Michigan 6th annual 24 hour race

[cgingras]

After a looong drive home, some sleep, trying to catch up on things at work, at home and at SCCC, I now have a few minutes to thank everyone for this truly fantastic racing weekend. We always look forward to the fun and the friends much more than the racing. And we're never disappointed.

I don't want to just repeat all that's been said but I really am impressed at the way this race is organized. A LOT of work has to be done behind the scenes for this to go smoothly and many people participate. To everyone that helped, a big THANK YOU. To all drivers that have to cope with our french accent all weekend, thank you.

Team Quick Slicks beat us last year and we had to come back strong to bring back the trophy to the Northeast. Mike just did a stellar job of building those cars, we'll never say it enough. He's the best car builder out there and it's an honor to be able to help him bring those cars to victory. It's an even bigger honor to be able to call him a friend. Team Slot Car Corner is really about team spirit and helping and respecting each other every step of the way. And I'm proud to be part of it. Kurt, Steve, Mike, Georges and Bob, thank you.

To all Quick Slicks drivers, kudos for a well-fought race until the end. You never gave up and without the heroic drive from Steve in Heat 35, a win was in the cards for you again this year. It's a real pleasure to race with you. The racing is serious and fierce but once the controller is down, it's just fun, fun and fun!

To all other teams, despite the car problems everyone had, nobody gave up until the end and the battle for 4th place was very exciting to follow until the end of the race.

I can't wait to go back next year!

[cgingras]

[cgingras]

For those who want to study the data of the race, here's the official spreadsheet and the Race Coordinator data, with EVERY lap in there. All 65,866 of them!!

Michigan 24 - 2016.xlsx
Michigan 24 - 2016 - Lap Data.xls

Just for fun, we have estimated that a rear wheel will make around 8 million (!!) rotations during the entire race (not counting preparation and practice). When we say that a race like this is a test of man and machine, we really mean it. The bushings, axles, gears, tires, wheels, etc. have to be perfectly aligned and perfectly tuned to be able to go to the end of the race without any problems. And this is how Slot Car Corner and Slot Car Corner Canada test the products we sell. In the real world.

[Rleog]

Thanks for the closing comments, Mike and Christian. You've been in an epic event that all participants and particularly the organizers should be proud to have completed.

It's interesting to look through some of the data and notice how close much of the racing was. Many thanks, Christian, for making the data and pictures available. I hope to be a participant next year.

Bob G.

:text-bravo:
:text-coolphotos:

[Audi1]

Team Changing Gearz had a great time at our first Michigan 24 Enduro race!

We learned a lot about what it takes to build a competitive cars and we received a lot of help from some of the other teams. I can only echo what Mark said about competitors helping each other in this event. When Friday came and we discovered small slices in three separate sets of tires that we had trued for our car, we were feeling a little low, but we got a big helping hand from Team SCC and raced the entire event on tires that had been trued by Mike (Smokeio). We won't forget that, for sure.

We also really enjoyed meeting the other teams. Sometimes on slot car boards you can get an idea of the people who are posting based on what they say, but there is no substitute for putting a face to a name and being able to spend some time talking face-to-face with people that share your passion for slot car racing. We met great people from all the teams, heard some good stories and we learned a lot in the process.

A big thank you to Mike Stott and his family for running this event, opening up their house to a crew of 30+ people, feeding us and a myriad of other things. :text-bravo:

And a special thanks also to teammates Art Roberts and Matt Goodnight ("Michigan Matt"), who really gave our MA-based team a boost; some great driving from both of them in the red and white lanes, heat after heat. Marshalling in "the hole" to the right of the control station, I can only say that Art drove our car "at the limit" every lap!

We look forward to next year and seeing everyone again! Thanks again for inviting us to this event.

Allan, Ernie and Matt

[ElSecundo]

[cgingras]

Love this pic. Priceless! :lol:

[Smokeio]

First things first…. I’m disappointed that no race participants were able to meet the toilet challenge. At no time during the event did I hear “ THE TOILET IS PLUGGED. IT’S OVERFLOWING!!!!”. I had a race prepared car that I was ready to hand out to the winner but no one was able to plug the toilet. Maybe next year?

My proudest moment of the race is when I beat Jason in the “Pit Stop” contest! :banana-dance:

As always this is a great event that’s well organized. There’s always plenty of food and whatever else someone may need during the 3 day ordeal. Thanks to Mike Stott for putting on the event and the rest of the gang for helping. Craig, please make sure you thank your wife and daughter for “catering” the food. It was outstanding.
:text-thankyouyellow:
My hat is off to the Quick Slicks team. You guys had a great race and raced us hard to the end. I believe this is a premier racing event and teams like yours (and the rest of the teams) help to set the standards high.

As Kurt mentioned, this is a tough event that takes a toll on you. I want to apologize as I know I was a little cranky Sunday morning and was ready to pack up my controller and go home I was so tired!

This event continues to change and evolve. As competitive as it is, I would classify this more as an overnight party where we decided to hold a slot car race. I think I had more fun and laughs hanging out in the pits! Congratulations to all of the competitors on an outstanding race. I look forward to seeing everyone again.

[ElSecundo]

[Pappy]

Bring on the Metamucil. :banana-dance:

[cgingras]

Where's Dickie? We have some avatars to show him... :auto-driving:

[nhdungeonracer]

I'm here, and it's about time the rest of you SCC guys (except Georges) got the "5" hand. I've had it for over a year now.... :lol: (admittedly, through a big effort from the Atlanta guys)
Having said that, can you say you got 5 wins AND beat the SCC team as well? Pretty sure I'm the only one who can lay claim to that!! :lol: (again-thanks to the Atlanta guys!!)

In all seriousness now, it appears from reading the reports, it was a good close race at the end, and I can only imagine how nervous you SCC guys were with Team QS so close on your heels going into the last heat. For me watching, it was hard to choose which team to root for, as both teams were great to be a part of in the past.

To Kurt... you ran pretty good in the "my" red lane, and even turned in a 402 lap heat as well. Congrats on that! Getting 400 laps is not an easy feat, and to the best of my knowledge, only 5 or 6 (maybe 7?) guys have accomplished that there at this race. So you're now in (ahem :roll: ) good company... :lol: For sure, it's a feat to be proud of! :auto-checkeredflag:

Did I miss being there? In many ways, I sure did.... I know I certainly missed getting the big hug from Jenny... :happy-jumpeveryone:

Will I return next year to go for #6? Most likely, no... But then, I am going to the Montreal 12 hour this July, so who knows what April 2017 will bring?

For sure, I am proud to share the "5" hand with Christian, Steve and Mike (Georges will have to wait for at least another year :lol:). One things for sure, these 24 hour races are not about individual efforts, but about team efforts. I've just been lucky to be part of 2 great teams who have participated in this event along with 6 or 7 other great teams (in another words-all the other great people on all the other teams in this event) :auto-driving:

To the Changing Gearz team, well done for your 1st time there. I can only imagine the look on your faces when you saw how fast the cars were going on this track. I'm thinking there's a couple of dents on the concrete floor from where your chins hit it so hard when you saw how fast this track is :lol:

Congrats to everyone who participated in the 6th annual event here, and especially to the Cloverleaf guys who had a hand in pulling this event off (yes, even you, Mike Stott :lol:)

[Smokeio]

Dickie, We did miss you and Robin at the event. Not the same when I have no one to ask what time it is. No, we can't say we beat Slot Car Corner but we can say we beat Team Quick Slicks (which in my opinion is a big accomplishment) and we won the closest 24 hours race in the history of slot car racing and where a great deal of money was raised for charity! :D
:banana-dance:

And no, we weren't nervous. Not at all.... I had the last heat of the race for us and I was up against Jason. Christian comes up to me to give me a 5 page debrief about where we were in relationship to Team Quick Slicks, what lap times I needed to run, Etc, Etc, Etc,. I held up my hand and told him I don't want to know. Just let me run my heat and don't tell me a thing!

[Mark]

Dickie, we tried to maintain you as the only person that can claim "5", but we had no chance the way Mike was swinging in that last heat.

[SlotCarCorner]