USA Race Number Three: Tacoma, Washington!
Thank You!
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With
so many people to thank, we really don't know where to start. The easiest
thing to do is begin with the people that hosted the race and donated
their time and effort to make this a terrific weekend for everybody -
the Fantasy World Toy & Hobby staff and owner! All of the helpers,
in no particular order, are: Dave Kleinman, Rob McElfresh, Mike Crosier,
Doug Smith, Mike
Clifton, Jose Morales, Andrew Tuck, Jon Sterling, Donny Schaff, A.J. Wingerter,
Rodney Clemente, Steve Olsen, Wayne Wong and David Leister. If these guys
hadn't been helping all weekend long, they would have finished much higher
in the standing and made the racing harder on everyone else!
Of course we can't leave out the 120 or so racers that took a whole weekend to come out and race. Without their participation it would have been a very short race program! Racers came from Hawaii, Oregon, all around Washington state, California, Canada and so many other places from near and far!
As usual, Concours Challenge veterans made it REALLY hard on the judges this time around, but only one car could win, and it turned out to be Steve Phemister's Martini Ford Focus! With outstanding competition from Scott Kovalik and Marty Woody, it was a tough choice to make, but it was finally done, just in time for racing to start.
The Pits
No race coverage is complete without a retrospective of the pit areas. With the track surrounded on three sides by the "tent city" it took some effort to capture the racers at work, but here goes:
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Trophy Presentation
Our
Buddy Dave took it upon himself to spring for a trophy presenter, also
known in the parlance of R/C races as the "trophy girl". Manuella
did a great job keeping her cool, surrounded by tired and greasy toy car
racers, so we really have to thank her for her cool under pressure.
Track Teardown
Although nearly all the racers took off after the trophy presentation, we have to thank all those who stuck around to help take the track apart and pull down the driver stand scaffolding. It was a lot of work for everyone that did it, especially after the long weekend, but the area businesses and Our Buddy Dave really appreciated it!
Area Businesses
Without the support and permission of the local businesses, it would just be impossible for Our Buddy Dave to support his racers with a great race program. The businesses noted below are owed a huge debt of gratitude from HPI for allowing the racers to take over their parking for more than two whole days and putting up with nitro fumes and noise!
Jack
in the Box
Lund Floral Services
Round Table Pizza
Purified Water to Go
Hot Rods Galore!
After seeing several hot rods driving around during the second round of qualifying on Saturday, Frank had to ask one of the locals racers about them - it turns out that since Fantasy World normally races on Sundays only, the hot rodders usually hang out in the parking lot where the races take place on Saturdays. Apparently not all of them had been told about the 2-day race, so there were many still hanging out, waiting to find out where to go for the evening. These are most of the cars that showed up.
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More Interesting Photos
This race turned out to be quite the treasure trove of interesting and cool picture opportunities.
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HPI
Superfans
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Many...MANY
slot cars
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The
big slot car track
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Refund
the cat
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Interesting
mix of corporate logos...
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Nice
plate!
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West-SIDE!
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Scott
K's camera car
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Looks
comfy!
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The
Good Humor man
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The
Tacoma Dome
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The Great Pacific Northwest
Although Frank and Steve didn't get a chance to go fishing for steelhead trout or climb Mt. Ranier, it was easy to see how local residents could get into the spirit of the outdoors (at least, once they got off the highway and turned towards the mountains!). With Mt. Ranier looking down on almost the entire area and Mt. Saint Helens about 250 miles away, the "great outdoors" is just a short drive away. Below are two shots of the summit of Mt. Ranier, a 14,000 foot peak, taken from a height of 23,000 feet.
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What a wonderful and exciting weekend! Although the stereotypical hordes of flannel-wearing grunge fans and latte-sipping yuppies were nowhere to be found, the racers at the Pacific Northwest HPI Challenge can't be faulted for enjoying their racing. We hope to make it back up to the area in the coming years, and hope everyone had as good a time as Steve and Frank!
Frank McKinney
Main Page for this race | Concours Challenge | Racing Action!
Check out the Fantasy World Toy and Hobby web site for more photos!