DIECAST RACING REPORT
Editor’s Note
We stand at the Starting Line... It has existed for longer than most of us knew, and it has grown exponentially since the end of January, 2020. With that statement, I could be talking about the corona virus, SARS-CoV-2. But, I’m not. I’m talking about the sport of downhill diecast racing. Of course, you knew that, for this is a magazine on that topic, and not a medical journal. For the last few months, the world has been without major entertainment sources, and the sporting world has been at a standstill. Arenas and stadiums are silent. And yet, while we were staying at home or sheltering in place, and the words quarantine and lockdown became part of the general parlance, a new competitive activity was on the rise: marble racing! Yeah, so...about that...I don’t get it. Marbles going down a racetrack? Racing, I get. But, marbles?! You know what I like to see in races? Cars. And clearly so do you, because you’re here reading our first effort at covering the newly emerged sport of diecast racing.
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As this is the first issue, we’re keeping it brief. Let’s call it an introduction of sorts. As we go on to future issues (twice a month!), we will focus on the folks who build the tracks, the ones who Kit Kidder-Mostrom modify the cars, the people Editor-in-Chief who join leagues, the drivers whose names appear over and over again across multiple YouTube videos. We’ll have tips on how to make cars go faster. And we’ll be covering all sorts of exciting developments here on the pages of DRR. I had no idea this field even existed prior to lateJanuary. Now, I’ve got twelve cars out at various mail-in races and a 5-foot-tall tower in my dining room as I start building my own track. Things change rapidly in diecast racing. We’re excited to get started recording it as it speeds by.
In This Issue
Table of Contents Editor’s Notes
2
Resources QuickTips 6
4
Calendar
5
Features We’ll Do It Live! – Josh Paufler’s Rust Belt Rocks 6
4
5
OnTheTrack 3Dbotmaker Diecast Rally Championship
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8 Diecast Racing Report is a publication of Kit Kayem Ltd. of Seattle, Washington, USA Comments or letters to the editor: comments@diecastracingreport.com Are you a writer, photographer, artist, or other ne’er-do-well? Drop us a line: submissions@diecastracingreport.com Staff: Christopher (Kit) Kidder-Mostrom, Ali Kidder-Mostrom Photos by: Chris Popio (pg 2); Josh Paufler (pg 3, 6, 7); RaceHotWheels.com (pg 3, 5);YouTube Screenshots (pg 3, 4, 8, 9)
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Resources
Quick Tips
Rubbin’ Is Racin’, But Friction Is Not Your Friend No FTE wheels? No problem! Just follow these quick tips when modifying your cars to reduce friction and make your cars faster than ever. 1. Sand your wheels. Even them out to reduce friction from those little bumps and grooves. Check out League of Speed’s Speed Shop Episode 2 – Wheel Sanding.
2. Swap your axles with nickelplated sewing pins. Use axle tubes, and that nickel plating will make all the difference when it comes to race day! Join the discussion at Redline Derby Racing and follow Skeeter Racing’s Custom Axle How To 3. Polish your axles. No matter what axles you use, a little polish goes a long way. See how at Polishing FTE axles for racing by Chris Raab
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4. Swap your wheels for narrower wheels. Less wheel in contact with the track means less friction. WheelsNThangs takes you through the basics of wheel swapping in the video Hot Wheels Customizing: Part 2. 5. Lubricate your axles. Hear Red Pill Racing explain why at How I Use Graphite to make Hot Wheels Faster!
Calendar
Mail-in Race Deadlines Stock: Westfield 500 – Deadline for Entry: July 1, 2020. Road course. Entrance fee. Racing for Charity. More Info: RedlineDerby.com Poppa Speed Invitational – Deadline for Entry: July 11, 2020. Drag strip. One of five divisions is Stock: Funny Cars. Racing for Charity. More Info: RedlineDerby.com
Diecast 64 Open Stock and Hot Off The Shelf (July) – Deadline for Entry: July 18, 2020. Drag Strip. Two of five divisions are stock. Open Stock is any 1:64 scale cars. Hot Off The Shelf must be 2019 or 2020 Mainline cars. Entrance fee. More Info: RaceHotWheels.com
course). Cars of 20 grams or less. More Info: RedlineDerby.com Poppa Speed Invitational – Deadline for Entry July 11, 2020. Drag Strip. Four of five divisions are modifieds: Dragsters, Pro Stocks, Gassers, and Ground Up Dragsters (GUD). Racing for Charity. More Info: RedlineDerby.com
Modifieds: Rust Belt Lightweight Rally – Deadline for Entry: July 1, 2020. Multiple tracks (Drag strip & Road
Rowdy Rat Rods Invade Shubbery Lane - Deadline for Entry: July 17, 2020. Multiple Tracks (Drag strip & Road course). 40 grams. Awards for Best in Show, Most True to Theme, and Best Use of Rust. More Info: The Racers that Say Ni Diecast 64 Open Modified & Modified Street (July) – Deadline for Entry: July 18, 2020. Drag strip. 57 gram weight limit in both categories. Entrance fee. More Info: RaceHotWheels.com Diecast 64 ZAMAC Half-Mile - Deadline for Entry: July 18, 2020. Drag strip. ZAMAC cars only. Modifying for speed. Limited modifying for appearance. 80 gram weight limit. Entrance fee. More Info: RaceHotWheels.com Silverback Racing Invitational – Deadline for Entry: July 24, 2020. Road Course. 60 gram weight
limit. More Info: Rust Belt Raceway If you have a race you would like to see on this calendar listing, please add it to the listings at RedlineDerby.com June 15, 2020 | 5
Feature
We’ll Do It Live! Nightly Races & Daily GIFs In America’s Rust Belt
A man with a great big bushy beard and a mohawk descends the stairs into his basement. His image fills the screen as he makes a bit of small talk to cover the moments before the aim of his camera can be reset upon the two-lane racetrack known as The Sky Drop, one of the multiple tracks at Rust Belt Raceway Park just outside Buffalo, New York.
used to build LEGO towns and drive them around. I also built some course by running orange track down the couch cushions and across the living room floor.” Now, he has taken out the orange track as an adult and invites others to play along with him, or at least to follow along as he plays. An active group of race fans have taken Paufler up on the invitation.
The man is Josh Paufler, the commissioner/founder of Rust Belt Diecast Racing, and he does this just about every night. What makes Rust Belt Diecast Racing unique is the league’s focus on nightly live-streamed racing.
“My goal was to build a community around diecast racing,” Paufler notes. “The live races give people an opportunity to chat in the comments [on Facebook], and interact with the host.”
As of this writing, there are 199 members of Paufler’s Facebook group, the location of every Rust Belt race. What attracted those group members/viewers? Paufler posits that it is “the action and the nostalgia of it all. I think it takes them back to their childhood. Plus, it’s a lot of fun with low stakes.”
Generally, the atmosphere created by Paufler is casual, and he converses directly with the audience, answering their questions in real time. But, sometimes the banter stays between the viewers. It is always friendly, but sometimes a little feisty. As Paufler points out, “Who doesn’t love some good trash talk?”
“I loved my Hot Wheels, growing up,” he continues. “I
The people talking trash with each other have become
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Feature
the very community that Paufler set out to create. They have grouped together into teams. Often diecast racing teams consist of one person who is the owner of a car or two in a race. At Rust Belt Raceway Park, teams are made up of anywhere from two to ten people. Viewers cheer their teammates on throughout an evening’s racing. Any given night Madness Motorsports (one of the league’s resident teams) may have as many as ten drivers in that evening’s race. Or, given the luck of the draw, a night at The Sky Drop could potentially be devoid of Madness Motorsports participants. Driver selection for the nightly races is part of the fun. Drivers are assigned their rides immediately before the races begin. Sixteen cars race each night, and any given day 30-40 drivers could have put their names into the pool to have a chance at that evening’s glory.
(Rust Belt continued on page 10) June 15, 2020 | 7
On The Track
This issue comes out on the same day that 3Dbotmaker released the video of the first round of the Diecast Rally Championship Event #3. Because we’re publishing within the prescribed time for avoiding spoilers, you will not find discussion here about the happenings of this morning’s video... with two exceptions: 1) That photo up top of this page is awesome, and it’s part of the title sequence, so it doesn’t spoil anything; and 2) as one might expect, it can now be confirmed that 2D’s conversation at the end of the Car & Driver Preview video was making the “Mystery Car” alarmingly clear. He point blank says to “Jimmy” on the phone that the car is a 2021 prototype rally car. And... It is! To see what car it is, specifically, you have to watch the video. We’ll talk about it more in the next issue of DRR, but today that information is too fresh. So, in the meantime, let’s take a look at a few things that we did learn about the track and its adjustments. Looking at the Preview video and the above photo, it is clear to see that a new texture has arrived at Race Canyon Rally. There is loose sand packed onto what used to be clean track. I suppose if one is looking at the sand as 8 | Diecast Racing Report
being appropriate scale, that’s gravel at the finish line. It’s a great look. The scoring for this round has changed, too. But that is clearly laid out in the today’s video, so go check it out. It looks like the changes will work well with this group of cars and address some of the Facebook group’s gripes about the previous round’s point structure (or at least the adherence to it). As you might guess (check the graphic below) “Superman” Steven King is the overwhelming fan favorite to take his third rally crown. This graphic was from about 12 minutes before the voting was closed, so you can see how your vote stacks up to other viewers.
On The Track
New Crash Racers Tracks Fall 2020 According to a press release from Far Out Toys, the maker of Crash Racers and NASCAR Crash Racers play sets will be releasing a newer, cheaper version of their popular wide-track sets that are often used to create road courses by enterprising downhill diecast racers. The set which is currently available, the Crash Racers Figure 8 Circuit Track Set, sells for $29.99 through Target, and its NASCAR version is available at Walmart for two cents less. In order to use this set to make 180 curves, part of each set must be left out. And, the turns are the same width as the straightaways. In the new set available this fall, the straightaways will remain the same as in the current set. However, the curves will be 3 cars wide, and at 180 degrees without alterations. The set is called Crash Racers Short Track Speedway, and is expected to retail for $19.99.
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Feature (Rust Belt continued from page 7) Each nightly race is actually the culmination of the Rust Belt community’s daily activity. “First of all,” says Paufler, “the theme is picked by the previous day’s winner. The host then makes a post in the group after they’ve chosen cars to fit that theme. Members comment with a gif or pic, following the directions in the post, to enter the driver pool. The host pulls the 16 names during the live broadcast and we go racing!” Recent races have been along such themes as “Road Racers”, “Ford v. Chevy”, and “New Kids on the Block”. Both the night’s cars and the day’s posts had to reflect the themes. As the league has grown, so has the camaraderie among the participants. Many no proudly wear nicknames given to them by the commish, or their rivals. Drivers primarily go by their Facebook screen names, but they’ll gain appellations such as “Killer Bunny”, “The Kid”, “Golden”, or “Mr. Second Place”. Mr. Second Place is Jay Bishoff, and he’s in the process of building Rust Belt’s newest track. Soon he’ll join the ranks of the others who host. In addition to the tracks at Paufler’s home in New York, there are tracks elsewhere in the geographic Rust Belt that occasionally take up the hosting duties for the nightly races. Mike Rader, Rust Belt’s co-founder, hosts races out of Michigan at the Rocket Dragway; and David and Amanda Jewell host races from their Ohio home on the track called Shrubbery Lane. Normally the races take place somewhere between 7 and 8 pm EDT. But the newest addition to 10 | Diecast Racing Report
Rust Belt’s docket is the Saturday late night races that live-stream from Shrubbery Lane. Dubbed “Midnight Shrub”, these races do take place long after dark. And the aesthetic of the live-stream adjusts accordingly. The lights are dimmed, and an LED light show accompanies the races. At the inaugural Midnight Shrub, the Jewells were joined in hosting by their son. Paufler’s kids are also part of the racing action back at Rust Belt Raceway Park, though not part of the nightly live races. Rust Belt does have a YouTube presence, too. And there you will find pre-produced races of the type of which most fans of diecast racing have grown accustomed. Currently, the league is hosting a Kids Tournament of cars modified by younger racers. Paufler’s daughter provides the voice of the track-side reporter during those broadcasts. In the first video of the Kids Series, a special segment was done to explain “The Parabola Effect”. As Paufler explains it, “The Parabola Effect describes the action of a car converting potential to kinetic energy while exiting the curve in the track at the end of the drop.” Paufler’s been using the
term for a while now, and often enough that some viewers have based a drinking game off of the term’s use in the nightly races. Really, it’s all fun and games for Rust Belt Diecast Racing, and that seems to be appropriate for a league that was started by a man who keeps his favorite childhood car next to his track. In case you’re wondering, it’s a baby blue T-Bird convertible.
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