USRA Division 3 Nostalgia Can

USRA Division 3 Nostalgia Can-Am 1/24 Scale July 15, 2006

Buena Park, CA

The Good Old Days are Here Again.

Steube Edges Anderson, Friedman takes the "B" race.

The third Nostalgia Can-Am Championship Race was hosted by Chris and Lenore Gallegos, the world's finest raceway owners you will ever meet, combining a good sense of business with the most friendly and kind management. The race was run the on the tight Kingleman track. After several weeks of intox and other online acts of intimidation by racers and builders alike, the time came to sort things out the proper way. And proper, it was.

Qualifying

Qualifying began in earnest with the track conditions deteriorating quickly due to the extreme heat and humidity experienced in California during the week. No fault of the air-conditioning that was trying its best to keep everyone cool. Tore Anderson topped the sheets with a fine effort, setting a record in class for the Kingleman track, edging Mike Steube by just over one hundred of a second. Paul Sterrett was third with a fast Roger Worba taking the 4th spot. Electric Dreams owner Scott Bader produced a fine effort in 5th place, in this, his 4th slot car race ever! Next was Yoshio Akiyama and last race winner, Philippe de Lespinay. The first seven qualifiers were covering 1/10", another 3/10" separating Boemker to the last qualifier, Mike Brannian. Tight field anyone?

Pos

Driver

Body type

Lap time

1	Tore Anderson	MAC Ti22	3.7467"
2	Mike Steube	ToyTech McLaren M8	3.7542"
3	Paul Sterrett	MAC Lola T160	3.8224"
4	Roger Worba	MAC Ti22	3.8542"
5	Scott Bader	MAC Lola T160	3.8750"
6	Yoshi Akiyama	MAC Lola T160	3.8804"
7	Philippe de Lespinay	MAC Lola T160	3.8855"
8	Mike Boemker	MAC Ti22	3.9705"
9	Bryan Warmack	ToyTech McLaren M8	3.9795"
10	Keith Tanaka	MAC Lola T160	4.0486"
11	Allen Low	Lancer McLaren M8	4.0535"
12	Adam Friedman	MAC Ti22	4.0679"
13	Jeff Easterly	MAC Ferrari 312P	4.0801"
14	John Emmons	MAC Ferrari 312P	4.0850"
15	Dennis Samson	MAC Lola T160	4.1095"
16	Terry De Los Santos	MAC Lola T160	4.1889"
17	Roger Uusitalo	MAC Lola T160	4.2099"
18	Heather	ED McLaren MK6	4.2642"
19	Mike Brannian	MAC Lola T160	4.2994"

The cars

John Emmons car had a Dennis Samson-built chassis and looked real good until a rear-axle lock-up during a weird on-track call. Just a stroke of bad luck and a DNF for John today. He will be back.

John's car used a MAC Ferrari 312P body and no rear spoiler.

Mike Brannian's Lola had an attractive paint scheme and ran quite well. Mike, next time, don't forget to mask the windshield!

Mike's chassis is conventional and worked well. Note the brass gear, one of the very few in the race.

Allen Low's offset chassis qualified midfield, but multiple racing incidents hampered its race progress. Basically its guide tongue was a weak point and chances to a podium finish were nil despite the efforts spent to straighten it and the whole chassis after a severe wall blasting. Note the lead weight under the chassis, legal if the clearance is respected.

Allen's Lancer McLaren was precipitously painted when the MAC Abarth failed to clear the front tires. This body works well and is available through Electric Dreams.

Yoshio Akiyama's Steube car was another perfect and very fast RTR. Fitted with the MAC Lola body, it qualified in 6th place and was a contender all day. Yoshio ended in 5th place overall, a remarkable effort for a relatively newcomer to the racing scene.

Yoshio's Lola just in need of a bit more detailing. Note the use of maximum-spec spoiler (1/2" max from center of the rear fender's top).

Contrioller-builder supremo Heather's McLaren MK6 had a no-hinge all-flex construction. It suffered from various ailments including a bad gear. Heather drove the ailing car to an 8th place finish in the "B" main but is expected to do a lot better next time.

The McLaren MK6 is a Ron Von Klein mold originally built for MESAC and now distributed by Electric Dreams. While a bit narrow on center, it is to correct wheel width at 3-1/8".

Mike Brannian borrowed Adam Friedman's car built by Jairus Watson. The MAC Ti22 body was painted by Jairus in the purest spirit of the late 1960's pro-racing fashion. As most Ti22's used in the race, it did not have an added spoiler but this was corrected after it was found that the car was rather loose on the slick track.

Jairus's odd chassis used late 1960's steel parts originally manufactured by Phaze III for Cobra and re-cut for the purpose. Its ground clearance was a bit too high on the rear, more set up for 3/4" tires, but the legal tires MUST be 13/16".

The center section was a bit too stiff in this reporter's opinion. Mike drove the car well and finished in 6th place in the "B" main.

One the the best driven and fastest cars was that of Paul Sterrett. As usual one of the best presented too...

Paul qualified and finished in 3rd place in the "A" main.

Paul's simple chassis is working on flex alone, no hinges anywhere. Note the Sonic drag gear.

Another view of Paul's effective and fully-legal machine.

Roger Worba proudly shows his Ti22 with which he qualified in 4th place but had much trouble in the "A" main event.

The Lola T160 driven by Philippe is a standard Steube car and has an enviable racing record with a second, a first but a DNF after leading and setting fastest lap in today's race. An unfortunately clumsy marshaling incident (bless the marshals for what they achieve in difficult circumstances) bumped the car in another lane with the resulting damage. The car will be back for more. The pills are for keeping the driver in shape. The pink one is for eye health, the green one for avoiding AARP-supplied gas.

Others are not Viagra or such as yet un-needed help.

Philippe's chassis is standard, over-the-counter Mike Steube fare. Simple and so far very efficient. The gear is a 40-year old Cox unit. Body is a MAC Lola T160. Mike put the car together and Philippe added the lead weight. This is one of the heaviest cars running the class at 142 grams. It is also very easy to drive and very predictable, while a bit slow in qualifying trim. As usual, Philippe preferred a loose car with the nose firmly planted in the slot.

Unfortunately, walls are sometimes cruel. The JK plastic wheel simply folded on impact. Philippe believed that the axle was bent and DNF'ed, only to find out that the wheel could have been replaced at a loss of only a few laps. Note the strength of the Steube chassis that is still totally straight.

Scott Bader's Steube car is standard fare, assembled by the Mikester Himself. Barry Obler painted the MAC Lola body for Scott in the style of the pro-racing cars of the past. Scott found the going tough in the "A" main, but his learning curve is quite steep. This was only his 4th slot car race EVER. Think that the guy has the world's largest and most prolific slot car collection, not from greed but pure love of the hobby.

Scott Bader's chassis: all standard Steube RTR with Parma gear and MAC Lola body. This was the fastest car on track as tested by Yours Truly. Scott did well with it in spite of his driving inexperience.

Scott Bader just lost it in the "deadman" on the difficult black lane but find the situation especially humoristic.

Scott is holding one of Adam Friedman's winggie thingies, showing his enthusiasm for the artfully painted machine. Barry Obler paints a large amount of bodies for many GP7 racers in a manner as to be able to see the land rockets as they whizz by.

Would you call the effort successful? I certainly do.

Note that Scott is wearing a Nomex T-shirt as you never know what could happen in such a heated race.

Tore Anderson's new car was the class of the field in this race, setting a new track record. A few unwanted excursions during the race cost him the win, but not by much. The 3-rail chassis has hinged side pans and is very basic and simple, as highly recommended by the class founders, Paul Sterrett and Mike Steube. The steel tongue is a bonus in this class as impacts can be quite severe during the extremely tight and intense racing.

On this track, the MAC Ti22 ruled the day as the best body with the most down force. No extra spoiler is needed. Tore did a great job of painting the body.

Practice time with Yoshio Akiyama, Terry De Los Santos and Bryan "Brain" Warmack hacking it out, while Mike Brannian, Adam Friedman and Scott Bader argue a technical point.

Paul Sterrett (left) is pointing the way to the beach.

Best finished and detailed car belonged to Dennis Samson. This MAC Lola is painted as the 1967 Surtees car in the Can-Am series. Dennis helped to translate the rules into something solid and must be commended for his efforts to set the class with Sterrett and Steube.

The car has run all 3 races so far and shows only minor wear.

Dennis chassis is, as recommended by the rules, utterly simple and efficient. The added bumper protects the front axle from serious impacts. The hinged side pans are per the rules, I.E. motion in only one direction.

Meaning that this chassis cannot have a drop-arm or a perpendicular hinged system.

The finished product is pretty and exactly to the spirit of the rules. Would-be racers, please note: this IS what the Nostalgia Can-Am is all about.

Jeff Easterly's new car is actually not... legal, with perpendicular hinges. The center stop does not qualify as eliminating the floating motion. Jeff will have to inject some solder inside the pan "hinges" to conform to the rules.

No technical inspection was performed for this race and no one would have been refused, but next-race advice was given. The MAC Ferrari body was finely detailed.

Mike Steube's winning machine had a BWA motor bracket and hinged side pans. The clean and simple design worked very well and made fools of more complex machines. Mike drove an absolutely superb race, pepped by the encouragement of his Checkpoint team mate Philippe de Lespinay.

Another of Mike Steube's prolific chassis factory is this tapered 3-rail chassis driven by Bryan Warmack. Bryan ended in 4th place in the "A" main, a tribute to his rusted but quickly revived driving experience of long-past days.

I cannot resist another pic of Jairus Watson's Ti22 held here by someone advertising some kind of a kennel company on his tee shirt. Note the added spoiler after practice revealed its need on this particular machine.

A rare picture of painter and motor-builder extraordinaire Barry Obler (center) actually driving a car during practice while Bryan Warmack gets ready to boogie and "John" Tore Anderson appears utterly satisfied with his record-setting rocket.

Smiling Mike Boemker having a good time. So did everyone else in this new fun class.

Serious pow-wow in the Friedman-Obler camp. No smiles here, but only for a few seconds as the team will win their race.

The re-united and almost complete 1960's Team Rolling Hills Raceway with Keith Tanaka, a gentleman of which I forgot the name (please help!) and his wife, and Roger Uusitalo also a former MESAC member.

The Races:

"B" Main:

Before the action, Paul Sterrett gave a speech outlining the USRA Division 3 philosophy. He clearly stated the new Division's opposition to mechanical trickery for performance sake and pointed the finger in the direction of culprits. Dennis appears to say "who, me?" but was not targeted.

The "B" starting field seconds before the fateful event. Adam takes a deep breath while John Emmons is ready to encounter car and track trouble.

Mike Steube marshals the busy switchback while Bryan Warmack watches the banking.

The "B" starting field top to bottom: Keith Tanaka (Lotus 40), Adam Friedman (Ferrari 312), Allen Low (McLaren M8), John Emmons (Ferrari 312), Roger Uusitalo (Lola T160), Heather Whatsername (McLaren MK6), Jeff Easterly (Ferrari 312) and Dennis Samson (Lola T160).

Looks like a late 1960's main all over again...

The "B" main was run first, composed of the # 10 to # 19 qualifiers. It was a terrific battle between Adam Friedman and Dennis Samson, separated by only 2 laps at the end. Roger Uusitalo drove a fine race in third, edging eager Jeff Easterly by a mere lap. Keith Tanaka in his first Can-Am race in over 39 year was another 2 laps in arrears, with Mike Brannian struggling with Jairus Watson's car another 5 laps behind. Terry De Los Santos had his first outing with the Big Boys and did well to survive ahead of Heather. Poor John Emmons was the victim of a track call that damaged his car when the power was shut and the car kept rolling to a smash that deranged the rear end. He recovered to set fastest lap but too much time was lost. Allen Low had a couple of smashes that bent his car and utterly placed him out of contention.

B-Main Results:

Pos

Driver

Body type

Laps

Fastest lap

1	Adam Friedman	MAC Ferrari 312P	321	4.0584"
2	Dennis Samson	MAC Lola T160	319	4.1676"
3	Roger Uusitalo	MAC Lola T160	312	4.2303"
4	Jeff Easterly	MAC Ferrari 312P	311	4.1675"
5	Keith Tanaka	BMW V12 LMP	309	4.0695"
6	Mike Brannian	Porsche 956	302	4.2933"
7	Terry De Los Santos	BMW V12 LMP	294	4.2298"
8	Heather	BMW V12 LMP	289	4.3272"
9	John Emmons	Lola T160	284	3.9494" *
10	Allen Low	Porsche 956	260	4.0625"

Adam Friedman's winning car is (surprise!) another Steube chassis expertly put together by Barry Obler. Standard fare with added weight up-front for more predictability at the cost of overall speed. The MAC Ferrari 312P body was also painted by Barry. Adam made no mistakes and edged Dennis Samson by 2 laps at the end after qualifying in 12th spot.

* Fastest lap

"A" Main:

The "A" starting field left to right: Steube, Worba, Boemker, de Lespinay, Warmack, Akiyama, Sterrett and Bader.

Where is Cukras?

Intense racing action during the main event. Dennis Samson marshals the top.

Tore Anderson about having a heart attack while being lapped by Team AARP's Philippe during the race. Fortunately for Tore, luck was on his side this time. Scott Bader looks unaffected and pursues his driving education in the lion's den.

The "A" main began with a terrific battle between Tore, Mike, Paul and Philippe swapping the lead for several heats. Philippe then began to lap at a quicker pace and began to build an edge, but an unfortunate marshal's hand bumped his car in the next lane and that was the end of his day with a bent wheel. Mike and Tore upped the pace and began a torrid battle, getting now a clear advantage over hapless Paul Sterrett. All others were forgotten in their dust, Bryan being the best of the survivors. At the end, an unfortunate walling in the banking lost Tore just enough to lose the race to Mike who drove as conservatively as possible.

A-Main Results

Pos

Driver

Body type

Laps

Fastest lap

1	Mike Steube	ToyTech McLaren M8	352	3.8391"
2	Tore Anderson	MAC Ti22	352	3.8389"
3	Paul Sterrett	MAC Lola T160	345	3.8520"
4	Bryan Warmack	ToyTech Mclaren M8	332	3.8979"
5	Yoshi Akiyama	MAC Lola T160	331	3.8983"
6	Mike Boemker	MAC Lola T160	322	3.8990"
7	Scott Bader	MAC Lola T160	315	4.0075"
8	Roger Vorba	MAC T122	309	3.9998"
9	Philippe de Lespinay	MAC Lola T160 (DNF)	172	3.8389" *

* Fastest lap

Mike Steube, relaxed after a great win. Team Checkpoint mike and Philippe have now won all three of the Can-Am races run so far. Will anyone contest this outrageous domination? Mike also built most of the chassis in the races. Like Tore Anderson, Mike began as a beach-going teenager dragged by his brother into a legendary slot car racing career. And it does not look like it is over yet...

Once a little blonde Swedish-born kid who invaded the pro-racing scene in the late 1960's, Tore Anderson renamed himself "John" because school mates were making fun of his name. Known for many years as John Anderson, Tore has now renamed himself according to his ancestry. Tore is the only slot car racer on the planet to have won a major pro GP7 race in the past 5 decades. While it might not compare to Michael Schumacher's F1 record, it certainly stands out in the slot car racing world. Tore missed the win by less than 3/4 of a lap, a mere 2.8 seconds behind Mike Steube.

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