[woodcote]

Round One of the NHRA 4-Gear eliminators saw a full ladder of eight cars.

   

Top qualifier Pete dispatched Clive by 0.101 seconds in the first run. The white Mopar Pro Stock did find considerably more speed. Pete's ET was 0.886 to Clive's 0.991.

   

The next race - between fourth and fifth qualifiers was always going to be tight. Doug's Nitro Fish Pro Stock had a small advantage at half-way, but Alan's Summit car slowly reeled him in... Doug squeezed some extra speed out of his car in the closing inches to take a very close race by 0.009 seconds - his ET 0.976 to Alan's 0.984.

   

Second qualifier Andy was run pretty close by Iain's Auto Club Funny Car. A tweak of the tiny braids and a loosening of the chassis screw after qualifying took the blue car from start to finish in 0.966 seconds, but Andy hit the finish line sensors 0.048 seconds ahead, with an ET of 0.922. Any gap less than 0.050 looks pretty tight with the slow speed these 4-Gears are going - 0.050 is about a car length.

   

The final first round race was very close. Rebecca's GTX Funny Car was away first, but David's Pro Stock ran her neck & neck down the strip, edging ahead before Rebecca's car passed again through the line. All eyes went to the screen... David had it by a whisker - 0.001 seconds. You can't get closer than that! David's ET was 0.976 and Rebecca's 0.982 - the third qualifier beaten by the sixth.

Semi-final time...

   

Jerome took over the DHL Funny Car for the semi and he was put under plenty of pressure by Doug's Nitro Fish Pro Stock. Jerome had the slightly better start and never relinquished the lead, going through the finish line 0.035 seconds ahead. Jerome's ET was 0.907 and Doug's 0.937.

   

The second semi was close too. Andy got away faster than David in the battle of the Pro Stockers. The yellow JEGS cars had a smooth run and David was 0.033 seconds behind at the end. Andy's ET 0.919 to David's 0.945.

   

Pete and Andy lined up their yellow cars for the NHRA 4-Gear final.

   

The two left the line neck & neck...

   

Andy's JEGS Pro Stock just getting a nose in front and then putting together his best run of the day to ease away from the Funny Car. This is how it looked...



Andy reached the line 0.032 seconds ahead of the DHL Funny Car, which had gone off the boil a little after three sensational qualifying runs...

   

That meant Andy was the first visitor to Victory Lane for the Winter Series...

   

Here is the full ladder...

   

And the complete stats for the elimination runs...

   

[woodcote]

NHRA Top Fuel Match Racing Round Two

   

Andy got the job done in round 2, crossing the finish line 0.089 seconds ahead of Clive - ETs 0.722 to 0.822 and 7.440 to 6.250 mph. The FRAM machine - often slow off the line - has been on top form and wraps up the match 2-0.

Dylan managed to square his match with Noah - the Alanabi dragster getting the better of the Optima Top Fueler by 0.124 seconds. It was a big improvement from Dylan, his ET 1.100, against 1.216 for Noah.

Alan also squared his match with a 0.058 second win against Rebecca. Alan's ET was a rapid 0.769  and 8.013 mph. Rebecca clocked 0.823 and 6.378.

   

The two matches sitting at 1-1 will be decided after the Street Stock Final later this afternoon.

Qualifying for Street Stock is already underway, with the top ten looking like this after one round...

Iain - 0.631
Alan - 0.653
Jeff - 0.654
Jane - 0.668
Clive - 0.685
Laura - 0.691
Bill - 0.693
Rebecca - 0.715
Hank - 0.729
Sue - 0.739

The plan is to finish qualifying before lunch, with the Street Stock eliminators starting afterwards. That'll leave the final match races and Super Stock 6.0 for this evening.

[woodcote]

Micro Scalextric Street Stock Qualifying

Here are the results...

   

Congratulations to Jane - starting the new series where she left off...

   

It is looking pretty close behind - with more than half the field qualifying below 0.700 seconds. I'm looking forward to the eliminators!

[woodcote]

Street Stock Eliminators Round One

   

Round One started with a race between top qualifier Jane and bottom qualifier Jeremy. No contest - Jane won by 0.172 of a second. Next were tenth and eleventh qualifiers Andy and Hank - this was likely to be closer...

   

It was. Hank led from start to finish, but Andy's Focus crossed the line just 0.025 seconds behind. That would give us a second round race between Hank and Jane, with the winner having a bye in the third round.

   

After a gap in the ladder, we were down to the eight racers remaining in the top half of the draw. Third place qualifier and 'Best in Show' Iain dispatched Dylan by 0.096 seconds. Following them onto the start line were the two DBR9s of Laura and David...

   

Laura was always in control and finished 0.048 seconds ahead. Next were Alan and Al...

   

Al's Veyron was no match for fourth-qualifier Alan's Audi GT3, the gap 0.090 seconds.

   

Clive's Audi GT3 was quick and beat the Audi TT of Pete by 0.063 seconds to set up a second round tie against Alan.

   

Down in the bottom half of the ladder, second qualifier Jeff beat his qualifying time to leave Doug's Nissan 0.137 seconds adrift.

   

Ninth qualifier Noah and twelfth qualifier Dave gave us the closest race of the first round - the result was in doubt until the final inches... Noah's Ford Focus WRC crossing 0.021 seconds ahead to become the sole Chesterfield racer in the second round.

   

Rebecca made sure there was a Brighton representative in round two with a 0.105 second win against Jerome's orange Veyron.

   

Finally, sixth qualifier Bill beat Sue by 0.077 seconds - he would meet Rebecca in round two.

[woodcote]

Round Two

   

Jane clocked a 0.641 to beat Hank by 0.076 in the first round clash. That wasn't close to her best qualifying time, so the next bye round would be important to find a bit more speed.

   

Iain had no frights in his race against Laura - winning by 0.067 with a 0.666 ET.

   

No surprises so far, so Alan was expected to get past Clive. It turned out to be an extremely close run, but Clive caused an upset with a 0.011 win with a 0.650 ET.

   

Order was restored with a routine 0.069 win for Jeff over Noah - the ETs were 0.626 and 0.693.

   

The final round two race was between the fifth and sixth qualifiers - sixth-place Bill beating Rebecca by 0.039 of a second for a minor upset. That left three Brits in the top half of the ladder and two American in the bottom. It would be a trans-Atlantic final, but between who would be representing their nations for the Street Stock silverware?

[KensRedZed]

Hi folks. Just a newbie question or two please?

These look amazing! What is this all about?

How long is the track?
What track has wide pads for power? I only know AFX style track.
Where do this cars come from?
Are they stock or modified?
Do the cars hit full power at the same time?
What is the track voltage?

Umm. That's my question or two.  

Thank you very kindly.

[woodcote]

Third Round + Semis

Jane had a bye (she clocked 0.628), so there were only two third round races...

   

Iain and Clive lined up for the honour of facing Jane in the semi final. Iain had qualified third and Clive seventh, but the Audi had been quick in the eliminators, so far... The two cars had identical reaction times and sped down the strip side-by-side. Who'd won? Clive had nicked it by 0.001 of a second! Clive's ET 0.651 and Iain's 0.652.

   

In the bottom half of the draw, Jeff and Bill essentially had a semi final - the winner would go straight through to the final. Bill needed a miracle, but didn't get it... his 0.651 ET was good, but Jeff's 0.619 was the best we'd seen so far in the eliminators. Jeff won by 0.069 seconds. He was off to the final.

   

Fighting it out for the other final berth were Jane and Clive. Jane's Nissan was quick - a 0.627 - to beat Clive by 0.030 seconds. We'll have the top two qualifiers meeting in the final showdown.

[woodcote]

Hi folks. Just a newbie question or two please?

These look amazing! What is this all about?

Thanks Ken! This the first race of a second series of some 'socially-distant' proxy drag racing that originally started in the first UK Covid lockdown back in May/June. This is where it all started: https://slotracer.online/community/showt...p?tid=1256

How long is the track? Seven feet timed - it fits on a nine-foot internal wall. It works out as an 1/8 mile in "true" HO scale - so much smaller for the cars we are using.

What track has wide pads for power? I only know AFX style track. The tracks is the recently-released 'new' Micro Scalextric track system.
Where do this cars come from? The cars have been sent from around the UK and some from across the Atlantic from the NTRA / Nitroslots guys (nitroslots.com) from where we've borrowed the HO drag proxy format.

Are they stock or modified? Street Stock are stock Micro Scalextric cars, the Super Stock cars are lightly modified. The NHRA cars are pretty stock Auto World 4-Gear cars.

Do the cars hit full power at the same time? Yes - a push-button fires a relay board and powers both lanes instantaneously.

What is the track voltage? 12 volts - a bit low for these cars, but they don't have much space to stop (there is dynamic braking in the shutdown and then a foam catchbox before the hit the 1820s brick wall).

There's more about the Winter Series here: https://slotracer.online/community/showt...p?tid=1625

Now back to the action...

[woodcote]

Street Stock Final

   

Could Jane win another Street Stock race - or could Jeff win on debut? It was tense waiting for the lights...

   


Jane got away first...

   

But then Jeff's Audi got going...




By the time they reached the finish line sensors, Jeff had a 0.038 second advantage...

   

It was a sensational run - the quickest of the competition...

   

And put Jeff into Victory Lane...

   

Congratulations Jeff!

Here is the complete Street Stock Ladder...

   

And all the stats from all the elimination runs...

       

The Top Fuel deciders, plus all the Super Stock 6.0 qualifying and elimination rounds will follow... starting about 7.30-ish.

[BAracer]

Well done Jeff!

Fantastic time, and a fantastic livery.