Texas Slot It DTM Proxy Race Series – Pre-Race Story

Texas Slot It DTM Proxy Race Series

The Austin Slot Car Club and the Scale Auto Racing Club from Houston have come together to run a proxy race series between the two clubs and their two tracks.  This will be a six-round series with three rounds taking place in Austin and the final three in Houston.

 

What is a Proxy?

What is the Texas Slot It DTM Proxy?  Let’s first talk about what a proxy race is.  A proxy race is one where racers set up a car to a specific set of rules and for a number of different track surfaces that the cars will be raced on.  Once built, the cars are sent around to the various clubs hosting individual rounds of the proxy where they will be raced by the clubs.  Results from all the rounds are tabulated and a winner is crowned.  Proxy are great ways to see how other racers set up cars and get a better understanding on how to drive cars set up in a variety of ways.  The goal is to build a car that is neutral for all surfaces and for all types of drivers.  This isn’t easy but is the key to building a winning car.

 

Proxy races are great to run during COVID and the social distancing associated with it as you don’t have to have every club member present to run one.  All you need are racers for each lane and the track marshals.  This way you and your club can run as many cars as are entered in the proxy with a bare number of people being present at the track.

 

The great thing running a proxy during these times is it keeps your club members active and engaged while they may not be able to come to the track and run their cars.

 

To help everyone follow the proxy it’s a great idea to broadcast the races using a platform like YouTube Live.  This way all the people that entered cars or race at the track hosting the series can tune in to watch the action.  Great fun for all involved.

 

The Texas Slot It DTM Proxy is an example of the simplest proxy you can run – one run on two tracks with the members of two Texas clubs.  This shows just how easy it can be to put on a proxy race.  The Scale Auto Racing Club from Houston and the Austin Slot Car Club decided to run a proxy as a way to keep their members engaged at a time where members may not feel safe being so close to others in a closed environment.

 

Key members of each club decided on the make and models or cars to run, the rules for the cars as well as the proxy itself and the dates.  The result of this was the clubs would run Slot It DTM cars with the first three races at the Austin Slot Car Club track and the final three races being held at the Scale Auto Racing Club’s track in Houston.  As of the writing of this article the series had 15 entries.

 

 

Why Slot It cars?

The answer is why not.  Slot It cars are some of the best slot cars on the market and at the price they are the best value as well.  The cars come equipped with some of the best and most reliable components and the attention to detail is hard to beat at any price.

 

Why use DTM cars? 

Although the German DTM series was not as popular in the States the series was globally the most popular sports car series of its time.  What made it so popular?  The cars were absolute beasts and exhibited technology that was rivaled only by Formula One.  The cars were not the only stars.  DTM attracted some of the best drivers of the time coming from Sport Cars, Prototypes and Formula One.

 

For the proxy race we selected the DTM cars due their drivability, great looks and availability.  The cars are also easy to set up and don’t require a lot of performance parts or tweaking to make them fast.  Proxy rules allow for changes in the gears, tires, body and pod screws, guide, braid and motor wires.  That seems like a lot but its really not.  This made the series easy to set up and low cost.

 

Races and Results

Please check back here for all the race stories and results.  You can also check out the Austin Slot Car Clubs YouTube channel to watch the first three rounds of the series live.  This is an interactive broadcast so don’t hesitate to post any questions or comments you have about the races as they are taking place.  We will be giving live commentary and responding to all questions.  We look forward to having you join us.