Featured Raceway - Slot Car Raceway


No question about what's going on inside!	Fast NASCAR action on the Yellow track as the next generation waits their turn.

Keep the shiny side up!	Race Director Frank Sarkela in charge.

Vintage cars galore ready for classic racing.	Close up of four different vintage body styles.

One of the many gorgeous cars entered.	Scratch built inline chassis designed for a Gurney Eagle.

"Thank you" cake to the racers on top of museum show pieces from their collection.	Nothing but smiling faces!
More information about classic model slot car racing is available on the Vintage Model Racers of America web site.
VRMA is co-hosted by *SLOT CAR Raceway* and Fastrax Raceway.

THE SLOT CAR RACEWAY OF SANTA ROSA, owned by Mr. Frank Sarkela and his wife, Mardell is our February cover story. Also helping out and running their ultra-successful vintage series is a familiar name in the slot world – Mr. Mark Manion. Mark was responsible for the pictures you see in this issue, and the cars are gorgeous. Took the old man clean back to the mid-sixties memory banks. Only wish we had room to print them all and in color!

Of the four places visited on this all-too-short trip, the Sarkela’s place was the closest to where we were staying, so went there the first night. Mark very graciously loaned me two cars and Frank loaned me his trusty Ruddock controller. Didn’t help…came in dead last in the first race and fourth in the second. Oh well…good time was had by all and I’ll get ‘em next time – or, whenever I figure out how to let off the trigger in that kink on the back straight! The second race was a bit more to my liking…slower cars! They were Parma International 32’s with Pla-Fit motors – the same exact cars we used to run back in ’91 at the old track in Decatur, Georgia.

Slot Car Raceway is very spacious and crammed full of tracks, drag strips, plenty of pit space, showcases and tons of inventory – not to mention a dedicated group of enthusiastic competitors who talk while they race and laugh a lot. After the melee on the track concluded we did what I do best – bench race and talked about the "good old days." They’ve put together an entire showcase of museum pieces (see picture with the cake on the top) and a lot of very old items from w-a-y back. I really enjoyed chatting with the guys and trying to race. Ha! That was a joke! Local track knowledge was very evident as most of the racers were passing me about every third lap. I got even…I nerfed most of them at least once or twice.

I wish I had more on the history of the raceway because they’ve been around for awhile and joined TOA in 1997. If you ever get a chance, drop by and pay them a visit. Take your best cars and have a blast! Oh yes…how to get there…spend a couple of hours in extremely heavy traffic…wend your way to Santa Rosa…and turn onto Piner Road. They’re right on one of the main drags. Thanks Frank, Mark and the racers.