Post by Keith Tanaka on Feb 12, 2017 17:04:34 GMT -8
Sad news today that Paul Sterrett passed away Saturday (2-11-17).
Paul battled cancer for the last several years. His condition worsened significantly recently.
Paul had a passion for slot car racing as he did for 1/1 racing. In the 60's, he was very interested in the SoCal slot car racing scene as many of the top slotcar racers competed in the Los Angeles area in those days.
In the 60's, he was not old enough to drive a car and lived too far away (Sacramento) to join in the fun going on in SoCal in the mid-sixties. He raced slotcars as a youth at Hagginwood Raceway in Sacramento. As an adult, he raced 1/1 SCCA on the west coast, becoming one of the leading independent racers driving his Datsun sedan. He later moved to the Irvine area and began racing slot cars at BPR (not sure of the year).
For those who are not familiar with Paul, he was very passionate about our hobby. He was a regular at BPR for many years forming a friendship with Chris Gallegos (former owner of BPR). Paul helped out many racers thru the years showing them how to build/setup/race slot cars.
For many years Paul tried to get other racers involved with scratchbuilding as it was popular in the 60's/70's. Not much interest in scratchbuilding in the 90's, early 2000's. He raced and supported USRA Div. 2 racing (scale racing) while supporting Div. 1 wing racing at BPR. Paul would always help others, especially wing racers even though he did not race wing cars himself. While racing TSRF (PdL's RTR) cars at BPR in the mid-2000's, Paul met Mike Steube (thru TSRF and PdL) and they raced TSRF cars for a few years on the old BPR hillclimb track. Paul was a big fan of Mike Steube as well as many other top racers of the golden years of slot car racing (1966-1968).
In 2005, Paul talked Mike into joining him and a few others in starting a scratchbuilding/racing class at BPR they co-founded in 2006 called D3 Retro Racing. The "D3" represented Div. 3 within USRA. USRA accepted this new racing class but it never became official since some racers did not care for USRA. Anyway, the "D3" name remained. This new racing class consisted of building/racing scratchbuilt 1/24 lexan bodied cars (Can Am class initially, later F1, Coupe, NASCAR, Jail Door, 1/32) similar to those that were raced in 1966/1967 in SoCal. Mike liked Paul's idea of scratchbuilding cars similar to those built/raced during the Rod and Custom magazine race series in 1966/67. These were "inline" cars, except Mike and Paul agreed to use a sealed motor (Falcon type motor) rather than a rewound motor to focus on chassis building and racing.
Over the next several years, D3 Retro Racing flourished at BPR and even in some other areas of the U.S. and World (Britain, Europe, Japan, etc.). Not long after D3 Retro Racing became popular at BPR, another retro racing group formed back east, called IRRA. This new retro racing organization was originally based on D3 retro racing rules with some exceptions, mainly type of motors used. Since 2006, Retro Racing has become the fastest growing slot car racing format in the U.S. as well as in some other countries. The original basic idea of D3 slot car racing has endured although now thru SCRRA racing at BPR. Even to this day, the original Checkpoint Cup race held every January at BPR since 2009 (now under SCRRA rules) remains one of the major retro races held each year in America.
In 2007/8, Paul and a few others started D3 Hardbody racing at BPR. This new racing class utilizes 1/24, 1/25 model car kit bodies along with scratchbuilt chassis. This racing class was an extension of hardbody NASCAR racing at BPR which in the beginning used 36D motors. A few years later, D3 hardbody racing allowed sealed Falcon type motors along with modified 36D motors. This motor change has resulted in the present day D3 Hardbody Racing at Buena Park Raceway which continues to provide "fun" racing for many.
Paul moved back to the Sacramento area several years ago but continued to participate in the annual D3 Hardbody Nats and Enduro races held each year at Buena Park Raceway.
Thanks to Paul Sterrett's vision, guidance and support, D3 slot car racing has continued to be very popular at BPR. Many slot racers and BPR over the years benefited from Paul's passion for his favorite hobby.
RIP Paul,
Keith
Paul battled cancer for the last several years. His condition worsened significantly recently.
Paul had a passion for slot car racing as he did for 1/1 racing. In the 60's, he was very interested in the SoCal slot car racing scene as many of the top slotcar racers competed in the Los Angeles area in those days.
In the 60's, he was not old enough to drive a car and lived too far away (Sacramento) to join in the fun going on in SoCal in the mid-sixties. He raced slotcars as a youth at Hagginwood Raceway in Sacramento. As an adult, he raced 1/1 SCCA on the west coast, becoming one of the leading independent racers driving his Datsun sedan. He later moved to the Irvine area and began racing slot cars at BPR (not sure of the year).
For those who are not familiar with Paul, he was very passionate about our hobby. He was a regular at BPR for many years forming a friendship with Chris Gallegos (former owner of BPR). Paul helped out many racers thru the years showing them how to build/setup/race slot cars.
For many years Paul tried to get other racers involved with scratchbuilding as it was popular in the 60's/70's. Not much interest in scratchbuilding in the 90's, early 2000's. He raced and supported USRA Div. 2 racing (scale racing) while supporting Div. 1 wing racing at BPR. Paul would always help others, especially wing racers even though he did not race wing cars himself. While racing TSRF (PdL's RTR) cars at BPR in the mid-2000's, Paul met Mike Steube (thru TSRF and PdL) and they raced TSRF cars for a few years on the old BPR hillclimb track. Paul was a big fan of Mike Steube as well as many other top racers of the golden years of slot car racing (1966-1968).
In 2005, Paul talked Mike into joining him and a few others in starting a scratchbuilding/racing class at BPR they co-founded in 2006 called D3 Retro Racing. The "D3" represented Div. 3 within USRA. USRA accepted this new racing class but it never became official since some racers did not care for USRA. Anyway, the "D3" name remained. This new racing class consisted of building/racing scratchbuilt 1/24 lexan bodied cars (Can Am class initially, later F1, Coupe, NASCAR, Jail Door, 1/32) similar to those that were raced in 1966/1967 in SoCal. Mike liked Paul's idea of scratchbuilding cars similar to those built/raced during the Rod and Custom magazine race series in 1966/67. These were "inline" cars, except Mike and Paul agreed to use a sealed motor (Falcon type motor) rather than a rewound motor to focus on chassis building and racing.
Over the next several years, D3 Retro Racing flourished at BPR and even in some other areas of the U.S. and World (Britain, Europe, Japan, etc.). Not long after D3 Retro Racing became popular at BPR, another retro racing group formed back east, called IRRA. This new retro racing organization was originally based on D3 retro racing rules with some exceptions, mainly type of motors used. Since 2006, Retro Racing has become the fastest growing slot car racing format in the U.S. as well as in some other countries. The original basic idea of D3 slot car racing has endured although now thru SCRRA racing at BPR. Even to this day, the original Checkpoint Cup race held every January at BPR since 2009 (now under SCRRA rules) remains one of the major retro races held each year in America.
In 2007/8, Paul and a few others started D3 Hardbody racing at BPR. This new racing class utilizes 1/24, 1/25 model car kit bodies along with scratchbuilt chassis. This racing class was an extension of hardbody NASCAR racing at BPR which in the beginning used 36D motors. A few years later, D3 hardbody racing allowed sealed Falcon type motors along with modified 36D motors. This motor change has resulted in the present day D3 Hardbody Racing at Buena Park Raceway which continues to provide "fun" racing for many.
Paul moved back to the Sacramento area several years ago but continued to participate in the annual D3 Hardbody Nats and Enduro races held each year at Buena Park Raceway.
Thanks to Paul Sterrett's vision, guidance and support, D3 slot car racing has continued to be very popular at BPR. Many slot racers and BPR over the years benefited from Paul's passion for his favorite hobby.
RIP Paul,
Keith