NTRA Smoky Mountain Spring Nationals, Knoxville, Tennessee
May 22nd to 24th 2020

With club racing suspended for the moment, I am very tempted to get back into some HO drag proxy racing. The NTRA group at nitroslots.com is a friendly, fun and competitive bunch. If the postal services in the UK and US continue to function, I will aim to be on the start line.

I've had cars compete at Smoky Mountain before. It is a scale 1,000ft (15.5 feet) strip routed from Sintra (PVC) and fitted with continuous HO rails. It is powered at 20 volts, lowered to 18 volts for the Pro Street Outlaws competition. The Trackmate DP2000 system is used for timing.

There are five classes and two 'Outlaw' competitions taking place next month...

1. Inline Stock
   
2. Inline Super Stock
   
3. Inline Pro Mod 2.5
   
4. Inline Unlimited
   
5. Index 1.0
   
6. Pro Street Outlaws
   
7. Four Gear Outlaws
   

The full details are here: nitroslots.com/thread/4782/smoky-mountain-spring-nationals-22nd

This will be the third NTRA race weekend of 2020 and there are further proxy events in July (Pennsylvania) and September (Texas).

This is my review of a car that I purchased in the normal manner and at the normal retail price.

The long established manufacturer Team-Slot recently released models of the Lancia Delta HF 4WD. You might wonder what that car is – it was the first production all-wheel drive Lancia Delta and was planned as the model to sell in the market that built around the Audi Quattro and to capitalise on the competition success of the Delta S4. However, the move away from Group B into Group A meant that the HF 4WD became the Lancia contender in the World Rally Championship (and in lesser Rally Championships).

The first Team-Slot cars announced were an Abarth Test(Development) car and a Camel liveried competition car. The Test model looks great in images and out of the box. It felt quite heavy but my scales say 91g. Its a fairly good scale model of the Delta and sits nicely with the earlier T-S Delta HF integrale and S4 models. The roof-vents are very wide open and look at risk in  crashes so I was pleased to find that I could bend them down a bit. The flaps are simply a photo-etched item glued on to the roof so I had to be careful to hold down the trailing edge as I bent the flaps down (or they may have detached). The air scoops on the bonnet are correct and distinguish the 4WD from the later ‘integrale’ versions. These scoops were also fitted to the concurrent two-wheel drive Delta HF Turbo. The model has a very nice radio aerial and it has an actual coil spring  base. Detailing is good and the dash/instruments are as good as was promoted in advance (excellent) although the navigator’s notes are upside down in one of the two cars that I have.

On the Test car the wheels are aluminium alloy and constructed such that the tyres hold the insert in place. Tyres need truing. The motor is mounted in an in-line pod with chassis designed to alternatively accommodate an angle-winder pod. There is no traction magnet and not really any provision for one. Plain belt-drive takes power to the front axle via alloy pulleys and the rear axle crown gear is an alloy and plastic combination. Motor is Team Slot TS12 Total (closed can), rated 22,00 rpm at 12v and 140ma with 290gr.cm  The guide is a fairly standard thing. The motor position is offset downwards noticeably. Gearing is 9/27. Tyre width is 8.5mm and diameter is a touch over 17.5mm. Wheelbase is 77.7mm  and  overall axle/tyre width is 50mm.

I haven’t mentioned the subsequently released road(stradale) car which is slightly different. The interior is fine for a slot-car but not the correct cloth pattern! An excellent detail is that the dashboard and instruments are devoid of the Halda Rally Computer and fuse box. The wheels are a bit of an issue though. Pattern is correct for the production car but are plastic front and rear so need truing all-round. Same chassis and motor arrangement and belt drive. Pedants will complain about only one exhaust tail pipe, should have two (I have fixed this failing).

On track, predictably the Test car runs better than the road car. In fact the Test car is quite good but can be better with a bit of truing and weighting. Within a few laps I was up to speed with a decent time on my Ninco layout. There is very little ground-clearance so the motor occasionally rubbed on the raised Ninco rails, but does not seem to have any noticeable attraction to the rails of my Ninco layout. Dynamic braking is very effective. The road car suffers with poor wheels and is more difficult to drive. As I re-placed the road car after a mild crash, one of the door mirrors fell off and in handling whilst gluing it back on, the other one fell off. Mirrors on the Test car seem firmly attached. 

In summary, nice models with very good detailing. Track performance is good and has potential for more, but not in the NSR and Sloit.It category. Just as the 1:1 cars, the standard tyres fill the arches and there is a need to have wider arches to accommodate wider tyres. 

Now looking forward to the full Martini liveried cars – hopefully the 1987 Lombard RAC Rally version but no word yet other than that there will be some Martini team car.

Leo

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

I thought that I would start a DiSCA WEC themed thread in order to create a single source of knowledge on the topic where previously, individual queries or sharing of knowledge might have been spread across various locations.

My interest in the topic stems from a desire to compete in the DiSCA WEC Race Series at some point. My interest in slot car racing was re-kindled last year after a 40 year gap, and the whole digital racing scene that has started up in the meantime has just got my juices flowing! Just to clarify, I am not an expert on the topic and am very much hoping that if nothing else, I will learn from others who have been doing this longer than me, or who are simply more technically skilled than I am at the moment. This is my current Work in Progress, a Scaleauto Porsche 991 RSR...

   

So, without further ado, lets start the thread, and what better to start with than the current DiSCA WEC Rulebook!

I thought that I would start a DiSCA GT3 themed thread in order to create a single source of knowledge on the topic where previously, individual queries or sharing of knowledge might have been spread across various locations.

My interest in the topic stems from a desire to compete in the DiSCA GT3 Race Series at some point. My interest in slot car racing was re-kindled last year after a 40 year gap, and the whole digital racing scene that has started up in the meantime has just got my juices flowing! Just to clarify, I am not an expert on the topic and am very much hoping that if nothing else, I will learn from others who have been doing this longer than me, or who are simply more technically skilled than I am at the moment. This is my current Work in Progress, a Scaleauto Porsche 991 RSR...

   


So, without further ado, lets start the thread, and what better to start with than the current DiSCA GT3 Rulebook!
   

I can understand some of it … stuff shipping from china will get to Europe first  dues to logistics. but even then in this day and age (Covid 19 aside) surely we should only be 2-3 days behind at most ?


But Sideways are a French company, as I understand it they are produced in China, and shipped to France for final assembly/packaging, then shipped worldwide. So how come Spain has stuff from France a few days ago that the UK still hasn't, and we are only a 22 mile boat hop away ?

You may be able to tell, patience isn't my strong point 

   

NSR0128AW  Mosler MT900R 7th Anniversary Salvatore Noviello #64. RRP £69.99

To mark the seventh anniversary of the death of company-founder and slot car champion Salvatore Noviello, NSR have released this special edition Mosler MT900R. It is now available in the UK.

           

The NSR Mosler is the ultimate performance slot car. It was the first car produced by NSR, appearing in April 2006 and soon dominated plastic-chassis slot car racing around the world. NSR have continued to develop the components and it remains the car to beat - a real testament to Salvatore Noviello's founding vision and design skills.

   

Underneath the commemorative body shell, the Evo5 chassis and Evo5 anglewinder motor mount holds the latest Evo3 21.4k rpm King motor.

Salvatore - pictured below with the NSR team in 2010 - designed a real gem with the NSR Mosler and this new livery is a fitting tribute.

   

The car is available now for £62.95 at Pendle Slot Racing: www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/nsr-mosler-mt900r-no-64-salvatore-noviello-7th-anniversary

Thanks to NSR for the photos.

Does anyone know what wheel size (diameter) was used on 90-95 ITC/DTM seies cars ?
And if known, what tyre width and profile.

Cheers

   

Auto World Xtraction Release 29 - Legends of the Quarter Mile HO slot cars. Plymouth Road Runner, Chevy Camaro & Dodge Challenger. RRP $31.99 each

Due to arrive this month, Auto World have added three new cars to their HO drag racing range. Auto World produce excellent HO drag strip sets (see here for a look at the latest) and have released nearly a hundred different HO drag cars - modern and classics - either individually or in sets. Most of these cars are mounted on the 4-Gear chassis, which is a updated version of the original Aurora 'Speciality' chassis used for Aurora's drag cars in the 1970s. There have been dozens of modern NHRA-licensed Funny Cars, Top Fuel Dragsters and Pro Stocks - plus classic Funny Cars from the 1970s which have the 'Legends of the Quarter Mile' branding. Two Thunderjet500 'Legends' releases have featured six classic Super Stock cars of the mid-1960s on an updated Aurora T-Jet 'Tuff Ones' chassis.

This new release features the first 'Legends of the Quarter Mile' cars on the Xtraction chassis (an update of the AFX Magnatraction) and these are models of production-based Super Stock cars that became the exciting new Pro Stock class in 1970. The models use existing Auto World body shells, so don't have the authentic huge hoods of the Pro Stocks. Instead, they represent the cars, liveries and drivers synonymous with the early 'four-speed' era of Pro Stock.

   

1971 Plymouth Road Runner - Sox & Martin

Ronny Sox and Buddy Martin are legends of the sport. Originally fierce rivals, they teamed up to become a dominant force in Super Stock and then Pro Stock, preparing and running Plymouths. Sox & Martin Road Runners were a regular sight in the late 60s, but a 1971 model in the iconic Sox & Martin colours is a rare beast. By then, the Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda was their weapon of choice. However, a search through the archives does throw up a '71 Road Runner prepared by Sox & Martin as a show car for dealerships and occasionally raced by Joe Fisher in Modified class competition. It carries the same livery as the Hemi 'Cuda Pro Stock cars that dominated the first two years of the new class.

   

1969 Chevrolet Camaro - Bill 'Grumpy' Jenkins

Another icon of late 60's Super Stock racing and the transition to Pro Stock, Bill Jenkins shifted from Chrysler to Chevy in 1966. Racing his white 'Grumpy's Toy' Chevy Camaro, Jenkins won the Super Stock title at the 1967 Nationals and the inaugural Pro Stock season championship in 1970 - despite the Sox & Martin cars dominating the second half of the year. The '67 Chevy evolved from the Super Stock car to Jenkins' Pro Stock car for 1970. Although the Auto World model is based on a 1969 Camaro shell, it looks pretty damn close to Jenkins' Super Stock car that ran from 1967 to 69 and not far off the 1970 car - minus the hood.

   

1970 Dodge Challenger - Dick Landy

'Dandy Dick' Landy's 1970 Hemi Challenger is one of the pioneers of Pro Stock and the Auto World model is a good representation - the hood scoop was relatively restrained and the livery is perfect. Landy had raced in the new AF/X class when it started in 1965 - soon turning into the Funny Car revolution that changed drag racing for ever. After two years in AF/X, he dropped back down to stock classes, winning the Street title at the 1968 Winternationals and Modified at the same event in 1969, both with Dodges. With the new Pro Stock class introduced in 1970, Landy took Dodge's brand new pony car and went up against the formidable opponents of the Sox & Martin 'Cudas and Bill Jenkins' Camaro. Despite being outclassed at most events, Landy and the Challenger picked up the 1970 Summernationals Pro Stock crown, becoming one of only four drivers to win Pro Stock titles in 1970 and 1971.

   

The Auto World Xtraction cars work out around 1/64 scale. Although fitted with the Xtraction chassis, the bodies will also fit on any of the standard 1.5-inch wheelbase Aurora AFX, Tomy AFX, BSRT G3 and Viper chassis. That makes these bodies particularly nice for HO drag racing groups that run some of the faster in-line chassis. The Xtraction chassis has the classic horizontal 'pancake' motor, with the Auto World magnets and armature giving a good turn of speed with a little tweaking. There is a single neodymium magnet at the back of the chassis to add some extra downforce, which is handy at the start of a run down the drag strip.

Auto World cars and sets are widely available in the US. All three cars are also available in the white chassis, white wheels & white tyres iWheels collectors' version (RRP $39.99). H0 Slot in Switzerland do import Auto World cars to Europe. Contact Stephan at H0 Slot here.

Here is the first part of building a 1/32 scale Cobra Daytona Coupe and Ferrari 250 GTO:



Any and all comments are more than welcomed!

Thanks

John

I have been using the lock down time to do some magazine scanning for the library and came across a 1980 article about a lesser known form of slot racing - Slotstox.
               

It is a long established part of the hobby and replicates the 1:1 short oval stock car racing you will find at local venues around the country. It uses smallish tracks with squeeze sections and is a full contact form of racing. It is not widely followed but there are a few clubs scattered here and there, usually located near to a full size arena. For some reason they don't promote themselves very much and rarely interact with 'ordinary' clubs or contribute to the various forums. Websites are a bit thin on the ground but they seem to be more active on Facebook.They are also as fragmented as all other sorts of slot racing, there is a 'national' association but very few clubs belong to it.

I have a track located about 15 miles away at Emneth in Cambridgeshire and have visited it on a couple of occasions. Although I enjoyed myself it is a bit of an acquired taste and not something I would do on a regular basis but here are a few links if anybody would like to give it a try:

British Slotstox Association (BSA)
Midland Slotstox Racing Association (MRSA)
Rockingham Slotstox
Foxhall Foxes Slotstox
Arena Slotstox

Our interactive club map also lists a few.