# First of (hopefully) many Fairgrounds racers



## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

This is the first of at least 10 fairgrounds type racers that are being built for my track. This example is a DASH '55 Chevy with a JL chassis, white RRR steel wheels and RRR decals. This is SPEC for the Hobby Stock Class, we allow both the street and pro stock '55 bodies. 

The only mods I had to do were to the body; I had to shave the front bumper and open the front wheel wells a little for the tires but other than that the stance and height is stock. No glass will be run, I haven't decided if I will have the screen material in the windshield area or not. I am pretty certain I will add a simulated roll bar just to give the top a little more support since the stock glass isn't going to be used.

The RRR decals are great, this #12 car was a sort of tribute to Junior Johnson, the "Tom's" on the rear quarter is sort of in the Coka-Cola script and the colors look good. I installed the RRR narrow chrome plated axles on this car just to see how far it would suck the wheels in and I like the effect on the DASH body. 

How does it run? Well, I got in a few laps last night and I'm happier with it than I thought I would be. It was as fast if not faster than a NOS car running a DASH Super Mod body, and that's what I was looking for. I have a total of 10 cars ordered and arriving over the next few weeks, with at least one more DASH '55 Chevy set up in the mix.


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Lookin' good.  You should put some dents in a few of them!


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

1976Cordoba said:


> Lookin' good.  You should put some dents in a few of them!


I'm going to do a black #3 car that I have that in mind for.


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## Lype Motorsport (Mar 14, 2004)

Hi'ya Pete
The '55 is lookin' great! :thumbsup: I cant wait to see the entire "A Main" lineup!

Larry


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

Getting everything but the resin RRR bodies from Jag is actually going to help speed things up. By the end of the year I'm hoping to have 16 cars, we will have mostly '55's I think because of not having to wait from them from DASH suppliers. So I'm probably going to order the other styles from RRR trying to anticipate what the non '55 guys will want.


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## scratch (May 16, 2005)

Can't miss with an of the Tri-5, good _show _on your version.


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

Got to run some hard laps this evening against the current NOS T-Jet Super Mod Champion and the lower, leaner '55 was much better handling, a few hundredths faster and looked great hanging the rear end out. I was also able to run nearly 58 laps on the "medium tank" where the NOS car ran out of gas at 48 laps. Seems the newer JL car makes more efficient use of the current provided to it. I don't have an ohm meter to check the two arms but both are stock and original. 

The '55 weighed in at 18.7 grams, the Super Mod was a whopping 19.8 grams with some of that weight being the overhead wing and roll cage, which raises the roll center significantly. Sitting here now it occurred to me that the Super is a NOS car while this one is a JL chassis and there may be some chassis weight difference between them I didn't check. My AWS scale and my box are at my daughters house so that's one mystery that will remain for tomorrow.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Gentlemen Start you engines............Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!!*

Hey Pete,

This Toms red and white 55 racer of yours is looking good man! It has THAT LK to it that makes for a fun car to drive. 58 laps sounds like you are ready for some compitition side by side track time!

Bob...will be back to see the other 9 when they get here...zilla


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## eastside johnny (May 13, 2008)

Pete, What voltage are you running? I built a set of two dozen dirt late models with the same wheels/tires in Johnny Lightning chassis & most of them were pulling the front up & desloting at twelve volts. The rear tires were getting LOTS of bite but I noticed that those front tires (the new style with 8 mold marks) are a larger diameter than stock, so shoe tension was off a bit that was causing arcing and the guide pin wasn't very deep in the slot......went back to the stock JL fronts & the cars are great?


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

Johnny, I run a 12v BSRT G-jet power pack, I had the same problem with deslotting you did for a while and then replaced all of my pins with Delrin BSRT's or the RRR long guide pins and that solved the problem. We run the RRR wheels and tires and I run really soft springs that might even be for a Magna-Traction, they were in the original A/FX orange card from the mid '80's. The RRR tires you get with their wheel sets do hook up really well, we considered using the stickier white letter tires but I think these will be fine. 

I'm nearly done with the second DASH Fairgrounds car I got yesterday from JAG, it's a Pro Stock '55 this time. I wanted to see how the hood scoop looked and between the two I think I like the P/S better.










This car is a little tricker than the #12 car in that it was lowered significantly, requiring both the front and real wheel wells to be radiused. I also flipped the rear bumper upside down, if for nothing else to make people think there is some advantage to it. How Smokey Yunick of me, huh. Still needs it's clear coat of Future wax, that will come later this afternoon, then this evening off to testing. On a post script I want to thank my daughter for helping with the "Smokey's" lettering, that was made up using individually cut letters from a RRR decal sheet and carefully lined up. I couldn't do that part due to my tremors but everything else I did. 

The #12 and #13 cars will be loaners, I have plans for at least 5 loaners for the guys that come to watch, hoping to get them racing. I don't loan out dog's either, these cars will be as fast if not faster than the driver owned cars. So far between myself and the other 3 guys who will be regular racers we have 7 cars done and I'm still expecting parts and pieces to make another 9 from RRR. Not sure what my personal car will look like yet, more than likely a '57 Ford with Fred Lorenzen's #28 on it.


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## Rolls (Jan 1, 2010)

Keep those pics comin'! They look great - the color schemes, the decals, the steelies... Really sweet.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Now if the next 55 is number 14 there is a definate pattern here....Very Cool Black dirt racer 55!

Bob...nice bow on front too...zilla


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## kiwidave (Jul 20, 2009)

Really nice work! Wheels and decals look great!


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

I see the RRR wheels -- What tars are you using on these puppies?


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

'doba, we run what RRR brung. We run the tires that come with the steel wheels but we're going to allow the white letter silicones once we start racing. 

Bob, I have 9 bodies due shortly from RRR, I'm trying to find a AW Rel6 '57 Studebaker Golden Hawk body for a guy to run, and I have plans for at least 2 more DASH '55's to join very soon. I'm counting what is coming, what we have and the firm plans and among 5 racers we will have 19 cars. As far as what's next, the list is pretty long but I want to get the 3 proxy cars built first since they're already paid for.

So far the #13 Smokey's Garage '55 is the hot car in testing, driven by Ewell "Crash" Enburn, we have reason to believe that he has been smuggling one of his sponsors products out onto the track during heat races.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Wow they look great. My fav tjet to run is te 55 PS moon eyes with green windows. It just seems to handle amazing. I have it powered by my hottest tuff one. It blisters!!!!!


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Wow they look great. My fav tjet to run is te 55 PS moon eyes with green windows. It just seems to handle amazing. I have it powered by my hottest tuff one. It blisters!!!!!


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

De ja Vue!


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Pete McKay said:


> *SNIP*
> 
> So far the #13 Smokey's Garage '55 is the hot car in testing, driven by Ewell "Crash" Enburn, we have reason to believe that he has been smuggling one of his sponsors products out onto the track during heat races.


LOL....kinda weaving is he Pete...hahahahaaha :drunk:


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

Not so much weaving as NOT lifting in the corners. The car can run 3 or 4 laps wide open before the tires lose their tack and the rear end will go around. It feels 'tight' when you turn it over, like maybe it has a stuck motor brush but it doesn't. The gear plate is free, so is the axle so I'm not sure where it may be binding. But it's just enough to slow it so you can flat foot it all the way around in lanes 3 and 4. It takes either a drunkard or someone needing a generous inseam on their drivers suit to do it that way. 

We ran a test event Saturday night to test the new computer system, had 8 cars running so we managed 3 sets of heats and a short set of mains. Qualifying went great, the computer randomly selected the lanes for the cars like it was supposed to and once we lined up for the first round of heats the program crashed. Rebooted, reset and it crashed again. So we went ahead and rebooted again and manually ran the first set of heats, a 25 lap rolling start with 4 cars. When the race was over I went to input the results and it crashed again, this time when it rebooted all of the qualifying times and lane assignments were gone. I was not a happy camper. After messing with it for about 45 minutes I just set it to practice mode and that worked until we had run all the heats, and it crashed again. Adam 'thinks' it's an issue with the mag reed switches but they work great with our backup Greg Braun system. In any event the fuel system never came into play because we couldn't run enough laps before it crashed to run out of fuel. When we start racing in just over 2 weeks we'll be using the Lap Timer 2000 again.


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

:thumbsup::thumbsup:


THese fariground racers really rock !!


Neal:dude:


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

We're actually going to open at least one more body type to it, we already have '55 and '57 Chevy's from RRR, '57 Ford and the '58 T-bird from them too. And we have added the DASH '55 Chevy, now we're going to allow the JL '57 Studebaker Golden hawk to the mix. I found a really cool old picture of one in short track configuration and I vaguely remember one from my home track in the early 1970's.

Unfortunately you have to buy the Ultra-G T-Jet to get that body, so I don't expect many of them in the field. I do know we will have at least 2, one will be a field-filler owned by the track, the other built by a driver sometime after this first series that starts in October.


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

New additions, got my the last DASH kit car I ordered last week, this is the last of the "Speedway Owned" field filling cars. Sill expecting the 9 cars coming from Road Race Repica's either later this week or next, those will be my personal cars and the 4 proxy cars that will be built. 










Donnie Baker's (Hey man, I got a boat to sell) #97 Harry's Hook and Pull/Hunter Automotive/Shorty's Pawn Shop '55 Chevy. Looks great in pearl white. This car was lowered liken the #13 car was, I had to shave the inside of the body below the rear window though, I went 1/16" to low.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

Great lookin car Pete. Looks like it just rolled right outta the old days via the way-back machine. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

The picture don't really do it justice, the pearl paint is outstanding. I need to get pics of these guys in daylight.


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## kiwidave (Jul 20, 2009)

Very,very nicely done car!!


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

You can see how much lower the #97 car is than the first one I did, the #12 car. Check the position of the gear plate in the rear window.


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## Rolls (Jan 1, 2010)

Low and behold! These just keep getting slicker! I really like the vertical you took out of the Donnie Baker car.


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

I had a tube that I use as a template; it slips over the screw post, anything that sticks out I dremel off. For some reason on Donnie's car I shaved off a little too much and the last gear was rubbing the inside of the back window. Not much, I shaved off maybe 1/32 to 1/16th at the most right where it was hitting. Now I have to make another template tube since this one was off so much. I think I just maybe final sanded that post a bit too much and the tube is OK, I'll have to check it on the #13 car in a while. But in drops it about as low as it's going to go. Interestingly, I haven't had to lower the fronts at all, this car sits pretty darn near level.


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## Rolls (Jan 1, 2010)

That's what it looked like to my eye. I was guessing the front stayed the same and lowering the back leveled it out very nicely. I was also hoping it wasn't too much work for you to get that lowered result, figuring maybe many racers will want that once they see it. 

Very nice!


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## martybauer31 (Jan 27, 2004)

Wow!!! Nice work Pete, you are a craftsman buddy!


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Pete McKay said:


>


Cool cars Pete!!! Those look just like the old local round trackers I remember as a kid...RM


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

Hey Pete! How are you getting the driver's names on the cars? Looks like very precise hand lettering.


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

That's from the RRR #N40 decal sheet. It has maybe 30 names, first and last, you can combine to make classic NASCAR drivers or mix and match like this. For $20 it's a bargain and you get a lot of sponsor names you can combine too.

Just in case some of you forget how small a T-jet really is, here's one next to a quarter.


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks Pete. I forgot about RRR's many cool decals. It's the age thing...


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

I forgot about this string, definitely an age thing.

Well it's been 26 days since I placed my RRR order, I was told 3-4 weeks and it seems like the latter is true. Unfortunately I just had to give 2 guys their money for their cars back because we're less than a week away from our Fall Series starting and no cars. That takes us back down to 4 guys and a total of 6 cars. This is not a great way to start with a new track. It also means I just ate about $100 worth of stuff, but I was pretty much expecting it to take a while, Phil was upfront about the time it was going to take and some of my guys just didn't want to wait. 

We're still going to run the series with however many races we can squeeze in between October 2nd and November 27th, then in 2011 we are going to change out our body style to something more readily available. More than likely we'll run JL/AW cars, you can buy a '68 Torino, throw the SPEC tires and axles on it, a number and you're ready to go for under $20, less than the $25 that the current car package is costing. Cars under consideration are the '68 Torino, Chevelle and Dodge Charger (Dukes style), this matches what I still think are some of the best decals for those body styles, the Road Race Replica vintage NASCAR decals. I will make up a bunch of bodies and guys can just buy them from me ready to go on the cars. As for the RRR Fairgrounds bodies, I think I'll just put them away for a better day.


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

This one is not from my stable, but it is definitely cool. Titled "The Batmobile" for obvious reasons it's fast, heavy and formidable. 










Weighing in at a whopping 21.8 grams, a full two grams heavier than any other Fairgrounds car, and running a NOS/Mean Green monster motored chassis it was the class of the field even though it finished second in an impromptu event tonight. I had added the 1957 Studebaker Golden hawk as an after thought, the only way to get one was to buy an Ultra-G car and scavenge the body. But local racer Gary Newsome happened to have one, lowered it, opened the wheel wells, remove the glass and install the screen, and threw some gold numbers on it. Riding on chrome RRR slots it looks great. Gary has a second Stude that should be ready by our next race night, which will be Saturday. 

This is the end of the Fairgrounds Racer string as far as I'm concerned. The production delay on the RRR cars that the club ordered has resulted in the cancelling of the Fall Series, which is no big deal in itself, unfortunatley all of those involved asked for their money back for cars they ordered though me, which I have done. The 9 bodies I have coming from RRR will be made available for sale, first come, first served, for what they cost me once they arrive, and we will use more commercially available bodies for our Super Stock Car class beginning in 2011. Expect to see Chevelles, Camaros, Mustangs, Firebirds and others to be modified into short track stockers in a new thread soon.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

Nice lookin field of cars. You should have no problem selling the extras if they look similar to these. :thumbsup:


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## Rolls (Jan 1, 2010)

Gorgeous!


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

I've seen all of the 1950's cars, they are all very nice and I personally have no problem with the wait. But when you're planning for a club of 5-8 guys and trying to anticipate needs more than a month in advance, it just don't work. We need to have cars built within 2 weeks from order to delivery and unfortunatle it just can't happen like that. All of my Fairgrounds cars, even the finished with decal cars, will be on the market as we start switching over in a few weeks. I've been able to trade Gary a couple of new bodies for this Studebaker, so when our current race night get-togethers are over I can offer it for sale too.


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

How interesting things have been over the last couple of days. 

I contacted a friend of mine whose son was part of my kid's program at the community center a few years ago about possibly a partial sponsorship with my racing program in 2011. I explained to her the difficulty we've been having and how we were going to switch body styles and start with newer cars next year, and if she could help finance the switch. 

Her response was basically that she would sponsor my racing for 2011 involving 10 cars for kids to race with a check for $150, but she insisted that we keep the 1950's cars instead of going to the newed styles. Now, we're not really going to do much between now and 2011 anyway, and if RRR needs 6-8 weeks that's fine with me, I'm no fool and I accepted her check. I also managed to get a little for our sister track in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and Dave Ewing. Dave will pick up a couple of RRR Fairgrounds bodies for his kids to race too. 

A couple of years ago sponsorship was easy to find, the great folks here contributed greatly to my cause then as did Scale Auto, Lucky Bob's, my local Jamba Juice, Me 'n Ed's Pizza and Mikes Hobbies in Sanger, California. With the economy hurting like it is it makes it tough to even approach people to ask. But that $150 will buy all the car bodies we will need for the kids, and while Phil processes the order I can buy a the chassis couple at a time and have them race ready just before Christmas. By New Years, we will be ready to run with at least 30 cars. 

So for now we keep on going with the Fairgrounds cars and our previously scheduled plans. I also have help chopping up the cars, my daughters boyfriend is learning the fine art of keeping your fingers away from spinning Dremel bits. Expect to keep seeing the DASH and RRR cars when they become available here, made ready for racing.


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## scratch (May 16, 2005)

Great looking Chevy's, the name deal is a cool idea. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Pete good to here you are staying in the 50s...Race on Dude!

BZ


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

Sweet!!!!! Loving those Fairground specials Pete.


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

I had lunch today with Judge Anjeet "Annie" Singh, our 'sponsor' and showed her some of the cars I own. I also showed her two of our planned Super Stock class cars owned by another driver. One was a '67 Chevelle and the other was a '69 Yenko Camaro, both were done up as short track Saturday Night cars. She was sort of overwhelmed as was her 14 year old son who races with us. Over the meal we talked about getting the prices down to under $30 a car (It's nearly $45 now) so that more cars can be made for the money we're getting from our two sponsors, including my original plan to go with a newer body style from Model Motoring and Bud's. Being able to get more car for the buck was the goal, and she not only understood but now is endorsing it with another $50 for our club to build another 2 cars with the newer body styles. 

We had a race Saturday night and the club talked about the two classes, most drivers were in favor of the Super Stock (newer) cars than the Hobby Stock (older) cars nearly completely, we just have not gotten the quality or results from the 1950's cars we had expected. Between the wait for some of them, the quality issues and lack of variety it was a popular opinion to switch to the SS car style on our own and not take the sponsorship cash. Now that the sponsor understands the issues better we have the option to switch over nearly immediately. 

Thursday night we have a planned race club meeting and we will spend it selecting body styles of cars from 1964 through 1971, we hope to be able to offer a few body styles from Ford, Chevy and MoPar. Once selected some of us will start ordering, chopping and modifying the next generation of Saturday Night Stockers. For those of you wanting our cast off bodies, watch for them in the for sale section starting around the beginning of November.


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## DesertSlot (May 8, 2009)

My "kids" are a little older. There is a Veterans' Halfway House just over the state line in IL. I'll be putting together a small track that I can take over there for the guys to race every so often. The more they like it, the more often I'll be going there. I'll be using the MM's I put together with Ultra G's and silicone rears. I hope to be getting over there soon, now that I have the cars almost ready. I'll post pics when I have them. Thanks to Pete for the idea and the two 57's that are kinda on the back burner right now.


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## JWL Slot Cars (Mar 11, 2007)

That looks fantastic!!!!

-Jeff


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