EL Cajon Raceway has closed...

ECR

Slot car tracks are a lot of fun when they're open!  But unfortunately, the one thing that you can eventually expect is that they will have to shut down.  El Cajon Raceway (ECR) has been around for few years as a 24th scale shop, and they only started racing HO in the middle of last year.  But unfortunately at the end of this past April they had to close. So as they say: "Another one bites the dust".  It was fun while it lasted, and Tim the owner had recently installed two very nice custom HO Tracks, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.  So all I can say is when you come across a nice slot car shop you should enjoy it, appreciate it, and support it or it probably won't be around for very long.  Nobody expects to get rich running a slot car venue, they're usually doing it out of love of the hobby and a desire to create a solid steady "Racing Scene".  But rent, utilities, and insurance costs money, and unless a shop receives good support from racers, the chances are high that it won't be around very long.

Bowman 4x16

SCHOR Enduro on the KATZ-SPA-RING is coming...

SCHOR

6 HOUR TEAM ENDURO RACE

Saturday June 20th

on the World Famous 

 KATZ-SPA-RING

Featuring: Spec - built...

VIPER V1 "Enduro Super Stock" Daytona Prototype Cars

with Custom painted DPT bodies by Jim Williams

The World Famous KATZ-SPA-RING  

 At 33 feet long by 10 feet wide it is one of the largest HO Slot car tracks ever built. 

And considering the high level of craftsmanship, realism, and detail, it is arguably the 

"GREATEST HO SLOT CAR TRACK IN THE WORLD".  

---

hoparts@cox.net 

for more infomation 

First Video from the HO SLOT CAR SPEED SHOP

A few minutes of video from the SCHOR 2014 Super Stock Main Event at the all new HO Slot Car Speed Shop in San Diego.  Finalist are Ben "The Viper" Vasquez, Eddie "The Snake" Torres, "Fast Phil" Walleck, and Gary "Too Fast" Morgan.

The new HO SLOT CAR SPEED SHOP in San Diego

Morgan's HO Slot Car Speed Shop

aka: Kensington Speedway - Again!

HO Racing is finally back in San Diego!  There hasn't been a place to race HO slot cars with a high quaility track in for 17 years, but it has now return with this cozy little shop.  Gary Morgan last had the "Kensington Speedway" back in 1997.  Now fast-forward to 2014 and he's opened his "HO SLOT CAR SPEED SHOP" on the east end of Mission Valley not far from Qualcomm stadium.  It features a super-fast, custom, Cronin built "BP-1 Engleman" track with TrakMate timing.   The new Speed Shop is all about fast, fun, high-quaility HO racing.  Morgan builds custom slot cars, offers advise, and carries lots of high performance HO cars and HO racing parts.  But what the Speed Shop is really all about is racing, racing, and more HO racing. 

For more info about the
Slot Car Speed Shop 
Contact Gary at: 

hoparts@cox.net

San Diego's Finest, and Fastest...

 

Tim Bunch, Bob Thurman, Leroy Vega, Art Tarver, Tom Snedon and Neil Kuhns.

Not too long ago there was a gathering of some of San Diego's finest, fastest, and okay oldest (LOL) slot racers. This rare group of real fast guys from the gold era of San Diego slot racing got together to trade stories and reminisce about past slot car adventures.  I remember racing Group 20 way back in 73 and 74 with Rene Romero, Bob Johannes, Dennis "Foamy" Hill and all of these guys on the big Engleman at the old Armed Services YMCA in downtown San Diego.  These were the fast guys, and many a weekend they'd jump into a car or two and make the 100+ mile trek up to LA for some real hard-core racing against the slot car legends in Long Beach, LA, and the OC.  It's kinda funny now because I never rode up with them to race way back then (I did go up once see the Can-Am cars at Riverside in 74), but now - many years later I find myself driving to LA almost once a month for that very same reason - except now I'm going to race Super-Fast HO cars with one of their old rivals - John "The Jet" Cukras and batch of other fast HO racers in LA.

Race Results: Results: SCHOR 2012 Race #2

John Cronin dominates Rookie Hardbody and Amateur Super Stock

Ben podiums 4 times and edges out Dan to win in Pro Hardbody

Mark "MRT" MacVittie blister's the entire field in Pro Super Stock

Dan wins big in Pro Modified.

Eddie "The Snake" snatches a close one in NEO

.............................

The St. Patricks Day SCHOR race of 2012 will long be remember as one of the wettest race days in SCHOR history.  Our race host Dan Cronin was as prepard as any good race host could be for the stormy weather, but the wind and rain was determined and we battled mother nature all day long.  In spite of the weather challenges we had a great turn-out which produced some great (slightly wet) HO racing.



Katz Spa Ring - First Race of 2012 in So Cal...

HO racing in 2012 will start off the year in style with the first big So Cal race being held this January 21st on the world famous Katz Spa Ring (KSR). Most people know the story (click here if you don't) of this amazing HO Slot car track, but very few outside of the San Francisco Bay Area have ever had a chance to race on it. The KSR is now located in Southern California at slot track builder Brad Bowman's place in Escondido. This video footage is from the first So Cal gathering that Brad held this past August. As you can see the KSR an is awesome and unique track with great rhythm and is a blast to drive.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE KSR VIDEOS

Gary Cleverley - R.I.P.

It is with great sadness that I write this post.  I recently learned that Gary Cleverley passed away on December 10, 2011 which was his 59th birthday.  Gary was a one of a kind guy who lived life at a speed that most of us can only imagine.  To his friends he was a wild and crazy fun guy who love to go fast!   

Gary was a pioneer in the San Diego County slot car racing scene.  He first had "LeMan's Raceway" (photos here), a big 24th scale commercial raceway in the Vista/San Marcos area.  Later, in 1993 he introduce everyone in San Diego County to serious HO magnet racing when he opened "HO Racing and Hobbies" (see video below) in Sorrento Valley.  He brought in 3 custom Bucktrax from Scale Auto in Seattle, installed an HO dragstrip on one wall, and taught many of us the nuances of real HO slot racing.  Gary C. was friendly and helpful to his customers, and fun and generous to his friends. 



Cleverley's Prowler

He was always laughing and joking about something, and he always had a cool fast car including a couple of Plymouth/Chrysler Powlers.  After he got out of slot racing he became a very active member of The Prowler Owners Association (a lot more info here) .   Gary Cleverley will be missed.

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Fall Season Warm up Race at Dan's

Here in So Cal, it appears that we've gone from a racing drought to a deluge of races in just a few months.  SCHOR will be starting back up this September in Los Angeles, and Dan Cronin is getting the racing going big-time at the CSR in Escondido.  Dan will be hosting a serious race on his all new Scorpion "Stinger" track this coming August 27th.  There will be fast and furious racing in 5 classes including  Tyco 10 volt, Tyco Modified along with 3 SCHOR classes: Hardbody, Super Stock, and Modified.

"The Stinger"

Track will open at 8 am, Racing starts around Noon.

Saturday August 27th
FALL SEASON - WARM UP RACE
Dan Cronin's CSR Raceway
(4x14 Custom - Scorpion "Stinger")
  MODIFIED, SUPER STOCK, HARDBODY, TYCO 10V & MOD

327 Brotherton Square  Escondido, CA 92025 (760) 580-7533


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The KSR: Our HO Racing dream has come true!

It started out as So Cal gossip, then it became a rumor, and it is now a fact that our HO Slot Car Racing dream has come true!

The World Famous KATZ-SPA-RING is now up and running in Southern California.  At 33 feet long by 10 feet wide it is one of the largest HO Slot car tracks ever built.  And considering the high level of craftmanship, realism, and detail, it is most likely the GREATEST HO SLOT CAR TRACK IN THE WORLD.   Lucky us, cause this wonder of a slot track is now located only 30 miles north of San Diego in the town of Escondido, CA.

"Click photo to enlarge"

Yep, Brad Bowman and some fellow HO racers put in a ton of hard work to move this amazing track 500 miles, reassemble it, and bring it back to life! 

And now the for the VERY BEST NEWS:  Brad is hosting the first race on the KSR at it's new home this coming Saturday August 6, 2011.

Some of you may not know the cool and amazing, yet sad story behind the Katz-Spa-Ring. If you don't you may want to check out this video below. (The original copy of this video was taken off You Tube due to some kind of legal B.S..  But this copy is from Japan, so I guess they can't sue em over there!)

RACING THIS SATURDAY

"Run what you brung", but nothing faster than a Super Stock.
Track opens at 10 AM - Mickey's IROC races start around 2 PM

AUGUST 6, 2011

BRAD BOWMAN'S

KATZ-SPA-RING

1028 Gamble Lane, Escondido, CA
"click for map"



"Click photo to enlarge"



So Cal HO Slot Racing is back on Track/s...

HO track drought ends...

Well it actually never really left!  So... after a brief shortage of places to race HO in Southern California.  I am officially announcing here and now that the So Cal HO Track racing drought is officially over!  Yep, and that's because we now have yet ANOTHER brand new track in So Cal, and this one is definitely for SCHOR type magnet racing.  New SCHOR racer Dan Cronin has stepped up to the plate with this brand new awesome version of a classic HO Scorpion track that he calls "The Stinger".  This sweet and fast 4'x14' four lane number is the most recent product of the dynamic HO track creation duo of Scott Dunlap and Ty Brittain

"The Stinger"

Racing starts at the end of this month! 

And to kick off the racing on the "Stinger" in style

Saturday July 30th

Dan is having a track-opening and barbeque 

 Track will be available to play on starting at 10 am,
and Dan will start grilling at 1 pm.
Everybody's welcome to drop by and check it out.

  
Dan Cronin's CSR Raceway
(4x14 Custom - Scorpion "Stinger")

327 Brotherton Square  Escondido, CA 92025

HO Slot Racing at Ty's - IKEA

A Wednesday night HO Race with AFX/AW Ford Pick-up trucks using 4 Gear NEO magnet chassis on the IKEA Raceway in San Diego.

New Track in Escondido, CA - CFR Raceway...

Since this post was first done Dan has made a serious track upgrade. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LATEST CHANGES TO THE CFR RACEWAY

There's a new track in Escondido. The CFR Raceway.  CFR was built by it's owner Dan Cronin.  SCHOR Racer  Len "Lenny Kravitz" Pinkus is now the proud owner of this cool little track, and it is now located at Lenny's place in Murrietta, CA.  Dan has been racing HO Slot cars on and off for a few years.  He actually got his first exposure to HO back in the mid ninties on the big Riverside Bucktrax (Eddie's track) at Gary Cleverley's HO Racing and Hobbies in San Diego (Sorrento Valley). 

The long lines at IKEA...

IKEA Raceway

It looks like they are already lining up for the big race Wednesday
(11/10/10 @ 7p) at IKEA Raceway's new
Scripps Ranch location.

And rumor has it that the famous "Racin' Grannies" might even show.





IKEA Speedway - CINCO DE MAYO "Beer Racing"

There may not be a lot of slot car racing in San Diego, but what is here might just be the best (okay, the most fun) in So Cal.  Yep, it's Wednesday night "beer racing" at the IKEA SPEEDWAY.

The first race of the season took place very appropriately on Cinco de Mayo 2010 (that's Wednesday May 5th for the unenlightened), which means that things are really just getting started.  But we've already seen some of the usual San Diego HO Slot-head suspects show up.  Racers like Cheatin'-Lite,  Daddy-O, Too-Fast, Iron Man, Guh-Paul, Supra, Kenworth-Tibby and of course our host, Rasta-Man.  There was even a phone call from the infamous "Z-Racer", and a recent email from our expat slot-comrade down under, Baron von StinkEye.

They race everything at the IKEA Speedway, and I mean EVERYTHING! 

This past session featured IROC racing with:

JL T-Jet 500 Batmobiles, 

Auto World X-Traction Jeeps,

Tyco Mattel Twin Mill 440-X2s,

IKEA SPEEDWAY NASCAR NASTYTRAINS 

THE BIG SHOP - San Diego

Although it no longer exists, you can’t really talk about HO racing in So Cal without mentioning the infamous Big Shop. The Big Shop was owned and operated by custom bike and hot rod builder (among other things) Dennis “What da” Tate. It featured a 4-lane, 68 foot custom Tomy/AFX track, that was epoxy painted, with continuous rails, and LaneMaster timing. This track was designed and built by Gene "Rasta-Man" Bellegarde.  The Big Shop played host to a number of very big races from around 1996 thru 2002 including the famous “Race a Rama”, and both SCHOR and Speed Merchants series races. Every class was run at the Big Shop at one time or another: Box Stocks, Super Stocks, Nas-Trucks, Modifieds, R/Os, and it hosted some incredible NEO races, we even raced T-jets on it. An who could forget Dennis’ famous pool parties. Fast HO racing, barbeque, and a dip in the pool - those really were the days...

Click here to check out VIDEO of NEO racing at the Big Shop:

 

 FYI: The Big Shop’s "Banjo" track lives on to this day in Arizona as “The Glenn”.

It has been revitalized and is now owned by Glenn "Mr. Speed" Goodyear.

International Slot Car Raceway at the Armed Services YMCA - Downtown San Diego

Probably the most well known and longest standing Slot Car Raceway in the history of San Diego was the big and super-fast 220 Engleman track located in Downtown San Diego at the Armed Services YMCA.   It opened around 1966 and continued to operate into the 1980's.  It was originally known as the "International Raceway Center", but the name was changed around 1971 to "San Diego Model Raceway" when it was taken over by the late Rene' Romero. Rene' was a wonderful and friendly guy who was the ultimate hobbist (slot racing, RC cars, photography and more) and was also a great track owner who kept this raceway going for quite a long time.  Some of the So Cal slot racers who "back in the day" called this track home include: Art Tarver, Dennis "Foamy" Hill, Leroy Vega, Bob Johannes, Tim Bunch, G Morgan, Jaime, and many many others.

Vintage Engleman Track at the San Diego YMCA

Slot Car History : San Diego - 1964 & 1965

=========================================================

Slot racing in San Diego started to take hold in or around 1963 or so.  This copy of the Pacific Telephone Yellow pages is from 1964, but the ads would have designed been ordered the year before. 

Below in the Hobby section we can see that Lee's Hobbycrafts at 54th and El Cajon Boulevard offered a 90 foot track and featured "SLOT CAR RACING" on Friday nights.  I hear that there was also a big Figure 8 track at ToyCo in downtown San Diego on 12th Ave, but there is no ad for that here. 

1.  Lee's Hobbycrafts

1964 Pacific Bell Yellow Pages
  
(click pic for close up)

***************************************************************

In the following year (1965) you can see that there were several more places offering Slot Car Tracks and parts as the hobby began to establish itself. 

So now we have:
 

1.  Al's Speedway on Adam's Avenue in Normal Heights; 

2.  Arch's Hobbies in Hillicrest 

3.  Arch's Hobbies on 54th St and El Cajon Blvd. (they took over Lee's Hobbycraft)

4.  Hal's Bike and Hobby Shop in the Clairemont Quad. 

5.  North Park Hobby Shop on 30th street.

6.  San Diego Model Raceways in La Mesa

1965 Pacific Bell Yellow Pages

(click pics for close up)

***************************************************************

Slot Car History : San Diego - 1966

The year is 1966... 
Slot Car Racing is taking hold all across America - and San Diego is no exception.

Since just last year (1965) an additional 10 Slot car tracks have popped up across the city.
In the telephone books HOBBY SECTION we now also have:

 7.  Hobby Stop Uptown with Slot Racing Supplies

 8.  South Clairemont Model Raceway

 9.  Sunset Cliffs Model Raceway

But there is also now a separate section in the telephone book called
SLOT CAR RACE COURSES, and here we see...

10. Allied Model Car Raceways on Waring Rd.

11. El Cajon Road Runner on East Main

12. Hobbies Unlimited on Euclid

13. Home Model Racing Center Opens with 2 huge tracks

14. International Raceway Center at the Armed Services YMCA

15. Le Mans Miniature has a track at 54th and University

16. Sunset Cliffs Model Raceway in the OB / Pt Loma area.

1966 Pacific Bell Yellow Pages

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