DIECAST RACING REPORT April 21, 2021– Vol. 2 No. 7
Inside: Into the Wastelands of Mayhem – Diecast GT Sock Hop Slam – Tools of the Trade & More…
2 | Diecast Racing Report
In This Issue
Table of Contents Editor’s Notes News Briefs Calendar Resources
4
QuickTips
7
5 6
Feature
8 7 12
17
Weapons Ready: Wasteland Racing 8
Tournaments Diecast GT
12
Rust Belt
13
WeRaceDiecast
14
Indiana Diecast Racing
17
OnTheTrack
Flat Rabbit Racing Club 20 TransSport
21
Chaos Canyon
23
3DBotMaker
24
Cover by Steven King
Diecast Racing Report is a publication of Kit Kayem LLC, 7511 Greenwood Ave N #112, Seattle, WA 98103, 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: Jim Desaulniers, DeeZaster Jakk, Christopher (Kit) Kidder-Mostrom, Ali Kidder-Mostrom, Steven King
April 21, 2021 | 3
Editor’s Note
I
’ve been hinting at big changes coming to DRR over the last few months. And, we’re about to announce some of those changes over the next couple of issues. A few things I’ll announce today. First, let me say that we’ve been honored to be a part of this community for just under a year. Over the last 10 months, we’ve been here with you every other week, or thereabouts. It has been rewarding work. It has also been exhausting work. Frequent self-enforced deadlines made life a bit hectic a lot of the time. At first, the two issues a month seemed reasonable. That was largely because we were in the midst of a pandemic and a lockdown, and there was time to spare. Now, with many aspects of life returning to normal, spare time is more difficult to find. You can probably tell where this is going, but I’ll make it clear momentarily. Diecast Racing Report is shifting to being a monthly, rather than twice-monthly, journal starting with the May 18th issue. Thereafter, the magazine will come out on the third Wednesday of every month. This change is going to allow us to make some adjustments to our central content, too. As you may have noticed, we try to cover a number of leagues with regularity. They are leagues that represent the overall community, but they are no where close to the sum total of the leagues that are out there. Because we are a small staff, it is impossible for us to cover every league every issue.
Starting May 18, we will no longer have the “Tournaments” section, nor the “On The Track” section of our magazine. We will have indepth feature articles, build journals, special event coverage, racer and host interviews, as well as our columns and resources. We’re also going to be putting Kit Kidder-Mostrom out special editions of the Editor-in-Chief magazine that are just a couple of pages long in between the main issues. Special editions (not sure what we’re calling them yet) will not be on any specific schedule, but will make it possible for us to keep you in the know about big developments. We’re also going to have other content that is exclusive to our Patrons in between our issues. So, if you’d like to get the best possible coverage of the world of diecast racing, consider becoming a patron for a dollar per month (or more! We’ll always accept more!). Patrons get a downloadable PDF of the magazine every issue. That’s the only way to get a downloadable version. Well, I hope that you enjoy this issue, and I hope that you are excited for what is coming in the future. We’ll be putting out our first Special Edition next week as a test run, so keep your eye out for that!
Have a thought about the upcoming changes to DRR? Want to give us some feedback? Send comments to: comments@diecastracingreport.com
Support “Diecast Racing Report” through Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/DiecastRacingReport 4 | Diecast Racing Report
News in Brief
Matchbox to Release Recycled Cars On April 15, Mattel announced a new program called “Drive Toward a Better Future.” This program brings Matchbox into line with the overall Mattel policy of producing all of its products out of 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastic by 2030. Matchbox will be getting a head start with some products in their 2022 line. The plan includes the release of more EV (electric vehicle) models. The first of which will be the Tesla Roadster. The Tesla Roadster will be made from 99% recycled
materials and be certified Carbon Neutral. The one part of the car that will not be made from recycled materials? The stainless steel axles. Mattel has been working toward this plan for a while now. The Matchbox Power Grabs assortment of vehicles has already installed a no-plastic packaging policy, and an EV-themed five pack is available with a paper foam inner tray.
Glenn Harding Releases Coloring Book Last issue, we covered the coloring contest that Glenn Harding was hosting in order to find the perfect cover for his upcoming coloring book. Well, the book is “upcoming” no
longer, as it has been released to the public. And the winner of the coloring contest is Anders Nylander, whose colored rendition of an original Glenn Harding drawing is featured on the cover of the 16-page PDF coloring book. The book also includes two former DRR covers drawn by Harding. The colorful versions from the magazine’s covers have been reduced to their black and white brilliance so that purchasers of the book can make them their own. Other works will be recognized by diecast racing fans who have seen Harding’s art all over the internet. For fans of 3DBotMaker, Harding’s rendering of
(NEWS BRIEFS cont. on page 11)
April 21, 2021 | 5
Calendar
Mail-in Race Deadlines Stock: May Mayhem: Feature Stock: Lightweights – Deadline for Entry: May 1, 2021. Drag strip. 40 gram weight limit. Entry Fee. More Info: RaceHotWheels.com Sunday Pinks – Deadline for Entry: Ongoing. Road course. No weight limit. No FTE/NPAs. Limit 2 vehicles per entrant. Weekly head-to-head races. Racing for pink slips. Submissions must be on original card. More Info: Rust Belt Diecast Racing
Modifieds: April Avante Garde Assault – Deadline for Entry: April 30, 2021. Drag Strip. 80 gram weight limit. Cars must be HW Avante Garde casting. Limit 1 car per racer.
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More Info: Orange Track Outlaws Canyon Outlaws – Deadline for Entry: April 30, 2021. 50 gram weight limit. Cars must be in rat rod style. Photos of finished cars must be submitted on Chaos Canyon website by deadline. Participants will be selected from submitted photos. More Info: ChaosCanyon.online May Mayhem: Modified Street & Open Modified – Deadline for Entry: May 1, 2021. Drag strip. 57 gram weight limit. Entry Fee. More Info: RaceHotWheels.com May Mayhem: Builder’s Challenge: Gaslands – Deadline for Entry: May 1, 2021. Drag strip. 60 gram weight limit. Cars must have at least one “weapon”. Entry Fee. More Info: RaceHotWheels.com
Ladder Wars – Deadline for Entry: rolling (open submissions). Road Course. 50 gram weight limit. More Info: RedlineDerby.com Friday Night Cheese– Deadline for Entry: rolling (open submissions). Road Course. 150 gram weight limit. More Info: ILC Race Series King of the 621– Deadline for Entry: rolling (open submissions). Drag strip. 100 gram weight limit. More Info: RedlineDerby.com Kings of the Crest– Deadline for Entry: rolling (open submissions). Road course. 90 gram weight limit. More Info: TranSport Diecast Racing
Resources
Quick Tips
Tools of the Trade: What You Need to Get Started They say the most expensive hobby starts with $1. Sure, if you’re getting into and getting excited about modifying diecast cars, it’s easy to spend a lot on all sorts of tools of the trade. But, if you’re just starting out, what do you really need? Well, follow these quick tips to fill your toolbox with the essentials first… so you have more money to spend on $1 cars. 1. Drill, baby, drill! As Jays Diecast Creations notes in his video “CUSTOMIZING HOTWHEELS FOR BEGINNERS…” If there is one tool that’s used on pretty much every modded car, it’s a drill. It is very hard to change up paint or wheels or… anything without first drilling out the posts. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but it’s an essential modding tool.
builders is also very useful advice for those working on models of the smaller diecast variety. Check out “Basic Tools needed to Make Scale Model Kits” to see what he has to share about hobby knives and more. 4. Let physics do the work for you. When putting your car back together, one of the best ways is with tiny screws. But if you’re gonna screw a car together you first need to prep the post. In “A Review of Brightvision’s New Tap Handle! A Real Game
Changer!”, Paul Youdelis shows how a tap works, especially when you add a handle that gives a good bit of torque without a lot of weight. 5. Get yourself a helping hand. Whether using spray paint or paint brushes (yes, you’ll need those too), the helping hands tool really lives up to its name! While not strictly necessary, it’s the best $10 tool to make your modding life infinitely easier – just clamp it on your posts and away you go! See 6 Plus Save review this tool in “Improve your Miniature Painting with a Helping Hand”.
2. Just buy a rotary tool. You may deceive yourself that you can mod without it, but it won’t take too many cars to discover that this versatile tool is a modding must. It can be used for polishing, grinding, cutting and even drilling – all you have to do is change the attachment. In “Hotwheels Tools and Supplies”, poochefmarowbe gives you an idea of what to buy. 3. Sharpen your modding skills by learning from hobbyists of other scales. To mod 1:64 scale diecast cars, you’ll need a good cutting tool or two. JJ Model Making’s description of the tools used by plastic model April 21, 2021 | 7
Feature
WEAPONS READY! by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom
Refueled”.
In less than a fortnight, it’s going to be May. The lusty month is going to be dirty and dusty, as the racing world will be rife with wasteland-style racing. As the weather turns toward summer in the Northern Hemisphere, there’s a primal call for violence and carnage on the track.
Many in the diecast racing community were first introduced to the game last summer when Robby Comeford of Diecast 64 hosted his June races. The stock and modified divisions were the same as every other month of 2020, but the featured race of the month was Gaslands.
Gaslands, a miniatures combat game that uses 1:64 scale cars as playing pieces, was first launched in 2017. Over the last four years, it has become immensely popular. It has even had a second edition called “Gaslands:
“I loved the Gaslands race last year,” remembers Comeford. “People sent in the coolest cars…I think a bunch of racers had a fun time building them.” Naturally, with the popularity of the race in the previous year, the season announcement for 2021 included a return to the Gaslands track. The track itself is of some importance in this race. Rather than the regular four lanes of orange track that Diecast 64 viewers have grown accustomed to, the track is wide and open from top to bottom, with a taper toward the finish line. It’s still a drag strip, but it is a drag strip in which the cars
8 | Diecast Racing Report
can all collide with each other from the moment they leave the gate. And the surface of the track is not smooth. It is rough and bumpy, so that contributes to the general mayhem and carnage. Comeford offers this bit of advice for competing in the Diecast 64 Gaslands race: “One thing about this track is that cars can get a little squirrelly, so I’m not sure that there is much advantage to building big.” The specs for the race do allow for cars that are taller than normal, and wider than normal (at least above the edges of standard orange track). Nevertheless, “cars with a low center of gravity and that can get out fast and avoid other cars are the ones that perform best,” Comeford shares. At the time of our interview with Robby C, he hadn’t yet received any entries for this year’s races. By now (two weeks later) that most likely has changed. “I usually start seeing cars arrive a couple of weeks prior to the deadline.”
Feature
Wasteland racing is the future, or will be held in the future, at least. In addition to Diecast 64 and Gaslands TV, here are a couple of tracks/events to look out for in the months to come:
In this case, the deadline is May 1 (more info at www.racehotwheels.com) There’s just enough time to put together a ride and submit it, but don’t worry if you’re a little rushed. “People can submit the same cars as last year,” states Comeford. “Hopefully everyone learned a little something last year and some builders will at least make a few tweaks ‘under the hood’, but mainly I want people to have a chance to race and have fun”. Comeford encourages everyone to try being a part of these races. “I can guarantee you’re going to have a blast building a car for this one,” he claims. “If you need some ideas, get on the internet and Google Gaslands. You'll find so many
cool pics and tips for building cars…. And I have found the Gaslands community to be super cool and helpful, so check out the Facebook group as well. And who knows, you may even find a new way to play with your Hot Wheels cars.” Looking for a new way to play was exactly what got Luca Caltabiano of Montreal, Quebec, involved in diecast racing. He was already well immersed in the Gaslands community. “I never got into the racing community,” explains Caltabiano, “I only really watched it.” But then he built a track of his own. “Now everyone
• Fury Mountain Speedway is currently under construction, so racing probably isn’t in the immediate future, but there’s an awesome build journal thread on Redline Derby that shows the way this tack is headed, and a number of the Wastelands cars that are already there and awaiting a track to tear up! • Indiana Diecast Racing is hosting a Death Race at the end of the year. Cars will race on the Tricky Triangle road course, and must have at least one external weapon. Mad Max/Gaslands styling is highly encouraged.
For more information about Gaslands, check out the following links: • Gaslands.com • Let’s Play (video intro to the game) • Xanthippe’s mystery box build of a Gaslands team.
April 21, 2021 | 9
Feature wants to build and send me cars, and it looks like it is picking up quickly,” he confides. Caltabiano didn’t come to diecast racing in the same way as most racers. He didn’t play with Hot Wheels as a child. “I played with Turtles and GI Joe,” he says. And as an adult he runs a gaming shop and does board game reviews on YouTube. That’s what led to him discovering Gaslands, and then the Covid-19 Pandemic gave him a nudge towards diecast racing. Being unable to gather folks together to play Gaslands as a tabletop game, “I had to find another mature way to play with Hot Wheels,” says Caltabiano. Just as in the racing community, there is a high demand for 3Dprinted materials in the Gaslands modifying community. And Caltabiano answered the call for bits and bobs at the beginning of the pandemic. He started producing weapons and other accessories for players to use to turn their diecast cars into dystopic carnage machines. So, Gaslands TV is sort of a general store for all your Gaslands needs. There’s bits and bobs for builders (via an Etsy store), there’s the YouTube channel with
10 | Diecast Racing Report
How-To videos and races, and there are contests to get involved with, including the Gaslands UK Car of the Month contest, which used to be hosted out of England, but now (for some reason) is hosted out of Canada. Perhaps Commonwealth status is good enough for hosting the titularly British monthly event. The racing has been secondary to the other parts of the channel up to now, but that’s about to change. A whole lot of cars have already arrived at Gaslands TV, and more are expected. The deadline for submissions is the end of April. And then the fun begins! “I will shoot many races within the month of May,” reveals Caltabiano, “and then edit them during the year, maybe one race every week.” The course he’s built has a dark theme. “I went with the theme closest to the Gaslands miniatures game,” he says. There is well-established bit of world-building that has gone into the Gaslands game. Much of it involves settlers moving to Mars and then eventually declaring war on Earth, leaving their native planet a wasteland that serves as a deadly race course for those left behind, all for the entertainment of viewers on Mars.
That may be the shortest and most inadequate rundown of the ingame history of Gaslands. For a more interesting and complete telling of the Gaslands mythos, you can check out this video on YouTube. Luca Caltabiano made sure that his track shares in the aesthetic and some of the rules of Gaslands. Drivers get points by driving through gates, just as they would in a Gaslands death race. And racers who finish with flourish and make it out an escape tunnel earn themselves a one-way trip to Mars to live in paradise, or at least get off Earth. So far there are sixteen people who have sent in cars. There are more cars than that, as competitors could send in more than one vehicle. There is still time to submit, although for international submissions, delivery can take a while, so take that into account when shipping. May is bound to be a busy month in the Wastelands of Utah (Diecast 64) and Quebec (Gaslands TV). It’s going to be great racing!
News in Brief (NEWS BRIEFS cont. from page 5) the McClyde van (complete with angel wings) is included as one of the coloring pages. The book is available for $4 at Glenn’s Car Creations website.
Charity Race Raises $255 to Fight Hunger This past Thursday night marked the premiere of DRR’s “Re-STOCK-ing The Shelves” race series, which is featuring stock and modded NASCAR-style cars racing in a charity event that has thus far raised $255 from participants’ registration fees, and additional donations. The series will continue through its current group stage for the next two weeks, and then the following four weeks will feature a 16-car bracket of those cars that advanced from the group stage. Donations can still be made in support of the cause by giving directly to Feeding America, the chosen charity for the event. Feeding America is a non-profit organization that provides direct support to the nation’s food banks.
April 21, 2021 | 11
Tournaments
Diecast GT by Ali Kidder-Mostrom
In 2021 here at Diecast Racing Report, we’re shining the spotlight on some lesserknown (or at least lesserfollowed) track channels. Each month, one channel will get a full month of race write-ups alongside our established tracks. With so many tracks, there is no way for anyone to catch all the racing action, but this should spread the net a little wider. Hopefully, one of these new channels will catch your eye and become a favorite worth following. This month’s featured track is Diecast GT. (https:// www.youtube.com/channel/ UCmS5YTibqK_THSknJmy4w Eg)
L
ast week the Diecast Muscle Car Mania Tournament continued, this time bringing a fleet of Fords to the Outlaw Pass. It could also be called a race of GT500s. Evan Ash showed up in a ’68 Shelby GT500, Harper Penn brought the much newer 2020 model and Iva Steel came to play in a red 2010 Shelby GT500 Super Snake. Damian Rock alone stood out from the crowd, in his blue 1970 Ford Escort RS1600. Of course, in signature Diecast GT style, the cars were introduced with a digital montage, giving us an idea what to expect when they took to the track in a round of four race laps. Right from the git-go, Damian Rock took off and proved the RS1600 was a standout, not just for not being a GT500. Try as they might, the rest of the Fords could not catch the little 12 | Diecast Racing Report
Escort that could and he drove to an easy lap one victory
won this lap would guarantee their spot as Ford champion.
Lap two proved to be much more evenly matched. This time, it was Evan Ash, in his flame-bedecked Ford, who brought some impressive driving to the course. Iva Steele thought she had it, until a late in the lap pass by Evan Ash put him in the lead, and his blocking ability meant that no other car could pass.
Once again, it was the RS1600 who pulled away from the pack. Though the others made it a much tighter race this time, they never could catch Damian Rock, leading him to a point total of 12 and title of victor for the night. If he continues this performance later on in the tournament, he may also guarantee Ford the overall Muscle Car title. Apparently, rally cars have muscle too.
In this week’s half-time car show, Maisto sent some unique vehicles to grace the concourse and our screens. Returning to racing, the two frontrunners were now in the back row and it gave the two cars lagging in points a chance to catch up. There was a bit of a disruption to the broadcast, so perhaps something happened there that could explain why Evan Ash – who had previously been the point leader – pulled up just short of the finish line before stalling out. Did something happen to his car? We may never know. Heading into the fourth and final lap, it was a tight point spread. There was a tie for first and only one point between each of the rest. Whoever
Coming up next will be a Dodge race, featuring two classics against two modern Mopar castings – that will be a race you don’t want to miss. This channel is great for fans of: – Getting in on something new – Machanimation and video game graphics – The 3DBotMaker style of banter – Traditional downhill road courses
Tournaments
Rust Belt Diecast Racing by Jim Desaulniers
Rocket Dragway The Rust Belt daily race rotation has yet to return to Rocket Dragway where "Cupcake" Josh Paufler sits comfortably on the podium with 7 consecutive victories. Fans around the world are wondering if he'll ever exit the Champion’s Vault at this point. Action hits the Falls again on April 26th with the Monday staple “MOPAR or NO CAR.”
Sunday Pinks The top 10 times following Sunday Pinks on April 18th: Shadow Jet (White) – 3.220 (NEW TRACK RECORD!) Chevy Pickup (Green) – 3.284 Shadow Jet (Yellow) – 3.327 Cadillac CTS-V 500 (Black) – 3.327
Boss 302 “G” (Black) – 3.456 Datsun 510 (Grey) – 3.499 Stocker (Yellow) – 3.499 Gwilliam Bell set a new track record of 3.220s, edging Rust Belt Mascot – Rust Belt viewers get to see a very good dog. out the previous record (3.241s) held In the last week of live action at by Ryan in the yellow Shadow Jet. TPG, they started with “Mustang Monday” and John Tran of Transport Diecast Racing taking the victory in Micro Mods & Friday Johnny Lightning, a monopoly mustang. John would fail to knock Night Food Fights off the podium sitter, Robert Wolff. Triple B became the 2nd driver to take the podium for 5 consecutive days! Be sure to join the next time RB is at the Sky Drop, as they’ll be running the “Herb Parker Challenge” modified mail-in of plastic on metal vans! The details are located in the announcements tab on the Rust Belt Facebook page.
Camaro Fire Chief (Red) – 3.412 Mazda Pickup (Silver) – 3.413
Tiger’s Tail Raceway
F&F Monte Carlo (Tan) – 3.434
(Shredder Speedway)
On Tuesday they took to the outdoors for “Off Road Truck Tuesday,” where Dale Pryor won in a Land Rover. “Wacky Wednesday” saw John Hanson win in Bye Focal. Again, Robert would hold off Dale, but John would assume the podium. In “Tear-riffic Thursday,” 16 new cars hit the track, with Kevin Fairbairn taking the win in a yellow Jaguar. John would fend of Kevin for the podium.
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Tournaments
We Race Diecast by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom
While Dave at WeRaceDiecast prepares himself for the mayhem that is about to head his way in the form of TMNT Party Wagons (mayhem he brought upon himself, by inviting the entire field from Indiana Diecast Racing to come for a visit!), he’s filled his production schedule hiatus with a couple of events on the There and Back track, a two-straightaway-oneturn track that consists of mostly two-wide fat track (Crash racers). There is a short bit of divided track at the beginning, as the starting gate is the 6-lane set we’ve all come to know and love from the 6-2-1. After rushing down that first incline, then zipping along toward the banked corner, the cars finish by hurdling down a second straight that is interrupted halfway down its length by a jump over a 5-inch void. If a car makes it past that point, then it’s a quick run to the finish line. First of the three events of the last three weeks was the Bugatti Divo Showdown. Four custom painted Matchbox Bugatti Divos competed to see which color would come out on top. Customizer Wayne Heede of Wheel Swappers Garage did the custom work on these beautiful supercars. No drivers were assigned for this race, and all of the cars were the work of one builder, so which car you might have been rooting for really came down to color. Take your pick: Red, Green, Yellow, and Purple. Red got out to an early lead on the first lap. All four cars took the jump well, and the purple car put on a good show of trying to catch red for most of the race. Scoring for the event was the 14 | Diecast Racing Report
common 5, 3, 2, 1 system, so red was on top after one lap with five points. After rotating starting positions, lap two came out with green in the front. Yellow drift-blocked red and purple for much of the race, leading one to believe that they might all fail to make the jump, but they cleared it, and yellow barely beat red to the line to take second. After two laps, red and green were tied at 7 points. Purple and yellow were tied at 4. In the most closely contested lap thus far, the third lap was led by yellow through the turn and up to the jump. Shortly after landing, however, purple burst forward and stole the race from the golden one’s grasp. Red and purple had 9 points after three, green had 8 points, and yellow sat at 7 points, being the only car yet to win a lap. When it really matters, the racers do what must be done. Purple led through the turn, but red was hot on his tail. Purple watched red pass him by with about two feet of track left. Yellow successfully driftblocked green for most of the race, and released the block just in time to finish third while leaving green lagging behind. Red came in first overall, and purple was the first loser. In the end, though, the cars were very evenly matched, which makes sense because they were all modified by the same
person and were all the same model of car. The next event was a 2v2 race, which essentially was a grudge match between two castings with two of each casting making up the field. This match-up was the Magic 8 Ball Rodger Dodger up against the red Rodger Dodger 2.0. For this writer, it was hard to be emotionally vested in this race, as it became quite difficult to ascertain which of two identical cars was doing better or worse, or which car was which, for that matter. The four cars made six laps down the track, and unlike the relatively clean racing seen in the Bugatti race, the Rodger Dodgers did a good deal of flipping, crashing, and had some glorious altercations at the jump. So, while it was difficult to track which cars one might be rooting for, just sitting back and enjoying some absurd carnage was easily done. In the end, the 2.0s came out on top by 4 points: 34 to 30. In the third offering from WeRaceDiecast, the ten cars of the Hot Wheels Factory 500 series were given a run on the track to see which 500 HP car was the fastest. Mayfied41, Thomas Filipiak, Artemis Lancaster, Sammie Moondust, and The Caddy Man made up the first
Tournaments group of five that raced for two spots in the finals. Shiloh Thomas, Bigg Samm, Grand Slam, Bhushan Kokam and Cube Boyd comprised the second group of five. With each group consisting of five cars, 5 laps had to be taken by each group to ensure each got to start in each position. In lap one of the first group Artemis Lancaster sat on the pole in his ‘13 SRT Viper. Next to him in the outside lane was Sammie Moondust in the blue McLaren 720S. Straight out of the gate, Lancaster’s Viper shot out to the lead, followed by the other two cars in the inside lane. All three inside cars zipped past the two cars in the outside lane, and the race was never contested. Lancaster led from start to finish. Lap two’s front row was made up of the slowest cars from the previous lap. Have you ever seen “55: A Mediation on the Speed Limit”? That’s basically what happened here. The two slowest cars kept the traffic behind them from moving forward the whole race. Thomas Filipiak had lost so much momentum that his Ford Shelby GT350R didn’t hit the jump right and flipped, but he managed to finish, dropping from 2nd to 4th. Filipiak was on the pole for Lap 3, while The Caddy Man joined him on the front row in his ‘12 Corvette Z06. Now, aside from his handle being the name of another car in this field, there should be little confusion about The Caddy Man. Right? Good stick with me on this. The Corvette led until the jump when he inexplicably turned sideways, threw a drift-block on the entire field, and left just enough room for Sammie Moondust to squeeze his McLaren through for surprise lap victory.
Lap 4… Caddy Man’s Corvette and the Cadillac CTS-V of Mayfield 41 were on the front row. The Corvette leapt out in front as a rabbit would for greyhounds, but none of the hounds ever caught up to the bait. The Caddy Man’s Corvette was unchallenged. Sammy Moondust (Blue McLaren) stopped just millimeters shy of the finish line, earning a goose egg for the scoring on the lap.
RS of Grandslam was on the pole, while Bhushan Kokam sat to his left in the black Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4. Grandslam had the lead coming down the first stretch, but Kokam made a skillful pass on the outside through the turn and didn’t look back, notching one for the Lambo. Bigg Samm’s Bentley Continental Supersports went sideways through the turn and Shiloh Thomas (‘12 Camaro ZL1 Concept) and Cube
The final lap (lap 5) for group one started with the Cadillac and the Viper on the front row. Everything kept close until just after the jump. Mayfield 41’s Cadillac got loose and Artemis Lancaster passed to take the lap and the overall group victory. The Caddy Man also moved on to the finals in the Corvette. Super cars led the field down the track for the first lap of group 2. The yellow Porsche 911 Gt3 April 21, 2021 | 15
Tournaments Boyd (‘10 Shelby GT500 Super Snake) had to push him through the curve and lost momentum. At the top of lap two, Kokam’s Lamborghini was on the pole and Shiloh’s Camaro was on the outside of the front row. Not unlike the first lap of group 1, the entirety of the inside lane shot out ahead of the entirety of the outside lane, and despite some sloppy acrobatics from Bigg Samm, the inside lane took the race 1-2-3. One half of the outside lane (Shiloh Thomas) ended the lap off the track. Shiloh moved over to the pole for lap three, and despite being unable to finish the prior race, he led this lap and took the lap victory, separating himself from what was otherwise a pretty good representation of racing bumper cars at a two-bit carnival. The fourth lap featured Bigg Samm in what can only be called a miracle run. The Bentley was spinning uncontrollably, then turned a barrel roll, and finally drift-blocked the field just enough to slow everyone else down while somehow shaking off all the nonsense just in time to pass the lap-leading Super Snake just before the finish line. How that happened, I’ll never know. It had to
be seen to be believed.
international final.
Comparatively the action-filled fifth lap was tame. Bigg Samm and Grandslam started on the front row. By the end of the lap, Bigg Samm had the Bentley on its roof, Kokam passed everyone to take the lap and the overall group victory, and of the non-Lamborghini cars, Grandslam’s Porsche snatched up just enough points to be the second car to move on.
Lap one was a tightly run affair that proved that rubbin’ is racin’. But even with a good deal of paint swapping everyone finished in their starting order.
The race finals featured two drivers from the USA (Grandslam and Mayfield 41), one from South Asia (Bhusha Kokam from India), and one from West Africa (The Caddy Man from Nigeria). Two of the cars were from the US, and two were from Europe. All in all, a pretty
Lap two was dominated by the V cars, the Viper and the ‘vette. Lap three was once again dominated by the American cars. With as easily as the Lamborghini had dominated group 2, it looks like that was more because the competition was lacking than that the car was superior. On the final lap of the event, Kokam lined up next to Lancaster on the front row. A lot of shuffling about throughout the lap led to The Caddy Man’s Corvette making it into the second positon for the lap, and that made him first place in points. The overall winner of the event was The Caddy Man from Nigeria in a Corvette from Detroit.
Support “Diecast Racing Report” through Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ DiecastRacingReport 16 | Diecast Racing Report
While we eagerly await the running of the Party Wagons down the multiple tracks at WeRaceDiecast, Dave’s ability to crank out consistent quality content every week ensures that even in the down times between tournaments, there is a lot of good racing coming out of Maryland.
Tournaments
Indiana Diecast Racing by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom
In a continuing effort to cover every race in the Sock Hop Slam tournament, we’ll be up front with you and let you know that this summary article is covering groups 15 through 24. Groups 25-28 have already been released, but due to our spoiler policy, those races will not be covered until next issue. So, without further delay, let’s take a look at the races! Group 15 was made up of two pairs of classic cars: two ‘57 Chevys and two Shoebox Fords. The nicely polished ZAMAC ‘57 Chevy driven by The Feels and Jimmy John’s distressed white ‘57 Chevy made for a fun odd couple. And painted flames abounded on the white Shoebox of Momo and the magenta Shoebox of Robin. The Feels dominated the first lap. The second lap was carried by the 57s which swapped places just at the finish, giving The Feels their second win. Jimmy John took the third lap, while Momo put in the best lap by a Shoebox up to that point, taking second. In a scoring fluke, Robin was able to tie The Feels in the points because The Feels DNF’d when they hit a seam in the track and then the billboard in turn two. So, Jimmy John’s ‘57 was sure to move on, but a race-off had to determine if Robin or The Feels would take the second spot. With a wide open track in front of them, The Feels accelerated too much, and flew off the entrance to the triangle, launching on an orbit-attempting trajectory. Robin completed the lap, and moved on to round two. Group sixteen featured a pair of 8
Crates, one of which was the highly modified “Ape Crate” built by Josh Paufler, and driven by “Not A Thief”. The remarkably tall car was notable for the giant crate sticking out of the top of the vehicle, with the graffito “Live Ape” written on the side. Rusty Meyer’s 8 Crate by contrast was a stock gray, black, and red. Mr. DarQ was in a ‘55 Chevy, and RatTag Jim showed up in a Frankenbuilt car made up of a Big Air Bel Air and a Cruise Bruiser. Clearly, RagTag wanted to challenge Not A Thief for the title of most top heavy car in the group. Rusty took the lead when RagTag did as expected, and put the Big Air monstrosity on its roof. What was unexpected is that the regular ‘55 Bel Air stopped at the same point on the track, while the Ape Crate managed to come in second on the lap. Mr. Darq and Rusty made lap two fit to proper form, the two lower profile cars hugged the track and finished 12. RagTag Jim ended up on his roof after turn two, and Not A Thief flipped partway through turn one. Rusty and Mr. Darq swapped positions on lap three, and the other two maintained the status quo: upside down and sideways. In what turned out to be the most unlikely move of the day, RagTag won the fourth lap by slowing everyone else down to a crawl. So much so that they all fell of the track at Hagrid’s hut. We’ll see Rusty and Mr. Darq again when we someday reach round two! Group 17 featured a lovely blue TBird with fancy white detailing, driven by Kabird!. Mopar Mac ditched his namesake brand in favor
of a ‘55 Chevy Nomad. Henson Drakes brought another ‘57 T-bird to the group, and Lulu was behind the wheel of a purple ‘57 Chevy. Lulu spun out early, opening the door for a non-57 Chevy win. And though Kabird! Led most of the rest of the lap, they squandered their lead in the final stretch by spinning around, allowing Mopar Mac to make his move. The second lap ended much like the first, although this time Drakes was on his roof along with Lulu. Nevertheless, Mopar Mac tallied another lap victory. The third lap saw Drake not finishing again, but Lulu successfully completed a lap for the first time. And on the fourth lap, Lulu managed to win the lap. Yet, it wasn’t enough, and Mopar Mac and Kabird! Moved on to the second round. Group 18’s vehicles included Cody Irons in s ‘52 Chevy truck. A Big Air Bel Air in the hands of The Commish, a pink ‘57 Chevy driven by Coral Rose, and Goldie came to race in a ‘55 Bel Air Gasser. With three of these four cars presenting with high centers of gravity, and the tournament being dominated by the ‘57s, this heat seemed a foregone conclusion, but the laps had to be run anyway. At first glance it seemed like the Big Air and the Gasser were faring better than expected, but in short order they both flipped and the pick up April 21, 2021 | 17
Tournaments truck took the lap, Coral Rose won the second lap unchallenged, as the rest of the field posted a DNF. Lap three was the most exciting one up to this point, and it wasn’t because it was close. Almost turning into a 4way DNF when Coral Rose flipped onto her side going into the final turn, she righted herself coming out of the turn and managed to back her way to the finish line, once again uncontested. Coral Rose and Cody Irons moved on after the fourth lap ended in a quadruple DNF. Group 19 featured Bad Baron in a red and white ‘55 Bel Air. Nasty Nate was in a purple ‘55 Nomad with blue wheels. Ryan of Uncle Elvis Racing brought a ‘57 Plymouth Fury to the races, and Sam Haul was behind the wheel of a candy apple red 57 Chevy covered in red flames. Nasty Nate was the only one to finish the first lap. All sorts of chaos ensued on the second lap. The Fury was on its side in the billboard corner, but somehow came back to finish in the end. The lead changed hands three times in rapid succession when Nasty Nate drove himself off the track on the final straight. Bad Baron passed Sam Haul, who was pinwheeling down the track, and took the lap. Ryan probably started to regret sending in a Fury when he was defeated by the car’s handling in the third lap. Sam Haul coasted to an easy lap victory.This was a close one on lap four, but a collision at the funnel kept the Fury and the ‘55 from finishing. The Nomad and the 57 move on. Group 20 contained a ‘52 Chevy Truck, a ‘57 Plymouth Fury, and two more Mopar cars in the form of ‘59 Dodge Coronets (of the Matchbox persuasion). The Fury did what Furys do. The Coronets followed suit. And the truck took lap one by virtue of being the only vehicle still 18 | Diecast Racing Report
on four wheels. Only one DNF on the second lap meant that a Fury actually won a lap. Convenient collisions near the finish line keep three cars in the field rather than falling short at the end. Only one of the Coronets failed to finish the third lap. The addition of the Coronets to the field have made the Fury no longer the least likely to finish a lap, and from this group, A truck and a Fury move on. Group 21 was comprised of two ‘57 Chevys, a 1956 Chevy truck, and a ‘57 T-bird. All four vehicles finished the first lap, led by Amber and Barb in the ‘57 Chevys. Originally the tournament was going to feature only ‘57 Chevys, and that casting’s domination of the tournament’s early round makes it clear that the competition would still have been just as exciting, but far closer competition-wise had the field not been widened to include all cars of the ‘50s. A chain reaction through the Triangle flipped car after car on the second lap. Only the truck stayed upright, but even he couldn’t finish. Amber and Bard take the 57s to the 1-2 finish on lap 3. The field fails to finish completely on lap four, but that just means that the 57s move on as expected, and without much ado.
Two Furys, a ‘57 Chevy, and a ‘52 Hudson Hornet made up Group 22 The first lap of this group ended with a bit of a surprise. The ‘57 won, which isn’t surprising, but the third place Hornet’s body flew off of its chassis at the finish line. That was unexpected, if nothing else. The Furys failed to finish the next lap, and the Hornet lost its base inside the finish line tunnel on lap two. Repairs seem to be very readily possible, and they managed to keep the Hudson together on lap 3. Nothing could manage to keep the Furys on their wheels, however. The last lap wasn’t necessary as the ‘57 and the Hornet locked up their advancement after the third lap. Really, they were the smart bet after two Furys entered the group, but what can I say? Nick Deavers made an appearance in group 23 in a ‘52 Chevy pickup. Durty Murray drove a Cadillac Fleetwood. A 56 Ford truck without a roof and Dave of WeRaceDiecast rounded out the roster in his ‘57 Chevy. Spy Dude managed to do well enough in his ‘56 Ford truck to move on as the second place car to Dave’s ‘75 Chevy which totally dominated the group.
April 21, 2021 | 19
Tournaments
On The Track: Flat Rabbit Racing Club By Ali Kidder-Mostrom
S
omething interesting was happening in New Westrock last week. Intercepting the feed, we picked up a tale that was part race and part music video. It seems that when the Flat Rabbit Racing Club (FRRC) crew blasted open their new warren tunnels, they may have released a collection of strange creatures from the deep. So, for the second time in a year, New Westrock was taken over by monstrous invaders. However, Keys and Lex were not about to let that stop them from attending the concert of their favorite band, The Evictions. Armed with a flamethrower and a Batmobile, Keys hit the streets to pick up her friend for the concert. Lex was a more cautious sort, so the pals made a wager – if Keys could
outrace Lex in a best out of three match-up, they were heading to the concert. Otherwise, they would stay home and hope SCAR authorities could clear up the streets. Keys clearly takes her commitment to the New Westrock music scene seriously, so in lap one she took off like a Bat(mobile) out of turn one and pulled well ahead of Lex. All to
the musical stylings of The Evictions. Lap two was closer, but eventually Keys pulled ahead. Was it due to superior driving or was Lex really held behind by the mutant throwing cinder blocks in her way? Either way, Keys agreed to a rematch and the pair headed to a lap three. But Keys would not be deterred and – cinderblocks and zombies or no (whoa no no no no) – she once again claimed victory and a concert-going partner. Lex’s concerns were unnecessary; the pair braved the streets first to catch the concert and then made a safe return to the FRRC’s underground headquarters. What new secrets with the tunnels reveal next? We’ll have to wait and see.
20 | Diecast Racing Report
On The Track
On The Track: TranSport Diecast Racing By Christopher Kidder-Mostrom
T
he Kings of the Crest have returned to the track after a brief hiatus. Four new entries were ready to give it a go and see if they had what it takes to climb the ladder. The field of four hopefuls was made up of a diverse batch of vehicles. Richard Stark of K-9 Super Mods brought a Monte Carlo that weighed 49.89 grams.
RagTag of RagTag Racing showed up in a blue Volvo crossover from Matchbox. Sneaky Bob of Vapor Racing was behind the wheel of his Miata, and Red Pill Racing’s Frank Kline had a GMC Syclone for his ride. In the first lap, Ragtag led from the word go. He did struggle for a moment, getting himself turned sideways on the main straightaway, but a love tap from the Monte Carlo
helped him back on his way again. The bump was just enough to ensure Ragtag took the lap. Stark stayed with him to the end, but only managed second. Sneaky Bob managed to cross the finish line, although not in any hurry. And Frank Kline’s truck got stuck in about the same place where RagTag had previously gone sideways. Lap 2 ended in a four car pile-up from which only the Miata emerged,
April 21, 2021 | 21
On The Track making Sneaky Bob the points leader through two laps. On the third lap, Frank Kline started on the front row for the first time during this competition, and he took advantage of the opportunity to show off his Red Pill Racing speed. Kline flew out of the gate and posted the first sub-16 second time of the day, skunking the second and thirdplace cars. Lap four went to RagTag in a very close finish that had Frank Kline missing advancement by millimeters. In the end, the driver advancing with the most points was RagTag. The Volvo was a surprising victor, but it proved itself capable on the ladder, defeating Rob in his yellow Honda S2000. He then faced a second yellow S2000. This one was piloted by Remy 12.
There are a number of S2000s at TranSport right now. Just as there are a lot of Miatas. These are cars that are part of another series that TranSport Diecast Racing is hosting. A good build on one of these sporty Hondas can go really fast, but they do have a tendency to drift, and that slows things down. It is, however an effective way to block another car, too. Remy 12 put the pedal to the metal on the first lap and left RagTag seeing nothing but exhaust. On the second lap, Remy driftblocked RagTag twice, but failed to block him on the third attempt, which let RagTag pass for the lap victory. Remy 12 opted to just drive a good line around the track and sped away from his competitor on the third lap. RagTag’s journey up the ladder stopped right there. Remy’s has just begun. First, he faced Mopar Mac, who was slow off the gate, but had closing speed.
22 | Diecast Racing Report
Mac owned Remy 12 on the first lap, but just couldn’t get the job done on laps two and three, especially since Remy 12 hit the gas on the third lap, putting the race away for good. In his next too matches, Remy 12 proved that he’s a third lap kind of guy. He also showed that he was a vicious competitor. Up against James Lordfelix, Remy 12 nudged his rival off the track in the first lap. Lordfelix came back to snatch the second lap, but Remy 12 zipped to an easy win on lap 3. Remy 12 took a slight blow to the ego on the first lap against Arcy Garay, when he was left in the dust and couldn’t even catch up when Garay spun out prior to going on to win. That bruise led to two strong final laps, and Remy 12 took the win again on lap 3. Remy 12’s climb stopped when he ran into Leafar of TDR. Leafar won the match-up handily and started his own ascent. He defeated both Magic Mike and Doc easily. But then he ran into Remy 12’s cousin Flip. Flip dominated Leafar and earned the right to try to take the reigning King’s spot. Bill Vincent was not about to relinquish his title, however. And after two laps, it was clear that no matter how good Flip is, Bill Vincent is a cagey racer who won’t let go of the top spot easily.
On The Track
On The Track: Chaos Canyon By Ali Kidder-Mostrom
T
he Mustang Memorial Tournament has moved into the semi-final rounds.
Heading into the round, Daddy G led the pack with a healthy 4 point advantage over his closest competitor. However, chaos always reigns at the Canyon and – with six cars on the track – carnage was definitely the order of the day. With that much rubbin’ and racing, any car could earn the points necessary to move on to the finals. In lap one, Idiot Luggage took off from the pack – following some mayham in the second turn. It looked like Daddy G was set to follow in second until a well done, last-minute pass by Shelby Mazesnagged the second place points for the racer from RTR. The Zombie seemed out to prove that he did not fear death. Starting with an impressively acrobatic spin in lap two, he made a number of fancy moves throughout the race. Unfortunately for The Zombie, there aren’t points awarded for style. Another agent of chaos was AV, who flipped a number of times – including a lap three flip which led to a pile-up of about half the competitors.
All the cars (finally) managed to finish lap four. Daddy G tried to catch the front of the pack, but never quite pulled it out. That didn’t really matter, however, as his consistently solid performance meant he already had 60 points on the board at that point in the competition. I definitely looked like he would end the day where he started – on top. In the final race, Idiot Luggage again led the pack – and this time by quite a lot. There was no way he wouldn’t take first place for the lap, until Shelby Maze came out of nowhere for what was dubbed “the pass of the night”. Even with Ms. Maze’s last lap steal, it ended up being Idiot Luggage who stole the night from Daddy G – by only 0.5 points! AB’s flipping did not pay off to flip him in the rankings and he ended the day at the bottom with 31 points. Which, was already lower that Scooter Roundwell – the top point holder for the second group of semifinal racers. It became clear in lap one why Scooter Roundwell was on
top – as he drove away from all competitors with a smooth ease. This crew brought much of the same mayhem (or more!) to the Canyon track as the first. In a rather tragic start to the night, four of the six competitors left in Roundwell’s dust flipped and did not finish. In a bit of a flip from the first lap, in lap two it was Scooter Roundwell who flipped over and didn’t finish. However, the biggest crash of the lap belonged to Dick Turpin who drove right off the edge of the track. Lap three was another full of DNFs, including Bo Shay whose pirouetting maneuver left him dead on the track right after the jump. In fact, this seemed par for the course for Bo Shay who only finished XX laps out of six. Lap four finally saw all competitors cross the finish line and then they were back to their old tricks in lap five. Lap six was also a bit tidier, but April 21, 2021 | 23
On The Track Dick Turpin ground to a halt right on the edge behind the diner and failed to finish. Also, it seems like a Dick joke should be inserted here (phrasing!) as that seemed to be what really finished first in this race. Though Big Samm had one of the more solid performances throughout, he still finished behind Scooter Roundwell (who ended the day with 58) and Luap Knips (at 56). When all the points were counted for the full twelve contenders, Big Samm did manage to slide into the last qualifying Finals spot. The other competitors for that round will include Idiot Luggage (currently on top), Daddy G, Scooter Roundwell, The Zombie and Luap Knips. In between Mustang races, the Outlaws once again took to the
track. This time, newest list member Tim “The Toolman” Taylor had to wait just a little longer to advance and instead had a faceoff with nonlist challengers. Once it got to list racing, Mother Canucker proved he belonged on the list as he raced his way up from 7th to 5th, finally being shut out by Mike
Maze in Scud. Scud was then shut out by Xanthippe who then took out Rat Bird, but that’s where the ladder changes stopped. At the end of the day, hometown favorite Five-0 held tight to the top spot (one he is not likely to lose).
On The Track: 3DBotMaker By Christopher Kidder-Mostrom
An SUV/Van race made the 13th Qualifier for the third King of the Mountain tournament something of battle of the big boys. A Matchbox Hummer H2, a Matchbox 2015 Range Rover Evoque, and HW ‘99 Isuzu VehiCross, and a HW Ford Supervan also made this a battle of the brands. Garbanzo MacElroy was back on the mountain in the Isuzu. He was a fan favorite last year, so it was exciting 24 | Diecast Racing Report
to see him back again. His return wasn’t the most auspicious, however. He flipped his SUV partway down the final stretch after turn three. McLovin, the driver of the Evoque, must have been spooked by what he saw in his rearview mirror, because he launched his vehicle off the track just after MacElroy flipped. The Supervan didn’t even come close to making it past turn two, so all this carnage opened the doors wide for a quick Hummer on lap one. Bryson, the driver of the Hummer,
pulled ahead on the first turn in the second lap and made his way towards the finish line without any real competition. Most of the action on lap two took place when the cops stopped the King of Hearts van and impounded the vehicle, ending the night’s racing for Finn. Noting that removing a vehicle from the race so early in the rotation could cause some unfair line-ups in the starting grid, 3D and 2D found a solution, putting Crazy James into the race as a place holder. James was
On The Track Formoso a household name. Formoso will be back to drive in this tournament again, and 3D has done special work on Gab’s car, as well as the others in the field. While they are still primarily stock, they have had wheel swaps and decorative decal work to make them a little extra special for the event.
allowed to race from the empty spot, but would not accumulate points. On the subsequent lap, Bryson led from beginning to end. After three laps, the winner was already completely determined. But they ran the fourth leg anyway. Bryson’s Hummer took all four laps. Meanwhile, over at the new DRC track, the final round of event one was upon us.
bonus. So, Dylan became the DRC Champion. He finished the event with 11 points more than Pedro Penduko. The event was an exciting way to christen the new track. Now it’s on to a second Lamborghini tournament. The previous one was on Race Mountain Speedway, the predecessor to the current Race Mountain track, and made Gab
Also coming up is the third King of the Mountain tournament. There are only three more qualifying races before the main event. The final of those races? A second chance for all the cars that have been impounded. The final spot in the tournament will be filled by a certified Race Mountain criminal. Talk about upping the stakes! 3D has done a lot of new stuff this year, and the inovations are keeping the racing fresh and exciting!
Dylan came into the event with his ‘08 Mistubishi Evo sitting atop the rankings, holding a hefty 5 point lead. Pedro Penduko was closest behind him in his Matchbox Porsche 911 Rally. Ryu Asada (Lancia Delta Integrale) and Bobby Roberts (HW Porsche 914 Safari) were still in the running, but they’d have to be stellar on this day to have a shot at the title. Penduko won the first lap, but failed to land the big air bonus. Ryu Asada drove much of the lap backwards, and slowly. Asada ended his day by running into the cliff face and then bouncing off onto the berm. Pedro managed the Big Air jump to the 20 marker. Dylan had a knockabout first lap, but held on to win. He had a rough time with his jump, taking a massive jump, but not landing it. Going into the final lap, Dylan posted a record time and a Big Air April 21, 2021 | 25
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