2004 American Flat Track Worlds

[oldweirdherald]

June 25, 26, 27, 2004
American Flat Track Worlds - South Hill Slots
(still the "Slugfest" to me)

South Hill Slots "Canadian White" Track

South Hill Slots
12623 67th Ave. E.
Puyallup, WA 98373
253-845-1204

PNW AMCA 2004 "Flats" Classes are:

Amateur LMP - - - (Flexi/Falcon/LMP/Amateur)
Pro LMP - - - (Spec brass&wire/Gp10/LMP/Pro)
Amature Group 10 - - - (Flexi/Gp10/GTP/Amateur)
Pro Group 10 - - - (Flexi/Gp10/GTP/Pro)
Group 12 - - - (Flexi/Strap or C Gp12/GTP)
Indy / IRL - - - (JRL Indy/Strap or C Gp12/IRL)
GT 12 - - - (GT-12/C Gp12/GTP)
C-1 - - - (C1/C1strap Gp12/GTP)
1/32nd Eurosport - - - ('nuff said)
1/24th Eurosport - - - ('nuff said)

PNW AMCA 2004 Rules

Mapquest - Map to South Hill Slots
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OWH's 2004 Flats Photo Gallery

OWH's PNW AMCA Photo Gallery

OWH's 2003 AFTW "Flats" Photo Gallery

OWH's 2003 AFTW "Flats" Race Results

[wayne h]

a big thanks to kirk for putting on another great event. out-of-town attendance was down, but there were more locals this year.

this is always a fun event with lots of close racing, great concours bodies (bill, jim, and gary got robbed on a few), awesome all-you-can-eat bbq, and just general fun kicking back with a great bunch of slot-heads.

my personal highlight was in g-12. it was a 9-man round robin. i had started on red, so i sat out the last heat. at the end, the computer showed craig and herman tied for third. it was determined thaty herman had beaten craig by about 10 feet. so, herman is giving the big arm pumps for his podium placing. then i noticed they had the same lap total i had had, but it didn't show up on the computer because of the round robin thing. but there was my car upside down on the infield where it had finished - about 2 feet in front of herman!!

also, in gt-12, i had qualified poorly so was relegated to the b-main. i actually had a good car and was ripping it up opening up a substantial lead until i boinked a car parked on the sweeper and wrapped my concours body around the gear and pinion. i was ready to quit when doug yarborough convinced me to keep at it. so when i finally got the body out of the gears and taped it back together i had lost about 1-1/2 heats. the car actually worked awesome and i was on a mission working all the way back up to third, but just a few laps short of picking off jay for second.

being second fastest qualifier in eurosport was also a big surprise.

harold, dennis and i got our round of golf in on friday, as well!

it just goes to show that even the middle-of-the-pack guys like me can have fun, claiming our "little victories" along the way.

wayne h.

[GearBear]

I too would like to thank Kirk and Mark for putting on such a great event! Mark did a great job running the races so that Kirk could concentrate on running the shop.

My weekend started out great with Jamy winning the Amateur LMP race Friday night. Then Saturday morning continued with My racing got started off with a 3rd place in Pro LMP and Jamy getting 3rd place in Amateur Group 10. I decided to use the same Group 10 car as Jamy and ended up being top qualifer for the B Main. The car was on rails and was a dream to drive and I managed to finish the main in first place and 4th place over all.

We then went to the Pro IRL cars. Herman set a blistering time in qualifying being the first time a car had broken the 4 second barrier since the track had been moved for the remodel. My car was fast but I just couldn't get it to hook up on the sweeper and qualified just over 4 seconds. I got some lucky breaks in the first heat and got the lead early. When I got to red Herman was charging hard and passed me for the lead leaving me 4 laps behind. After green I had gotten 1 lap back but he was still charging hard. Going into the last heat Herman was on purple and I was on Yellow. He had a 3 1/2 lap lead and figured it was going to be his race this year. I even commented to him that so long as his car didn't break it was going to be his race! I guess his motor was slowing and after just short time he allowed me to pass him. About 5 laps later I had caught him again and passed. Shortly after that I was behind him yet again and following him through the sweeper. As we went into the next corner Herman pushed a little too hard coming out and his car fishtailed allowing me to just get in front of him. When his car recovered from the fish tail his front tire clipped my rear tire and it threw him to the floor! Good marshalling got him right back on the track about a half lap up on me. I was able to catch him yet again as he had to fix his braid from hitting the floor. About 15 seconds to the end of the race I passed him 1 more time for the lead. It was a VERY tight race!

The rest of the weekend was not so good as far as my cars were concerned! I munched gears in every single class I raced the rest of the weekend! I suppose the gear gods were getting me back for not munching gears all season!

One good thing on Sunday was winning Concours in C1 with a body painted by my son Justin. He did a few bodies for me and did some wonderful work. I had Doug Yarbrough present Justin the Concours plaque at school today as Doug is his Autobody teacher at Bates Technical College in Tacoma.

[oldweirdherald]

I just finished off the rest of the captions on the 2004 Flats Photo Gallery, after sleeping in late Monday to recover from the long weekend of racing and reporting.

Man, my sympathies to those of you who had to go to work on Monday morning!

It was a great weekend of racing. The weather was beautiful, but it was not overly warm - perfect day for the barbecue feast on Sunday.

The turnout was not as good as the last couple years, as we missed several of the Slugfest / Flats regular attendees from out of town this year. We truly hope that more of our good friends can make it back next year. Not only did they miss a very fun race - but we missed them as well.

Those that did make it, were treated to the usual top competition that we always expect at this event. Close battles, along with the thrilling finishes, as well as some dissapointing break-downs for others.

For me, I had sadly expected not to be able to even race this year, as I had just not been able to afford the time or expense of repairing or prepairing any of my cars. Upon arrival, however, I was offered to borrow cars for nealy every class, getting to race in several classes, and I had a blast!

Much thanks to my good friend Craig ("flyracing") Rieland, who had loaned me a Group 12 car all season, winning 2 of the races and taking 2nd place for the season. Craig loaned me a Group 10 car and a Group 12 for the Flats. Unfortunately, the Gp 12, with a new motor, died half way through qualifying, and I was allowed to withdraw from the race - but it gave me a good chance to catch up on my reporting duties of uploading photos and posting the race results. Both Doug & Lee offered me Group 12 cars to race, but I had already withdrawn.

Gary (GearBear) Johnson loaned me his spare IRL car, as Jamy had decided not to race it when the IRL race was moved up to Saturday. Unfortunaltely, I hit somebody in the sweeper, and it felt like a rim was bent, as it became a handfull to try to push it hard, until the tires finally got better near the end. I still enjoyed participating in a class that has always been one of my favorites, and it was fun seeing Gary barely beat Herman, inb as exciting a race as I had had with Herman 2 years ago when I barely beat him. Herman wanted to win this class so bad, and it was the 3rd straight year that he has lost by just a lap or less! Herman is one of the best drivers I've ever raced against, and beating him is truly a memorable accomplishment. My congradulations to Gary, and thanks to Gary & Jamy for loaning me the car.

Ray Bishop had decided not to race in the 1/32 Eurosport event, so he offered his Speedshop car for me to race. My car had a broken magnet and burned out arm at the Nats, and I had not been able to repair it. Ray's 1/32 was a dream to drive and very fast, but only lacked a bit of traction, as I had slapped some cut down over-the-counter tires on it, with no Speedshop tires available for 1/32. Herman James ran away with the race, but I felt like I drove a decent race and pushed Herman enough that he couldn't dare slack off, and I cruised to a comfortable 2nd, ahead of Wayne.

Thanks to Kirk for putting on this great event again this year, and for "sponsoring" the OWH coverage so I could race as well as report the event. Thanks to Mark for doing a nice job running the races, and to Lee for all his hard work, getting so many cars ready for competitors at this event. (as well as for letting me race Ray's 1/32 car)

If you didn't make it to this one - plan on attending next year!!!

Here's the link to the Photo Gallery - updated with caption info:

OWH's 2004 Flats Photo Gallery

[GearBear]

Paul,

Great reporting as always!

I'm glad you got to run the IRL. Since Jamy was unable to shift gears fast enough to run it there was no reason for it to sit in the box. We don't get to run those cars often enough as it is! They are by far the most difficult cars we have to run. They require so much patience. You want to push them but they just won't let you. BTW: They are actually a blast to drive on the Twister and MTT though!