TSR Race at the Western States Championship

Buena Park Raceway, September 27-28, 2003

Organized by The SoCal USRA and the TSR, this race was the first in the history of the USRA to feature 1/24-scale model cars with correct body silhouette and tire sizes reflecting an exact reduction of the full-size prototypes.

The cars were plain stock TSR24 Club chassis except for the modification suggested for stiffening the chassis as shown here:
http://www.tsrfcars.com/TNEWS-08-13-03.htm

They were fitted with TSR Porsche 962 bodies with interiors, and lead weight was added to the front of the steel pan to reduce under-steer. Total car weight was 5oz. After Saturday's races, Dennis Hill gave them a good clean-up and made sure that there was nothing wrong with them. The whole damage for the weekend was a bent front axle and a crunched spur gear.

Race action. At right is no less than BOW's (Best of the West) honcho, Monty Ohren. He drove a great race but was a little unfamiliar with the cars and the format and did not win. Next time will be better.

During lane changes and since they had nothing to do since the cars required zero maintenance, the drivers were checking their progress on the TV screen. At left is Bob Scott, owner of Cruizin' Raceway in Tucson and a great supporter of the TSRF from Day One. Thanks Bob!

Chris Radisich, the new and very active president of the SoCal USRA, is wondering why those kids are cleaning his clock... Monty is wondering why the timer is not recording all his laps, an obvious conspiracy. The kids are just flying and having fun.

The race winners with their hard-earned loot. Paul Sterrett kept cool and drove a disciplined race to barely edge the two youngsters Daniel Hudson and Tim Peck. It pays to be a bit slower but never get off the lane...

Prizes were supplied by the TSR in form of new kits and RTR's. The beautiful TSR cars in the foreground were brought by Bob Scott. Those hard-bodied cars run great and are fun to drive.

Best TSR driver during practice was Duran Trujillo, who was able to set the fastest laps without ever coming off... while having never driven the cars before. This man is a driving machine and was also the top driver during the weekend, winning the 4" NASCAR and placing well in the other events.

Many thanks to Chris Radisich, Paul Sterrett, Bill Vanderziel and Chris Gallegos who spent a lot of time helping the new class get off the ground. The good news is that despite all the attempts of a couple of drivers to demolish the cars on each lane they ran, there was little damage and the cars are ready for another IROC race.

Comments by USRA President Chris Radisich

"I think everyone who raced agreed that it was a huge amount of fun, and the cars were fun to drive, and this sort of event is a great addition to any racing series.
It was amazing to see the difference in driving on Sunday after everyone had a chance to run the qualifying races on Saturday. Those that were crashing regularly during the Saturday qualifying races really worked hard to hold it together during the mains on Sunday.
As for being close (racing) 1st to 8th was only 2 laps, and 1st to 16th only 11 laps. Show me a race anywhere closer than that !
The complete results are now posted on the SoCal USRA Site and can be found HERE along with all the other Western States results.
Bob, you didn't officially race for free. Under the make them up as we go rules, specifically allowed by the unwritten rulebook the SoCal IROC committee of two, you actually were drafted in as a replacement driver for Roy Hood, after he made the decision to pull out of the TSRF main in favor of more testing for GT 12 (after really looking forward to the TSRF race and being disappointed not to race). As the only two man team in the race you both did well, with Roy bringing the cars home in 10th during qualifying, and you without the benefit of the added track time finished in a credible 11th in the main. As for Roy, he did use the extra testing time well, finishing a strong 2nd in the GT 12 race.
As for being beaten by the young guns, all I can say is I had a ball racing against everyone. There was no amateur/expert divisions and it was race to the death, and those that made the most laps won.
Paul Sterrett drove a flawless race, coming off only once or twice during the whole race. I battled the whole race side by side with Daniel Hudson, Tim Peck and Jonathan Forsyth and was pleased to end up in 4th, only a few feet behind Tim. At times three or four of us were all dicing side by side on the track for whole heats without taking each other out !. It was a lot of fun to race side by side with our up and coming young guns, and those that didn't take up the TSRF challenge really missed some good racing."

Chris Radisich

President

SoCal USRA

Results (courtesy of the USRA)

A New Era in Model Car Racing