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It's our final Nascar & Legends night of the year - and a final chance for new racers to get their WHO Digital stripes before our quartet of autumn Digital Saturdays.

The format is a club car team race using the inline Scalextric Nascars, followed by a Pioneer Legends pairs race. Doors open at 6.30pm for practice and digital driving school. The evening should finish between 9.30 and 9.45.

Mike has recycled his December 2018 layout for this one...

   

That should give us some great racing!

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Race Report - Nascar Club Car Team Race

A healthy summer holiday turn-out of 21 included Simon and Isaac B making their WHO debuts, plus George trying digital for the first time. They were given a crash course in digital driving just before we got the teams ready to race. Unfortunately, the APB to PC dongle was smoked in the dying moments of practice - almost certainly down to a car fault. That's the third dongle we've lost since January 2014, so not a bad record - although maybe time to buy some spares.

After a brief pause, the six teams got cracking...

   

All six teams were captained by teenagers, including Isaac B and George on their debuts. Each team also had a Gold or Silver rated driver and, where possible, a rookie. We hoped the teams would be fairly evenly-matched. The three teams of four would have one driver sitting out a 15-minute segment, each of which was split into three 5 minute stints. This is the Nascar team format that has been going since even before the first WHO digital race. And some of the inline Scalextric Ford Taurus and Pontiac models have been going that long too, at least parts of them have...

   

The first 15 minutes featured the fuel simulation only - still a steep learning curve for the new racers. Ollie's Team 3 led the way with 53 laps, followed by three teams on 51 laps -  Isaac B, Stephen and Andy (Team 5), Ryan's Team 1 and Isaac F, Oliver and Mike Mc (Team 4). George, Mike D and Daniel (Team 6) were another lap behind and Team 2 (Jerome, Dean and Kev) were six laps off the lead after some car troubles with the red Taurus.

   

The second segment saw cars swapped (first with last, second with fifth etc) and the tyre simulation added. That gave us more complex strategy and pit stop considerations. Team 2 bounced back with a winning score of 53 laps, followed by Team 1 with 52. Otherwise, everyone else's scores were lower - Team 6 third with 48 laps, down to Team 4 with 44.

At the half way point, Ryan, Matthew, Rob & Simon B (Team 1) had 103 laps overall, three laps ahead of Team 2 (Jerome, Dean & Kev) and Team 3 (Ollie, Terry, John & Steve) in third with 99 laps. Team 5 (Isaac B, Andy & Stephen) and Team 6 (George, Mike D & Daniel) were tied on 98 laps, with Team 4 (Isaac F, Oliver & Mike Mc) three laps adrift on 95. That's all six cars covered by eight laps...

   

We stayed with Fuel & Tyres for the third segment and the scores improved for all the teams apart from our leaders - Team 1 losing six laps and the overall lead to Team 2. The 55 laps for Jerome, Dean and Kev was the best score of the night. Going into the final 15 minutes, Team 2 led Team 1 by three laps, Team 3 were five laps off the lead on 150 and the other three were tied on 147 laps. You can't get much closer than that...

   

We added weather to the final 15 minutes, starting dry and forecast to get a little damp by the end - possibly requiring Softs or Intermediates, but Hards would become tricky and would wear quicker in the latter stages of the race. Team 2 were back with the red Taurus, which certainly wasn't the best car in the field - a little slow and quite thirsty on the fuel. Jerome, Dean and Kev would need to make the best they could of the 15 minutes and limit their losses to a couple of laps at most. Team 1 had the bit between their teeth, putting a lap on their rivals early on. When the track conditions started to change, teams took gambles on tyres - either changing or sticking - but whatever choice they made, it didn't seem to impact the outcome too much...

   

In the end Ryan, Matthew, Rob & Simon did just enough to grab the race win - finishing on 51 laps to the 47 of Jerome, Dean & Kev - a mere one lap advantage overall after an hour of racing. However, it was Team 6 (George, Mike D & Daniel) who won the final segment, enough to give them third place overall, just one lap ahead of Team 5 (Isaac B, Andy & Stephen). One lap behind fourth place were Team 3 (Ollie, Terry, John & Steve), with Team 4 (Isaac F, Oliver & Mike Mc) bringing up the rear, three laps adrift of fifth and ten laps behind the winners. A pretty close run thing.

       

       

       

Here are all the stats...

   
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Next up, was the Pioneer Legends pairs race...

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Race Report - Pioneer Legends

Everyone stayed for the Legends pairs race, giving us ten cars and two qualifying heats of five. The three first-timers would continue their digital training, George sharing Terry's spare car with Isaac F, Simon sharing with Mike Mc and Isaac B sharing Andy's Perrier Dodge with Steve...

   

A very strong pairing of Mike D & John - driving the Red McDonalds Chevy -  went in the first eight-minute heat. With a driver change at half way, Mike & John won the heat, scoring 28 laps - probably enough to be amongst the four automatic qualifiers for the Feature race. Daniel & Stephen were just a lap behind, having battled with Isaac B & Steve before the latter pair dropped to the back with pit stop woes. George & Isaac F finished third and Matthew & Kev fourth - they'd almost certainly need to go again in the Semi to battle for a place in the Feature...

   

Heat 2 saw a quicker race and higher scores. Pete & Jerome's Gulf Chevy was very rapid, finishing 31 laps and clocking the fastest lap of the heats - 12:049 seconds. Both Oliver & Terry and Dean & Ryan managed 29 laps, which meant the Heat 1 winners only snuck into the Feature in the final automatic qualifying spot. Just missing out were Rob & Ollie, but they'd have another change in the Semi - as would Mike Mc & Simon B, who'd had car issues to qualify last...

   

The six-car Semi was all set for lots of excitement - the top two would go through to the Feature. Andy replaced Stephen in the McCann Brothers' Ford and they were in the mix for the step-up until a slipping crown gear slowed their progress and ultimately retired with a couple of minutes to go. 

   

That left Rob & Ollie fighting Matthew & Kev for the win. They finished in that order on 29 and 28 laps respectively - a country mile ahead of the others...

   

Mike Mc & Simon recovered well from the car issues to finish third, Steve & Isaac B were fourth and Isaac F & George fifth.

   

The Feature race started with some excellently clean and rapid racing. Jerome took the pole-sitting #9 Gulf Chevy into an early lead and pretty much left everyone else in his wake. Ollie had a big off after two minutes, the green McDonalds car needing repairs until just before the driver change. That gave fifth place to Kev.

   

Up front, Jerome was followed into the driver change by a trio of cars - Ryan, Terry and John - all on the same lap. Pete took over the lead car and would be chased to the line by Oliver, Dean and Mike, with Matthew ready to pick up any pieces and Rob just aiming to finish in one piece. Pete didn't have the best pit stop, putting all four leading cars together. The lead changed on track and in the pits, but Pete has the advantage going into the final minute...

   

Then it was carnage. These cars are not the easiest to drive and not at all forgiving if you get it all wrong! An error from Pete put Mike in the lead, Oliver second and Dean third. Then Mike went sideways through the line and probably lost a lap - frustrating, but that's racing... Dean found himself in the lead with twenty seconds to go, Oliver second and Pete charging hard to make up lost time - he passed Oliver in the dying seconds to grab the runner-up spot. However, Dean defended his lead and took a famous win...

   

   

Here are all the stats from the heats, semi and feature...

   
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Congrats to the winners - Ryan, Matthew, Rob & Simon in the team race, plus Dean & Ryan in the pairs race. A very big thank you to everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable August evening at the Barn. Special thanks goes to the set-up and race control teams and to all those who stayed behind to pack away - we couldn't do it without you.

There is still some data to crunch - results from June and July, plus GT and Legends championship tables. These will follow soon-ish, together with a video of last night's action.

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Here are some highlights of the Nascar team race and the Legends feature race...

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2024 Nascar & Legends Championship Tables

   
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Huge congratulations to Rob, who ended with a near perfect score - 3 wins and one runner-up spot, but only a lap behind the winners. And that's a record 41 racers who've raced in at least one team race this year.

   

Congrats to Mike on another Wednesday pairs race championship! Plus 36 racers appearing in a Legends car this season - not bad...

A big thank you to everyone who has come along to these evenings in 2024. We've had a lot of fun and trained up a new crop of WHO Digital racers in the process.

Next year's Nascar & Legends nights will be...

Wednesday 22 January
Wednesday 19 February
Wednesday 16 July
Wednesday 20 August

For new racers, these nights remain a prerequisite for taking part in the WHO GT Championship (March to June) and the autumn Digital Saturdays (September to December).

And just a heads-up... The Pioneer Legends will race in 2025, but almost certainly will be replaced on Wednesday nights for 2026. They will get a run-out as part of the Birkett Relay each October.