Preface (continued)

I soon became more interested in the hobby and started to add to the fleet as they say. Pete Serroan contacted me through Bob Hardin and asked if I would like to be a guest at his May 2003 Parsippany slot car show and I said “why not”. One of if not the best thing that happened to me because of the show was when my business partner, Jim Braun restored all of my old trophies to be put on display. The day of the show came and I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen as I had zero experience in “show stuff” but as the day wore on I started to become comfortable with it. I especially enjoyed talking with all the people who had a genuine interest in the 1962 contest and struck up some relationships with people enjoying the hobby present day. Bob Hardin was also very instrumental in providing a lot of old Aurora prints and ads used in the 1962 contest. I should mention too that Bob brought along a small vibe track to run on “how cool was that”. To say my appearance at the show was a very gratifying experience is an understatement and I have both Bob and Pete to thank for the great opportunity and have since become a fixture at all of Pete’s shows.

Turning laps and trying to figure out how to make the t-jet chassis run faster and handle better soon started to intrigue me. My car collecting soon came to a standstill as the “racing bug” had bit again and I was in search of anything that would produce performance. Having turned laps with a handful of driver’s and running informally I decided it was time to look for a “real” race and some organized competition to see where I would stack up. I started to hear about the 2004 VHORS Shootout in Cinnaminson, NJ and took the plunge and joined one of the Nostalgia Hobby teams. I would like to add that Joe at Nostalgia Hobby helped me in pointing out the good stuff for racing. The Nostalgia team was captained by Paul Graziano, Dennis “Pitstop” Moore, and the guy that was responsible for all this stuff with our encounter at Englishtown – Mario “The Chief” Pisano. Prior to the race I set a goal to at least finish midpack and was fortunate enough to achieve that goal. Fast forward a bit and I would run a few VHORS races at John Forlino’s and John Hoopes tracks and although not a winner I was somewhat satisfied with my performance and have become a regular on the VHORS tour.

As I write these words I am seated at the San Francisco Airport and today’s date is February 20, 2005 and I’m waiting to board my plane for the long flight back to NJ. I’m here because I have just raced at the “Fray in Ferndale” which for lack of a better description, would be like the Super Bowl of HO slot racing. Ninety five of the very best t-jet racer’s in the land and although very friendly they ALL have bad intentions on the track when racing. I was fortunate to be a member of the East Coast Fray Team with Captain Tom Bowman, Jack Muirhead, Jim Hoar, and Lewis Wuori. I managed to finish 49th out of 95 in the team races and 47th out of 85 in the singles. We definitely were not a dominant team but the experience and the friendships made will always be a lifelong memory. I would like to thank all who participated at the “Fray” for such a warm reception and most importantly, all the laughs and fun.