Garden Canyon Run Winter Classic

Sunday, December 27th, 2020
Hosted by Alley Cat Race Club
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AlleyCatRaceClub Saturday, 10/17/2020

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Hello race fans! Garden Canyon Run is an outdoor non-timed race course, run rally style with checkpoints along the course. The opening straightaway is on BluTrak which transitions onto Crash Racers open track, descends through two 90 degree curves, finally emptying onto a completely open vinyl surface where cars attempt to remain straight enough to pass through the last two gates.

The course rewards a car with an excellent balance of speed and handling.

This is a Run What You Brung tournament. The only restrictions are that your entry be no larger than 3.25" x 1.25" x 1.25", and cars must look like actual cars a 1/64 scale driver might actually race. I realize this is in the eye of the beholder, but we're looking for cars that don't look more fantasy than simply custom. If you are unsure, ask. We will lean toward being lenient and flexible in all aspects of the tournament.

We hope the lack of restrictions will allow creativity in finding the fastest car for this course.

As this is an outdoor course, expect that your entry may get wet, dirty, and/or muddy.

Winner will compete against the winners of the Spring, Summer, and Fall Classics at the end of year Championship.

Rules & restrictions

  • Stock and modified entries allowed
  • noneg maximum weight
  • 3.25in. long x 1.25in. tall x 1.25in. wide
  • Limit 2 entries per household
  • No axle or wheel restrictions
  • Any lube allowed

Dates & deadlines

All entries must be received by the host before Tuesday 12/1/2020. Racing is scheduled for Sunday, 12/27/2020. Results will be posted on or after that date as is convenient for the host.

How to enter

Contact the tournament host to get the shipping address for entry.

Include at least $5.00 for return shipping if you want your entries back. Entries not getting returned will be kept at Garden Canyon Run for future events.

Include a Race Entry ID slip with your entry

Track

Racing will be on the Garden Canyon Run. View track profile and specs

Race format and scoring

All entries get two qualifying attempts at Garden Canyon Run, alternating lanes. There are 5 checkpoints on the course. 1 point will be awarded to each car getting both axles across each checkpoint. (In the case of multiple axles, the outer most axles will be counted as the two axles.) The first checkpoint is on the BluTrak after the jump, the second on the crash racers track between turn 1 and 2, the third is at the bottom of the finishing ramp, the fourth and fifth are gates on the open section of vinyl that the cars must remain straight enough to pass through.

The top 16 qualifiers will move on to a single-elimination bracket tournament. Points will be awarded at only the last 3 checkpoints to the first car getting both axles across the lines. After two runs, the most points wins and moves on. Ties will be re-run.

Penalties/DNF

If a car fails to meet the size restriction listed above, the car will still race if it can fit through the start gate.

Cars that fail to run or fit on the track, or that happen to break during racing, will forfeit their matches. Cars that arrive broken will attempt to be minimally repaired before the racing begins. Cars that break during racing will not be repaired or replaced.

Prizes

Bragging rights. Entry in 2021 Year End Championship.


Discussion

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CrazyEights 10/17/20

So its open weight and any lube. This could get interesting.


  • That's what we're hoping! Since it's an outdoor track in any weather, why not? — AlleyCatRaceClub

UPDATE: Since the drivers in the Fall Classic enjoyed it so much, we are going to keep the practice of having 2 cars per driver in the Winter Classic. It allows us to have a separate Drivers Cup rewarding drivers who can be competetive in two different cars. In the case of the Fall Classic, the Drivers Cup winner didn't make it to the championship, but had enough points to win the cup outright over drivers who had one great car and one dud. It made the Championship that much more exciting in that there were two different points races going on. One for the best performing car overall, and one for the best performing driver overall.

Another update is that we'll be moving to a new points system for all races. Points will be awarded at each of three checkpoints, only the three coming at and after the finish line, with points awarded to only the first to cross each checkpoint.

So far we have 5 drivers signed up out of 8 possible drivers, and word on the street is we should be expecting at least 6 cars in the mail soon.

Lastly, the winning car from the Fall Classic will face the winning car from the Winter Classic when all is said and done.

Thanks for your support race fans!


  • If you have room, I am in. — Uncle_Elvis
  • Hi Uncle_Elvis, we do still have room for drivers and for mail in car entries as well. Thanks for asking! I'll update the list and enter it here soon, and I'll also post a driver pick 'em video around December 1. But you are in sir, thank you! — AlleyCatRaceClub

here's an update on where we stand in the call for cars and drivers:

of 8 available drivers spots, 7 are currently filled: Colin, Eric, Kimberly, Cristina, Big H, Uncle_Elvis, *G4diecast (I think you want to be a driver, yes?)

Of 16 available spots for cars, I currently have 7 cars confirmed in hand or on their way to me. Any available spots after the mail-in deadline (12/1) will be filled with cars from the Alley Cat Race Club collection.

After 12/1 I'll post a driver pick 'em video. Stay tuned!

**EDIT: We are full on drivers at this point with 8! Colin, Eric, Kimberly, Luna, KilgoreT, Big H, Uncle_Elvis, and G4Diecast are all in. I'll repost if a spot opens back up. Thanks race fans!


  • Wait! I want to mail in a car. Can ship it next week. — Uncle_Elvis
  • That's a cool idea! I'll be sending you two of my own cars. So someone else can drive one of your club cars. — G4DiecastRacing
  • Sounds great guys! Thanks — AlleyCatRaceClub

Hey race fans! I've received all the entries for the Winter Classic, and they look awesome! It's time to assign drivers to unassigned cars. Tomorrow night 12/3 at around 9PM West Coast time I'll post a quick Driver Pick 'em video introducing all the cars, some of which do have drivers assigned already. Still to pick cars are Big H, Luna, Kilgore T, Colin, Eric and Kimberly. Once the video is up you'll have 24 hours to make your pick (first come, first served, so check the comments) before I randomly assign the remaining cars to the remaining drivers.

Questions?

I'm really looking forward to this! Thanks!

Pick 'em video is live!

Sorry it's early, I was trying to schedule it for later and...I don't think I did it correctly :-/


  • Great intro! Also, it is Pupule not Purple [don't worry, it is a common mistake :) ] — pupulesurfer
  • Oh dang, sorry about that! Thanks for pointing it out :-) — AlleyCatRaceClub
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pupulesurfer 12/15/20

I enjoyed the hype vid!


  • Right on, thanks! I'm going to do some of the first shooting this weekend, very excited. — AlleyCatRaceClub

Qualification Group 1 went live yesterday, Qualification group 2 will go live tomorrow, FYI. So far the lightest car on the track is the points leader!

Qualification group 2 will be live tonight around 7PM USA West Coast Time. Super exciting with much mayhem! See you there!


Good morning race fans! Racing continued through the weekend with the 4Up Racing rounds. 4 cars at a time, much mayhem at no extra charge. After Qualification, the Drivers Cup standings look like this:

  • 15 - Uncle_Elvis
  • 11 - Big H
  • 11 - Kilgore T
  • 10 - Eric
  • 8 - Colin
  • 8 - Daddy G
  • 6 - Luna
  • 4 - Kimberly

I've attached some pics of race fans hanging out at the clubhouse Friday night before Saturday morning racing. Stay tuned for more racing in the next couple days on the Alley Cat Race Club channel!!


Good morning, just a heads-up that 4Up Racing Group 1 went live a few minutes ago. Enjoy! It'll be another day or two for the next video. Thank you!

Winter Classic update: I've had a couple issues getting the next group live, weather and technical both. If all goes well, i should have the next group live in the next 24 hours, and then the last 2 groups should follow in close order, a day or two apart.

To those of you subscribed and following the tournament, thank you for your patience! Hopefully it will all be worth the wait :-)


  • You're doing a great job! I really enjoy your tournament and production and am glad I sent you a few cars. Keep up the good work! — G4DiecastRacing
  • Thanks so much! I really appreciate the support. Also your cars are just great, really enjoy having them — AlleyCatRaceClub

Good morning race fans! 4Up Racing Group 4 will be live momentarily! And to be clear, Group 2 will be last. We've already posted 4Up Racing groups 1 and 3. I'll save you the details, but group 2 will be last, and the only foreshadowing I'll include is that the rain continues, and the track conditions worsen. 

To keep everyone up to speed, we first ran Qualification, each car had two solo runs, earning points by crossing 4 checkpoints on each run. Those points seeded all 16 cars into 4 groups for the second round of the tournament, 4Up Racing which we are wrapping up currently. When that is complete, all points will be combined for each car, seeding into a tradtional 16 car bracket style elimination tournament, culminating with a Winter Classic Champion car.

Simultaneously (because we love complexicating things), we have a Drivers Cup. The tournament features 8 drivers, each driving 2 cars. We count the combined points for each pair of cars toward that driver's standing in the Drivers Cup. Winner of the Drivers Cup may or may not be the driver of the Winter Classic Championship car, it is the driver with the best combined points total for their pair of cars.

Anyhoo, thanks for your support! Have a great day,


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