BlueLine Racing

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 BlueLine Racing… https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCATVzjJnor8p9q_B57d8vdw

The 60 Gram Modified Circuit Championship just got underway at BlueLine Racing. Starting at BlueLine’s Northeast Beast yellow track, this was the first opportunity to see how the group of 35 cars, who will be making a seven track tour around the United States, in action.

The premier of this tournament was 30 minutes of non-stop downhill drag strip racing. There’s a certain cadence to watching car after car go down the yellow track. And these were tuned by some of the best in the business, so there is little to disrupt the constant rhythm of sub 2 second runs.

This leg of the tournament was a timed event. Two cars ran down the track each lap, but it was ultimately a battle against the clock – with the top 18 cars advancing from round one, then nine cars, then four and ultimately a winner named for leg one of this racing odyssey.

Mixed in with more familiar names in the racing community, this slate of 35 drivers includes a number of up and coming racers, including Healer Racing – winner of the Redline Derby 2021 Rookie Rally. With a top 10 performance on the first run, Healer demonstrated that he has what it takes to carry beginner’s luck forward in the tournament. Healer Racing was one of many Cadillac V- 16 Concepts to grace the race.

The long, smooth V-16 casting was indeed a popular choice. And, with limited exception, as the race field was culled, the contenders started to look uniformly long and blunt-nosed.

BlueLine Racing’s Caddy was the one to make it furthest. Whether that’s home field advantage or that he has unlocked the mystery of speed will have to wait to be seen as the tournament moves on to the next track.

On the other side of builds, Big Mac, Big Poppy and Uncle Elvis each brought trucks that just couldn’t keep up with the sleeker models. Crazy Canuck (with his over-sized FTEs), Dubious Diecast and Aces High Racing’s SUVs also lagged behind. Generally, it looks like this tournament is not a good one for big boys.

The exceptions, however, were Cut Rock’s Escalade and Mopar Mac’s Range Rover – which each made it into the second round of racing. Watching Cut Rock keep up with Healer’s Caddy, one begins to wonder what kind of treatment he gave the Escalade’s orange wheels.

Another unique contender is Ca$h Money Boy$, who showed up in vintage styling. Unfortunately, the squared off body and old wheels meant the younger models passed him by. Sadly, a trend that it’s hard to imagine will change later in the tournament.

Big Al’s Custom Diecast also brought one of the group’s only square-ish cars, but his Gov’ner made it past the first cut of this race and probably has higher hopes for the tournament overall. Not surprising, as it’s low front end mimics that of the ever-popular Caddy V-16.

RLo’s sparkly bodied V-16 just missed the first cut, on the cusp at 1.900 seconds. Future tracks may see this Caddy have better luck. Similarly, Maker’s Box – who showed up in a unique car repping some ILC sponsors – was just edged out at 1.901. Both of these cars should be ones to watch in the future.

Rivera Racing’s performance in this race was rather inconsistent, which is notable when most cars are putting up similar times for each lap. That may spell bad things for his Jaguar XJ220 moving forward or he may be a dark horse that others’ should watch out for in the coming races.

Of course, the real car to watch belonged to Mattman213. His blue Corvette stood out from the crowd, not only because of its beautiful body, but also because of its beautiful performance. To no one’s surprise, Mattman213 set the pace and (ultimately) won the race. In the end he may very well walk away with the Championship belt.

There are other top contenders that will make that a hard battle to win. Both Voxxer and BlueLine were just 0.001 second behind Mattman at the start. In round three, the bigger body of Voxxer’s Evo (the better to weight you with, my pretty…) may have finally paid off, as he unseated Mattman for the top spot moving into the final four.

Also, the award for Best Driver Name definitely goes to newcomer “It’s Diego By the Way”.

Voxxer may be a tough bet, however, as in round two of this race he was a bit loose – losing precious moments that make all the difference in a drag race. Then, in the final four he ended up with one wheel up on the edging of the track. This mishap seemed to carry forward into the remaining runs and when compared to BlueLine – with whom he had shared an initial lap time of 1.875 seconds – his final lap time was 1.906 and BlueLine was sitting pretty (and steady) at 1.876. Is it just inconsistent performance or is something wrong with his car? Hopefully, it will be squared away before the tournament moves on to Scale Racing

This channel is great for fans of:

– Epic summer racing series

– Traditional, no-frills drag strip racing

– Racing against the clock