Invitation For Shed Racers To Do Something Big

[jphanna]

To the guys out there that love to race slot cars, EVEN if its in a shed or lounge with just a few of your mates. You don’t have to be superman to join in to do a big race.

 

You have one year to do something that you will never forget and its doing what we all love. You may even have a car that is eligible right now. with a little help you can ask many people and you can get your car up to the standard the rules ask for.

 

That is the car side sorted……Now is to get the notion out of your head that you will not be good enough to join the nationals, or that you will not be welcome because you are not part a regular team/club at a higher level. In all the years I have been to nationals, I don’t remember even ONE instance of a person entering and being stirred up for ‘not being worthy’.

 

For each class, there is ultimately only one winner and maybe 30 or more hard luck stories to take home and reflect on the experience. So that will be 29 people that didn’t win the big prize, but they had a hellova time racing in a national event.

 

This is our

 

GRAND FINAL

INDY 500

SUPERBOWL

BATHURST

LE MANS

WIMBLEDON

 

And you can be a part of it with no fear from being ridiculed by anybody because you THINK you are not good enough to race on that day

 

Make the decision soon, and if you don’t have a car, get one, and spend the whole year setting it up for next year nationals. There is help everywhere, if you need it.

[first corner crash]

I can't but help that think you are being disingenuous. You have burned some bridges that people welcomed you into and then scorned. You have made yourself unwelcome at places that held out a welcome hand. In short.no thanks .

[jphanna]

Trev, you gonna remove me as a friend off facebook now? I will be disappointed if you do, but respect your decision.

 

I am asking the people In the suburbs, that race in sheds etc, (such as the ones I have seen you race at with me), to join in on the biggest race of the year. some or many of them may feel intimidated, that they may not think they will not be able to set up their cars properly, or that they don't feel they will be welcome.

 

I am trying to do my best to make it the biggest nats ever by inviting newcomers to prepare for the race and build up our beloved passion.

 

you don't like that idea trev? you don't want newcomers to try their luck?

[kalbfellp]

John many people that race in sheds etc are just not interested in that level of competition, nothing to do with ability or intimidation.

Many of us have been there done that over the years and now just race for the enjoyment of building and racing.

Some of the best builders are hiding in these sheds are are happy doing just that.

[jphanna]

that's fair enough phil. not everybody wants to race at highest level.

 

i appreciate for you to point that out.

 

If you do come to Adelaide, even if not for slot car reasons, would be great to meet you one day. if we go to Tassie (wife mentioned it few times now....) will try to visit your track.

 

john

[Ember]

I'm not competitive in that sense, but I must admit I had fun just watching as part of the peanut gallery when it was in Adelaide a couple of years ago. And it was great to meet up with some of the folks from here.

[xr8]

We have been racing in my shed for about 8 years,some blokes come and some blokes go, but in the main we race for fun and we have about the same 7 or 8 guys over this period and we play run what you brung and do it for FUN. The minute you call something a contest it seems to bring a problem. We run with whatever tyres,motors, guides rims and we don't care. We do it every second friday and there has never been a cross word or sulking. We had a couple of superstars came and tried to change things but I pissed them off. People are welcome as long as they don't bring the bull and attitude with them. For us it works........

[espsix]

John, I'm already doing something big.

 

This

 

Had a mate come and do the concrete on the weekend

 

The old (shed) slotcar room was very small, and after filling it with track there was no room for anymore than 3 people.

This new (garage) is 6x4.5 with 2.7 walls, so will have heaps of room for the guys I race with to come over.

 

Now I can be a bigger garage hero!

[Tony.A]

Looking good Brett,i will soon have room in my garage to accomodate racers on my 3 lane track.I have no problem with people who are happy just racing amongst themselves but i do like it when the shed racers do mix it with the big boys as happened at the recent 3 hour Scale Auto Enduro at Mobile Raceways.Everyone had a great time and there was no bitching or people getting annoyed,etc.

[xr8]

Nothing better than a friday with a couple of ales and mates racing some cars with the footy on in the background

[jphanna]

back in the mid 90s, I had a big scaley plastic track......SHED GRADE..... and me and my mate, did 10 nearly hours just racing each other (stopped for lunch) with absolute box stock cars and we had music blaring and was one the days ever. we talked about that day for years later

[neil]

John, I'm already doing something big.

 

This

 

Had a mate come and do the concrete on the weekend

 

The old (shed) slotcar room was very small, and after filling it with track there was no room for anymore than 3 people.

This new (garage) is 6x4.5 with 2.7 walls, so will have heaps of room for the guys I race with to come over.

 

Now I can be a bigger garage hero!

 

you know the saying.... "the bigger the shed,, the more Shite you put in"........Lot's & Lot's of slot car shite

[jphanna]

Brett it looks like a top set up. congratulations on your invesment. This will provide enjoyment for years and beyond, for you and your family and mates.

 

Enjoy it. you deserve it

 

john

[xr8]

We are not into serious racing as it creates problems,so I wouldn't be a starter. I did some proxy racing and hosted a round and it was a bit of fun, but we are purely for FUN and enjoying one anothers company

[Tony.A]

Nobody is knocking what you and your mates are doing and it is great that you can get together and have a beer or three,a laugh and race slot cars as well.we are just pointing out that the picture you have of what racing is like at National or State level is not as bad as in behaviour as you may think.I have raced in plenty of National and State level events and have had a great time with plenty of laughs and good natured s#!t stirring.

[jphanna]

^{you know the interstate trips are actually more fun than the local nats. i dont remember 'party time' happening at local events, even when i won, but the Penrith 1990, Narellan 1994 and Tullermarine 1997, nats were full of great memories, for right and wrong reasons. even though i didnt come back with any bacon at those events.}

 

^{i remember the penrith race because me and my mates went cruising all over the place, having a laugh and coming from adelaide.....the penrith panther foorball club was akin to going to las vegas for us. it was unbelievable to see. do i remember my race......no? if i won i probably would have. who cares?}

 

^{narellan was interesting. my first son was only born 2 or 3 weeks earlier. i didnt want to go, i was that excited, but after much thought i went. the clincher was my wife had relies 30 kms away in liverpool and i could get a lift to the track and airport easily. rolled up to the track and our cars used tan sponge and they used black sponge of a brand we never seen before. so buy thier brand and slap em on......not that easy. cars needed to be set up differently. it was 2.00am and still chasing a race set up. then i noticed everyone leaving and i hadnt booked local accomodation and i wasnt gonna ring the rellies at 2.00am to pick me up, so i shacked up under the work bench in back corner on the floor......the owner noticed this and invited me back to their place. i made sure they were compensated but they asked for nothing. that is the spirit of what nats is all about. i made the final but i wasnt in the race, if you can make sense of that.}

 

^{the most influentual quote i ever heard was from a local racer at Narellan. name? i knew i was struggling and i asked the guy whether if he was gonna nurse the car, or gun it no matter what. his reply was}

 

^{'......its the nationals. you dont come here to nurse a car'}

 

^{and that gentleman, is what make nats so special. is the overal experience of the event, and the people you meet that makes it a unique event. you should do it at least once in your life and if you dont like it. never do it again.}

[Sports Racer]

How many benches have you got setup for people to sleep under?

[difinity]

Hey, the new tracks at Penrith are good for shed racers, and they are something big!

[jphanna]

I will tell you the funny tullarmarine 1997 nats story. just pointing to some people that may have the wrong idea about nats and the fact that its not all cloak and dagger totally serious people that need a personality transplant.

 

It can be a barrel of laughs.

 

I rolled up a day earlier than the other SA guys and I brought 3 experimental SUNSET mazda RX7 bodies with me. each was set at a different height to see how they handle at the huge track there. I had 'TEST 1', TEST 2 and TEST 3 painted on them. by the middle of the day I threw all of them in the bin as I wasn't happy with them. I rang the SA guys and told them to bring me a prepainted new body with them so I could use the next day.

 

I rolled up to the counter at tullermarine race track to buy some bits and noticed, behind the counter a hastily prepared display put up. the sign said.....'John Hanna TEST bodies for sale.....$1.50', and those 3 bodies, that I threw in the bin were on the counter for sale!!!!

 

who said that slot car racers didn't have a sense of humour?? despite my 4th car body used, I still got thrashed in that race. still got great memories of that event regardless.