Tomorrow we'll be racing for the final time in '08 @ the Velodrome in So. Cal. (weather permitting) for our Year ending, non-points 'Winterfest'

We've got a cold winter storm brewing that could make us all have to wear jackets, and keep our ears warm too. (It might dip into the HIGH 50's)

...and what's really cool is we're still running the same battery packs we started with at LAST YEARS 'Winterfest' Gotta LOVE the Lipo technology.

The South-West TOUR series will resume with our 8th continuous season on February 21, 2009 and we will once again start the Points chase on our R/C equivilant of the DAYTONA SuperSpeedway.

The 2009 season will also see the 'Tour' upping the battery limit to the ORION 3400 Lipo, and the great thing with the newer released packs is they seem to have virtually THE SAME numbers as the original packs...so the old stuff will still be able to run competitively...

The 3rd Annual **Allstar-Shootout** race will be held April 25-26, also at the Encino track.

Tour dates are still being finalized for the rest of the series, but we're looking to get to run on the CARPET in Lindsay at least 3 times (maybe 4) and we're hoping to bring one or two "Grass Roots" Parking Lot events back into the mix next season as well.

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WOW -- The racers were lined up at the gate when I pulled in this morning at 6:55 a.m. The ground was dry, but the sky was full of dark heavy clouds...just waiting to dump rain on our heads.

The VELODROME doesn't have a permanent scoring loop in the ground, so we use Black GORILLA Tape to secure 24 gauge speaker wire to the surface for our loop... So FIRST thing as we arrived we got the loop laid down, before any rain could moisten the surface and cause the tape not to adhere.

Fire up the GAS Lawn blowers and get the remaining Silt, Ash, Dust and Debris off the surface of the track that was showered upon it from the recent Southern California WILD FIRES that were just 5-6 miles away.

Less than 5 minutes later...here comes the predicted RAIN showers

The FORCAST for the day -- Showers to hit at 8:00 a.m., and expected to last roughly an hour. (It was 8:07 when the first drops fell)

Roughly an hour and 15 minutes later, NO RAIN...and several minutes later the sun actually peeked out for a few minutes.

Racers scurried to grab Concrete Squeegies and more lawn blowers. Some 6-7 racers spent the next 45+ minutes getting the track dried off, pushing large puddles of water into the grass areas and off the apron of the track. It's 10 o'clock and NONE of the 35 racers got frustrated and left, it was like a large gathering of friends, hanging out waiting for the remaining moisture in the tracks surface to dry...

First car on the track, Former NASCAR "Winston West" Champion SEAN WOODSIDE takes his car out for a slow test drive...and slowly brings it up to speed.... "The tracks a little tight, the car's pushy/loose" he says.

Next out - Dave "ShakyDave" Werner, Dave quickly brings his car up to speed...alls looking good so far.

Slowly, a handful of other drivers put their cars out for a cautious few laps of practice... Thumbs Up from one driver, another says "It's Good to go"

Within minutes nearly all the racers have made practice runs...and speeds are picking up, it's going to be a COLD/FAST Track

11 o'clock, drivers got their entries in about an hour later than normal, we've only really lost an hour over our normal schedule...first race on the line 12:15. We've only got 4 1/2 hours to complete 3 rounds of qualifying and mains...it's dark in the San Fernando Valley this time of year by 5 pm.

22 entries in the 21.5 class, broken into 5 or 6 car heats, a heat of 17.5 and two heats of 17.5 NASTRUCK. 7 heats all together, so we're looking at roughly an HOUR per round if we keep it moving and don't take ANY breaks today.

A couple of drivers running two classes require a few extra minutes, the first round takes 1, 15 minutes and provided some great racing. Lap times are fast, the 21.5 class had 4-5 cars separated by less than 2 seconds. At the end of the first round a couple minutes were taken to let a couple guys reset their radios...and then round two went quickly...speeds were faster. 21.5 TQ "Gary Hamilton" had a narrow .16 seconds over 2nd qualifier "Joe Blackburn", the top 7 - 8 cars all with 28 laps, averaging just over 52 MILES PER HOUR

On to round 3, no real changes to the qualifying standings as Hamilton keeps his TQ, with Blackburn 2nd, Brian Bond 3rd and Arnold Brittain sitting in the 4th spot.

The TOP 10 cars qualify for the "A" Main, with the other 12 running the "B" , transfering the top two into the rear of the "A" as well, for a 12 car main event on the 840 ft. HIGH BANKED Super Speedway...

The b wound up having several crashes and cars torn up. Two of the 12 cars scheduled to start the b, were unable to be repaired from earlier crashes, so it was only a 10 car "B" Main event. Team Associated's Donn Natale took the win in the "B" with Keith Brown taking the 2nd spot and final main transfer spot. Keith was unable to make the transfer, and the 1st alternate was able to move into the final main event starting position...(Which was Papa LOU Maldonado from A-Main-Racing tires)

SWT Winterfest 12-13-2008

Race# 2 -- 21.5 Stock - B Main --
Pos Car Laps time name id avg.mph
1 6 27 5:10.42 Donn Natale 10 49.82
2 9 26 5:03.90 Keith Brown 13 49.00
3 2 26 5:04.82 Lou Maldonado 27 48.85
4 11 22 5:13.00 Dennis Hashin 24 40.26
5 3 15 3:01.25 John Miles 30 47.40
6 5 14 3:08.13 Joe Myers 5 42.62
7 4 12 3:15.41 Mike Plant 28 35.17
8 7 8 2:05.58 Dave Werner 6 36.49
9 1 7 1:31.77 RCMits 1 43.69
10 8 2 0:57.57 Steve Jacquez 2 19.90
-- 10 --- DNS --- Odie 21
-- 12 --- DNS --- Uncle Buck 23




The MAIN event was full of exciting racing, door to door action, some very close calls and a couple incidents there were more than close. Team mates Brian Bond and Arnold Brittain got together while running in the front 2 spots, **Allstar Shootout** winner Larry Ruby would find his way to the front of the field leading the way, but a charging TQ "Gary Hamilton" was making His way through the field running a couple .3's a lap faster than the front running Ruby, but Hamilton had a long way to go after being involved in an early race incident.

With laps winding down fast, and Ruby watching his lead dwindle quickly...trying to keep his line as tight as possible, Hamilton was working his way through traffic, and other cars for position, and like so many VELODROME Races for Larry Ruby, it looks like it's going to be a great battle for the win on the FINAL Laps, as HAMILTON catches up to the rear bumper of RUBY with LESS THAN 5 seconds on the clock...

The duo come off the 4th turn, Ruby with the advantage....as they approach the FINISH line RUBY holds the bottom line and Hamilton goes high....RUBY holds on to win the FINAL SWT Velodrome of '08 by just .07 seconds over the Veteran Gary Hamilton. (6) of the 12 starters would finish on the LEAD Lap.



SWT Winterfest 12-13-2008

Race# 4 -- 21.5 Stock - A Main --
Pos Car Laps time name id avg.mph
1 8 27 5:01.57 Larry Ruby 33 51.28
2 3 27 5:01.64 Gary Hamilton 15 51.27
3 9 27 5:03.04 Jerry Purser 12 51.03
4 6 27 5:03.62 Brian Bond 32 50.93
5 2 27 5:08.43 Sean Woodside 16 50.14
6 5 27 5:08.83 Dave Barber 20 50.07
7 12 26 5:05.26 Lou Maldonado 27 48.78
8 11 26 5:08.50 Donn Natale 34 48.27
9 1 19 3:56.60 Joe Blackburn 18 45.99
10 7 6 1:05.92 Arnold Brittain 11 52.13
11 10 5 1:16.62 Scot Petitclerc 14 37.38
12 4 3 0:43.67 Jason Hastings 19 39.35

The FINAL Main finished at 4:45, the sun was mostly gone, the track heavily covered in a dark shadow..but WE Got the whole program in with ALL 3 rounds of qualifying....everyone pitched in helping tear down all the equipment and the gates to the track were closed by 5:15

I have to give a HUGE thanks to Everyone involved in helping get the track ready to run on today, and to ALL our awesome racers who came and spent this Cold December day playing on the FASTEST Track in the West.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and I'll see everybody February 21st - for the SEASON KICK OFF (right back in ENCINO)

Compete results from "Winterfest '08 @ the 'Drome" are available at http://www.southwesttour.com/08_winterfest_results.txt