My normal slot car racing venue is Fast Track Hobbies, now in Rocklin, California. When I first came to California three years ago, to live in Roseville, I had not actively competed in slot car racing (beyond a brief foray into 1/32nd scale “club” racing) in thirty years. Racing on a consistent basis almost demands that a commercial facility be within reasonable driving distance and in truth (despite commuting from the Okanogan Valley to Seattle for a period in 1988) the last time a track was close to the house was when I owned it (early 80′s in Rockdale, Texas).
But suddenly, I was in the holy land for slot cars and there was a three track shop, a mere ten minutes from my front door. It did not take long for me to begin gathering the equipment together again (a hundred dollars here, a couple more hundred there), and now after three years I have entered into the longest period of uninterrupted participation in my life.
Fast Track Hobbies has relocated twice since I began racing there, yet remains a ten minute drive from the house. And while the group of racers fluctuates a bit, the quality of racing remains challenging on a week-to-week basis. Folks return, discover, come and go, but the core group are quality racers who will test your abilities in all phases of competition from preparation, to strategy, to psychology, race management and your actual eye-to-hand coordination.
I’m a mid-pack participant at Fast Track, just as likely to bring up the rear as run up front. And that is just fine with me. The up front times are a blessing, the bottom feeding is challenging, and the mid-field finishes are always entertaining.
This past weekend I ran my 32nd and 33rd races of the year. I brought up the rear in both of them, finishing sixth and eighth out of nine. I can’t wait for my next opportunity to race on Saturday night at Fast Track Hobbies .. 10 September 2011, and with NorCal Retro @ Fast Track on the 18th of September.
