| Slot cars have played a big part during most of my life; I've not only done it for the privilege of meeting new people at various events, but for having the chance to do something with my father. I've run all the scales, from the briefcase Micro Machines to 1:24-scale cars. I've acquired a vast collection of slot cars, in which I've kept very few mint and actually putting most of them on the track. I've gained a lot of knowledge over the past few years from fellow hobbyists. Besides, this hobby has given me something to do on weekends so I don't go insane from boredom.
Ever since I was young, I've gone to commercial tracks to turn some laps. My father would pick me up from the YMCA daycare that my elementary school hosted, and we would head straight to Indoor Motorsports for 1:24 racing. Well, I never actually raced then, but I did get to practice, mostly on the tri-oval rather than the Blue King. A few years later, however, the business folded over. My father and I started to go back to experimenting with H.O. scale slot cars until we met more people in our area to race with. We began to attend Saturday races in Tom Bowman's garage and what's possibly the largest slot car show in Virginia - Slugger's. Some old friends from Indoor Motorsports started to host races near us, where we met more people that added on to our little group. We would go down to Newport News for 1:32 races, until the track owner passed away a few years ago. Nowadays, it seems like almost every weekend, there's a slot car event to go to. We have different tracks all over our area, from Goochland to Richmond to the Colonial Heights area. There's even a couple 1:24 commercial tracks in Richmond also, even though we are rarely able to attend the races held there. We occassionally make the effort for trips to Slot Chaos in Hayes, VA for tough H.O. racing competition. I've met great people like Tom, Slugger, Bob Lincoln, Ed Bianchi, Bob Hardin, and Kevin Crowe.
Other than slot cars, I enjoy many other things. I play guitar on a regular basis and viola (even though I haven't picked up the bow in over a year). I enjoy any kind of music that isn't rap, opera, or classical; I'm very open-minded to that sort of thing, and am open for any suggestions. My favorite bands have to be Rush, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Iron Maiden, Nirvana, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I enjoy making movies and news stories for school (I'm in the Mass Communications Specialty Center). I attend car shows whenever I have the chance, and I hope to be able to go to the Carlisle Mopar show in the future. I enjoy photography. I play videogames, mostly racing ones like Gran Turismo 4, on my PS2. I watch NASCAR races, and any kind of auto racing. I watch the Barrett-Jackson auctions that show on Speed Channel; I have a soft spot for cars from the late-50's to early-60's. I've always dreamt of racing on a real track, 1:1 scale, and soon may accomplish this with drag racing. I also collect various things. Anything Dukes of Hazzard, I'll take. And any Plymouth Barracuda slot cars, I'll fall in love with (those are the very few that I've kept mint in their boxes). I'll take anything Mopar-related, for that matter. And I don't just like Mopars either; I do like the exotic Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Porsches also. I tend to collect hats, for some odd reason that even I don't know. | |
