Dum dums??!!

[SuperSlab]

Dum dums are great. But some just seem to think bigger than that. A LOT bigger!

OK, in poker terms: I see your “Those crazy SCC guys” thread and raise you one “That TOTALLY INSANE SCC Canada guy!”

What prompted this? Well, last week I was in the midst of an e-mail thread with Christian from SCCC (is that the right acronym for Slot Car Corner Canada?) when I mentioned that we would be having our annual Vancouver Christmas Bash on Friday Dec 28. This is really the social highlight of our local slot racing calendar and we typically have 30+ guys participate. This year also happened to be a special one: this was the TENTH running of the event.

Christian promptly made a staggering offer: he said he would donate a Racer Sideways Lancia Montecarlo as one of the prizes! See what I mean by "thinking big"?

To say we were dumbfounded would be the understatement of the year! Well, actually, come to think of it: saying that being dumbfounded would be the understatement of the year would probably be the understatement of the year. Well, actually…., OK, never mind: let’s just stop there and say we were totally flabbergasted.

And then, in the best infomercial tradition: but wait, there is more! Shortly after this e-mail he sent an update with a "bad news, good news" message. The bad news was that he would no longer be providing the Lancia. The good news was that he would up the ante to a Racer Sideways JPS Capri!!!!

Oh man: does it ever get better than that?

For us here locally this was the good news: for me and Perry (the race host) the bad news was: how on earth do we do justice to a prize like this???!!!

Fortunately we transitioned straight back into good news again: for slot racers in the Vancouver area, finding a worthy recipient of a prize like this really is a no brainer. And for the non-locals to understand this statement I need to give a bit of background into the Vancouver slot scene.

For us around here, Luf Linkert is really the godfather of slot racing. No: that is not appropriate: the term “godfather” has some negative connotations and that is completely and utterly off the mark in trying to describe Luf. He is really more like our kindly favourite uncle. He is one of those totally selfless, totally friendly, totally knowledgeable, totally nice all round GOOD guy. Some of you may know him as “oldslotracer” on several forums. Some of you may also know him as the father of the modern routed track. Many, many of you would have used his routing kit. Many of you would have seen his website and drooled over some of his unparalleled creations. We are fortunate enough to race on one of his tracks every week. I have got to tell you, from a slot racing perspective it does not get much better than that.

In any case: Luf is the “spiritual leader” of our group: he is the keeper of the e-mail address list, he sends out the twice weekly race notices, he sends out the results, he keeps us all in line, he gets new people into the hobby and gets them insiduously addicted through having them run some of his cars on his track.

So bottom line: deciding on whom should be the recipient of this incredible prize really was a no brainer: Luf was the absolute only person that could be remotely considered.

So the reason for this thread: a double toast:

To Christian of Slot Car Corner Canada for donating an incredible prize: you are a star!!

And then to Luf: the embodiment of the very best in a person and in slot racing and a true ambassador for the hobby. I consider it a singular honour to be able to call you a friend.

Gentlemen: I salute you and thank you.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Great post and I could not agree more.

Luf is a great man who has helped countless guys like us and still does everyday. SALUTE!

Christian, well done sir! What a great prize.

[cgingras]

It was a pleasure for me at Slot Car Corner Canada to participate in this event any way I could. Giving the prize to Luf was a great idea. I am one of the many slot racers that were inspired by his work and tools.

The distance between Québec City and Vancouver is too great for me to be able to meet this great group of racers on a regular basis but you can be sure I'll get there someday to race with Luf, Alwyn and the gang.

Slot racing is the greatest social hobby on this planet. It's always a pleasure for Steve, Dickie and me to share our passion with our customers all over the world.

Have fun in 2013!

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I have a soft spot for all the slot car guys in Canada from my 3 years in London, Ontario back in 1963-66, where the best track in town was in Pete's basement (where his brother and he got into fights over who came in first), and the only commercial track was on the second floor of a dime store downtown. I mention Pete's track because he may still be out there somewhere, and I wish he could see he's remembered. More than anything else, it was Pete and his brother that got me hooked on slot cars. I had HO TJets for a couple of years before, but it was one night at Pete's that brought me into the world of 1/32.