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NASTE 2008 : Race No. 11 - The Bullring Finale
April 19, 2008
The final race of the 2008 NASTE season brought a great crowd of 15 racers to Bill's Bullring in Fairview. The cars of the night would be specially prepared 1/24 scale NASCAR flexi's.
At the start of the evening, the NASTE champioship was a tight battle between Bryan Trachsel, Bill Bostic and his son John - the championship would be decided by the final race.
Driving in the insane style the Bullring requires, the top dogs clearly moved to the head of the pack. But surprise, surprise - the night belonged to Randy Stumman. Racing fast and hard, he outlasted the others in a due or die finale for all the marbles. Close behind was John Bostic followed by Bill and Bryan.
At the end of the night, the championship trophy belonged to the new three-time champion - Mr. John Bostic.
Congratulations to the more than 40 racers that came out for one race or another during the season. Now let's start thinking about next year!
Click here for complete results.
NASTE 2008 : Race No. 10 - Black Light Blackout
April 12, 2008
The 10th race of the NASTE season brought a great crowd of 15 racers to Glenn's Black Light Blacktop in Hillsboro. The cars of the night would be a pair of Carrera cars - Corvette vs Ferrari.
Fresh off his previous victory, Bryan pretty much once again had his way with us toasting the field by a large margin.
The home-track favorite and track owner Glenn had clearly spent way too much time decorating the track rather than practicing driving it as the best he could manage was 7th, just a step behind me. But to his decorating credit the track did look great!
Rounding out the top three were Byron Stumman in second with Bill Bostic just behind in third. As it turned out, the track was a little trickier than some of us expected.
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NASTE 2008 : Race No. 9 - Return of the Little Cars
March 15, 2008
The 9th race of the season welcomed racers back to Butterdish Speedway in Portland. The cars of the night would be the HO cars specially prepared by track owner Bryan Trachsel. And as it turned out, the 3 cars held up great wth no problems the entire night.
As for the racing, Bryan pretty much schooled us all - must have been those 4000 laps getting the cars prepared...
And the top three were all racers quite comfortable in the HO scale with Bryan first, Terry Abbott in second and John Bostic in third. The surprise of the night was probably a 4th place finish by me! I usually do poorly with these little cars but it always helps to stay on the track and out of trouble.
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NASTE 2008 : Race No. 8 - The TCONY Challenge
March 1, 2008
Would they work? Would they last?
The 8th race of the season welcomed racers to the Autumn Hills Raceway in Hillsboro - our home track. The cars of the night would be the TCONY cars - spec cars using Slot.It HRS chassis.
The initial showing brought 4 cars - all looking stylish and sleek in their NASCAR-styled trim. And after the first heat it looked like the Bostic boys had built the top car as they were toasting the field.
However, in the next heat, John switched to one of our cars and actually turned a few tenths of a lap more. Darn, it's not the car - but it's the driver! Just as we hoped. The cars were very equal, it was the driver that made the difference.
Especially the way the cars had been set up - with taller rear tires to reduce the magnet effect. They were loose in the corners and fun to drive. The general complaint was "we need more magnets".
Once again showing us the fastest way around the track was Bill Bostic followed by son John in second with Terry Abbot in third.
Up next for the TCONY cars - the First Marshall Field Challenge Race where they will be disguised as sharp-looking Saleen's. Magnet-racers rejoice, the lower, wider tires will offer greatly improved handling as the magnet gets a little closer to the rails.
Click here for complete results.
NASTE 2008 : Race No. 7 - Running With the Bulls
February 16, 2008
Oh merciful heavens, the carnage, the carnage...
The site of the 7th race of the season was on the track owner Bill Bostic refers to as the Bullring. It's short for a 1/24 scale track, it's tight and it's fast.
Since it's also difficult to marshall, Bill used an interesting format of 20 lap heats. During the heat, if a car would come off, the yellow flag would come out and all cars could proceed to the location of the "off" but no further. And the car(s) that had come off, they got placed back just past the start line in effect losing whatever portion of that lap that had already been completed. Some went off just driving to the reset point and got set back. Once all the crashed cars were set back someone would yell "Go" and off we'd go again until the next off.
When bad things happened the common and frequent refrain was "Too bad"!
A heat that should normally would take 90 seconds could occasionaly take more than 5 minutes as cars were crashing left and right casuing reset after reset.
I did poorly at the start and ended up 13th out of 19. That's when the qualifiers ended and the mains began. Stacked by finish position I was seeded into the D-Main. Me and 5 others out of 6 from the E-Main.
From that point, if you were the one of the top two in your heat you got promoted to the next heat otherwise you were done. And that's just about the time I started finding the groove. I battled my way through the D Main all the way into the B Main before falling one lap shy of making the A main.
In the end it was Steve Smith, who beat me out by that one lap, coming home first with Dave 'no relation' Smith second and John Bostic third. It was fast, it was furious and everyone had a great time. Can't wait for the next time. I got a strategy now.
Click here for complete results.
NASTE 2008 : Race No. 6 - Marshall Field
February 2, 2008
A good field of seventeen racers arrived at Marshall Field for the 6th race of the NASTE season. Going fender to fender would be Scalextric stock cars modified by Byron. Declared "ASS-Cars" by Byron, they were fast and furious. On occasion the carnage was tremendous.
Running a best of two heats format, Randy Stumman took the early lead through the first set. However, almost everyone did better in the second set, except Randy. So when the smoke cleared, John 'broken record' Bostic once again slipped by father Bill to the tune of two tenths of a lap to claim the overall victory. Bryan, Byron and Randy rounded out the top five.
Click here for complete results.
NASTE 2008 : Race No. 5 - Autumn Hills By Night
January 10, 2008
A field of fifteen racers turned up at the Autumn Hills Raceway for the 5th race of the NASTE season. Doing the bump and grind for the evening would be the two-pronged assault of non-magnet Ninco Porsche 356's followed by our traditional lighted rally cars.
John Bostic took the early lead blazing around the track in the Ninco Porsches with father Bill close behind in second. But once the lights went off and the rally cars came out it was father Bill turning the tables (never underestimate the value of rally school!) to finish first overall by the slim margin of 2/10 of a lap over John - that's about 10 feet.
Coming in almost a lap behind and tied for third were Bryan Trachsel and Byron Stumman with Byron squeaking out the podium position in a one-minute tie breaker.
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NASTE 2008 : Race No. 4 - Revenge of the Small Cars
December 15, 2007
It was another night of those mighty mites, the HO T-Jets. The location was Bill Bostic's track in Fairview.
As previously stated I have no feel for this scale. However, for one improbable night both members of the SaagerVision Bad Mood Rising Racing team did better than expected.
Using my new, calmer approach, I was able to keep the car on the track more consistently. Perhaps not as fast as the hot dogs but sufficiently fast to push me up the standings a ways. And with a 22 driver field, there was room for movement. However, once again demonstrating his mastery of the scale, John Bostic ran away from the field for a 2 lap victory over second place driver Dave Smith with Bill Bostic just behind in third.
Click here for complete results.
NASTE 2008 : Race No. 3 - Attack of the Small Cars
November 3, 2007
It was the first night of those mighty mites, the HO T-Jets. The location was our newest track, Butterdish Raceway in Portland hosted by Bryan Trachsel.
Since turning my back on HO cars early in my career I now have absolutely no feel for this scale. I’m probably closer to a train driver. And worse yet, some of these folks are really good with these cars. Makes for a tough night...
But not so for Bryan Trachsel as he gave us all a good whuppin’ putting more than 5 laps on the field of 14 racers. Randy Stumman took second with Bill Bostic coming in third. Seventh was the best I could do. Now if I coulda just made one more lap each heat...
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NASTE 2008 : Race No. 2 - The Postman Cometh
October 20, 2007
The Racing action as always, was hotly contested at the second 2008 NASTE race held at Dennis Hart’s Hawksbill Station Grand Prix in St. Helens, Oregon. Out to bump fenders and trade paint were frenzied racers once again armed with 1/32 scale Vintage Carrera stock cars.
Since we were racing Vintage NASCARs, it was only fitting that we run on a track with only right-hand turns and with a unique format where drivers turn 100 laps in each lane around the twisty Carrera track for time.
The hottest shoe of the night belonged to the postman - Terry Abbott. He scorched the field to the tune of a 30-second victory over second place fellow hot shot Bryan Trachsel. Just a bit behind in third place was home town favorite and race host Dennis Hart.
The Autumn Hills race team was left to console themselves with the Concourse award scoring a can of Testor’s Gloss Coat for the striking Smokey Yunick Torino with the cracked front windshield. And that’s us in a nutshell, slow, pretty, cracked.
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NASTE 2008 : Season Opener
September 29, 2007
The Racing action was fast and furious for the 2008 NASTE season opener at Marshall Field Raceway in Beaverton, Oregon. Out to bump fenders and trade paint were thirteen racers armed with 1/32 scale Vintage Carrera stock cars.
As usual, I’d waited until the last minute to select a car settling on the Smokey Yunick Torino. Bill Bostic advised me not to get a SuperBird since they seemed to offer less handling. With my driving style - this was good advice. The car arrived on Friday for the race on Saturday. I put it on the track to make sure it ran, sanded the tires for a minute or two and called it good.
When I arrived at Marshall Field the next day, I proceeded to the tech station to make sure my barely out-of-the-box car was still legal. At tech inspection tires are supposed to be stock (non-silicone) and are measured for a minimum diameter. Cars are also checked for minimum weight and maximum magnetic down-force using the Magnet Marshall. With this useful tool, tech chief Randy Stumman can equalize all the cars. As it turned out, I had the weakest magnet. Some cars had almost half again as much down-force as mine, so their magnets were adjusted until they all measured about the same.
After taking a few practice laps it was apparent that I would have to do well by staying on the track. My car wasn’t going to outrun anyone. Since there were two sets of heats, I could use the first set to try and get consistent. It’s been my experience that little good happens to you when your car is off the track. So I’d try to find the fast spots and pay extra attention to the slow ones.
This strategy became even more important when I couldn’t seem to get my car in the slot in the red lane at the start of the first heat and sat there for at least two laps trying to “get going”. Then in the yellow lane, I had trouble just staying on the track. However, that’s the beauty of the two heats. I could do better next time. But, everybody does.
And as it turned out, I did do better in the second heat. I got my car in the slot for the start and was able to stay on the track much better in yellow using the slower is faster approach.
However, no one could keep up with the opening heat pace of Byron Stumman. Averaging lap times of less than 7 seconds, he blew away the field to win by almost three laps over second place, his dad, Randy Stumman. The rest of us were all about a lap apart from each other with good ol’ Smokey Yunick in the ‘best damn Torino in town’, and I finishing a surprising 5th overall. My strategy of fast as possible, slow as necessary seemed to work pretty good for one night.
Click here for complete results.
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