Featured Racers

Featured Racer : Chuck Hendricks

This has been a long time coming, and to be quite frank, it kind of hurts to give this guy the credit he is about to receive.  That's OK though, with his dementia he won't know if it really happened or he just thought it did.  That's right, the Featured Racer for this month is none other than my brother, Chuck Hendricks of Madison, MS.

Chuck Hendricks - Featured Racer - October, 2018

So, why would I honor him in this way?  He probably won't consider it an honor, only a past due credit that should be given his way.  You see, Chuck has this massive ego.  His ego is so large he thinks he can make everyone's cars faster than his own and still out-drive them.  The problem here is, he actually does help other people with their cars.  In some cases, he actually works on their cars until they are faster than his.  He then has to work on his own more to pick up a little more speed.  But, even if he can't match the speed of the car he worked on, he WILL just out-drive them.

Racing at the local track in his area, Charlie's Garage, he holds most of the track records.  He will also always be found ready to help others right up until race time.  Even the owner of the track has been known to send his cars home with Chuck to try to get them handling better and pick up speed.  Chuck has been referred to as a cheater by some.  The problem is these people were just calling him this because they couldn't figure out how to make their own cars faster.  I guess they were just envious of him and his abilities and were too proud to ask for help.

Chuck started racing slot cars on a home track back in the late '50s.  He ran on his first commercial track about the age of 16 or 17.  His first actual opportunity to race on a commercial track came at the age of 20 or 21.  He fell in love with racing slot cars and quickly became one of the fastest, if not the fastest, at the track.  I know this because I was there.  This was rather crude racing by today's standards.  The track was an old American Raceways King.  It had the old transformers for power and the overhead lap counter.  Races were held by people choosing what lane they would race on and running for X number of minutes counting the total laps on that one lane only.  Later, another primitive track would open.  It had an old American Orange and the race procedure was pretty much the same.  The next track he spent a significant amount of time on was the first modern track set-up we had seen in the area.  It was a Blue King with the 4 1/2" spacing instead of the old 4"spacing.  It also had a modern lap counting system with marine batteries for power instead of weak transformers.  Here, he once again went to the front of the pack in racing.  It was also his first opportunity to run wire chassis with wing bodies.  It was like a dope addict sitting in front of a bag of heroin.  He couldn't help himself and he learned more and more about racing and working on cars, eventually moving into the International 15 class and dominating as one of the fastest in that class as well.

Chuck now races twice a week at Charlie's Garage in Pearl, MS and as often as he can at Dungeon Raceway in Prattville, AL.  He has not learned to dominate at Dungeon Raceway yet, but he has moved up in the field of racers to be a challenger.

So, why go on about a guy who currently is the big dog only at his local track?  It is because of his constant efforts to help others become better racers.  He works on cars for others to help them, but he also tries to show them what he is doing so they can work on their cars better themselves.  He is one of the better people I know with a soldering iron and he is always willing to help others improve their skills there as well.  He also will stand trackside and help others learn how to drive better giving tips about when to brake and how much throttle to use coming out of the turns, etc....  His efforts there have helped as much, if not more, than his mechanical skills.  Why talk about Chuck?  I guess it is because he is good for the hobby of slot car racing.  He is one of these guys who puts others racing and their racing needs before his own needs.  He promotes the local track even if something has happened to frustrate him.  He was once banned from the local track for a couple months because he made a comment about there being a problem with the computer... and he still promoted the track during this period.  By the way, there WAS a problem with the computer.  How important is Chuck to that local track?  During the time when he was banned, the track only had enough people to race about 50% of the time.  Was that because of Chuck not being there?  We cannot say for sure, but when you can't even get 6 cars to race half the time, something is wrong.  You can say for sure though, Chuck is important to the local racing.  Without him, the racing would not be at the level it is now at Charlie's Garage.

Chuck also has a facebook page that is well worth visiting.  Rocking Chair Racers on facebook has many posts about the work he is doing on his cars as well as the races at the tracks he goes to.  You can find a link to Rocking Chair Racers towards the bottom of the right column on Slots New?  Chuck is also currently doing a fine job writing the race results posted in Slots New? for Charlie's Garage.

Oh, Chuck, you do remember "Rocking Chair Racers" was a name I came up with.  Don't you?  Or is your dementia making you think you came up with that name?

 Featured Racer : Red Valantine

Red Valantine

Red Valantine - Featured Racer - August 2017

Red Valantine has a story much like many slot racers.  He started, he quit, he started again, he quit, and then he started again.  The amount of success Red has had is something that legends could be made of though.  On the other hand, his success is no different than many people who race just because they love racing.  I guess his successful stature probably comes mostly from his confidence and his ability to race at many different levels.

At the age of 12 he started racing slot cars.  He raced for 4 years until he got his drivers license.  Once he had his drivers license his mind turned to the things most young men think about and he left slot car racing behind.  In 1971 he started racing again in Bell Flower, California.  He had a great deal of success at this track having won his first race there.  He was sponsored by his local slot car track and he traveled to many tracks in the Los Angeles area racing and representing his home track.  After a year of this he was once again distracted.  This time by a motorcycle.  The bike took first place in his heart and slot car racing once again was set aside.

Many of us have gone for years without racing only to start back when a track opens.  Red was away from slot car racing until about 2010.  At this point he heard about Dungeon Raceway in Prattville, AL.  He made the trip from Tuskegee, AL to Prattville, AL to visit this track and meet owner Billy Watson.  Billy loaned him a car to play with and he was hooked again. Since Billy did not have any cars to sell, Red found out about a track at La Grange, GA.  This track was owned by Steve and Shirley Harrington who are still actively involved in slot car racing today.  At the track in La Grange, GA, Red continued his winning ways in his very first race.  I guess once a slot racer, always a slot racer.

Today sees Red racing on a regular basis at Heart of Dixie Raceway in Talledega, AL and at Dungeon Raceway in Prattvelle, AL.  He has also raced at Peach Tree City outside Atlanta, and the Vipers Pit in Thomasville, GA.  The most difficult race he can remember came about at the Vipers Pit.  The year was 2011 and the Flexi Car Nats were being held at Thomasville.  He left his home at 3:00 in the morning to drive to the Vipers Pit for the racing.  The races lasted all day and the final race was being held at 11:00 that night.  It was in this last race where Red had his problems.  The class was a Flexi Class using 16D motors and Nascar bodies.  He stated that he just couldn't get around the donut for some reason.  Let's see... maybe it was exhaustion.

When asked what his favorite track he ever raced on was, he said it was the King track at Peach Tree City.  The classes you may see Red racing in depending upon where he is racing are Wing class, Retro, DTM, JK Cup (Prattville), GTP, Flexi Nascar, FCR, and Dirt Late Model.  He enjoys racing on both road courses and ovals, but thinks he prefers road courses slightly.

Having raced on a number of tracks and being successful at most of them, he was posed with the following question.  What do you first do to prepare yourself at a new track?  His response was that he starts practicing on the most difficult lanes the track has.  His thought process is that if he can handle the most difficult lanes, he will be able to handle the others.

When asked if he planned to race at any Nats in the future he said that he prefers racing with friends and not traveling a long distance any more.

Warning...If you go to Prattville, AL to race you will have to contend against him in most races.  If you go to Talledega to race, you will most likely be just outrun by him.  What I have seen is that he seems to dominate most of the classes at Heart of Dixie Raceway.  You will recognize him when you see him at a track.  If you see someone driving a slot car the way Ray Charles played a piano, it will be him.

Featured Racer : Bobby Shivers

Bobby Shivers of Clinton, MS certainly is not the greatest, nor the most experienced slot racer around. So, why make him the Racer of the Month? The reason is pretty simple - he has learned something that many racers never learn. He has actually learned it with less than six months of actual racing experience. What has he learned? He has conquered the eternal struggle of driving within your own abilities and not let what others do affect your driving. This is one of the secrets that many racers never learn even after years of racing.

Bobby came into slot car racing late in 2016 when Charlie's Garage opened in Pearl, MS. He had raced R. C. cars in the past without, shall we say, being the best on the track. When he first started running slot cars he was like all new racers just trying to get around the track. He accepted the fact that he was not the fastest racer on the track and did not get frustrated by others who were much faster than him. He did display a couple characteristics that would give the astute racer signs that he would be a contender one day. He was not intimidated by running with people who were faster than himself and he was willing to learn. Not only was he willing to learn but he sought opportunities to learn, especially on the track. He had plenty of opportunities to learn as he has been very dedicated to his new hobby. He has been at Charlie's Garage almost every day it has been opened for over six months. All this track time has had an effect on his abilities. Early on, his track time consisted of impromptu racing until he or his race partner deslotted. These impromptu races usually didn't last more than three laps due to the fact neither would keep their car on the track for more than that length of time.

The first real sign of his improvement was when he started trying to learn how to follow someone around a turn on the outside instead of trying to pass on the outside. He learned to follow until he has a safe opportunity to pass (see the tip of the month for July). This was a concept he learned pretty quickly and put to use in actual racing. Bobby may not be the fastest racer on the track all the time, but when he chases you down you know he will get the pass as he is very patient. He will lock onto the rear of your car and wait for the opportunity to pass on a straight or in a turn where he is on the inside. Bobby has also learned that sometimes it is better to give up a spot than to fight for it and be deslotted. He has learned when someone is obviously faster than you and has caught you, he is better off to let a person by in the straight as opposed to fighting them on the outside of a turn. I suppose this is why he was selected as Racer of the Month as it goes with the Tip of the Month, “Keep your car out of harm's way”.

Bobby may not always be the fastest racer, but recently he was fast enough to set a new track record at Charlie's Garage in the wing car class. This particular night, all the stars were lined up correctly for Bobby to do this. The track was fast and the number of competitors were low. He started in the field of eight cars with no expectations of even making the podium. He was just racing for the fun of it without a thought of actually winning as his car was not nearly the fastest car on the track. For the sake of having corner marshals, the field was split into two races with four in each race. There was no qualifying, nor bump-ups to a faster main. It was simply two races and the lap totals would be compared after both races were run. The second race, the one Bobby was in, had one driver pull out due to motor problems before the start leaving only three racers. As the race went on Bobby drove his own race and did not worry about what was going on around him. On the third of eight rotations another car had to drop out due to mechanical failure, leaving only two cars on the track. Both cars were usually separated by at least one lane and each driver just drove without trying to out drive the track. There were very few deslots and hardly any track calls for the entire race. The race was actually quite close between the two on the track running for a couple rotations with no more than 20 feet ever separating them. Bobby just drove his car not worrying about anything but driving the best he could without desloting. With less than a minute left in the last rotation the other driver desloted giving Bobby some breathing room. Bobby had the most laps and as such set the official new track record. Was this because of him being lucky with his race situation? Maybe a little luck helped him, but he helped himself more by driving and not coming off. He put everything he had learned through countless hours of practice and all he had learned in his brief slot car racing career to the test. There is a formula for luck, it is preparation + opportunity = luck. Bobby prepared himself, then had an opportunity and he made the most of it. Call it luck if you want, I call it good racing.

With his success in wing car racing you might think that would be his favorite class. This is not the case, his favorite class is a box stock class. This is a class run at Charlie's Garage using JK ready to run cars as they come out of the box. The primary rules of the class are: JK C21 chassis, JK LMP bodies, Hawk 7 motor, and the original gear ratio that comes with the ready to run cars Charlie sells. Bobby says he prefers this class because it is not as fast as the wing cars and he can see the cars in the turns better. He says he can get his timing for the turns better in this class because they are not as fast. When asked what he contributes the most to his being able to hit his break points and acceleration points accurately, he replied it is his musical background. Bobby has been a musician most of his life making a career as a school band director. He said the experience as a musician has given him an edge to getting timing down better than he could have done otherwise. After all, timing is an integral part of music.

Having set the track record at Charlie's in the wing car class with only a couple cars on the track he was asked if he prefers a full track or a race with only about half the lanes full. His response was that he wanted to race. He enjoys racing with however many are on the track, but he finds it exciting to race with as many lanes full as possible. Bobby Shivers is not a one trick pony as he has won with a bunch of cars on the track as well as only a couple. He has won in the wing car class as well as the box stock class. He is a humble man who not only is willing to encourage others, but does so every chance he gets. He is a racer who will win and then tell you how well you did yourself. Bobby is the kind of racer you can run with and know he will not mess up your race by making a lot of mistakes. He is also a racer who will make you cringe as you see his car catching you little by little to pass you AGAIN. He is kind of like the shark in the movie Jaws. You see him coming but there is nothing you can do to prevent the inevitable.

Has Bobby peaked in his racing at this point? No way. He is still trying to learn and improve on his skills, especially in the pits. He understands that even with the success he has had, there is still a lot for him to learn. Having only raced at Charlie's Garage and no where else, he was asked if he thought he could do well at another track with only an hour or so to practice? His response was a resounding no! He understands that he has practiced a lot at his home track and would have to practice elsewhere in a similar fashion to even hope to have a fraction of the success he has experienced so far.

What the other racers need to be concerned about is how well Bobby will do when he realizes the wing cars are affected by the same timing principles as the box stock cars....only the tempo has been increased and the crescendos grow quicker.