random canyon french door GP 9/20/25

French Door Grand Prix

Nine digital slotters drove in this preliminary (for the MD 4hr) race on the Random Canyon circuit. Everybody liked this 135 ft. indoor-outdoor track utilizing Carrera, Scalextric, and Scaleauto brands of track and resulted in the closest margin victory and only the second race win from the B main in MMMR history. D J Cunningham was going on how troubled he was by this tough track but then put on a driving clinic on winning from the B main. Driving the D B (Dave Built) loaner Corvette, he was never challenged for the win and could have relaxed with his lead, but he kept pressing and with very few crashes laid down almost 82 laps in 30 min. The best head to head race was between Cookie and Mike (making a welcome return) who ran the entire race on the same lap. The A main saw a see-saw scrap between Dave, Tom, Ron and Craig. Dave jumped into a small lead and was overhauled by Tom. However, Tom fell back with a spotty responding car and was doomed by a stop to look at the braids and then a controller switch. Ron, Craig and Dave continued with their battle and they were on pace to run farther than the B main. But their battle was too fierce as they were all having trouble staying in the slot. These gold ranked drivers rarely crash more than three or four times in 30 min, but they all doubled that number in this event. Ron managed the best and put down almost 82 laps. Over two 30 min races the distance was 15 inches or one less crash on Ron’s part (see photo). Congratulations to D J for a fine drive, demonstrating how close digital racing can be. One wonders how well he can do on a track he actually likes!   

 Portabello Inaugural Race Report

MMMR debuted their latest show track “Portabello” in Silver Spring. This was a one-time event at Ron’s new venue on Mintwood. Eleven racers, 6 gold and 5 silver, experienced this demanding 74.5 foot track made up of Carrera and Scaleauto track brands. Allen won the B Main with a steady and competent drive that earned the first place silver trophy and fifth overall. The highlight of the B Main was the battle between youngster Everett and Richard, his dad. It seemed Everett was going to lose out as he kept refueling because he liked it so much. Dad was way ahead when he had car trouble. After working on his car and using a replacement car, it was discovered it was a faulty controller all along. This put Everett into ninth place and third place silver driver, his first podium. Watch this kid, if you can. Joe was the second silver driver.

The A Main was a race long duel, pitting Tom vs. Ron. Tom pulled out a small lead until the first fuel stop. Then they traded the lead every minute or so up to the crucial final fuel stop. This pit stop did not require a full fill. Tom short stopped while Ron was pushed unintentionally out of the pits by Dave (faulty pit gate) and had to stop again. Tom looked set for a win until the last 30 seconds when he ran short of fuel. He had not stopped long enough. He crawled around, missed the pit entrance (long story) and finished still crawling. Ron blasted to a four-lap win while Tom ran second, just ahead of a battling Jr and Craig who finished on the same lap. 

   Marshaling was strange in this race. While Tom sweetly marshaled Ron while racing him, there were other instances that pushed the boundaries. Due to easy access to the Carousel and Hairpin drivers were self-marshaling. At was vicious and a little ugly at times, also funny. The actual marshal gave up at one point when there was a “big one” at the Carousel and Tom, Dave and Craig all went for their cars at once. At race’s end there were no hurt feelings (“check them at the door please”) and all’s well that ends well. Say what you will, digital races are never dull.

 Many thanks to Ron (and relative Tim) for providing a new, unique, and comfortable setting for this race. Ron has “Velocity Speedway” mocked up and will host the first race on Oct. 18 at the same location. Meanwhile Portabello will be on operating display at the Oct. 5 Slot Car show in White Marsh, MD. 

Winner - Ron (G) - center

 Second Place - Tom (G) - right

Third Place - Tom Jr. (G) -left

 Portabello DROT

The 10 min. DROT race continued with Carrera Next Gen cars and almost half the field had their own cars. Much to their dismay a loaner car was the winning car. During the B Main (won by Cookie) it was discovered that the fuel program was still on but, due to the short length of the race it didn’t matter as nobody ran low on fuel. Then the A Main and the race director forgot to turn off the fuel program. It didn’t matter, until it did. The driving was excellent, well after a first turn wipe out anyway. For nine and a half minutes there were virtually no wrecks. Five drivers were on the same lap, lap after lap. Tom was just lapped by Jr and they spent 20 laps side by side till he got the lap back. Craig, Ron and Dave all had a bite at the front. There lies the problem, everybody was burning fuel like rocket ships and some cars slowed (Dave, Craig), right at the end, short of fuel. So, a flawed race with skewed results that were allowed to stand. But what flawless driving, that left the competitors breathless.

Winner -Ron (G) - center

 Second Place - Tom (G) - right

Third Place - Tom Jr (G) -left