Round Three: South New Jersey

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Hosted by South Jersey Cost-Controlled Racing
and Millville R/C!

Click here for the huge picture!

HPI representatives Fred Williams and Frank McKinney flew across the country from Southern California to Philadelphia International Airport to take part in the third and final regional USA HPI Challenge race of 2003. With just a couple of months before the World Finals in Las Vegas, this was the last chance for racers to qualify for the free trip to race with the best of the best HPI racers from around the world!

Friday August 22nd

Several lightning strikes around the airport slowed down the baggage retrieval, but soon enough we were on the road and on the way across the Walt Whitman Bridge over the Delaware into New Jersey. With the host hotel and the Home Depot race location just half an hour away from the airport, it wasn't a bad drive at all.

The first stop was the track set up by Ray Murray and the racers of the South Jersey Cost Controlled Racing club (the SJCCR). At first glance it appeared to be a permanent track right next to the big Home Depot store in Deptford, New Jersey! A huge covered driver stand contained enough room for 20 racers and a timing tent, plus Astroturf runoff areas on the track with red and white track borders outlined a race track at least 100' x 60' - plenty big for Nitro racing but still very exciting for electric touring cars!

A very impressive site indeed, and there was plenty of room for the 200+ entries we expected. There were already several canopies and pit tables set up, with a few drivers practicing on the track.

The storm that had plaqued the airport earlier, preventing takeoffs and most other outdoor work, was looming just a few miles from the track and was starting to blow hard. Racers took the tops off their canopies to prevent them from blowing over, and by the time the first hard raindrops began to fall nearly all the racers had taken to the safety of their hotel rooms to prepare for the first day of racing, set to begin early Saturday morning.

Saturday, August 23rd

The first day of racing dawned bright and cloud-free, proving The Weather Channel correct with their clear forecast for the opening rounds of racing. Racers started showing up at the track by 6 and 7 AM, however no one was earlier than the SJCCR crew, who showed up at 4 and 5 AM to get the track set up! With such a dedicated crew of racers and volunteers, we were sure that the racing would proceed smooth and trouble-free!

Fred and Frank tried to adjust as quickly as possible to the 3-hour time change and were able to get to the track by 9 AM - plenty of time to field the many questions from racers and start looking over cars.

Eventually the racers were taken off the track and the driver meeting started. Frank went over the rules and expectations, while Ray Murray outlined the tech procedures and race starts. With the questions from racers out of the way, we started right into the Concours Challenge!

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