Leek Slot Stox Club

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Leek Slot Stox Club News 2000/2001 Season
(most recent addition at the top)

Information listed below is intended to be correct at the time of writing but details such as
links etc. may become out of date as time goes on.

14th August, 2001 - First Real Trials for Computer Controlled Lap Counter
Racing was conducted this evening under the watchful eye of the computer. It became clear that although one or two things in the way the racing and scoring is conducted would have to be changed, the benefits of the speed and accuracy of collecting results far outweighs any downsides. Debates about who crossed the line first will now be a thing of the past as split finishes can be settled in an instant as the computer displays the finishing times to the nearest thousandth of a second ! There will also no longer be any question of how many laps people have done, although racers using light coloured guide flags will have to replace them with black ones to ensure their car triggers the track mounted infra red sensors every time around - these will be supplied by the club.

8th July, 2001 - Computer Controlled Lap Counter Project Begins
After much deliberation, discussion and debate, work on the installation of a new computer controlled lap counter system has begun. After the best part of 8 hours of drilling,filing and wiring not to mention sweating, cursing and crying, Bros, Nick and Nij were triumphant in their efforts of fitting the necessary parts to the track.

3rd July, 2001 - Trophy Presentation Evening

sfsf sdfsdf
Bros: "Come and have a look at
what you could have won"

Trophy Presentation Evening - The winners of the 2000/2001 season are as follows:-

Club Champion - Andy Broster
Points Champion - Andy Broster
Finals Winner - Nij Jones
Whites & Yellows Champion - Fiona Brockley
Reg Brown Trophy - Dominic Cooper
Kiwi Cup - Nick Beech

See Roll Of Honour for past winners

Click here for the trophy presentation page with details of the 2000/2001 season champions.

19th June, 2001 - Annual General Meeting
The AGM was held on Tuesday 19th June. Below is the Agenda for the evenings discussion topics:-

1. Fixtures
2. Meeting Format
3. Race Rules
4. Track Failure
5. Car Construction
6. Grading
7. Championships
8. Club Directory
9. Club Funds
10. Lap Counter Progress
11. Announcement of Trophy Presentation Night
12. Forthcoming Corporate Event
13. LSSC Open Championship
14. Web Site
15. Gaining of New Club Members
16. Any Other Business

A copy of the points raised and resolutions reached is available from Nick.

5th June, 2000 - 13th Annual Club Championship & Reg Brown Trophy The Annual Club Championship is the climax of the season and was held at our usual venue, Britannia Sports & Social Club, Leek, on the 5th June. The drivers who qualified were - Nick (with 342 points), Bros (336), Chaz (272), Nij (261), Mesh (245) and Aleks (205). Unfortunately Nij was unable to attend and the next highest qualifying round scorer took his place - Fiona (with 191 points). The starter for the duration was Rob who got things under way without delay. Bros took an early lead with Nick trying to keep up close behind. For everyone else the racing seemed to develop in two stages. For the whole of the first half certain drivers just couldn't seem to keep their cars on the track. In the first race Mesh was off at the first bend, a run that continued for about six races. As if that wasn't bad enough he then started crashing into Aleks. He was not a popular boy with threats from Aleks of being banished to the spare room. Fiona kept on crashing into Chaz who was naturally none too pleased as he saw his chances ebbing away - more spare room threats ensued.
Bros Takes Silver AND Gold Domo Meets Honourary Member	For the second half the slippery conditions started to improve as the racing line emerged and the racers got used to the conditions and started finishing races. With no fencing, pushing or shoving going on and Nij not on the track the scores quickly rose with Chaz capitalising and moving up the board quickly to challenge Bros and Nick, the three of them within a handful of points of each other. The penultimate race saw the top three going hard into the chicane. Bros got through but in their eagerness or sheer bad timing Chaz and Nick both tried to get through at the same time with disastrous results. The cars came together and went no further enabling Bros to substantially increase his lead. In the first lap of the last race Chaz somehow ended up across Nick's lane who couldn't get around it, ending the chances for both of them. Bros just had to cruise round and finish, to claim the title of Club Champion. Chaz and Nick contemplated their performance "What a shambles" was their apt conclusion. Congratulations were given to and richly deserved by Bros, the new Gold Top, who announced he was available for interviews. "Consistency is key" he declared, "as is physical fitness and a sharp haircut". The racers who qualified and were available for the Reg Brown Trophy were Carole, Paul J, Phil, Rob, Domo and Nat. Others who had qualified but were not in attendance were Ben and Paul T.
Rob and Paul immediately got off to a good start matching each others pace scoring within a point of each other race after race. Things changed somewhat as Paul lost it in lane one and ended up across lane six, taking Rob's car out in the process. Both drivers seemed to loose their rhythm and Domo started putting a few good results in, moving up the scoreboard, then taking the lead. Carole too, started doing the same and found herself running in second place. Phil and Nat just couldn't seem to get a good pace going though whereas Rob started to recover some of his previous reliability. You could see the confidence in Domo's face in the last few races as it became clear no-one was going to catch him as he took a convincing win of the Reg Brown trophy.

22nd May, 2001 - Race Meeting 16
With the smallest of margins separating the top two contenders for this years 'Whites & Yellows Championship', Phil with his four point lead over Fiona, was going to have to keep his wits about him to ensure that the silverware was going to be coming his way. The Silver Top (Points Champion) was going to be a more straight forward affair however as the battle between Bros and Nick was over before the night had even begun. Nick had rather foolishly booked his annual holiday right at the crucial moment after having not missed a single meeting all season. With a good result it was possible he could have done it. Could it be that he was so confident of winning that he didn't need the points from the last meeting or was he sure he wouldn't be in the running ? We'll never know… Bros takes the 'Silver Top' crown after a well deserved and well fought win and despite having missed the first two meetings of the season. Back to the Whites & Yellows and Phil was evidently feeling somewhat over confident putting in a lowly score in his first heat. Unfortunately for him it was such a low score his was unable to recover and Fiona seized the opportunity and took the trophy by finishing a very close two points ahead - congratulations Fiona.

After a recent spell at blue top, Carole seemed to be back on form in the heats tonight with consistent high scoring helping her to achieve highest qualifier for the final. It was the complete opposite end of the scale for Bros however, as he found himself battling for final qualification. In the last race of the consolation Ben needed simply to keep his cool to maintain a three point advantage to take the final position but (as has happened before) he lost his bottle and against all the odds Bros battled through.

The final saw a welcome return from Paul Jones who was back with a vengeance showing that absence really does make the trigger finger grow stronger. He may not have counted on the determination of the other racers though as he found himself in the middle of the battle for the coveted finals champion title along with gleaming shield. With Bros and Nij both on five final wins it could have been going home with either of them at the end of the night. They, along with Chaz who also wanted a piece of the action, soon pushed Paul to one side as the racing went right to the wire with everything so typically hinged on the last race. Bros needed a win whereas Nij just needed two points which he exceeded despite having suffered an unusual occurrence which somehow prompted the words 'Hand of God' and 'Aleks' to be mentioned in the same sentence.

So all in all a good night was had by most, if not quite everyone. Bros went home as points champion, Nij as finals winner, Fiona as whites & yellows champion and Nick went back to his hotel after reportedly supping one too many Sangria's somewhere along the Spanish Costa Blanca. With the ultimate trophies still to be claimed (Gold Top and Reg Brown(!)) there is still plenty more excitement to come at the next meeting.

24th April, 2000 - Race Meeting 14 - Kiwi Cup
For the eve of the Kiwi Cup the track conditions were somewhat unpredictable once again, to begin with at least, unsurprisingly much to the delight of Rob who has been benefiting from such conditions of late.

Nick was proudly displaying his car before racing began and hence before any bits were likely to get knocked off it. It had received it's first overhaul for at least 18 months which included a complete strip down, re-spray and new bodyshell. Carnage boy junior (Ben) was quick to notice the easy prey and took great pleasure in chipping chunks of fresh paint off the chassis as early on as the warm up. Looks like Nick should have used Hammerite.

The consolation race turned into another of those girlies against boyees affairs with three against three of each sex. Nij, for whom it is common to see right in the middle of such a melee, managed somehow to come through as the victor and a place in the final.

Rob's recent upturn in racing standard had seen him straight through to a place in the final and was soon to find himself with the onerous task of racing against the current top five racers in the league. With a trophy up for grabs the standard of driving had improved all the more, all of a sudden, with races even being completed by all six cars on occasions. Chaz, Mesh and Rob, who had all gone very well in the heats couldn't seem to make an impression on the early march stolen by Bros. It seemed for a moment that Bros was going to run away with it but Nij wasn't going to sit back and watch as he put a decisive carnij move in on Bros, just to level the scores up a bit. Nick, who had been soldiering on with his resoldered car found himself in with a chance as did Nij, who realised that his tactics had actually put him in with a hope. In the last race it could have gone to Bros, Nick or Nij. It was almost like an uncanny replay of times gone by, twelve months to the day to be precise, as Nick emerged from a chaotic pile up which had taken Bros and Nij out, leaving him to take the Kiwi Cup for the third year in succession.

In the re-gradings for the last two meetings of the season Mesh has moved back up to Red at the expense of Nij who will no doubt be quite pleased as he is still in with a chance at this years finals trophy along with Bros and Nick. Rob's recent performances mean he will have to get used to the idea of running from the blue line and Ben moves back to yellow. The writing could be on the wall as far as the points championship is concerned as Bros moves a full 36 points clear of second placed Nick but I don't hear the fat lady singing just yet.

18th April 2001 - Photo Gallery (Car Pics Page) Updated
Close ups of some nice motors added.

17th April 2001 - Photo Gallery (Drivers Page) Updated
More latest available pics of drivers and their cars added. Now includes rookie driver Kirsty and a nice close up shot of Chaz Middleton's recently rebuilt car.

10th April 2001 - Race Meeting 13
In his infinite wisdom Nij decided the track needed a clean before the start of tonight's racing. It's anybody's guess as to the reasoning behind this mad stunt but then again he is Mr Mad from Mad Street, Mad Town when it comes down to slot-stox racing. The track was now offering about as much grip as a well oiled Chippendale limbering up for his big night out. The strange thing about it was the fact some of the drivers seemed to be revelling in the slippery conditions, not least Rob, who actually expressed a preference for it. Others, however, were suffering badly from spins, skids and their back ends generally snaking about all over the place. Not much new there then really. Now dubbed the 'rainmeister', Rob's heat scores told the story perfectly - in heat one, whilst conditions were at their worst he scored 30 points but in his second heat, after a quantity of rubber had gone down and some of the grip began to return he scored 17. He certainly wasn't going to complain though as his performance was enough to enable him to qualify for his first ever final and he was a happy chappy to say the least. Rumours are now rife that money has been changing hands to ensure the track is cleaned on a more regular basis so cheques are payable to 'Nijde Kebab House' but cash is preferred.

Meanwhile, Ben was showing off his car control skills with some mature driving but couldn't seem to translate it into points, whereas Mesh was accumulating points like they were going out of fashion. With lack of previous track time, rookie drivers Domo and Kirsty looked as if they were able to take advantage of the adverse track conditions and

Move Over... Or Else
Get in the way of Aleks and
she will walk all over you

Fortune Telling ?
Bros: "Hello, is that the newspapers... here's the story... Bros favourite for both the finals and the points championships"

as some of the more experienced drivers struggled, they were scoring well. Aleks was keen to demonstrate that no-one was going to get in her way tonight, not even Carole, who's car had crashed out at the furthest point of the track, tight up against the barrier. Normally if you are in lane six and you are unfortunate enough to come across a car in this position you might as well just park up because you have about as much chance of getting around it as getting past Luciano Paverotti in the queue at McDonalds when he's had nothing to eat all day. Unphased, Aleks simply dropped into a lower gear as she approached the offending vehicle and amazingly drove up and over it and continued on, hardly even losing any time.

Chaz got off to a flying start in the final but was soon chased down by Bros. Nick was back to scoring his mandatory 'nones' for the majority of the races and couldn't even get the push right on Bros, who was easily able to stretch his lead enough to clinch the final win, his fifth of the season. With some racers enjoying the somewhat unexpected track conditions and others clearly not, there were a few changes in league table positions. Bros moved up from second to take the lead position and move a clear 30 points ahead of Nick. Chaz moved up to third to re-take the place from Nij. Mesh scored well and with his second place in the final is now homing in on the battle for third in the league. Aleks took a place from Phil and Carole did the same to Fiona with only a handful of points separating them. And highest climber Rob, who finished a well accomplished third in the final, also moved two places up the table.

5th April 2001 - Drivers Page Updated
Latest available pics of drivers and their cars added. Includes new drivers Domo and Nat.

1st April 2001 - Lancashire Open Championship
The Rossendale Model Stock Car Club Lancashire Open 2001 meeting was held on Sunday 1st April 2001 at their club in Nelson, Lancs and we sent some racers up to check it out - namely Bros, Nij, Nick and Ben. We prepared ourselves for what we thought was going to be a long trek up to Nelson but the journey turned out to be quite a pleasant one only taking and hour and a half at a leisurely pace. As a result we turned up very early. So early in fact that the hosts of the event hadn't even arrived. Thankfully they did arrive and straight away we were made to feel very welcome. First things first and in went the orders for the cheese and ham toasties and mugs of tea from the on-site catering facilities. We had a quick whiz round the track which was very well constructed and had the power points for the controllers down the longest side of the track. With our own cars we soon found the extremely tight corners difficult to negotiate. The other thing we noticed was the extremely high level of grip on the track which was causing our cars to wheelie out of the slot as the power went down. Some would say Nij's car does that on our home track anyway and they would be right. Once running some of the rmscc cars round we found that they were, obviously, much easier to control.

We were all supplied with a loan car each to run in the racing and it took a short while to get used to the slightly different style of racing. Although the racing was marshalled their only purpose was to remove de-slotted cars from the racing line. Inevitably this sometimes resulted in the unfortunate de-slotting of cars as they innocently tried to pass the cars being recovered. This was simply accepted as part of the marshalling process. Bros was up first and appeared to be struggling to finish any races at all. Father and son team Nij and Ben soon got up to their usual tricks putting the bumper in, certainly affecting the performance of the home racers. Nick seemed to get into the swing of it (he must have been taking it far too seriously) and finished second in one of the heats, narrowly missing a place in the final.

A special race was kindly held for us, as a visitors race, for non RMSCC cars. This quickly resembled a destruction derby, however, as the LSSC racers couldn't resist the temptation of showing the home team how the boys from Leek do it and 'playing to the crowd' at every opportunity. Needless to say, very few of the races involved all four cars completing six laps but the crowd seemed to enjoy the entertainment, even though one spectator was very nearly maimed for life by Bros firing one of the cars over the low side fence.

Whilst considering the way the event progressed we noticed some interesting things which we can hopefully learn from, which will be of benefit to our club. Firstly the standard of organisation was extremely high. With the common occurrence of some 30 racers attending week day meetings the standard would certainly have to be high but it seemed like everyone was always in the right place at the right time with no delays to the racing whatsoever.

This was due to a number of factors such as :-
1. racers always ready to race promptly and lining up quickly after a race
2. no points awarded for racers not completing six laps, so no issues of who has done how many laps
3. track maintenance good - no repairs required for the duration of the meeting
4. car maintenance good - no repairs required (you could say that 3 & 4 are due to the cars being smaller and lighter, therefore less wear and tear
5. Starter/scorers decisions on points awarded was given very quickly and was unquestioned (obviously made easier by no. 2)

We will be considering how our club can benefit in the future from the visit to RMSCC and we are now also looking at the possibility of introducing a computerised lap counting system. One thing is for certain though and that is we thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Nelson and would certainly be up for any future events of a similar nature. LSSC are also going to be holding an Open Championship in the not too distant future so watch this space.

27th March 2001 - Race Meeting 12 & Qualifying Round 5

Rob (left) frantically watches his pit crew build a car for him to destroy

Mesh proudly shows the pants trophy

Chaz's performance was off tonight, which he put down to "getting used to the car again". He was proudly sporting his newly rebuilt car which at over ten years old had lasted him well but had been at risk of falling to bits at any moment. Now with a complete work over by master car builder Paul Taylor, Chaz was chuffed to bits and by the look of the workmanship it should last him another ten years. Lets just hope Rob doesn't get near it or it won't last another ten minutes. Rob and his pit crew (Bros) were seen just before the racing started frantically trying to turn some twisted metal into a raceable car so that Rob could put it on the track and turn a raceable car into some twisted metal.

With three cars sporting black paint jobs Bros was struggling to work out which car was who's whilst scoring one of the heats. It was probably only due to failing eyesight but Nij humoured the poor guy by painting his car a different colour - inbetween heats. Phil was suffering somewhat with car problems but Bros was at hand to sympathise "I wouldn't say that car's a shed Phil" he began "but I reckon a new felt roof wouldn't go amiss" he concluded. Mesh too had been having car problems, which ultimately led to his winning of the pants trophy which he was really pleased about.

Drivers were given the opportunity to pose for up-to-date photos for the website which received a mixed reaction. "Did you get me tits in ?" Fiona enquired whereas Domo was asking "where do I put the x in the box for no publicity", obviously not able to deal with the fame that being a slot stox driver brings. Ben decided to do his best impression of acting like a right girlie in front of camera and Bros was captured in his natural habitat, Bud in hand poised at the optimum angle for a smooth progressive delivery, right across the range. Aleks was especially keen to pose as she'd just had her hair done whereas Chaz was just confused by all the bright lights flashing in front of his eyes.

WARNING: If you see any of these people in the street DO NOT approach them, they are highly dangerous to themselves

The consolation race was something of a nail biter as the six racers all finished within 3 points of each other. It could have gone to anyone and new racer Domo was the one to clinch it. Racing at only his second meeting ever this was no mean feat - could he be one to watch for the future ?

In the heats Bros and Nick had both scored well and both started well in the final each taking the lead early on. Nij, sporting his paint job, soon caught the battling duo and overtook, only to get fenced by his mate Domo. Unusually, that was about all the contact to speak of. Chaz was still trying to get used to his rebuilt car but even by the second race had decided he wasn't going to win much. The top three were just going for the points (how boring) as the others tried to keep up. In the last race it was between Bros and Nick once more but Nick got excited and threw it all away at the first bend. Mr Broster took a well earned fourth final win of the season but was unable to reduce Nick's league lead which remains at four points.

25th March 2001 - Location Map Updated
The location map shown on the contacts page has been replaced with a more detailed version.

13th March 2001 - Race Meeting 11
Phil appeared to be coming out of his shell a bit tonight or to be more precise his car was coming out of its bodyshell as more than one race finished with his car in two pieces. In one race the chassis continued on as his 'shell hung loose, having gotten hooked up on the roof of Alek's car. Aleks, Fiona and Carole were going well in the heats, leaving the likes of Ben and Rob trailing in their dust. Mesh was scoring well, currently holding fifth place in the league and Red Top status.

First time racer Domo was using Paul J's car who was absent from the night's proceedings. Unfortunately for him it wasn't to last as bits started falling off from the outset, finishing with the drop arm, erm… dropping off. Undeterred, Domo went on to claim his first prize - the pants trophy for the lowest points.

For Chaz the non-attendance of the other Paul (Taylor) spelled problems as Paul had his car in order to repair it, leaving Chaz on the scrounge for a loan which Bros provided. For Bros, currently third in the league, the heats were going well - was the absence of Paul T positively affecting his performance ? Not only satisfied with gaining the highest heat points to help improve his present third position in the league, he still had time to put the bumper in on current league leader Nick, who had hesitated at the chicane once too often. "You just had to go mate" he grinned unsympathetically following the move which rendered Nick with an all too often score of none. Of course his improvement may also have something to do with his recent relegation to the blue grade.

Aleks described how she came to be parked at the chicane during one of the heat races, "It went weee, and just fell out" she said using her best technical vocabulary. Nevertheless, she went on to challenge to race in the final only to get pipped by Chaz in the consolation.

Bros, Chaz and Nij all got off to a good start in the final. Nick started poorly, already it seemed he wasn't going to be able to replicate his highly unpopular win of the last meeting. Along with Mesh this made up the top five racers in the league, with it all to play for. Chaz was going strong, keen to hold on to his league position of second, and Nij aiming to improve on his fourth. For the whole duration of the final the lead was swapping back and forth between the top racers. Chaz was doing extremely well considering he was still running a loan car and Phil was also getting in on the action with his pan chassis constructed car and oversized tyres defying the laws of slot stox physics.

In the last few races Bros and Chaz were neck and neck but Phil and Nij were close behind. Nick had a score to settle with Bros from earlier on and promptly barraged into his car, sending his own car over the fence in an extravagant manner that even Phil would find hard to beat. Chaz's car had also been taken out which left Nij and Bros within reach of the win in the last race. The usual last race carnage ensued and from it emerged a victorious Nij for his fourth final win of the season and a surprise yet well deserved second place for Phil. Bros picked up third and enough points to elevate him to second in the league, only five points behind Nick.

In one of the closest ever league battles only 19 points now separate the top four places. With five meetings to go, both the league and points trophy challenges are still wide open.

2nd March 2001 - Drivers Page Updated
Latest available pics of drivers and their cars added. Nice new paint jobs for Chaz, Fiona and Carole on display as well as new driver Paul T and one of his newly built cars.

27th February 2001 - Race Meeting 10 & Qualifying Round 4
Fiona appeared to be the unwitting target of some of the drivers tonight as several were heard to accuse her of having a screw loose. The fact of the matter however, was that one of the screws from the motor in her car was allegedly loose on the track causing a few problems.

Track construction standards were called into question tonight as a section was found not to be tightened up properly causing one car to prematurely leave the track. Nij was immediately blamed. Nij immediately denied all knowledge "It wasn't me" was his feeble defense (sung in the style of Shaggy).

More track problems raised concerns for others as Rob suggested the insecure metal tape on the track be renewed. It was suggested to Rob that if he was so concerned he did it himself. Rob went quiet. He's only happy when he's racing on shale anyway.

The big 50 inch telly was on at the back of the room tonight (the Brits were on) and it became evident that Bros was trying to break into television himself. Only his idea of trying to break into television was when he tried to fire Nick's car off during a race and ended up with his own car leaving the track and bouncing off the £ 3,000 tv's screen. Hmm.. slot car racing could turn out to be an expensive sport for Bros.

The heats produced some mixed results with Ben's run of low scores continuing but Paul J's scores returned to normal after last meeting's disastrous results. Phil suffered a bent chassis during one of the heats resulting in a lowly score.

In the final Nij got an early lead which was quickly scuppered by a few choice moves from Paul T. As a result Nick, who was close behind, started to creep ahead. Chaz was struggling to begin with but started to make a comeback as Bros and Paul T appeared intent on causing chaos, trying unsuccessfully to hamper progress for Nick and Nij. Race after race saw carnage in the corner of the track as spawny b@$1@~&s such as Nick dodged his way through for a win. In the last race Nick only needed a point to win and played very cagily by holding back at the start forcing Bros and Mesh past. By the time Nij had errantly piled into the others it was left to Mesh to cannon into the back of Nick who was being blocked by Bros at the chicane. As a result Nick won the final without even finishing the race. This was the most undeserving win of the season. Although actually winning a number of races in the final, Nick's unpopular win was seen as the equivalent of stealing the last 10p from your poverty stricken Grandma's purse while she was making a cup of tea to get warm because she can't afford to have the gas fire on since getting burgled and having all her savings stolen.

Nick's high scoring meeting elevated him to top of the league table with Chaz moving down to second holding off Bros in third. The re-grading for the next two meetings will be a bit of a shocker for some as Nij and Mesh's four meeting average places them at the Red Top positions leaving Bros and Paul T to pick up the Blue.

13th February 2001 - Race Meeting 9
Phil was sporting a new bodyshell on his car tonight, fittingly emblazoned with a pair of scary looking eyes, open wide and bloodshot, closely resembling those of the driver during most of the races. It just could have done with some nice artwork underneath too as that's the side we usually see the most. Chaz was complaining about his equipment from the off. "My motor was sparking and now it's not" he complained. It didn't end there however as an intermittently loose wire in his controller caused him to lose vital points.

Bros seemed to get his act back together at long last and put some good results in but poor old Rob was suffering within his own hands once more as the cars he touched just fell apart as usual. "That's it" he declared "I'm getting my own car for the next meeting". Lets hope it's bullet proof eh?

Some of the racers who have been performing well recently were noticeably below par tonight. Fiona and Aleks couldn't seem to get it together and Ben started to show promise but just fell foul to bad luck. Paul J's recent blue top standard also went out of the window with him vowing to obtain a new chassis.

With his unreliable motor, dodgy controller and also suffering a lingering cold, Chaz scraped through the consolation and into the final. Paul T was in there with some steady scoring. Nick was running a spare car following yet another mechanical failure. Nij started proceedings well stretching out a lead until things started to turn ugly. Nick's underpowered loan car kept tripping over Carole's and inadvertently taking Nij's car out too. Despite all the mayhem going on, Chaz found himself head to head against Paul T in the last race, needing to finish ahead of him in order to secure the final. Against all the odds Chaz managed to out race his adversaries and took the win in a cliff hanger of a race. Paul T took second place in only his second meeting whilst Carole took third and the highest score of the night.

30th January 2001 - Race Meeting 8
'Taylor made' was the expression that described two new cars waiting at the trackside for tonight's racing. Previous Club Champion and expert car builder Paul Taylor had his latest builds on display and ready for action after some six years of absence from the sport. With such a build up would he be able to deliver ? He certainly gave it his best shot after giving a cautious start although competition was hot as the racing proved to be of a high all round standard from the outset. Carole and Fiona were doing it for the ladies scoring very well in the heats and Dee managed an unexpected win by dropping the £ 75 jackpot on the bar's fruit machine. Ben was testing a brand new chassis after his previous one had been forcibly twisted back into line for the last time during meeting 7 and ended its life in a permanent banana shape. This new car appeared to be just what Ben had been waiting for as his performance tonight took on an altogether more skilled facade with a mature driving standard that belied his young age.

Conversely the wheels just seemed to be falling off for others as Bros's eager high revving warm-up technique proved to be that bit too much for one of his rear wheels which was last seen burning rubber across the infield. Similarly Nick was left scratching his head as he overtook his own front wheel down the back straight, for him it was about all he did overtake during the final.

In the consolation round Ben and Bros were battling it out for the remaining available position in the final but Phil had got his own idea about who was going to succeed. He judged his timing to perfection as he fenced Ben in both of the last two races leaving Bros to take that place.

Bros did his best to capitalise on his fortunes by getting off to a storming start in the final. Nij and Mesh had got the same idea however whereas Nick was evidently hanging back for bets. Nij started to creep ahead and craftily attempted to keep the pressure off himself by shouting "Get Bros" at every opportunity. It was clearly working to some extent as Nij found himself requiring a couple of good races for the win. Paul T tried to redress the situation with an attempted lunge at the chicane taking out four cars but leaving Nij and Mesh running. 'Plate' and 'handed to on a' were the words that immediately sprung to mind as Nij was left requiring just one point to secure the final win which he managed with ease. That puts Nij up to three final wins this season alongside Bros with the same amount. In the league table Chaz's score was sufficient to hold his lead and Nick managed to regain second place back from Bros.

After six years away from the track some words of warning from Mr T "I was just warming up tonight - watch this space". In other words - be afraid . . .

16th January 2001 - Race Meeting 7 & Qualifying Round 3
A plethora of brightly coloured hardware adorned the trackside at the opening of tonight's meeting. Newly painted cars complete with driver names etc., were proudly displayed. Plenty of time to chip some of that new paint off. Unfortunately for Bros it wasn't just going to be paint damage for one his cars as he carelessly let Rob borrow it. In his eagerness to finish second in one of the heats Rob slammed the car hard into the fence. The damage was devastating. The once concourse trophy winning example had been reduced to a twisted wreck. "I'm not worried" claimed Bros with an evil grin, "I'll be racing one of his full size stock cars soon enough, then we'll see what REAL damage is".

Bros's luck proceeded to go downhill as the night wore on. Possibly owing to the appearance of previous club hero and master slot stox car builder Paul Taylor, Bros's racing performance was markedly erratic. You could smell the fear (well if it wasn't fear SOMETHING sure smelt funny) as the prospect of racing once again against Paul dawned on him. He managed to scrape through to the final only later to finish last. Visiting Australian driver Steve ensured he wasn't going home empty handed after snatching the pants trophy from Rob by scoring the least points.

Nick, with his repaired car made the final along with Ben who having missed three meetings was getting straight back in there.

The final turned into something of a free for all at one stage with four of the six drivers (Ben, Chaz, Mesh and Nij) in close contention. Nerves became tatters as each of them tried to put one over on the other. On the last race it would be first across the line between Chaz and Nij and unbelievably (most would agree) Nij was the one who emerged victorious for his second final win of the season. Chaz's high scoring heats helped move him up from third to first in the league table with only a point splitting the chasing Bros and Nick.

4th January 2001 - Photo Gallery Seriously Overhauled
The photo gallery has had a major face lift. There is now a gallery 'front end' which is laid out much more clearer and easier to see what's where. The content has also been added to with some close up pictures of one of the slot cars. Also currently under construction for addition to the gallery is a high resolution pics page which shows detail down to component level for those interested in the finer detail.

2nd January 2001 - Race Meeting 6
There is hot debate amongst the racers at the moment on the subject of the methods of affixing bodyshells to cars. Some use screws, some use blutak, others use tape draped across the bonnet. The debate was fuelled during the heats as one of the 'blutaked' cars ended a race with the bodyshell hanging off by a thin slither of said blue sticky stuff. The race starter's decision was decisive and final - car disqualified. Phil was gutted. This may have suggested a time to get them bodies screwed on but not for Phil - he just wrapped 3 inch wide yellow and black tape all around it. Hmmm. Well it didn't affect the handling of his car for the remaining races - it was seen doing it's usual cartwheel exits from the track and clearing the fence.

Nick's past car problems returned as he suffered a broken chassis rail during the first heat but true to form he continued regardless. He might have it fixed for the next meeting, on the other hand he might not. A return of recently retired blue top Paul saw him achieve a good 43 points in the heats whilst Aleks and Nij were decidedly off form not making the final with Rob giving them a good run for the money. Carole made good use of some spare time and repainted her entire car between heats in a rather interesting shade of blue paint which smelled exactly like nail varnish.

The final proved to be a somewhat straightforward and predictable affair. Although Bros was caught napping early on with Nick taking the lead it was not to last. Chaz and Mesh levelled things up before Bros slowly but surely eaked out a comfortable lead. With Mesh and Chaz then too far behind everyone tripped over themselves trying to knock Bros out (his car that is) but he prevailed with a convincing win and a high score of the night of 61. The points were enough to put Bros into the lead of the league table despite him having missed two meetings. Nick is down to second place with Chaz just behind, closing in rapidly.

1st January 2001
Photo gallery drivers page updated again. Now added pictures of each racers cars.

13th December 2000
This web site is 1 year old at the end of this month. To help celebrate there will be a celebration raffle in which you can win a fantastic makeover for your slot stox car.

12th December 2000 - Photo Gallery Drivers Page Updated
Photo gallery drivers page updated. Some of the pictures replaced with newer ones and write-ups updated.

9th December 2000 - Club Rules Pages Added
A new sub-index page called Club Rules has been added. This page provides links to six new pages - Meeting Format, Race Rules, Track Failure, Car Construction, Gradings and Championships. Wether you are interested in how the club runs or an existing club member brushing up on your knowledge of the current rules, this page will be of interest to you.

5th December 2000 - Race Meeting 5 & Qualifying Round 2
With Nij & Ben absent from the racing tonight any fears of cars being launched from the track or excessive between race car maintenance delays soon diminished. It didn't stop Phil, however, from providing a good display of aerobatic double overhead backward flips as he got somewhat over-excited whilst leading a couple of races in the heats. Aleks and Mesh didn't want to miss out on the limelight either, demonstrating a bit of trick driving. In separate incidents both of their cars appeared to be in their own slot car pulling competition as they each dragged two de-slotted cars round the track by their bumpers. Nothing was going to hold them back tonight. Even though now starting back at the blue line, Aleks' performance showed no sign of weakening as she out accelerated more experienced racers down the straight and weaved through the pile-ups in the chicane. Needless to say, she and Mesh made it through to the final along with Bros, Chaz, Nick and recent club champion Paul J.

Nick got off to a good start keeping out of harms way in lane one. Closely following were Bros and Mesh who, with Nick, took turns at holding the lead. Chaz's final didn't start so well. "It started off a bit dodgy", he explained, "and it went down hill all the way from there". Not even Bros was able to make much of an impression though towards the end as it was neck and neck between Mesh and Nick with Aleks not far behind. "My car's gone much better since I dropped it on the floor earlier on" was the tip of the day from Mesh.

Frantic detailed tactic discussions ensued for the last race as drivers tried to decide who of the two leaders had to go first. The conclusion was... both. It all sadly back-fired for the schemers however as they all tripped over each other, leaving only Mesh and Nick running, head to head. Both drivers new the first over the line was the winner and there would be no second chances. Nick managed to overtake Mesh who then went for the push a couple of times but couldn't pull it off. To his dismay Mesh finally lost it at the chicane leaving Nick to claim his first final win of the season and the highest score of the night, also elevating him to the top of the league table.

21st November 2000 - Race Meeting 4
There was a good turn out for meeting 4 with two newcomers, Kev and Nat, along with two racers who we haven't seen for a while, Hannah and Rob, making up the numbers. It was good to see that Rob - who has been concentrating on racing his full size Stock Car around the country - had seen sense and turned his hand to racing where the real action happens. Its true - where else can you watch a race which has cars with wheels flying off, body shells disintegrating, and where driving with a bottle of bud in one hand is compulsory.

The heats threw out some surprise results with top men Chaz and Nij not even qualifying for the final. Relative beginner Aleks made it however. "It's not fair" grumbled other half, Mesh "she has got the motor out of my car and won't give it back" - well we know who wears the trousers there then.

Rob is used to winning the odd trophy - this time he took home the coveted Pants Trophy for achieving the lowest score of the night.

A jubilant Carole battled through the consolation to take a place in the final along with Bros, Phil, Mesh and Nick, whose car seemed to be handling somewhat better than of late. "Get Mesh" were the cries as he took an early lead - something not previously heard this season. Bros and Phil put the pressure on for a time whilst Nick gained steadily. Unusually there was very little in the way of bumper to bumper contact to report during the final - no doubt largely due to the fact neither Nij or Ben were in it. Bros kept his nose clean and with a couple of good finishes was once again in reach of the win. Nick made a half hearted attempt to knock his car off the track and failed leaving Bros to cruise home for his second win out of two finals.

Outstanding performances from new girl Aleks sees her grading going up to an amazing Blue Top whilst Bros is at last back up to Red Top where he belongs. Chaz drops a couple of places in the league table as Nij regains the top spot - yes I know what you're thinking, Nij leading the league table, strange... but true.

7th November 2000 - Race Meeting 3 & Qualifying Round 1
Last meeting saw the return of Ben, this meeting saw the return of Bros who having missed two meetings would have to go extremely well to make any kind of noticeable impact. And that's exactly how he started out with a maximum 36 out of a possible 36 points in the first heat alone. Have a go hero Ben was not having any of it, however, and set out to hinder the far more experienced racer and enjoyed a modicum of success at removing Bros's car from the track with a couple of well thought out and executed manoeuvres. Unfortunately for Ben though his points took a dive and he found himself ousted from a position in the final by losing to a clutch of female drivers (Aleks, Dee & Fiona) in the consolation race. "Them girlies all ganged up on me" he whimpered as he retired in shame to the position of spectator for the final.

And just in time for the final the motor in Chaz's car took on the appearance of a cheap Chinese firework by spitting multicoloured sparks out all over the track whilst a familiar pattern began to emerge as Mr Broster's rather tiresome habit of 'running away with it' started to ring true once again.

"Look everyone - I'm even beating Nick" said an impassive looking Fiona as Nick found himself floundering once again and although Nij and Mesh were there they weren't really there at all as Bros claimed his first final win of the season, along with an outstanding score of 71 points. With all the points added up Chaz moved back into the lead in the league table pushing Nij down to second again whilst from 13th to 6th place in one meeting Bros summed his night up in five words - "It's good to be back !". Let this be a lesson to you all.

1st November 2000 - Gallery Updated
Addition of a slow motion replay from one of the recent meetings. Click gallery to take a look. Addition of a gradings page - click here to view it.

24th October 2000 - Race Meeting 2
The second meeting of the season witnessed the return of Ben after missing the first one - he was soon to make it clear that he was going to be making up for lost time. New driver Kirsty turned out to be a fast learner and was soon outpacing some of the regular drivers in the heats. Reliability problems spelled trouble for Nick, as his car required further structural repairs to the ones he made at the last meeting and despite his improvised improvements he was unable to even make it to the final. Part of the reason he didn't make the final, however, was due to the fact Ben was going for glory in the consolation, blitzing all opposition.

Chaz got off to a bad start in the final, despite having gone particularly well in the heats, whilst Paul, Phil and Aleks were concentrating on trying to keep up with the Jones's, Ben and Nij. And it was to prove that keeping up with the Jones's is harder than you would think as Chaz left his "late surge" just a bit too late and no-one else was going to be able to stop them stretching their lead just that bit too far. The pressure was building as the final was to be decided by the first across the line in the last race. It was just too much for Ben as he got all excited and crashed out in the first lap. A few last ditched attempts at knocking Nij's car off the track were in vain and he took a deserved final win along with the highest points of the season so far and a two point lead in the league table. Steady Nij - you'll be getting dizzy.

13th October 2000 - Pages Updated
The Roll Of Honour page has been updated with the results from the 1999/2000 season. The fixtures list has been updated with the dates for the new season.

10th October 2000 - START OF NEW 2000/01 SEASON - Race Meeting 1
The lead up to the start of the new season usually means a time for building new cars or maybe repairing or improving existing ones. None of the above was evident at this club however as the frantic, solder gun smoking, track side repairs revealed a sorry looking collection of last season's battle scarred, bent and twisted examples of what a slot stox car looks like after a hard-hitting season. How some of them made it past the scrutineer remains to be answered as one car didn't even have a front bumper ! Hmmm.

Ben's preparations and high hopes for the new season were dashed as he was unable to attend through illness and Bros & Julie were on their hols but there was still going to be some good racing action.

New driver Aleks (previously known as 'official club scorer') made her debut race. She put in a commendable performance considering she was having to borrow one of Nij's cars, poor lass. In the face of a determined attempt by Nij to 'psych' him out with a barrage of verbal abuse, Phil scraped through to the final. And, although displaying a promising off-season performance, Phil couldn't quite get it together when he needed to the most. "Typical" he said, with a tragic look of despair, "I was racing really well before tonight". The inevitable happened as he caved in under the pressure and foolishly went for the big push on Nij. Naturally Phil came worse off with his car finishing on the floor, broken into several bite size portions.

Mesh, Nij and Chaz were all level pegging at one point during the final with Fiona not out of contention. Nick got a few good results and once again was putting the pressure on current club 'silver top' Chaz. But it wasn't enough as Chaz kept his cool whilst all the bumper work went on around him and he claimed the first final win of the season and took provisional lead in the league.

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