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| Through a rookies eyes, my first Fray |
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| By Bill Kurtz |
The journey to my first Fray actually began back in August of 2006 while at the “Gear-Up”. As Tom Bowman and his son Josh where packing up after the day’s event, he mentioned in a matter-of-fact manner that maybe I should think about attending the Fray. I almost could not believe my ears, as a HO enthusiast just considering racing the Fray was simply a fantasy, for only the best slotters in the country took part in this event. I was soon to learn it was for the best people in the hobby.
From the time I was asked to the day my flight left Charlotte for Oakland, California I must have heard this from my teammates a hundred times, “just wait until you meet these guys”.
Come on I thought, I’ve read the articles, HO World posts as well as other message boards, these racers were cutting edge builders who had taken the Tjet to the highest level, in my mind I just knew I was not only a “newbie” but in over my head. We have all been in this position in life, whether at work or at an organization we belong too, your new, inexperienced and don’t know anyone and you have been treated like an outsider, no one had time for you or simply were rude.
I was however determined to enjoy the experience, learn what I could and just take it all in. After landing in Oakland we all piled in our rental and headed into San Francisco to meet up with Eric at SFHORA to see the legendary Katz-Spa. Now, after seeing this masterpiece I must say that the trip would have been worth it with just this moment. The overwhelming passion that Greg Katz must have had for this hobby was more than witnessed in this track - it lives in this track. I salute the SFHORA members for continuing this legacy and there is contact information at the end of this article on how you can help with this worthy effort.
It was time to begin the 5-hour drive up 101 to Ferndale which after the 8 hour flight I was not looking forward too at all. Yes, the scenery was beautiful during the first several hours as we wound through the Napa Valley and as we entered the Redwood country of California something became almost mystical about the ride. I will not even attempt to put words to these magnificent displays of nature’s glory, all I will say is that one suddenly got the feeling that you had somehow became 1/84 scale yourself.
Believe it or not, it was only going to get better. It was 1:00AM local time when we arrived at the hotel and as we pulled into the parking lot Tom Bowman said, “Look, there is Mike Block”, and the feeling of my insignificance and anxiety I explained earlier shot through me, I was the nobody, that no one knew, about to be ignored. What happened next was what became the unexpected standard of the week. Mike Block walked directly up to me, put one hand out to shake mine, placed the other on my shoulder and said “Bill Kurtz, Welcome to the Fray, we’re glad you could make it”
Over and over through out the week the feeling I had at that moment were repeated time after time. Imagine if you can, just for a moment being in a room with the Steve Wards, John Habernals, Keven Drakes, Don Bournes, Jeff Hurleys, Steve Nelsons, Rick Jochems and Scott Dunlaps of this hobby that you have only read about to this point, imagine being on a team that included Henry Harnish and Tom Bowman and then imagine for just a moment that everyone of them went out of their way to make you feel like you belonged there and you’ll understand the Fray. I go back to my first paragraph, “This was for the best people in the hobby”, and as a testimony to this statement, I felt so comfortable in their company that I corner marshaled the “A”: Main. We have all been at local club events that we hesitated doing that!
And then there was the help that all of them offered, not once did you ask someone a question and they didn’t say, “Here, let me look at it” or you would ask where someone got a tool or body and they would stop what they were doing and take you over and introduce you to the racer that had them. It was hard to believe that these guys were actually your competitors; they made you feel like a teammate and gave new meaning to the terms “sportsmanship” and “camaraderie”.
There is indeed so much more to the Fray of course, the town of Ferndale is right out of a movie set, and it is actually. The food of the northern California region, the micro-brews, the stunning scenery and the once in a lifetime memories like watching Bob Marketos taking some laps with Henry’s 1962 qualifying car or just shooting the breeze with Bob Beers and of course the racing all made up this rookies experience but it was the people behind the racers that I took home with me and from the bottom of my heart I say to each and everyone of them, Thank-you for that.
Alas, Sunday morning came and it was time to journey back through the “Looking Glass” but I look forward to repeating this simple fantasy again next year.
Keep on Racing
Bill Kurtz
Charlotte, NC
(That's me, lower left)
