Down By The Bay: Holding Grudges in California

by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom

The San Francisco Bay area is often cited as the hilliest metro area in the United States of America. And with its iconic Golden Gate Bridge, it has one of the most picturesque stretches of suspended road anywhere in the world, so when Darrell Alexander of nearby Concord, CA was looking for a setting for his new diecast racing layout, he didn’t have to look far.

“I chose ‘Bay City’ because it wasn’t specifically a city, yet represented the entire Bay Area,” Alexander explains.

Growing up in Lakeport, a small town in Northern California, Alexander and his best friend would play with Hot Wheels up and down the hallway of his best friend’s house. “He had a lot of straight track,” he remembers. “I had about twenty cars, I’d say. Enough to fill that little car briefcase thing.” At that time his favorite car was a Darrell Waltrip NASCAR.

Just as many others did in 2020, Alexander came across the YouTube videos of 3DBotmaker and he started collecting again after many years. “I don’t have as many as you might think,” he contends. “I’m up to about 400. Actually, it’s closer to 500. I forgot about my unopened cars.”

Darrell Alexander had about 20 cars as a kid. His adult collecting started in 2020. He's got more now than when he was little

For someone who has just returned to collecting in the last ten months or fewer, he has done all right for himself. But is Alexander finding the cars he is really searching for? “I collect cars that I can and will hopefully race someday. I don’t collect cars for money (obviously), and I don’t have thousand in a bin never to be opened,” he says. “I’m not sure that there is a ‘Holy Grail’ car out there for me. However, when I was young, my sister had a ‘69 Chevelle, and I loved that car.”

Clearly, he’s a classic car man. “With that Chevelle, and the fact that my best friend built and raced late model cars, I am very interested in that genre of diecast cars,” he expounds, “which is why I’m so excited about the Dodge tournament.”

Although Bay City Diecast Racing has already had its inaugural tournament and has staged a number of grudge match events. But the big move that is taking the track to another level is Alexander’s first mail-in tournament: “Dynasty of Dodge”.

The basic Bay City layout includes the most famous landmark of the Bay Area

As he puts it, “I chose to do the ‘Dynasty of Dodge’ tournament because I wanted to race good old fashioned American muscle. I chose Dodge specifically because it seemed like the more popular models of Ford and Chevy had already been done.”

In the original listing for the tournament the entries were limited to being Darts, Challengers, Chargers, and Vipers. Since then, Alexander has permitted the list of included cars to be any Dodge model. At least one builder is sending in a Dodge Omni. And as a nod to the fact that it was modeled on a classic Dodge body, the HW Rodger Dodger is also an eligible casting for the tournament.

Alexander’s first attempt at hosting has garnered a sizable response. “I currently have over 40 cars verbally committed. With a little over a week left, I’m hoping to get as many as 64 entries.”

With people sending cars his way, Alexander could easily decide that he has his hands full for the foreseeable future, but “I recently started modifying cars… It looks fun, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

A very practical man, Alexander acknowledges that it’s not all fun and games, however. “I think it’s a great way to support other tracks and hosts, as well as getting the Bay City name across other channels as well. It’s a win-win.”

He admittedly spends a lot of time producing his videos. “On any given day, I can spend two to twelve hours on mods, track adjustments, editing, and social media. It adds up.”

Some track decoration is permanent, but Alexander also does it up seasonally for the holidays.

So he makes sure there’s time for important life stuff, too. “I learned early on that balance is key,” Alexander explains. “I don’t want to sound like Mr. Miyagi from ‘Karate Kid’, but you really have to make sure all aspects of your life are balanced before you can take on something like this, because it can very easily consume you.”

When not doing diecast-related tasks, Darrell Alexander is a family man, first and foremost. “I also coach travel baseball, and enjoy golf, bowling, and softball.”

Part of getting a lot done, despite a busy life, is the help of friends and colleagues. Alexander knows that he has had help along the way so far. “I want to personally thank Derek “Doc” Riepe for encouraging me to get more involved [in diecast racing],” Alexander expresses gratefully. Riepe encouraged him “to put on a great tournament,” and made it clear that “people really do like my track and what I’m doing over here.”

Within the diecast racing community, he credits John Tran of TranSport Diecast Racing, Josh Paufler of Rust Belt Diecast Racing, and Dave of WeRaceDiecast as people integral to his development process. JD Elst and Erik Slan have also been extremely helpful.

Alexander says that’s one of the special things about this community. “A couple of those guys are doing very well in this sport, and for them to take time our of their day is amazing.” On the whole, he is “thankful for the friendships that have developed within the community.

For those interested in participating in the upcoming “Dynasty of Dodge tournament, information can be found on RedlineDerby.com. The deadline for submissions is February 14 th . Darrell Alexander and his Bay City Diecast Racing would be happy to have you as a part of his community.