Just one week after Race 2 at Nils' Frederikring, the hardiest of the IHSR gang trekked to Rick G.'s Abingdon Glen circuit to continue our never-ending quest to be The Fastest of the Fast.
Once we were in Rick's basement, we all began to wonder if we had somehow collectively come to the wrong place. After all, one look at this very tidy, neatly organized, workbench was proof positive that we were not at Rick's! (So many jaws dropped at this sight that it took several strong hands and a bumper jack to get them all back in place.)

After looking around further, however, we began to recognize our surroundings. And, amidst the usual clutter, there were interesting project cars to discover—such as this '67 Mecury Cougar Trans Am model. Note that it looks complete with running gear but lacks paint, stripes, numbers, etc.

In contrast, this beautifully painted BMW M3 coupe is missing any semblance of running gear. I had to borrow a wheel and tire to make it look like a car at all! (Somehow I neglected to get one for the rear wheel well.)

Here is the Abingdon Glen in all its sinuous and challenging glory. Every time we come here, we're reminded of the most singular fact about this track: the difference in lap times, between a perfect lap and a very good one, is much greater here than at any other track in the IHSR galaxy. Put another way, if you can sustain virtually ten tenths through every heat, then you'll be running right up front. But if you're consistently at nine tenths or even nine and a half tenths, you will finish well back.

I suppose I should add that turning ten-tenths laps here is really, really hard, given the mix of corners and their quick procession, one after another. It's a great challenge and truly rewarding when you get it just right. The other 98% of the time, you're mentally kicking yourself for forgetting that this particular corner, on this particular lane, is extra tight and that that's why you just came off for the fourth lap in a row. (One racer in particular will remember this feeling. I won't mention any names, because I wouldn't want to embarrass Hayes…
)
Rick G. had given the Glen a good testing the night before, but Joe went him one better and found a dead spot on the yellow lane anyway. Rick soon had it all fixed with a spot of solder, and the track performed faultlessly for the rest of the day. Note that Rick seems to have discovered that molten solder is hot!

Meanwhile, Keith and Hayes are anxiously waiting for the chance to get in some serious practice. If I remember correctly, Keith is thinking "Is it really pronounced "sodder"? I thought it was "solder"… Hayes is thinking "Hah, I've got an advantage! I know how to pronounce the word "solder." (For what it's worth, the British pronounce the word Keith's way, "l" and all, while Proper 'Mericans say "sodder.")

In this photo, medics are carrying off another poor fellow who forgot that molten solder is hot… One of many things I like about the Abingdon Glen is the detailed scenery—such as the "Wipe Your Feet!" sign on the tower.

One detail I hadn't noticed previously was that the camera-toter in this picture appears to be Buzz Lightyear, while the airhorn-toter is clearly Frances McDormand. However, it was hard to distinguish her 1/32-scale horn toots from…

…the irrepressible Kendall's Nintendo sound effects!

While Rick G. set up the first race group, I borrowed his Cooper F1 car and Keith's shark nose Ferrari to create this photo of Jack Brabham drafting Phil Hill. Together, these cars represent the World Championship winners of 1959 and 1960 (Brabham) and 1961 (Hill). Of course, what I want to know is why Scalextric hasn't made a model of Graham Hill's 1962 championship-winning BRM?




With the yellow lane successfully repaired, the practice began in earnest. Here Joe is dutifully marshalling, while Ron, Hayes, and Keith display various degrees of head-nodding.









And here, Hayes and Keith are still practicing, and Joe is still marshalling—but suddenly from the opposite end of the track. That guy is quick!

To introduce the Trans Am race, here is Rick G.'s venerable Pontiac Trans Am, as raced by Jerry Titus. This model has seen a lot of scale miles over the last several years, and it still runs very well.

As the T/A race progressed, I began feeling pretty good about my chances. My Scaley Mark Donohue Camaro, which is even-more-venerable than Rick G.'s-Pontiac, was running great. Moreover, Arch Nemesis Ron was well off the pace for inexplicable reasons. And Hayes was having a slightly erratic run, with a fast car but several off's. Moreover, and most unexpectedly, Master Arch Nemesis, Keith, was actually coming off the track every so often, accompanied by heartfelt expressions such as "Dang!" and "Gosh!"—or words to that effect. And Joe is still putting together and tuning his stable of cars, so his goal was to break 100 laps by the end of the day. So all was going well for Yr Fthfl Srvnt!
And then that pesky Hayes converted his ten tenths plus crashes into ten tenths without crashes, and thereafter he just ran away with the race! In the process, he picked up all four fastest laps and won by 4 laps over my steady nine and a half tenths effort, with Keith grabbing the final podium spot with a car that still lacks a bit o' speed. We all had fun, although some muttered imprecations might have been heard from Ron's direction as he was preparing for the next class!
(These lap totals, incidentally, exclude 1 lap for Ron, when his Series II Camaro crossed Start/Finish on its roof!)
(These lap totals, incidentally, exclude 1 lap for Ron, when his Series II Camaro crossed Start/Finish on its roof!)

Ever the optimist, Hayes brought out his orange Cheetah for the Best IHSR Class Ever (pre-1965 sports cars, of course). Rick G. has a beautiful Cheetah roadster of his own, although he opted for his new Scarab.

My Corvette ran great in practice, but the ex-Sherman Racing Team Cobra Daytona coupe was once again the clear choice. Even if it didn't run so great, it's too beautiful not to race.

After the first race, Dr. Ron was loaded for bear. And Hayes is always loaded for bear, plus Keith's new Gullwing had looked very strong in practice. As in the first race, I started in the red lane, meaning I would do two heats and then rotate out until the final two heats of the race. I felt I'd gotten off to a good start, but when Ron rotated in I noted that his Ferrari was cornering on rails—and that he was driving it at a pretty reliable ten tenths. Keith's Benz looked fabulous but, without a home track, it's still being developed. Hayes was having a fine old time with a very fast Cheetah, but it also proved nearly impossible to drive on that knife-edge ten tenths limit. In contrast, Rick G. was pushing his Scarab around as fast as it would go—but it's got another second's worth of lap time to go before it's fully competitive. Joe, having reached 97 laps in the first race, was still vowing to achieve 100.
At the finish, Joe upped his tally to 98 laps, Ron and Hayes battled it out with very similar speeds, with Ron prevailing, and that incredible Daytona coupe pulled another win. It was interesting to note that the Daytona's cornering speed was roughly the same as Ron's Ferrari, and both had similar top speeds on the main straight. The difference seemed to be that the Daytona positively leaps out of the corners. I think the secret is (i) its light weight (67 grams, compared to 92 for the 275 P), and (ii) Sherm's efforts to ensure as direct and stable a connection as possible between the motor and the rear axle. When I changed motors, I was careful to reconfigure and resolder the rear axle brace to the motor, align the narrow metal gears perfectly, and glue the motor in securely. I'm convinced that every single rpm is translated directly to the wheels and tires.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether it can beat the good Doctor at the New Glen! For now, here are the Vintage Sports Car results:


The Sports Racing Car class has seen an interesting progression of cars during its several-year existence. Originally, the Slot-It Chaparral 2e's were the hot ticket—fast right out of the box and very drivable. Then the Slot-It Ford GT40's proved even faster (especially in the hands of Hayes, Jim, and Sherm). Eventually, the NSR Porsche 917's and Ford P63's began to edge out the Slot-It's, and most recently Sherm's Avant Slot Mirage was even faster, right out of the box. Where will it all end?? For now, I continue to love the Ford GT's, probably because I was growing up during their heyday at Le Mans. Here are Joe's Belgian GT, as driven at Le Mans in 1966 by Sir John Whitmore and Frank Gardner…









…and Hayes' Graham Hill / Jackie Stewart entry in the same race. Both cars are among the nicest-looking slot cars ever.

And here is Keith's Martini Porsche RSR for good measure. I think this is the car you raced, Keith, but please correct me as necessary.

The race proved to be another Porsche battle. Ron was taking no prisoners in an all-out attempt to win, and his chrome Martini 917 was circulating at a pace that no one could match—the full ten tenths and very few off-track excursions. My 917 was running well, too, but I couldn't quite reach that reliable ten tenths. The RSR (or whatever Keith was driving) didn't have the necessary speed, although he naturally gave it an impeccable run. And then there was Hayes… As I recall, he tried a couple of different cars, both of which were plenty fast, but he was bedeviled by the blue-lane hairpin just before the Start/Finish straight. Repeatedly! Based on the lane-by-lane lap counts, these misadventures on blue may have cost him as much as 5 to 8 laps and a podium finish.
Overall, there was no stopping Ron this time, and he ran off to a solid win. Joe had fun but regressed to 93 laps with slippery tires. But his determination was undaunted.


At the risk of giving away Momentous Results, here's how Rick G. and I finished in the Slot-It Group C class—we each had 131 laps, and I triumphantly edged him out (for, uh, third from last). I'll take a 2-foot finishing advantage any day!

Now that Ron was properly warmed up, he had no trouble running off to a 6-lap win with his Toyota, even managing to turn identical 35-lap heats on every lane. Well done! (
) Keith and Hayes had a great battle for the other steps on the podium, with Hayes prevailing. "Old Squeaker" didn't have quite the speed as whatever Hayes was running, but Keith was definitely chalking up ten tenths lap after lap. (How does he do it? And what does Ron have at the pharmacy that could put a stop to it??!) (Just kidding.) (Probably…
)
) Keith and Hayes had a great battle for the other steps on the podium, with Hayes prevailing. "Old Squeaker" didn't have quite the speed as whatever Hayes was running, but Keith was definitely chalking up ten tenths lap after lap. (How does he do it? And what does Ron have at the pharmacy that could put a stop to it??!) (Just kidding.) (Probably…
) As for Rick G. and me? Well, he was running a very solid race and minding his own business. In contrast, I broke my father's favorite maxim that "The sign of intelligence is not making the same mistake twice." Specifically, for the (ahem) third time in recent memory, I got my Jaguar so sideways in the Esses that its guide leads touched each other, shorted the lane, and blew the fuse in my execrable Slot-It controller! After sorting that out, the damage was done. Then, in a desperate attempt to regain ground, I managed to leave the red lane and land squarely in Rick's green lane, giving him the fastest lap of the race when I crossed (his) Start/Finish line! The good news was that, after adjusting my lap count, I finished on the same lap and 2 feet ahead of him, as noted previously.
But the best news was that Joe accumulated a very respectable 112 laps and thereby met his goal! It's all gravy from here.


At the end of the day, we'd all had a great time, with close racing, manic wrecks, frequent insults, and frenetic marshalling—with 6 competitors, racing 4 at a time, 2 marshalls had to cover the entire track. We may have set a new record for the number of "Track!" calls within a single heat… Kept us busy, it did.
Thanks for hosting, Rick—and be sure to add at least one more race at the Abingdon Glen to the schedule!
Thanks for hosting, Rick—and be sure to add at least one more race at the Abingdon Glen to the schedule!Rick F.

