JACKSONVILLE, FL - Twenty-one racers made the trip to Phoenix Raceways & Hobbies to kick off the FLORIDA VINTAGE SLOT RACING ASSOCIATION's inaugural season. If this was any indication of how things will go, they will go very well. Those of us who had not visited the facility found out what everyone else already knew - this is one fabulous racetrack. Very fast, but still technical enough to to be a challenge.

The day began with the GT cars. We ran the fourteen entries as a single round robin main. Cocoa's Terry Tawney sort of stunk up the show taking a 10 lap win. It was very tight among the next five finishers, however, as only six laps covered them. Jacksonville racers Mike Rigsby and Buddy Houser completed the podium. Another local racer, "J.P." (13th place) set fast lap (4.613). J.P. had the magic motor as he would set fast lap in every class, usually by more than a tenth!

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TECHNICAL INFO
Terry - Kelly chassis/Falcon-7/JK Lola T-70
Mike - JK X-24/Falcon-7/JK Lola T-70
Buddy - Champion T-Flex (all steel)/Falcon-7/JK Lola T-70

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We had ten sign in for CAN-AM, which sort of surprised me as these cars seem to handle a bit better than the GT cars. This race was a bit tighter as only six laps separated the winner from fourth. Local "shoe" Stuart Andrews took the win with the same lap total as Terry had in GT (I may be mistaken, but I think Stuart's ride was a Richard Houston loaner). J.P. Magic Motor took second (and set fast lap - 4.499) edging Terry Tawney by a lap.

http://fvsra.lenzus.com/content/79856082/19086802.jpg

TECHNICAL INFO
Stuart - Mossetti/Falcon-7/JK Ti-22
J.P. - JK Cheetah 11/Falcon-7/JK Shadow
Terry - Kelly Steel/Falcon-7/JK Ti-22

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By the time we got to the "OUTLAW" class (the same cars we'd been racing without the .015 front clearance), we sort of knew who was fast and who was a bit faster.

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We separated the fourteen entries into an "A" and "B" main. Track owner Austin Latham had not raced in the previous classes, so some genius put him in the "B". Everyone knows Track Owners race with the fast guys, even if they're not fast! Austin was. He took a 15 lap win over customer Bill M. with Port St. John's Count Gibson completing the podium. Johnny Banks (5th) set fast lap (4.718).

TECHNICAL INFO
Austin - Parma Flexi-5/Falcon-7/JK Ti-22
Bill - Champion T-Flex (steel)/Falcon-7/Outisight Chevron
Count - JK Cheetah 11/Falcon-7/JK Lola T-70

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The OUTLAW "A" was the tightest race of the day as only three laps separated first from third. Locals John ("JT") Thompson and Tom Marlow took the top two spots with Melbourne's Bill Pinch completing the podium. JP Magic Motor (5th place) once again had fast lap (4.445) which was the fast lap of the day.

TECHNICAL INFO
JT - JK Cheetah 11/Falcon-7/JK Ferrari 312
Tom - JK Cheetah 11/Falcon-7/JK Ford GT-40
Bill - JK X-24/Falcon-7/JK Porsche 917

http://fvsra.lenzus.com/content/79856082/79936802.jpg

The next FVSRA event will be April 19th at Cocoa's theRaceway.biz (they race VINTAGE cars as part of their weekly race program every Saturday night). If you haven't been VINTAGE racing, we hope you'll look into it. With Falcon-7 motors and .010 thick (read that longer lasting) bodies, these are truly low dollar cars that keep the racing very close. Raceway owners, if you have a GTP racing program, just tell your racers to drop in a Falcon-7 motor, put on a .010 JK VINTAGE body and they have a VINTAGE car! They probably won't even have to change spur gears.

If you would like more information on the rules for this exciting type of racing, check out the Florida Vintage Slot Racing Association Website. (http://http://www.fvsra.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=32)