On March 4, 2000, the FSRA (Florida Slot Racers Association) came to Dunedin, Florida. Because Dunedin is near Tampa, I try to make the race when it comes to the area. The series has races all over the state, but I, for the most part, don't travel all over the state to race the whole series.
The FSRA has three 4" NASCAR classes. First is the Junior Flexi class. In the Junion flexi class, racers must be sixteen years of age or younger and race handout, sealed 16D motors.
The next class in Group 10, NASCAR, is the Amatuer Flexi class. Here, racers of any age can enter. Racers cannot be sponsored or employed in the slot car industry.
The final NASCAR class is the Expert Flexi class. This class is open to all racers, including sponsored racers and other industry professionals. This is usually a very exciting race. As you might imagine, the level of competition in this class is very high.
Since I am an amateur, I entered both the Amateur Flexi and the Expert Flexi classes. In the Amateur qualifier, I turned 182 laps, and qualified 2nd overall. The race format calls for the eight racers with the highest lap totals in the qualifiers to move to the main (big race) to determine the winners of the class. I am happy to say that I was able to avoid trouble and win the class.
In the Expert Flexi class, the story (unfortunately) was a little different. On my original Expert Flexi car, I decided to use the new Outisite Dodgit body. I was not real happy with the handling charictaristics of the Dodgit on my Scorpion 2 chassis, and decided at the last minute to use a Parma 99 Grand Prix body from my Friday nite NASCAR.
Because, I had opted to move to a higher timed Fastone / Proslot armature, instead of my usual 25 degree PSE / Mura armature, the car was faster than I was used too. This was great fun and the car had practiced well during warmup. Unfortunately, when I got onto the red track, the tail of my car was hitting the wall in the driverstand turn. Although I had the rear fenders reinforced, I sucked the body into the rear tires 2 times and had to stop and pull it out twice. In a race of this caliber, these types on things are disasters. I lost valuable laps that I was not able to make them up against my fast competition. I finished sixth overall.
Amateur Flexi
Expert Flexi
This is the car I used to win the March, FSRA Amateur Flexi race.
The chassis is a JK, Scorpion 2. I used DRS front wheels and BIR rears. I installed floating pin tubes and used Ultimate leadwire.
The gears, I used Faas 10 tooth Pinion and a 27 tooth PSE spur.
The body is a Parma 2K Monte Carlo (.007).
The motor uses a Parma set-up with matched Parma Magnets. The armature is a 25 degree PSE 16D. I used Goldust brushes and aligned and blueprinted the motor myself.
Pictured above is my entry in the March FSRA Expert Flexi race. I originally built the car using the Outisite Dodgit body, but changed to the Parma '99 Grand Prix (.007) due to the improved handling charictaristics.
The chassis is a JK Scorpion 2. I used the DRS fronts and HTK rears. The chassis has floating (aluminum) pin tubes and Ultimate leadwire.
The gears, I used a 9 tooth Faas pinion and a 28 tooth PSE spur.
The motor uses a Parma Rotor set-up with DM2 magnets. The armature is a Fastones D spec. 16D. I used Goldust brushes and aligned & blueprinted the motor myself.