Saturday, Dec 7, saw record-breaking cold across central Texas. Racers came out in temperatures that never rose above the low ’30’s to campaign their cars in the penultimate race of the Austin Slot Car Club Scalextric GT series. Thankfully, Ary was on the case of the low temperatures, and having aquired a mushroom heater for the day’s races, club members were greeted with track-side temperatures in the mid 50’s. “Shirt sleave weather” compared to the temps outside! The field was full, with a total of 9 cars on the grid, and the racing was good.
Much like the last race, drivers had to adjust their styles to the cooler track temperatures. Finding the right balance of speed to grip was the order of the day, and Shawn and Marty seemed to find it first. Marty, with his Audi R8, turned a blazing 3.985 second lap early in his last heat, but Shawn’s consistency ultimately won the day, averaging an overall lap time of 4.178s vs Marty’s average of 4.217s. The DBR9 seems to be unbeatable.
Russell successfully campaigned his Corvette to a solid third place finish, moving him up two places on the leader board where he, Brian, and Marty are now tied in points, with Brian maintaining a slight edge in total lap count. The final race of the season will be the one to watch, as second and third place are only separated by 4 points (when adjusted for the dropped race.). Everyone will need to have their best game on come Saturday, Dec 21.
