2024
On 23 January, I raced at the Anglian Racewall Metal Slotstox Club (ARC) season opening Winternationals Championship with 10 drivers racing. All drivers raced in 3 heats, with the four highest points scorers, based on heat finishing positions 1st 6 points, 2nd 5 etc., qualifying direct to the final and the remaining six racing in a consolation with 1st and 2nd joining them. Racing from Red grade and using my Blue Parmastox – heat 1, I won my first race of the season before finishing 4th (3) of 5 drivers (17), heat 2 1st (6) of 5 drivers (40 - 2nd also scored 40 but I had 5 races wins to their 3) and heat 3 1st (6) of 5 drivers (40). My heat score of 15 points was sufficient to qualify direct to the final as joint 2nd with 2 other drivers. With trophies for the first 3 in the final, I finished 5th of 6 dtivers (18 - 6th scored 17 and 4th 20). An enjoyable evening and start to the 2024 season.
5 February - having run a Half Marathon the previous day, I gave Ipswich JAFFA Running Club Track session a miss and this Monday only raced at ARC points championship round 1. Eleven drivers would race in 3 heats, with the four highest points scorers, based on heat finishing positions 1st 6 points, 2nd 5 etc., qualifying direct to the final and the remaining seven racing in a consolation with 1st and 2nd joining them. Starting from Red grade and racing my Blue Parmastox – heat 1 4th (3) of 4 drivers (26 - 3rd scored 28), heat 2 4th (3) of 5 drivers (23 - 3rd scored 24) and heat 3 1st (6) of 6 drivers (38 - 2nd also scored 38 but I had 6 wins to their 4). I was one of five drivers to score 12 points from the heats and being the only one to have won a heat, qualified as fourth of four drivers direct to the final - 4th of 6 drivers (24 - 3rd scored 25) to add 6 points chart points and a total of 18 points chart points. Not really what I wanted as trying not to score too well and go down the grades but did dish out and receive a fair share of bumper work!
19 February - I attended the Ipswich JAFFA Running Club Track session, plus monthly notices, before heading over to ARC for points championship round 2. Twelve drivers would race in 3 heats, with the four highest points scorers, based on heat finishing positions 1st 6 points, 2nd 5 etc., qualifying direct to the final and the remaining eight racing in two consolations and the winner of each joining them. Starting from Red grade and racing my Blue Parmastox – heat 1 2nd (5) of 4 drivers (27 - 2nd and 3rd each scored 25), heat 2 3rd (4) of 6 drivers (23) and heat 3 3rd (4) of 6 drivers (27). With 13 points, I finished as fourth higher scorer qualifying direct to the final - 3rd of 6 drivers (26) to add 6 points chart points and a total of 19 points chart points.
After the first 2 points chart rounds, I was 3rd in Anglian Racewall Metal Slotstox Club points chart with 35 points and my average meant I was up to Superstar grade for March.
4 March - having run a Half Marathon the previous day, I gave Ipswich JAFFA Running Club Track session a miss and this Monday only raced at ARC points championship round 3. The four highest points scorers would qualify direct to the final with the remaining eight racing in one of two consolations and the winner of each joining them. Starting from Superstar grade and racing my Blue Parmastox – heat 1 3rd (4) of 5 drivers (28 and deslotting on my own when 2nd in one of my lane 1 races, giving up 4 points, proved crucial as 2nd scored 29 and 1st scored 31), heat 2 5th (2) of 6 drivers (17) and heat 3 7th (1) of 7 drivers (5 - missing the last 7 races due to receiving my 2nd warning of the night, although the 1st in an earlier heat was unfortunate as my Parmastox rode up on back bumper of the Parmastox in front meaning I had no way to slow down!) My 7 points in the heats was, unsurprisingly, not sufficient to qualify direct to the final so I raced in one of the consolations - 1st of 4 drivers (45 - second scored 43 but I non-scored in my last 2 races having switched off a bit knowing I'd already secured the win). I therefore qualified for the final - 6th of 6 drivers to add 1 points chart point and a total of 8 points chart points.
18 March - I raced at ARC points championship round 4 and Gold Top Qualifying round 1 with eleven drivers all racing in 3 heats. I raced my Blue Parmastox – heat 1 2nd (5) of 5 drivers (33 - 3rd scored 31), heat 2 5th (2) of 6 drivers (17) and heat 3 4th (3) of 5 drivers (22 - 3rd also scored 22 but had 2 races wins to my 1, whilst 5th scored 20). With a heat score of 10 points, I wasn't one of the five drivers qualifying direct to the final, so I raced in the six driver consolation with the winner to also qualify - 3rd (23 - 4th scored 21). Not qualifying for the final meant I scored a total of 10 points chart and Gold Top Qualifying points.
After the first 4 points chart rounds, I was 6th in Anglian Racewall Metal Slotstox Club points chart with 53 points and my average meant I was down to Red grade for April. After round 1 of the Anglian Racewall Metal Slotstox Club Gold Top Qualifying, I was 8th and outside the top 6 qualifying places.
8 April - I attended the Ipswich JAFFA Running Club Track session, plus monthly notices, before heading over to ARC for points championship round 5 with nine drivers all racing in 3 heats. I raced my Blue Parmastox – heat 1 4th (3) of 4 drivers (19), heat 2 2nd (5) of 5 drivers (24 - 3rd also scored 24 but I had 5 races wins to their 2) and heat 3 1st (6) of 5 drivers (44). With a heat score of 14 points, I was one of the four drivers qualifying direct to the final with two more to join via the consolation. Final 4th of 6 drivers (13) to add 3 points chart points and a total of 17 points chart points.
13 April - due to a clash with Harry's drama shows, I missed the Jack Branch memorial meeting hosted by Three Counties Oval Slot Club.
15 April - I attended the Ipswich JAFFA Running Club Track session, before heading over to ARC for points championship round 6 and Gold Top Qualifying round 2 with ten drivers all racing in 3 heats. With lane 2 not working, all heats were 10 races rather than the usual 12. I raced my Blue Parmastox – heat 1 2nd (5) of 5 drivers (25 - 1st scored 26 whilst 3rd scored 23), heat 2 3rd (4) of 5 drivers (24) and heat 3 5th (2) of 5 drivers (6 - bit of a disaster!) With a heat score of 11 points, I wasn't one of the five drivers qualifying direct to the final, so I raced in the five driver consolation with the winner to also qualify - 2nd (32 - 3rd scored 30). Not qualifying for the final meant I scored a total of 11 points chart and Gold Top Qualifying points.
On 20 April, 44 current and former Plastic slotstox drivers (as well as a few to watch) came together at the Rushmere Community Hub in Ipswich to race at the Jim Glading memorial meeting hosted by the Foxhall Foxes Slotstox Club (ARC). Before the meeting, I arrived early so I could complete a 10 mile training run including Kesgrave parkrun at which I appropriately finished 53rd (Jim's racing number was 253) especially as I outsprinted someone at the finish (although I paid for that sprint running back to the meeting). The format would be slightly different and whilst heats would remain 1 race per lane and 6 laps, drivers in lanes 1 and 2 would start from red grade, lanes 3 and 4 blue grade, and lanes 5 and 6 white grade. There was also a joker where one driver would choose between racing one heat all from white grade for single points, or all from Superstar grade for double points. All drivers chose a blue or yellow (Jim's racing colours and also bizarrely the colours of my running shoes) pen with a note attached and the joker would go to whoever chose the one with '253' written on the back. When I returned after my run, a pen had been left on my box and it wasn't the joker. I hadn't raced plastic Slotstox since 2019 and raced my newest plastic Slotstox was one of, if not the final Slotstox that Jim built. Jim's son Paul also kindly did some set up work for me ahead of the meeting. The highest 12 points scorers would qualify for the semi-finals based on cumulative points for all races - 5 for a win, 4 for 2nd etc. Heat 1 - 16, heat 2 - 15, including my one race win of the day, and heat 3 - 20 (5 2nd place finishes and a non-finish). That non-finish was only my second of the heats and they proved crucial as I scored 51 points and the cut-off to qualify for the semi-finals was 54 points. The semi-finals were 1 race per lane over 8 laps. Drivers in lanes 1, 2 and 3 would start from blue grade whilst drivers in lanes 4, 5 and 6 would start from yellow grade. The B-final and final were the same except the final was 2 races per lane and 10 laps per race. The eventual winner was Mark West a long time friend of Jim and Paul. A deserving winner but most importantly £621.50 was donated to St Elizabeth's Hospice in Jim’s name.
29 April - having attended the Ipswich JAFFA Running Club 6pm Track session, I then raced at ARC in the 3-aside Team Meeting. With 12 drivers, it was four teams of 3 and my average meant I was in the second group of racers and was drawn in Team A with Mark West (as per 2023) and Courtney Nichols. Each team would race against each other once - the two with the most raw points would race in the Final and the two with the least raw points would race in a B-Final. I raced my blue Parmastox having done some maintanence on it during the Jim Glading memorial meeting. In our first heat, we scored 87 to their 110 and I scored 27. In our second heat, we scored 114 to their 91 and I scored 30. In our third heat, we again scored 87 to their 95 and I again scored 30. Although we'd lost 2 matches a raw points total, helped particularly by our second heat, of 288 meant we qualified for the final as 2nd highest point scorers. We won the Final 114 to 77 and I scored 35. This meant Mark West and I defended the ARC Team Championship and this was my ninth Slotstox/Parmastox Team meeting win following 2 Slotstox Opens, 4 Foxhall Slotstox and 1 Arena Parmastox.
PARMASTOX ARC TEAM CHAMPION
PARMASTOX ARC WINTERNATIONALS CHAMPIONSHIP: 6TH