the nsR Us nationals

THE 2022 US NSR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Words by Paul Pearlman - Photo’s by Ray Lego

Our journey to the 2022 NSR National Race, hosted by Cloverleaf Racing in Michigan, started the morning of October 6th. - but the preparation really started shortly after the 2021 race was completed. Al, Ray and Paul started out early in the morning so that we could be in Michigan later in the day. We travelled from New Jersey to Michigan, which is about 642 miles (1033 km) and took about 10 hours. The trek took us through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and into Michigan. Mike M. who moved to central PA, also left that morning and was a few hours ahead of us. Other members from our club, Robert and Ray M. left on Thursday evening and made it to Cloverleaf Racing on Friday. Our road trip was a blast and we got to see some beautiful parts of the country.

The NSR National race brings out some of the best slot car racers in the country (in my opinion) and was a blast to participate in. Racer’s attending had to think about what car to run, motor size, gearing, chassis, weight... you name it. Then, when NSR came out with the McLaren (for the GT class), it threw a monkey wrench into the works. Do you stay with the AMG? Audi? Corvette? or try the McLaren? So many choices, but as they say, choices are good to have. The racers came from New Jersey, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio,

Scrutineering is an important and necessary process at all major race meetings. Here we see a Porsche 917K being given the once over. This Huddy Tyre-truer belongs to Al Hernandez and part of his pit box area.

Pennsylvania and of course Michigan - where it was held at Cloverleaf Racing. Three classes were run with NSR Vintages (10 min heats) up first on Saturday followed by NSR F1 (3 min heats). Sunday was dedicated to running the NSR GT class (10 min heats). Having participated in this event in the past, I can tell you that the days are long and by the end you are looking forward to a great night of sleep. But don’t get me wrong, those long days are fun. What’s not to like when you are testing and tuning slot cars with a great bunch of racers. Some of us enjoyed a nice steak dinner at a place called the Black Rock Restaurant. Great place to eat and they even let you cook your own steak on a 755-degree volcanic rock. You also need to try their Volcano dessert.

Cloverleaf Racing opened on Thursday to racers so they could start to tune their cars for their technical wood track. A few people showed up to get a feel for the track. Friday’s test and tune session was for the out of towners who do not have much time on the track. Many of us showed up at 8:00 am and worked on all three classes until Cal shut down the store around 8:00 pm. Believe me, if we could we would have stayed a lot longer, but the guys at Cloverleaf needed a well-deserved break. Cloverleaf, NSR and Professor Motor provided very nice prizes for the participants and podium winners for all three classes. Prizes ranged from brand new NSR Cars, motors, NSR mats and extremely nice hard engraved plaques made by Matt G (AKA Bear). Everyone who participated in the race got something. They gave away cars, motors, NSR parts, mats, etc.

During the year, Andrea from NSR, traveled to the US to visit several locations including Mike Stott and the group at Cloverleaf. In Italy, they run mostly on Ninco track and as many people know, tuning for plastic is very different then wood. Andrea mentioned that racers in Europe do not use much weight and run-on stock NSR rear tires. When he tried an F1 car out on the wood track, he quickly understood why on wood you use weight, a lot of weight. In this event we run only Quick Slick rear tires which are a must on our tracks. Andrea also visited the NJ Metro slot car group in New Jersey. The NJ Metro club runs mostly plastic tracks and it was evident that Andrea knew what was needed as he tuned a car that was just hooked up. We ran an NSR F1 race on Jon’s Carrera track and Andrea showed us how these NSR cars should run. We learnt some tuning tricks from Andrea that many of us have incorporated in how we now setup our cars.

As I said before, this event brought out some of the best racers in the states. One of the racers, Curt DeMars, won the NSR F1 and Modern GT race, while Jon Toussaint of P1 Slotcars, won the NSR Vintage GT race. These two racers are proven winners and expert tuners. Their cars were in a class of their own - which was evident by how quick they were and how well they handled. What was enjoyable about watching both race was how different their styles are. Curt races on the edge and if you watch him, he is extremely intense. If you watch Jon race, it’s looks like he is out on a Sunday drive. He’s calm, cool and collective and nothing seems to rattle him. Off’s - while seldom, do not seem to bother these racers. A few others to mention are Cal Crum, Andy Land and Keith Lindahl who are local to Cloverleaf. One thing all three have in common is their racing style. Like Jon, they are all calm racers who rarely get rattled and all took a podium spot in one of the races.

Other competitors pit boxes, so typical of the type owned by slot racers the world over.

These are the cool looking custom painted NSR slot cars of JP Racing.

Race 1 - Vintage NSR GT

The Vintage NSR Cars in Parc Firme before the start of 7 hours of racing!

After the cars went through a visual tech by Andy and James, the 31 racers started qualifying to determine the races running order. This method places racers who qualify with similar times together during the race. The class featured Porsche 917/10K, 908/3, Ford P68 and GT 40 Mark IV cars of the Vintage GT era. Third place went to Andy who had a consistent race with 97, 99, 101 and 100 laps, 397 in Total, whose average lap time was 5.839. In Second place was Curt, who finished with a total of 399 laps and an average lap time of 5.797. Curt’s tires took a bit to come up to speed which was evident by his 96 laps total on his first heat. After that he scored totals of 100, 102 and 101. The first-place finisher Jon, started strong with a first heat total of 100 laps which topped the field. The other three heats matched and exceeded his first heat as his tires came in. Jon finished the race with a total of 407 laps and an average lap time of 5.719. All ran three on the podium Porsche 908/3’s.

Let the racing begin! Some of North America’s finest drivers duke it out in what they call the Vintage class. These are NSR Classics to the rest of us.

The complete grid of Vintage cars that entered the event. There were most types represented but the Porsche 908/3 was the clear favorite, and in the final, they took the top three places.

Third place in the Vintage class was Andy, while Second went to Curt, with Jon picking up First Place.

Race 2 - NSR Formula 86/89

Next up was the exciting Formula 86/89 races. Here are the entries in Parc Firme.

This race was run after the Vintage GT race which had took over 7 hours to complete. We used the same running order as that of the first race. After some frenetic open wheel racing, in 3rd place was Paul Pearlman from NJ Metro who ran an outstanding for an out of towner and finished with 121 laps, just a few sections behind second place. In second came Keith who quietly finished just ahead of Paul, also on 121 laps. Keith’s car was on rails and was smooth, like his racing. In first place overall was Curt, whose average lap time was 5.684. Curt’s car was hooked up, and he finished the race with a total of 123 laps.

While some cars were custom painted, many were left in their original finish. The Cannon -Williams was popular with five cars in this livery making the field. This standard model finished in the colours of the BMS Scuderia Italia Dallara team, has been made even better by a fully detailed drivers helmet. One of the races principal sponsors was Professor Motor. Oliver from PM is seen on the left alongside Cloverleaf’s owner Mike Stott. Some of the “Goodies” donated by Professor Motor, NSR and Cloverleaf Racing.

The full grid of the Formula 1 class before racing - due to time constraints these were just 3 minute heats.

Third in F1 was Paul Perlman while Keith took Second. And moving up a spot from his previous 2nd place in the Vintage class was Curt taking the overall F1 honors.

In the evening of events like this it’s a time for friends even if they competitors to unwind, chat and have a nice meal. Those East Coast Maniacs, Paul, Mike and Al, enjoy a cook your own steak dinner.

Race 3 - Modern GT

The Great Lakes team L-R we have “RamCat” Larry, Jon "JT", Larry "The Finger" and "The Saw".

This race was the last race of the weekend and was bitter sweet as it meant the end to the NSR finals. Like race one, qualifying would determine the running order. As you can imagine the lap times for the Modern GT class was quicker than the other two races. In third place was Cal, who ran a C7 Corvette. Cal had a total 407 laps and ran an average lap time of 5.70. Second place was Jon - anyone noticing a theme here? - who ran the new McLaren 720S GT3. Each of Jon’s heats were in the 100-lap range, but just not able to match Curt and had finished with a total of 411. Topping the field was Curt with his second win of the weekend. He also ran the new McLaren with an angle winder setup and had an average lap time of 5.541. Curt ran an average lap time of 5.541 with a fast lap at 5.486.

Another day another race and this time it was for the modern GT’s. Here is a typical line up of NSR’s GT3 cars that were in attendance at this event. Popular in North America are these controllers from DiFalco. Almost everyone ran these except a couple of the New Jersey guys who used ThirdEye’s.

A couple of custom painted AMG Mercs that were in the GT Class, nice. The full grid of Modern GT’s (NSR GT3’s) just before racing commenced.

Like the Vintage GT’s heats were timed at 10 minutes each, here we see cars in action.

Finishing third in Modern GT was Cal, with Jon coning home in second. Winner and multi-podium finisher is a very happy Curt.

As I am writing this up, I am thinking along with others, “what can I do differently next year?”. Looking forward to seeing everyone again in 2023.

More information on the rules and results can be found on Home Racing World. n SPONSORS AND CLUBS

Cloverleaf Racing .............. www.cloverleafracing.com Professor Motor .................. www.professormotor.com NSR .........................................................www.nsrslot.it P1 Slot Cars ................................www.p1slotcars.com NJ Metro Slot Car Club ......www.njmetroslotcars.com Great Lakes Slot Car Club ... www.greatlakesscc.com While it looks very plain this McLaren720S is the latest GT3 racer from NSR and was the car that helped Curt to the Modern GT victory.