The PDR hosted a few recent racers!
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 4:11 pmA long time ago, in a resin filled basement not so far away - I met a slot car friend on the internet just as most of us have. Chet (red73mustang) and I have been friends since about 2006 when he began buying my resin kits. Just for the record, he hasn’t actually completed ANY of them, but that is another story for another time . Chet lives in New Jersey, where he sits in the comfort of his automobile wondering where the mandatory gas station attendant actually puts the gas in…
A few weeks ago, Chet was able to visit the PDR for a very brief time. The plan was to catch up on things, race, go to a local car museum, and if time permitted – get over to the Air Force Academy for a VIP tour from my future Son-in-Law.
A few days before Chet arrived, I was contacted from Chris W. in MN – he’s one of the awesome guys in the club there that I have the pleasure of racing with regularly. It turns out he was going to be in town on the same night that Chet arrived, so the three of us raced late into the evening. Chris is a very good driver and with 5 minute heats per lane including fuel stops on the Race Coordinator system – well a lot of fun and close racing was had. Classic Nincos, vintage F1/GP, Trans-Am, Can-Am – we ran them all!
Friday dawned and I took Chet to the AFA Visitor Center for a bit and then we met the FSIL for the tour. We were escorted to see the dorms, some classes, the Center for Character and Leadership Development, Arnold Hall, and the LABS! Not only did we get to see some cutting edge 3D printing and scanning they do, but their drone swarms, autonomous flying wings, the robotics lab, and their virtual reality lab. The entire tour was awesome, but the VR stuff was simply amazing. The FSIL put me in the middle of a Star Wars game and that was a blast in VR!
We finished the day back at the house, racing and fixing a few of Chet’s projects he brought with him.
Saturday we drove to Boulder, CO and visited the Shelby American Collection. For the uninitiated, this is a treasure trove of all things Shelby. From Pete Brock’s Shelby-ized Shop Ford Falcon Panel Wagon to the brand-new Ford GT that just crossed the Barrett-Jackson auction block at $2.5 million – the museum is a must-see.
Chet is no fair-weather fan either – his daughter’s name is Shelby and he had this tattoo done years ago:
Sadly, it was all over too quickly and Chet stole whatever kits he could stash in his bag and returned to his home in New Jersey. Sadly, I was never able to show him how to properly put gasoline into a vehicle…
Oh, and BBQ was involved - we took him to Rudy’s where he got a smoked potato the size of a baby:
A few weeks ago, Chet was able to visit the PDR for a very brief time. The plan was to catch up on things, race, go to a local car museum, and if time permitted – get over to the Air Force Academy for a VIP tour from my future Son-in-Law.
A few days before Chet arrived, I was contacted from Chris W. in MN – he’s one of the awesome guys in the club there that I have the pleasure of racing with regularly. It turns out he was going to be in town on the same night that Chet arrived, so the three of us raced late into the evening. Chris is a very good driver and with 5 minute heats per lane including fuel stops on the Race Coordinator system – well a lot of fun and close racing was had. Classic Nincos, vintage F1/GP, Trans-Am, Can-Am – we ran them all!
Friday dawned and I took Chet to the AFA Visitor Center for a bit and then we met the FSIL for the tour. We were escorted to see the dorms, some classes, the Center for Character and Leadership Development, Arnold Hall, and the LABS! Not only did we get to see some cutting edge 3D printing and scanning they do, but their drone swarms, autonomous flying wings, the robotics lab, and their virtual reality lab. The entire tour was awesome, but the VR stuff was simply amazing. The FSIL put me in the middle of a Star Wars game and that was a blast in VR!
We finished the day back at the house, racing and fixing a few of Chet’s projects he brought with him.
Saturday we drove to Boulder, CO and visited the Shelby American Collection. For the uninitiated, this is a treasure trove of all things Shelby. From Pete Brock’s Shelby-ized Shop Ford Falcon Panel Wagon to the brand-new Ford GT that just crossed the Barrett-Jackson auction block at $2.5 million – the museum is a must-see.
Chet is no fair-weather fan either – his daughter’s name is Shelby and he had this tattoo done years ago:
Sadly, it was all over too quickly and Chet stole whatever kits he could stash in his bag and returned to his home in New Jersey. Sadly, I was never able to show him how to properly put gasoline into a vehicle…
Oh, and BBQ was involved - we took him to Rudy’s where he got a smoked potato the size of a baby: