December 22, 2024 | Jim Kostinden Twas the first day of winter, when all through Lenjet Raceway Not a slot car was stirring, not even an E-Fray. The race tracks were powered off and covered with care In hopes that the East Coast Outlaw racers would soon be there. The racers were on their way, driving their ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) sleds As visions of podium finishes, danced in their heads. When outside in the parking lot arose a loud cheer, As 17 East Coast Outlaw racers arrived with their racing gear. And so the 4th race of the 2024-2025 ECO race season was on. With the first significant snowfall of the season outside Lenjet Raceway and temperatures never getting above freezing, inside the temperature was rising as the racers prepared for the three races of the day: 1) Hobby Stock on the grappling Bear racecourse, 2) Grand National on the venomous Viper track, and 3) E-Fray on the charming Shamrock Glen race course. With 17 racers in attendance, we would break the racers up into two groups so that the Hobby Stock and Grand National races could be run simultaneously in the morning. After lunch the E-Fray race would be run as one group. Drivers Meeting With practice, tech and sign-in completed, Dave Lockwood headed up the drivers meeting. Dave began the meeting by mentioning that Peter (Lentros), who participated in the MARC HO race last weekend, would not be able to attend today’s ECO race. On behalf of all the ECO racers, our thoughts and wishes are with Peter as we turn the calendar to a new year and hope to see Peter at the ECO races in the coming new year. Dave also mentioned that there is a possible schedule change for one of our future races due to a scheduling conflict at Modelville. Dave suggested checking the ECO website and Facebook page for any future announcements regarding the schedule. There was also the possibility of moving the conflicted race from a Saturday to a Sunday. Please keep your eyes on the website and FB page for updates. As mentioned at last month’s race drivers meeting, with the recent sale of the Lenjet Tri-Oval, Dave will be looking into having the Rolling O moved to Lenjet for next month’s ECO Jalopy race, that was initially scheduled to be run on the Tri-Oval. In the event the Rolling O is not ready for next month’s race, then the Jalopy race will be run on one of the two other tracks we will be running on that day. More to come. Dave also gave an update on the T-shirts. With the ECO logo being redesigned on the T-shirts, it is taking a little longer for the shirts to be made. Dave will be following up with Randy in the coming weeks with the hope that the shirts will be ready by the end of the season. Our club treasurer, Jimmy Colligan, provided the club’s financial update. A balance of $1553 was reported. To close out the meeting, one of our racers, Pete Halgren, provided some great news about his son Patrick, who is a member of the US Para Alpine Ski Team. Patrick recently competed in the 2025 Tignes (France) FIS Para Alpine World Cup. On day one Patrick finished 6th in the Super G event. On day two a combined Super G and Slalom event was held where Patrick finished overall in 10th, but finishing 2nd in the Super G portion. Awesome results Patrick! Congratulations to Patrick and his very proud dad! Best Appearing Best appearing award went to Jimmy Colligan (aka Oh Jimmy!) for his beautiful Ford Torino #17 David Pearson Grand National car. Jimmy is known to “dabble” in custom painting slot cars, and he did a beautiful job on this car. Congratulations Jimmy! Below is a picture of Jimmy’s car. Body Swap The annual holiday body swap was held just prior to the races. Eleven racers participated in the body swap. There were some really nice bodies to be had. Thanks to all for your efforts in preparing your (car) bodies and participating in the body swap. On to the races… Hobby Stock on the Bear Hobby Stock is considered the slowest class of the ECO. However, it is also the most challenging class to drive. With skinny tires, minimal braking, and a high center of gravity due to limited lowering of the body, these cars can be a handful to drive. On a course like the Bear that contains some high-speed sections along with technical sections (esses, scorpion tale with a downhill), a well prepared car and good driving skills are rewarded. With that said, the ECO racers came very prepared for this race as you will see in the results below. The number of laps separating the winner from 17th position was just 15 laps. Thus, a lot of finishing positions were determined by sections as many racers would finish on the same laps. Point in case was the battle for the overall win. Dave “Skinny Tires” L. took the win by turning 78 laps/40 sections. Close behind was Flash who turned 78 laps/36 sections. A difference of only 4 sections separating the 1st and 2nd place positions! Very close racing! Also of note, Dave and Flash were the only drivers to turn sub-9 second laps with Dave turning the fastest lap at 8.488 seconds in the white lane. Nice job! Rounding out the podium, finishing in 3rd was Hal with 72 laps. Of note, this was Hal’s first podium finish in an ECO race. Also, Hal ran a perfect race, never deslotting. Quite an accomplishment for this class. A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Hal for his first podium finish and a perfect race. Great job driving Hal! The first podium finish is always the hardest. May there be many more in your future. Rounding out the top half of the field, positions 4th thru 9th were: 4th Jim K. 71 laps/50 sections, 5th Greg W. 71 laps/42 sections, a tie for 6th between Chief and Matt G. with both racers completing 70 laps/33 sections, 8th Tom G. 69 laps/49 sections, and 9th Josh 69 laps/31 sections. I believe this may have been Josh’s first race with the ECO. Nice race Josh! Great racing by everyone! Below are the official results (lap counts and finish positions) for the drivers along with best lap times. Race Results Lap Times Please note that the laps times are shown in 2 separate screen shots as this race was run in 2 groups. The fastest laps highlighted in green are for each group. You can compare the 2 screen shots for overall fastest laps. Grand National on the Python The Max Trax Python track with its sweeping esses at both ends, an up and over infield, and a long straight away, pose a real challenge to the ECO second skinny tire class, the Grand National. While the lap separation between 1st and 17th was not as tight as the Hobby Stock race, there was still some close racing with positions 5th thru 8th being determined by sections. When the rumble of the Grand National engines came to a stop (or was that the whinning of Tjet balanced arms?), Dave L took the win with 82 laps. In 2nd was Greg W. with 77 laps/42 sections. Finishing in 3rd on the same lap as Greg, was Flash who was only 2 sections behind (77 laps/40 sections). Quite the battle for 2nd place! Rounding out the top half of the field was: 4th Paul R. also with 77 laps and 10 sections, 5th Terry 72 laps/51 sections, 6th Tom G. 72 laps/40 sections, 7th Jim K. 72 laps/26 sections, 8th rookie Brian W. 72 laps/11 sections (Nice race Brian!), 9th Jimmy C. 70 laps. Again, great racing everyone. Below are the official results (lap counts and finish positions) for the drivers along with best lap times. Race Results Lap Times Please note that the laps times are shown in 2 separate screen shots as this race was run in 2 groups. The fastest laps highlighted in green are for each group. You can compare the 2 screen shots for overall fastest laps. E-Fray on the Shamrock Glen After lunch we had 15 racers for the E-Fray race that would be run as one group. The Shamrock Glen is a unique track in that it is L-shaped and the driver stations are located on the outsides of the L, with 2 driver stations on one leg of the L and the other 2 driver stations on the other leg of the L. This results in the racer having 2 very different perspectives of the race track as they rotate from lane to lane. One of the challenging and fun parts of racing in the ECO club is the diversity of race classes and the need for a racer to adjust their driving for these classes. Such was the case with the E-Fray race where the racers went from racing 2 of the slower ECO classes (Hobby Stock and Grand National) to one of the ECO’s fastest classes, E-Fray. So, to get a jump on this race and vie for a podium position, not only does the driver need a good car, but also the ability to quickly adjust ones driving skills. When the dust settled, it was Dave L. taking the checkered flag with 102 laps. Dave was the only racer to break 100 laps. In 2nd was Greg W. with 96 laps/51 sections. 3rd place went to Flash with 96 laps/44 sections. Of note, this was the 3rd race in which Flash got the short end of the stick when finishing with another racer on the same lap, coming up only sections short from moving into a higher finishing position. Rounding out the top half of the field, positions 4th thru 8th were: 4th Jimmy C. (93 laps), 5th Paul R. (92 laps), 6th Jim K. (91 laps/21 sections), 7th Matt G. (91 laps/11 sections), and 8th Terry (89 laps – Just beating out Jimmy Mac by 5 sections). Below are the official results (lap counts and finish positions) and best lap times. Race Results Lap Times Checkered Flag And so ends the last race of the 2024 calendar year. Wow next month will mark the midpoint of the ECO race season. Time flies when you are having fun. Next month/year we’ll be at LenJet for The New Year Challenge on January 18, 2025. We’ll be racing Hobby Stock on the Car Model, E-Fray with E-Fray bodies on the Champion, and Jalopies on the Rolling O (if we can get it to Lenjet) or if not, either the Champion or Car Model. One technical comment since we’ll be racing Hobby Stock the next couple of months (January and February), remember we made a rule change this year that allows spacers on the rear axle (outside of the chassis only). I heard some racers at today’s race say they had forgotten about this rule change. Please check the rule book on the ECO website for details. On behalf of the ECO members, a special Merry Christmas to Peter and a happy, and healthy recovery in the new year. Peter, we are looking forward to seeing you come out to some of the ECO races in the new year. Our thoughts and best wishes are with you this holiday season. As the racers sprang to their ICE sleds, each gave a horn toot and a whistle And away they all drove, like the down of a thistle. But I heard them all exclaim, ere they drove out of sight “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”