# Question for guys who have layouts.....



## Lype Motorsport (Mar 14, 2004)

Hi Gang
I have a question for those of you who have layouts. How often do you have friends over to have a "race/test & tune/just for giggles" nite? 

Before I went on the road with my (now) previous job, we had guys over 2, 3 and sometimes 4 nites a week just runnin, sortin out cars, and the occasional "impromptu" race. 

Now that I'm home again, I'm slowly gettin the "slot garage" straightened up and hopefully will be runnin and buildin again in a month or so.

Larry


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

yeah, i wish. never happens. that's a dream for me. i don't know anyone within about 2 hours of here that plays with little toy cars. so it's me and the kids. (although smokinHOs is resettling in the area... :thumbsup: )

--rick


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## DesertSlot (May 8, 2009)

When I get my larger layout going, I'm gonna run an ad in the local Shopper for running buddies.


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## TheRockinator (May 16, 2007)

*No gatherings for me either*



ParkRNDL said:


> yeah, i wish. never happens. that's a dream for me. i don't know anyone within about 2 hours of here that plays with little toy cars. so it's me and the kids. (although smokinHOs is resettling in the area... :thumbsup: )
> 
> --rick


I have the opposite problem. Lots of guys who play with the cars close by but....They all have their own tracks which are nicer than mine AND better spaces to have people set up etc. So I play alone, except in the summer when I don't play at all.

Later, The don't feel too bad for me at least I have options Rockinator


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## Grampa Ho (Feb 25, 2009)

with 7 plus 6 lane left turn tracks in our little club just about everyone has their own time. Some of us on off weeks host a test n tune night but few show for those. We try to race competitively once a week and its enough for the guy's in our club. Me, if I could do it every night it still wouldn't be enough!!!


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## gonegonzo (Jan 18, 2006)

Pretty much ditto of what Rockinatotr said . My buddies all have routed tracks with regulated power and electronic timing systems . 

I also take the summers off . 

However I will say they supported my non sanctioned invitational last season and it was well recieved . I'm planning another and possibley two for the upcomming season . 

I have a roadcousre 4 lane on a 4x8 and an oval on doorslabbed sized plywood tables . I powered both with 12 volt regulated power with the option of using TYCO wall warts and stock TYCO controllers . The roadcource have TOMY mechanical lap counters and we run 10 lap srint type heats .

It's very back to basics but it's what I have to work with .

Gonzo


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

I'm like Rick, an island among racers here except for the few kids I got involved in racing when I worked for the parks department and my own inlaw kids. Every once in a while I can draw from the bigger scale guys but they all want blinding speed and megaton downforce, they wouldn't know how to actually drive a car into a corner, where to get off the gas, where to get back on. I crack up when I set them up with an Ultra G T-jet and then smoke them with an old school car. Right now we have 7 racers, we plan to get back to racing as soon as a few things sell and I finish the bits and pieces on the track, hopefully no later than late September.


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

Our club has been running Wed. nites for about the last 25 yrs. Over time we've had racers come & go, but for the most part the core guys remain.
The season starts as the LI summer cools & ends w/warmer weather.


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Around here in our basement leagues there is usually around 45min to an hour of 'hot laps' before the race program, plenty of time for tuning or pounding chips and bench racing.


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## rbrunne1 (Sep 22, 2007)

I invite friends over every couple of months or so.


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## brownie374 (Nov 21, 2007)

My smallest turnout was 10 largest 18 I average about 15 racers at my races.A few of them are hobbytalkers.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

ParkRNDL said:


> yeah, i wish. never happens. that's a dream for me. i don't know anyone within about 2 hours of here that plays with little toy cars. so it's me and the kids. (although smokinHOs is resettling in the area... :thumbsup: )
> 
> --rick



Ahem!!! 08879 here


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> Ahem!!! 08879 here


dude, that's like 4 hours.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...,0.169086&g=South+Amboy,+NJ+08879&ie=UTF8&z=8

believe me, if anyone were within an hour or so, i'd be all over it. not even that i'm opposed to driving a couple of hours, i did it a few times to race in Westminster, MD (great bunch of guys by the way), but it wasn't worth the hairy eyeball i kept getting from the wife for leaving her with 4 kids and a long to-do list for most of a day. do that a couple of weekends in a month and things get downright frosty in the house... 

--rick


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## ggnagy (Aug 16, 2010)

I am a wee bit closer (25425), abiet 2 states away. No permanent track at this time other than a shelf layout. I am working on fixing that soon.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Heck, that's only a little over an hour away. Sending a PM...

--rick


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

When I lived in Louisville we had a great group of guys to race with. We'd get together and test, tinker and help each other out. We always had the philosophy that if we were all running good, the win was that much better.

Now I live in the boonies in Central Ky (my nearest neighbor moos). Not too many tuning night participants other than me, the wife and the kids. Somehow, their cars get tuned, but mine never do.... Need to resign myself to "chief mechanic" instead of "driver".:thumbsup:

-Paul


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

pshoe64 said:


> When I lived in Louisville we had a great group of guys to race with. We'd get together and test, tinker and help each other out. We always had the philosophy that if we were all running good, the win was that much better.
> 
> Now I live in the boonies in Central Ky (my nearest neighbor moos). Not too many tuning night participants other than me, the wife and the kids. Somehow, their cars get tuned, but mine never do.... Need to resign myself to "chief mechanic" instead of "driver".:thumbsup:
> 
> -Paul


Thats funny!!!!


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## Crimnick (May 28, 2006)

Alas I only host two races a year in the AMSRA "season"....

Our series usually has 8 or 9 home tracks in the club...

My track is Currently in the garage and although I keep it tuned and ready to run ...the winter months are kinda out at this time (until I get a wood burner)...

I ran into a few long lost friends recently that I used to have over when the folks where out of town and run temp 2 lane AFX layouts on my moms dining room table and brought up the track and new tech, 4 lanes, new cars etc....I hope to have the guys over for a few beers and some laps soon, see if anyone gets the bug again...

My daughter will still run laps with me though...


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## [email protected] (Jan 31, 2010)

I live 45 minutes from the nearest Mcdonalds and 20 minutes from the nearest gas station. I have no neighbors. My friends do not race (softball, fishing, bowling, 9-ball pool, and hunting). My Daughter found my old slot cars about 3 years ago when moving into our first house. She was totally amazed by them and has had me make a layout for her that slides under her bed. I also now have the US-1 and train stuff setup in the basement and I purchase about $25 of slot car items a month to get mint versions of the 180 slot cars I managed to collect as a kid.


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## sonsracingteam (Oct 29, 2007)

I used to have my team "TSB" (team south bay) over at least once a month. I haven't been able to do that for well over a year now. My oldest son is very sick and has been for over three and a half years. We spend a lot of time at Stanford Childrens Hospital. Wife / family is stressed and burnt out. I have a beautiful 6 lane Bowman "Champion" track collecting dust in the garage.
Steve


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## wheelszk (Jul 8, 2006)

believe me, if anyone were within an hour or so, i'd be all over it. not even that I'm opposed to driving a couple of hours, i did it a few times to race in Westminster, MD (great bunch of guys by the way), but it wasn't worth the hairy eyeball i kept getting from the wife for leaving her with 4 kids and a long to-do list for most of a day. do that a couple of weekends in a month and things get downright frosty in the house... 

--rick[/QUOTE]
I believe you were invited to come to the Allentown area,but you said that was to far  please correct me if I'm wrong.:wave:


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

ParkRNDL said:


> believe me, if anyone were within an hour or so, i'd be all over it. not even that i'm opposed to driving a couple of hours, i did it a few times to race in Westminster, MD (great bunch of guys by the way), but it wasn't worth the hairy eyeball i kept getting from the wife for leaving her with 4 kids and a long to-do list for most of a day. do that a couple of weekends in a month and things get downright frosty in the house...
> 
> --rick





wheelszk said:


> I believe you were invited to come to the Allentown area,but you said that was to far  please correct me if I'm wrong.:wave:


yeah, i was. allentown is 2.5 hours from me.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...=0.12172,0.338173&g=Allentown,+PA&ie=UTF8&z=9

not to whine too much, but 5 hours travel time and a few hours of racing all in the same day is tough for me. i could probably do it once in a while, and i may start yet when the kids are a little older... i just wish there were some folks here in town to share this hobby with.

yeah, hey, i hope i haven't offended anyone with that. i know there are some active groups in PA, and when i've posted in the past, i HAVE been invited to events. if someone who has invited me is reading this, please don't feel that i just shrugged off the invites. it's just that PA is BIG. all the groups i've seen are at the extreme east (Allentown, Philly) or west (Pittsburgh) ends of the state, and I am smack in the middle. in fact, gonzo just contacted me, probably from reading this thread, and invited me to check out some VASCRA happenings out by Pittsburgh. [Gonzo, didja get my reply? My email doesn't like your webTV, so I had to reply via the HobbyTalk system.] maybe if i was young and single and carefree, i could enjoy some wild slot-car-oriented long weekends ... but at this point, with 4 kids from kindergarten to 8th grade, i can't travel more than an hour or so for my hobby with any regularity.

(cmon, isn't anybody on here from Harrisburg? :lol: )

--rick


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## Rolls (Jan 1, 2010)

There's gotta be someone in Harrisburg... or even Gettysburg or Hagerstown. How to find 'em... how to find 'em? 

This is a longshot, but there used to be a website that focused on mapping people by their interests/hobbies. I'll try to recall it and see if it even exists anymore.


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## Rolls (Jan 1, 2010)

No luck. Probably consumed into Orkut, then consumed by Google. Doesn't feel worth anyone's time pursuing. Sorry.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Rolls said:


> There's gotta be someone in Harrisburg... or even Gettysburg or Hagerstown. How to find 'em... how to find 'em?
> 
> This is a longshot, but there used to be a website that focused on mapping people by their interests/hobbies. I'll try to recall it and see if it even exists anymore.


hagerstown would be great, I work there. i actually know a guy in Waynesboro who has a Tubby in his garage, I ran on it once or twice... but there's no active racing there now as far as I know.

--rick


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## smokinHOs (May 30, 2006)

*HO slots...*

Rick.. I'm here I'm here.. LOL

Actually kind of.. the max is laying on the floor and still not sure if I am going to sell it and get a TKO, or keep it, or just race somewhere else and use the cash for house stuff.

Shepherdstown is a bit of a drive for you and not really worth it without my track set-up. But it will happen. Problem is 2nd shift is killing me. Moving in isn't helping either. Looking at changing the flooring in the basement and need to do so before the track is set up. Moving a 4x16 or 5x18 is a task..

Anyway... I am sure once it gets cold out, the racing will begin. 

Anyone else doing an HO near Martinsburg? 

-Marc and Marcus


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

smokinHOs said:


> Problem is 2nd shift is killing me. Moving in isn't helping either.


i figured, that's why i haven't bugged you.  but yeah, winter is the time. and back up in this thread to ggnagy's post... i'm pretty sure he's less than half an hour from you. things are looking up... :thumbsup:

--rick


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

*Suggestion - Meetup.com*

All you solo guys looking for racing buddies might want to take a look at *Meetup.com*. Every Monday, Meetup emails their members a list of dozens of special-interest groups meeting in your area that week. If you find a racing group, great. If not, you can form your own slot-group and announce the organizational meeting on Meetup. Very possible somebody local with an interest and maybe even a home track, will attend or contact you, and you are off and running. If not, hold another organizational meeting the next month.

My friend in NC met a lot of people with mutual hobby interests that way, and recommended it to me. So far I haven't attended any meetups or tried to form any groups, but I look through the lists of local get-togethers and occasionally consider announcing a Cen-Texas Boomer-Hobbies & Toys group. If some of the members are slot-guys and some are train-guys and some are RC guys or miniature gamers or static modelers or electric football fans, we can take turns meeting in members' homes and having some fun with each other's toys - and very likely learn something we could apply to our own hobbies. 

-- D


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## A/FX Nut (May 28, 2004)

Hi Larry,

I have about 3 to 5 races a year at my house in the basement. But this year I haven't had one race. The strange thing is no one has called or e-mail about having one. 

I hold mine in the summer months. Slow time for slots anyway. But in the winter I plow snow for the city of Goshen, Indiana. It's hard to schedule a race not knowing what the weather is going to do 3 to 4 weeks out.

I may have one at the end of September. 

The last time I saw any fellow races was the March Midwest Slot Show. I talked to another over the phone about a month ago.

Randy.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Dslot said:


> All you solo guys looking for racing buddies might want to take a look at *Meetup.com*. Every Monday, Meetup emails their members a list of dozens of special-interest groups meeting in your area that week. If you find a racing group, great. If not, you can form your own slot-group and announce the organizational meeting on Meetup. Very possible somebody local with an interest and maybe even a home track, will attend or contact you, and you are off and running. If not, hold another organizational meeting the next month.
> 
> My friend in NC met a lot of people with mutual hobby interests that way, and recommended it to me. So far I haven't attended any meetups or tried to form any groups, but I look through the lists of local get-togethers and occasionally consider announcing a Cen-Texas Boomer-Hobbies & Toys group. If some of the members are slot-guys and some are train-guys and some are RC guys or miniature gamers or static modelers or electric football fans, we can take turns meeting in members' homes and having some fun with each other's toys - and very likely learn something we could apply to our own hobbies.
> 
> -- D


Hmmmm... very interesting. will check that out...

--rick


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## smokinHOs (May 30, 2006)

*Slots...*

Yep.. he's only about 15 mins from me. I almost bought a house in Charles Town/ Harper's Ferry (which are mins apart). That would mean three of us if you drive down.. LOL

Nice score at the yard sale.. I saw your other post..

-Marc and Marcus


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## pool207 (May 24, 2009)

Another guy and I rotate 'every other week' racing October through March. I always enjoy hosting races because we've got a fun bunch to race with. On occasion, I wish there were more tracks in the Green Bay area so I could 'get out of the house' to go racing more often (no reflection on my wife; so far as she knows).


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## jackhammer911 (Nov 9, 2010)

where in jersey are ya.im in phillipsburg


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Hey Folks,

Nice thread here, lots of good info.
I'm in the Dallas TX area. We have a group that races weekly in N. Dallas.
They race the Fray style cars. I just haven't been able to get into those cars, but I like the format.
Laps limited racing rules.
There's a whole nuther group of guys that like racing the magnet cars. I'm with them.
We used to race every Friday night, but everyone seems to be in a transitional place in their life,
kinda like what Rick was talking about, kids, new job, new marriage, 2nd shifts.
So, right now, we aren't racing. The urge hits when it turns cold and we may get together for a night or two,
but it ain't like it was.
Maybe I can start my own race shop, but then I would never get to race.


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