[woodcote]

Everything - I think - is ready for a weekend trial run of the proxy format. Most of the cars are mine, although this first-time HO purchase arrived from Dave Coley's Emporium this week...

   

It looks to be a pretty rapid Porsche for Rebecca

   

The Boxster joins an assortment of drag strip regulars and a couple of ex-WHO team race cars in a Street Stock entry of sixteen. I'll run the top four Street Stock qualifiers with higher tyres in the Micro Scalextric Super Stock competition. There are also four T-Jets for the Nostalgia Super Stock class. And two Auto World Top Fuel dragsters will be available for a little match racing.

Qualifying is Saturday, Elimination races Sunday. I'll post up results and some of the action below, to give a flavour of what 'proper' event coverage might look like over the summer.

[Mazda]

This should be interesting and give the entrants something to aim for.

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The Street Stock cars have been scrutineered, stickered up (white = street stock, letter = entry number), tyres cleaned and a little oil on the gears (if needed). Each car has been run for 10-60 seconds on 9 volts until a consistent motor tone is achieved. That also keeps excess lubrication off the strip.

Scrutineering involved weighing, measuring overall width and tyre height, plus a look inside at the motor and gearing. I also measured the length of each car for Drag Basic's virtual speed trap. Almost every car has a suitable fictitious driver name assigned to use in Drag Basic and the race results.

The first round of qualification runs will start about midday

[woodcote]

The first round of Street Stock qualifying is complete and Keith Moon in one of the ex-WHO Nissans tops the chart, ahead of Roger Murtaugh in the Scalextric Police Department patrol car...

   

Kenny Brock is third in one of the WHO public event Ford Focus rally cars and then Pete T in another ex-WHO Nissan. The Audi TT test mule sat fifth with an ET much slower than in the tyre test sessions.

Interestingly, the strip got quicker as the session went on. I had given the track a proper clean this morning, so maybe that is something I won't do next time...

All the cars get a blast on 12 volts before being lined up.

[woodcote]

Some times were improved during the second runs, some weren't...

   

Despite a poor second run, Keith M's Nissan still holds top spot overall ahead of a very rapid patrol car. Can some drivers move up in the final session? We shall see after lunch...

[woodcote]

Not too much changed in the third round of Street Stock qualifying...

   

The final qualifying results look like this...

   

Murtaugh just couldn't nudge Moon from top spot. Andy and Rebecca tied on fastest time, but Andy gets fourth on a best second time. Both go through to a five-car Micro Scalextric Super Stock competition as I have 5 pairs of the tall .464 tyres.

The first round of qualifying for the other classes looks like this...

   

Two cars stalled on the line, so a little extra weight will be applied before the next round.

[woodcote]

There were two more qualifying runs for the other cars...

       

And that was it for the day. Here were the top qualifiers...

   

The Keith Moon Nissan added top spot in Super Stock to top qualifier in Street Stock. No problems with any front end lift on the big tyres - unlike some of the other cars...

   

Prince's little red Corvette went much better once the traction magnet was replaced - although the 0.888 and 0.862 were achieved with no magnet, just front end ballast. The chassis under the Corvette is from the yellow club car on the bullring. It could be a very close run thing tomorrow if the Thunderbolt and Corvette meet in the finals. The other two cars struggled with power, traction and lifting front ends. Not a good combination.

   

The two Auto World Top Fuelers looked great, but the Brandon Bernstein Copart crew have some serious work to do overnight to get on the pace of Spencer Massey's FRAM machine. The orange dragster was the fastest thing at the end of the strip all day with a massive 10.958 mph in the third run, but only a 0.710 ET - these things take a few feet to really get going.

And here's footage of the very first competitive run on the Rock County Eighth Mile...




That run was a very modest start - a 0.801 and 0.769 - but things got much quicker as the afternoon went on.

Tomorrow afternoon is the Eliminator competition. Tune in about 2pm for action from the Micro Scalextric Super Stock ladder.

[woodcote]

The elimination rounds started with with the five Micro Scalextric Super Stock cars. Browsing the templates for 'progessive ladders' produced by the FIA, I found the one for a five car field - the top qualifier gets a bye in the first round, with the winner of the second place / last place qualifier race getting a bye in the semis. In the pair of first round races, the Murtaugh patrol car beat Rebecca's Porsche and the Kenny Brock Ford Focus comfortably dispatched Andy's Audi. The one semi final saw the top qualifier Nissan ease past the Focus with winning margin of 0.030 seconds. That left us with the expected Murtaugh vs Moon final - the Ford having set the fastest ET today...

   

The Ford left the line a fraction quicker, but it was the white and black Nissan that reached the finish first - a winning margin of 0.011 seconds. Here are all the stats from the eliminator races...

   

And the ladder itself...

   

Some work to do on the layout for the smaller fields, I think.

Straight after the Micro Scalextric Super Stock final came the first match race of the day. Brandon Bernstein's team had completed an engine change overnight, but would it be enough to narrow the gap?

   

The blue top fueler was off the line fractionally quicker, but the orange FRAM dragster powered down the strip to win by a comfortable 0.031 seconds. Despite a significant narrowing of the ET gap, there was still a massive top speed advantage for Massey...

Match Race #1
Spencer Massey: RT 0.623 / ET 0.718 / MPH 10.958
Brandon Bernstein: RT 0.612 / ET 0.760 / MPH 6.818

Here's the action for the Super Stock Final and the match race...

[woodcote]

Next up was the T-Jet Super Stock race with a more traditional two semis and a final. There were no surprises in the first round, leaving the George Shaker Thunderbolt and the red Corvette in the final - the Ford setting a blisteringly quick ET to qualify...

   

It was a sensational final. The two cars set exactly the same ET of 0.759 seconds, but with the Corvette getting off the line 0.001 quicker, it was first across the finish sensors for the narrowest victory...

   

And here's the complete ladder for the T-Jets...

   

   

The excitement of the T-Jet final was equalled in the second match race. Spencer's orange FRAM dragster was first to move, but then got bogged down, allowing Brandon to explode down the first half of the run with much improved pace. However, the FRAM machine picked up to get to the finish line 0.008 seconds ahead. Brandon's blue top fueler had a fractionally faster ET, but Spencer had won the race with the hole shot - in the eliminator it's all about getting to the finish first.

Match Race #2
Spencer Massey: RT 0.653 / ET 0.740 / MPH 8.074
Brandon Bernstein: RT 0.663 / ET 0.738 / MPH 9.024

Tough luck on Brandon, who just missed out on squaring the match - the final race of three will be all about pride.

[woodcote]

The main event was the Micro Scalextric Street Stock Eliminator.

   

Round One saw one upset and one very close run thing. Alex Darracq's Alfa defeated Eddie Stobart's Ford by 0.008 of a second to put the ninth place qualifier through and the eighth place qualifier out. Further down, John Entwistle recorded a slower ET than Roger Daltrey, but a faster reaction time gave Entwistle the hole-shot win by 0.001 of a second.

   

Round Two was straightforward for the top two qualifiers, Keith Moon and Roger Murtaugh - eliminating Alex and John. However the other two races were close. Andy's Audi seemed to be going through to the semis, but a late turn of speed from Rebecca's Porsche gave her the win by 0.004 of a second. However, the big story from this round was the dead heat between Kenny and Pete...

   

They crossed the line together, so had a rematch. That was very close too - Pete beating third place qualifier Kenny by 0.005 of a second to get to the semi final.

   

The Semi Finals were relatively routine, the top two cruising through against Rebecca and Pete - who had both beaten the odds to reach the semis.

         

The Final round was a re-match of the Super Stock final - but this time Murtaugh eclipsed Moon by a comfortable 0.022 of a second to take revenge and the Street Stock victory...

         

   

Here's the full Street Stock ladder...