First off, good job to all who took time to build and send cars to this event. I had the good fortune to be one of the team of eight who got to examine and drive these wonderful creations. As expected, there were a number of paths taken to reach Proxy Nirvana and, again as expected, some of the paths proved truer than others.

Please also note that any and all observations and opinions that follow are my own and quite likely differ from those of other participants and/or the event organizers)

Of course, Russell Sheldon's wonder car (Scooby Doo in the OWH pictures) was an amazing sight to behold. I'd already seen the car he'd designed and sent to Paul Kassens for the upcoming 1/32 Scale Nats, so I had a good idea what his Proxy cars would resemble and was not disappointed. They are, indeed, wonders to behold but offer little in the way of true inspiration to the average Joe-in-the-basement chassis builder. I'd kill to own his Vintage GT Proxy car, though...Russell, if you want to save the return postage to the Emirates you just let me know. I may be able to help... ; )

Eugene "SLOTCARRACER" Harrington's entry (Light blue unadorned #21) was my personal favorite because it proved to be VERY close to as fast as Russell's Wonder Wagon yet was something even I could duplicate if I was so inclined. I also found it to be less "nervous" at the limit compared to Russell's car. Of particular note, check out the front axle treatment. This bad boy is STOUT!!!

The fourth place car from Robert Kline (Darker Blue "Pontiac") wins the KISS (keep it simple stupid) award hands down. The car was a WOMP with a hard body fitted--it even used the little wire clips for body retention!! It wasn't the fastest or the best handler, but it was very smooth and predictable which net HUGE bonus points from me when combined with my own meager driving skills.

Best Engineered/Elaborate Construction category award (kinda like the Oscars, huh?) goes to Larry Sheppard's ingenious front-motored Spam mobile. Wow. It improved (a LOT) with a little weighting, and I think that with more time it could be developed into a real title contender. As it was, it was a little twitchy when trying to put power down out of the turns. The construction quality was second to none. I also very much enjoyed driving Larry's belt drive car which was a very smooth performer but lacked speed to be a contender here.

Chris Briggs "Grant Piston Rings" Led Sled Monte Carlo was cool enough too. I drove it in practice in the White and Red (outer two) lanes where it was exceptionally smooth and consistent. During the race, though, I drew the Yellow (innermost) lane and found the car VERY unwilling to bend around either of the tight hairpin turns found at Daytona West. Apparently Blue lane wasn't a lot better. I also drove the Led Sled Viper Chris had generously loaned me and found it to be an excellent performer (at least in the outer lanes) but didn't get an opportunity to try the inner lanes. The Led Sled also suffered in acceleration--it was all that poor Cheetah could do to get that sucker up to any speed of note, then you had to shut down really early (especially in yellow) so you could have a prayer of making turn one. The postman is still milking disability after delivering this beast. Bob needed to double the entry fee to break even on postage to return it. I look forward to building my own Led Sled soon and adapting it to Scalextric track use.

I also appreciated getting a chance to examine and drive Ray Snyder's McDonalds Thunderbird. It was a little dicey to drive, suffering through loads of chatter if you weren't REALLY smooth putting the power down out of slower turns. His chassis is very narrow and I think it would benefit from adding pans. Then again, my opinions are worth right about what is paid for them. It showed excellent attention to detail and is another chassis I look forward to emulating for plastic track use. Thanks Ray.

Richard Kukol's Purolator Lumina was a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure how it scored so much better than Rich Kaczynski's Miller Pontiac or Interstate Lumina which were really very similar cars in concept and execution. Richard used a velcro mount ala Parma FCR cars and very lite front wheels (like from the model kit) where Rich used substantially heavier wheels and a screws-through-the-sides mount that possibly put some weight a little too high up. Richards car seemed a little smoother, but I sure couldn't swear to it. Not allowed to swear at Bob's anyway, so what's the use...

Last, but certainly not least, was Joe Ginelli's Valvoline Thunderbird. I'm not really sure why it suffered, but it did. It sure seemed like it was "closer" to the rest. Regardless, I know we all appreciate Joe taking the time to create and send a car and look forward to seeing what he sends next time. It could just be a situation where the car should have worked, and another just like it would. I'm suffering from that now on Bob's track where my I-32 Nascar seems fairly competitive, but my I-32 vintage Can Am car won't stay on the track. Who knows.

For what it's worth, Joe, Mike Beam (former crew chief for Bill Elliot Racing) told me they probably build three or four chassis for every one they actually race. The rest get tested and sold off to Busch or ASA teams or some such if they aren't close enough to good that they'd be competitive with some massaging.

Finally, the picture(s) of the Motley Crue (whoops--Crew. No Crue at Daytona West no way no how!!!) are, from left to right:

Front: Kris Kassens, Paul Kassens, Craig Rieland, Matt Zenovich

Back: Brian Boyd, yours truly, (Scott Smith - in the Barney-Purple sweatshirt) and Bob Ward hisownself.

Our eighth driver, Walt Main, had to duck out immediately upon finishing his driving stint and is not pictured, but the lovely Pat "chef" Ward appears in the background of one of the track shots.

Again, thanks to everyone who sent cars to this event, and to Bob and Paul for all their effort in seeing this dream become reality. I am most sincere in my appreciation for the opportunity to have participated in what small way I did and I'm in even further awe of what several of the "Slots" dl'ers have created. Now I just gotta get my Can Am car done for next Saturday since Bob jumped the gun and published me as an "after race" entrant. We'll see...

Scottrik

scotts@windermere.com

email: bobward@oldweirdherald.com