Steube and two over Paul Sterrett on average. Philippe then extended his lead to 4 laps in the 7th heat when disaster struck. An errand car pushed his in another lane and the subsequent hit was enough to absolutely demolish his car, now running with a front wheel 1/2" from the ground. De Lespinay pulled the car and DNF'ed, but not before setting a new race-lap record.
Mike Steube then cruised to a fine win over Paul Sterrett, himself in a tough dice with Doug Matthes and Keith Tanaka in his best D3 race yet. Kyle was a lap behind Keith at the end, while Chris Radisich nursed his under-powered Lotus to 6th.

* Fastest lap & new race record

D3 F1 "A" Main podium, L-R, Paul Sterrett 2nd, Mike Steube 1st, Doug Matthes 3rd. 2nd thru 5th place cars were less than 2 laps apart at the finish!

D3 F1 podium cars, L-R, Paul Sterrett 2nd, Mike Steube 1st, Doug Matthes 3rd

Seen from the manhole, a vast variety of what D3 is all about.

Retro Can-Am Race

Since the advent of the new Falcon VII, Nomad and D3 motors, a serious leap forward in actual performance has been achieved, and this was a good time to see it on the Hillclimb, before it would be dismantled and replaced by the MTT flat track previously in Chico, California.

D3 Can Am Concours podium, L-R, Mike Boemker 2nd, Bryan Warmack 1st, Jay Henry 3rd

Bryan's Ferrari 312P was incredible and oh, so well detailed. The picture fails to give it justice. A tribute to 10-thou bodies, it survived the race with nary a scratch.

Qualifying
For a while, it appeared that Paul Sterrett was going to be TQ with a very fast car, but it was not to be as Tore Anderson romped to a new qualifying record. Chris Radisich, driving one of Sterrett's cars, was third ahead of previous race winner Bryan Warmack. John Cukras was fast and ended in 5th spot just ahead of de Lespinay. Mike Steube was in agony with a car that simply would not handle.

The impressive Can-Am field missing a few cars.

The idea behind D3 was to make it a chassis builders dream. Seen the vast variety of good chassis here, it appears that this has somewhat succeeded.

Albert Cruz during his qualifying run. Albert was a shy enthusiast just driving his old cars on the tracks. With the advent of D3, he now races the cars. This is what D3 is all about.

* New qualifying record
 

Retro Can-Am "D" Race

Gibson is ready. So is everyone else. May the destruction, begin!

Because of the number of entries, it was necessary to run four separate races, and that took a while. Mark Wampler immediately established his claim to 1st place with a lap over ever-progressing Albert Cruz, with John Wakamatsu another lap behind. Mark then had a race dice with John, both in the same lap by the end of the 4th heat. Ryan Miller edged himself over Albert to seize the last podium spot, and this is how it ended. Ryan performed his usual hare lap to set fastest time. Little Gibson Coutley, now 4" taller than when he started last year, is still in a fight with his personal demons and lost all his chances in the 5th heat, ending at the end of the pack.

John Wakamatsu survived the carnage best, with Mark Wampler and Ryan Miller as sub-survivors.

Retro Can-Am "D" Race Results

* Fastest lap

Retro Can-Am "C" Race

"C" racers ready to go. D3 Can Am "C" Main racers, L-R, John Hartman, Steve Walker, Lee Hines, Mike Brannian, Mike Boemker, Oscar Morales, Terry de los Santos and Keith Tanaka

D3 Can Am "C" Main podium, L-R, Mike Brannian 2nd, Terry de los Santos 1st, Keith Tanaka 3rd

Mike Brannian led the first heat with Terry on his tail, Lee Hines one behind and the Boemker/Tanaka battle another lap in arrears. Mike and Terry kept fighting it out over the next segments, Mike Boemker regaining one lap. By the end of the 4th heat, it was Tanaka over Brannian and Terry, all in the same lap, with Boemker one behind. Tanaka hurt on black, losing two, as Mike Boemker had his usual FK curse and blew his Falcon VII motor. In the 6th heat, Brannian led, one over Terry and 3 over Keith, all others out of contention. In the last two heats, Terry and Mike fought it out, Terry barely edging Mike for the win, Keith overwhelmed in 3rd. What a race!

Retro Can-Am "C" Race Results

* Fastest lap

Retro Can-Am "B" Race

D3 Can Am "B" Main racers, L-R, Terry de los Santos, Yoshio Akiyama, Pete Zimmerman, Kyle Matthes, Mike Kravitz, Gil Gundersen, Adam Kirchhoffer, Dennis "Foamy" Hill.

"B" race ready to go.

Mike Kravitz led from the get go and put a lap over Kyle and another over Yoshio and Adam. Meanwhile, Zimmerman was in major hurts on yellow and lost 7 laps there. Kravitz looked like the man to beat when he gained another lap on Kyle, Adam overwhelming Yoshio and Dennis. In the 3rd heat, Mike was now 3 laps ahead of now Adam, with Kyle Yoshio and Dennis now 5 laps behind. One more heat and one more lap gained by Kravitz, now 4 ahead of Adam, 6 over Kyle, 7 over Dennis and Yoshio, with Gil Gundersen and Terry 10 laps behind.

But it was not to be as Mike Kravitz had to leave the race due to family obligations while well in the lead, leaving Adam to lead Kyle by a lap, while Dennis passed Yoshio for 3rd. In the 7th heat, Gil blew his motor and pulled out, while Kyle reeled Adam and passed him to win by a lap, with Dennis 3rd, 3 laps behind. Yoshio salvaged 4th place in this intense and disputed race.
 

D3 Can Am "B" Main podium, L-R, Adam Kirchhoffer 2nd, Kyle Matthes 1st, Dennis Hill (with the "Foamy" smile* ) 3rd     * This week, Dennis lost his and our long-time friend Dan Wise to cancer, and had little to smile about.

Retro Can-Am "B" Race Results

* Fastest lap
 

Retro Can-Am "A" Race

D3 Can Am racers, L-R, John Tore Anderson, Paul Sterrett, Doug Matthes, Chris Radisich, Mike Steube, Philippe de Lespinay, John Cukras, Bryan Warmack - Is this Back to the Future or what?

The main event was a demonstration by Chris Radisich of what serious and intense regular racing means when "descending" on D3. Chris borrowed a car from Paul Sterrett and simply buried everyone, keeping his cool when under pressure.

Paul led the first segment over Chris with 36 laps, one over Steube already hurting with his car, and Tore on black with 34. Meanwhile Philippe set the two fastest laps of the race on green only to be collected by an errand car, damaging the chassis. From that point on, de Lespinay will nurse the wounded car to the finish. In the second heat, Chris overhauled Paul and Tore now in second place, with Bryan Warmack now a solid 4th with Mike Steube and Philippe now trailing. Things regrouped quite a bit in the 3rd heat with Chris one over Mike Steube, two over Paul and Tore, four over Bryan and five over Philippe and Doug Matthes. John Cukras was in dire straights with an ill-handling car and 98 laps. The rest of the race was a dice between Chris and Tore, Chris never losing the lead but Tore etching at it, without succeeding. Paul,  Mike and Bryan were simply outclassed by these two giants. Chris maintained his advantage over the last two heats, winning by a clean two laps. Paul brought the second Team Sterrett car to the last spot on the podium, with Bryan Warmack a deserving fourth with his Concours-winning Ferrari. Doug Matthes passed a disgusted Mike Steube for 5th. Philippe nursed his record-setting car to finish ahead of John Cukras in total agony.

And so, the old Hillclimb goes away in glory and new records set by D3 racers. Soon, the new flat track will really tell the men from the boys...

The "Pro" stance of Mike Steube (left), John Cukras and Tore Anderson, learned in the Glory Days of the 1960's and perfected over 40 years... Both Doug Matthes and Bryan Warmack look almost idle compared to those guys!

Bryan, Paul, Philippe and Chris look a bit more relaxed...

The winning machine. A simple brass-pan chassis with a couple of brass and steel wires and tubing. But it works, and works well... especially when well driven.

* Fastest lap, new race record, betters qualifying record

Anderson's car is as conventional as it gets, but also worked superbly, setting a new qualifying record.

Paul Sterrett's car is very similar to that of Chris.

The two fastest qualifiers du jour have plenty of reasons to smile, but also to cry! Better to simply laugh it off.

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