Everything is Fast in So Cal...

The Very First SO CAL SLOT (Sort of) CAR RACING 

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.

Oscar "Big O" Morales - R.I.P.

It is with great sadness that I bring this news.  Our longtime SCHOR racing buddy, Oscar Morales aka: "Big O" and "Bugman" passed away at his home this past Wednesday evening.  Oscar was a true character, a little gruff on the outside, but a genuine friend and a truly nice and very funny man. He grew up slot racing in L.A. and could talk for hours about the cars, tracks, racers and history of both the HO and 24th scale So Cal slot car scene.  He was at the "Big Shot" race just two weeks ago laughing, racing, and having a good time. SCHOR and all of slot racing just won't be the same without him.

R.I.P.  Oscar

SCRRA Racing at BPR

SCHOR Racer and true Slot Car Legend - John "The Jet" Cukras is now running and racing in the SCRRA (Southern Califonia Retro Racing Association).  This is some very cool slot racing that features slot cars based on the "Retro" designs from the hey-day of serious slot racing.  Many of the great old slot racers of those early times have come back out and are building and racing again along with him.  Check out SCRRA, you don't want to miss it. 

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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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"



The latest 24th scale Slot Car from John Cukras...

Cukra's -  McLaren Can Am  for D3

John Cukras and I were exchanging emails a few days ago, and right after we completed our discussions about HO slot cars he sent me these cool photos of his latest 24th scale creation that he built last Thursday.

John "The Jet" Cukras - SCHOR's "Legend"

The other day I came across this article on the Slot Car Museum website.  It's about The Legend himself, SCHOR's own - Mr. John Cukras.  A lot of racers (especially younger ones) don't realize it, but John "The Jet" Cukras, our SCHOR buddy who we race with all the time is a true legend in the overall slot car racing world.  Not only did he design the recently released and very popular Tomy/AFX MEGA-G car,  he also designed the original Aurora G-Plus car, and tons of other slotcar stuff.  But he is even more famous in the 24th scale world for kickin' serious butt "back in the day" on slot tracks nationwide.  And for his amazing hand-built chassis and the signature Mura Motors that he developed.

Check it out...

Slot Car Museum

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

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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)

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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)

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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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