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 1- 2. 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 T- Bird 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 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 4- way 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 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.